Tag Archives: Texas

Recipe: Jack Daniels-Style Baked Beans

The Jack Daniels folks are smart marketers, but you don’t have to use that expensive bourbon to make Jack Daniels-style beans. I prefer Evan Williams and it works very nicely. An I-can’t-stop-eating-it barbecue essential, along with slaw and potato salad. … Continue reading

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Recipe: Best-Way Texas Caviar

Cue angels singing. “Texas Caviar” is a bean salad featuring black eye peas doused in vinaigrette. The original was invented by Helen Corbett, the James Beard of Texas, and popularized at the legendary Neiman-Marcus Zodiac Room. Today there are infinite … Continue reading

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Recipe: Texas Barbecue Beans

This formula is as close as I can get to the manna served at Snow’s without putting you in the pickup and driving to Lexington, TX. These are Texas barbecue beans, not “barbecued’ because no smoking is involved. Serves 8-10. … Continue reading

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Recipe: Cheeseburger Beans

When you want a cheeseburger but all you have is beans, make Cheeseburger Beans. Goes well with a hot dog or grilled chicken. Serves two as a main dish, or four as a side. Ingredients: Approx. 15 ounce can pinto … Continue reading

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Enough with the fruitcake jokes…

Bon vivant Calvin Trillin wrote that there is actually only one fruitcake in the world, and it is continually re-gifted each holiday season. That fruitcake joke, or a variation, has had just as much recycling to the point that giving … Continue reading

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Snows-style BBQ brisket for 4th of July

For the 4th of July meal, I decided to try Snow’s BBQ brisket technique as described by pit boss Kerry: rub the meat all over with salt with some pepper mixed in (I used about a 1/5 ratio) and let it … Continue reading

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Recipe: Favorite Pie Crust

This pie crust is based on Christopher Kimball’s method in the Cook’s Bible, with a few important tweaks. He uses only butter but I would insist on at least some animal fat if serving with a Texas-style barbecue meal. Makes one … Continue reading

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Recipe: Buttermilk Pie a la Micklethwait

I was inspired by the life-changing buttermilk pie at Micklethwait’s Craft Meats in Austin, and this is pretty close in my opinion. It’s based on a Southern Living recipe which is what I expect the Micklethwait pastry chef would be … Continue reading

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These ain’t no burnt ends

A friend alerted me to the “burnt ends” being served by a local barbecue emporium. He showed me a dark photo in which the pieces were suspiciously large and uniform. I also noticed they’re a regular menu item, always a bad … Continue reading

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A rating system for great barbecue (in Texas and elsewhere)

It’s been a while since I published my list of factors I consider in rating barbecue, and we’ve got a bunch of new readers, so let’s take a fresh look. Especially because I will be in Austin over Memorial Day … Continue reading

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