(From the archives: this is one of my earliest recipes and I noticed that it could use some polish and a bit of a facelift.  The recipe has ben rewritten to read more clearly, etc,  Enjoy!)

While chili (particularly “Texas Red”, and yes, that means no beans.) is the official state food of Texas, there is little doubt that the unofficial state food of Texas is the chicken fried steak.

I’ve known the wonderful delight of chicken fried steak all my life. While I grew up in California’s wine country, my family and many others were originally dust bowl immigrants from Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Southern cuisine was my staple as a boy, mixed with a strange variety of Italian, Mexican, Hungarian and Asian influences. The restaurants of Northern California don’t serve “country fried steak” they serve chicken fried steak, and that’s the way we like it.

I know that there are some Texans who will rail at me for even hinting that any Californian can produce a real chicken fried steak, but we do, at least it’s done well North of San Francisco, where the population is mostly rural. That being said, this is still a Texan tradition, and I’m passing it on as such, as is only fair, since it moved with our families from Texas, Texoma, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

If you’ve never had, or heard of chicken fried steak, you may wonder exactly what it is. In a nutshell, it’s a steak cooked in the same manner as Southern fried chicken. That is to say it’s breaded and fried in a cast iron skillet with plenty of oil (read Crisco, lard or perhaps, in rare cases, suet) until it’s crisp, juicy and delicious and slathered in gravy, either made from the pan drippings (not my preference, I just don’t like beef gravy) or in Southern White Gravy.

If served for breakfast or brunch, you’ll find it with a side of fried potatoes or hash browns. When served for dinner it will usually be found accompanied with mashed potatoes, also slathered in gravy, and some form of vegetable or other. (This is where your basic green bean or, better yet some fried okra comes into play.)

So, no matter where you hang your hat, kick your feet up, set a spell and make up a bit of Texas for supper tonight. You’ll be glad you did, I assure you.

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Please welcome my dear friend Jill McKeever of SimpleDailyRecipes.com.  We’re very happy to have her share her recipe for Duchess Potatoes here at CBSOP.

Take it away Jill!

Duchess Potatoes is an old recipe taken from a book our grandmothers would have trusted and relied upon for their dining dilemmas. Made from leftover mashed potatoes, this recipe transforms cold, thick mashed spuds into a light, fluffy, hard to stop eating, side dish. My kids could not get enough Duchess Potatoes. You should have seen their faces when the oven dish was empty. Oh wait, you’ll see the same expression on your kids when you make this dish.

HERE’S ALL IT TAKES

3 cups leftover mashed potatoes
2 egg yolks beaten well
1/4 cup fresh cream
grated cheese for topping (optional)

Heat oven to 425ºF.

Mix the mashed potatoes, beaten egg yolks and cream well. Pile lightly into a lightly greased shallow baking dish, top with grated cheese.
Bake in hot oven until browned, 10 to 15 minutes. It’s that simple.

Recipe and photo by Jill McKeever at SimpleDailyRecipes.com

Popularity: 4% [?]

Let me apologize at the outset.  This post is a bit rambling.  It covers a lot in as short a space as I can fit it into.

Many of you know that we’ll be moving to California in the near future.  As of today that move is scheduled for 28 days from today, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things we want to get done before we leave, nor does it mean we’ve been sitting around playing video games while we wait for the movers. (Though there are days that I wish that’s what we were doing.)

My wife went to school just outside Houston Texas and before we left we thought we should go see a few of her old friends and see some of the places she hung out while in high school. I was all for it not only for her sake, but for the sake of trying out a few new paces to eat along the way.

Texas Best Smokehouse

The trip started well enough.  We shot past Fort Worth on our way south to Houston.  At about three hours it was time to grab a bite, so we stopped at a chain BBQ place called Texas Best Smokehouse. While I’m not sure that I would call them the best I’ve had in Texas by any stretch of the imagination, I will say that their sausage was good and that the experience did not leave me feeling uninspired. (Yes, smoked jalapeno sausage.  I usually don’t try brisket from a chain.)

The rest of the trip, while long, was uneventful.  we were in more of a hurry to make our final destination than we were to stop at the more interesting places on the way. (At least one of which I will be visiting this weekend.) With a Hotel finally located and a very filling dinner at Joes Crab Shack under our belts we turned in from a very long day of driving.

As is only fitting on a Memorial day weekend, we visited my Brother-In-Law’s grave to pay our respects. My wife has not been to visit in years and the experience for her was was bittersweet. I never had the opportunity to know K.C., but I’ve heard enough about him to feel like I know him and it was a bit wrenching for me as well. the memory of this visit is now on of far too many I’ll hold with me on Memorial Day weekend.

From there we toured my wife’s old high school, a few small towns she used to pop into in her youth and I sat along for the tour.  It’s always interesting to see how coming home affects people, since “home” has a way of growing up without you.  when they say you can never go home again, they are right.  it will never be what you left no matter how badly you want it to be.  Both you and the town have changed.

A nice country day in TX

After the tour we headed into the deep countryside of Texas to visit with my wife’s best friend from high school. My wife and her friend dissapeared for hours of catching up and I spent the day playing with Lil B. and getting to know her husband, a genuinely nice man that I admire.  Lil’ B. had a blast exploring the garden and playing with the dogs while the adults talked about everything from the state of the economy to the best place to get a good dinner in the area; which leads us to:

The Little Burro. A great Tex-Mex meal by any estimation.

The El Burrito (Or Little Burro). I’ll tell you right now that there are gems out there if you look hard enough.  This is one of them.  Portions were huge, the food was fresh. The flavors were amazing, but avoided the North Texas habit of adding enough spice to make a veteran Thai food lover wince. I wish I could have stayed in the area long enough to eat there again.  If I ever find myself in this part of TX again, I’ll be stopping here.

For anyone that’s going to be in Cleveland TX, or just in the Houston Area you can find this reataurant here.

BFFL

At the end of the evening we bid our farewells and made ready for the last day of the trip, a picnic in my wife’s honor.  The picnic was nice, but short.  We had to head back by two if we wanted any sleep at all. Of course we were so tied up in the bevy of people there that we both forgot to snap a single photo. I’ve really got to hone my on location skills!

We picked up a few interesting goodies on the way that I’ll be writing about in the next few days, so stay tuned for that.

The following week was spent dealing with issues for the impending move and the weekend on another road trip with friends to Oklahoma.

Next week will be spent with family visiting.  following that we plan to play tourist in our own town before we leave.  It’s very doubtful we’ll ever see Wichita Falls Texas again.  It’s been an interesting experience but I have to say that I’m ready to be back in California and done with the whirlwind that we’re riding now.

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I’m dedicating this post to Lydia of the Perfect Pantry, who requested brisket the last time I did barbecue, and every expatriate Texan out there, including of course the lovely Lisa from the Homesick Texan. I wish you could have been here to enjoy with us!

4:45am:

The food blogger rouses himself from a quiet and peaceful slumber and staggers to the coffee maker. He realizes he had planned to wake at 5:30, so the infernal machine hasn’t started brewing yet. He punches the start button and plops down at his desk to check the night’s emails until brewing is done.

4:50am:

The food blogger is roused from a quick nap by the beeping of the coffee maker. It seems he has fallen asleep at the keyboard again. One cup of high octane sludge later, he is ready to proceed with the day as planned.

5:10am:

The blogger pours himself another cup, adds a bit of sugar (which he had forgotten on the first round but had been too tired to correct) and inspects the contents of his refrigerator. Inside he finds a 3.4 pound pork butt roast and a 2.8 pound brisket which have been resting happily throughout the night after their evening massage in BBQ spice rub. they look content and are moved to the stove top to come to room temperature while the food blogger continues.

5:25am:

The food blogger lights a small pile of briquettes in the fire box of his combination smoker/grill and makes sure that the mesquite wood chips are nearby, opened and present in sufficient quantity. With the fire happily started, the food blogger enjoys the sounds of pre-dawn morning while sipping happily on the remnants of his second cup of coffee.

6:00am:

With the coals now colored a lovely gray and glowing warmly in the smoker box, the food blogger gets down to business. A few quick photos of the ingredients are snapped, another cup of coffee is poured and the dog is let out on his tether. (can’t control his schedule, he needed to go). The blogger, the coffee and the two marinated pieces of USDA choice head outside to begin their long, slow day.

6:05am:

The meat is placed on the grill as far away from the fire box as possible, a probe thermometer is laid on the grate next to the meat to ensure that the grill’s built-in analog thermometer isn’t lying and the lid is closed, not to be opened for somewhere around four hours.

Mesquite chips are added to the charcoal for smoke, first some smaller pieces then, once those have caught fire, a few hand-sized chunks get plopped on. The fire box door is closed and the vents on the smoker are set to half-open. The food blogger wanders back ito the house to see about other projects for a bit.

6:30am:

The food blogger turned pit-master checks the temperature in the smoker box and inspects the fire. unsatisfied with the amount of smoke present, he adds a few more pieces of mesquite to the fire box. with the smoker box temperature hovering between 150 degrees and 200 degrees Fahrenheit, the food blogger retreats to a 20 minute timed run at Resident Evil 4, which is still kicking his buttocks.

O.K., Enough with the campy Play-By-Play!

(O.K. O.K…. I couldn’t resist, I’m sorry!)

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As promised, my smoker was up and running well before sunrise this morning. As I write this, 2.8 pounds of beef brisket and 3.4 pounds of Boston Butt Pork roast are transforming from “just meat” to barbecue.
(Sorry Biggles, I know Meathenge labs doesn’t consider any cut of animal to be “just meat”)

The first step in any real Texas Barbecue is the dry rub. I know that Northerners sometimes prefer a wet method and that’s just fine with me, but around here that ain’t barbecue, and we’re doing this Texas style.

This is a new rub for me. It was adapted from Jim Goode’s Beef Rub because to be honest if I’m going to try a new rub, I’m going to base it on the rub used by Houston’s #1 Pit man. The modifications made were due either to my inability to read at 4:45 am or the lack of a specific spice in my pantry.

So here we go kiddies! Step One for honest-to-Texas barbecue…

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Texans in general are a laid back bunch of folks. We’re generally not in a big hurry to get from place to place, and rather than seeing people power walk through a parking lot to get back to their car, you are far more likely to see a person “mosey” while yapping happily with the grocery store bagger. We take our time at registers, we smile a lot and we tend to be soft spoken and to the point. There are however, two sure fire ways to start a discussion that will become loud, heated and passionate, no matter where you happen to be.

The first of these subjects is football. football really is a religion in Texas. Disagreements on favorite teams or favorite players almost instantly become boisterous, and have been known to end up in brawls. Mention that you’re a Cowboys fan and I guarantee that a Texans fan will pipe up from somewhere in the room. You’re an Aggies fan? That’s going to get you yelled at by a Longhorns fan in a hurry. The discussions on who has the better team, better players, better stadium… The list goes on. (Do not mention football at all if your favorite team is from outside the Lone Star State, this may cause a riot! You are taking your safety into your own hands at this point.)

The second sure fire method to start an argument in Texas is to talk about chili. The official food of The Great State of Texas is chili. This particular variety of chili is probably different from what you are used to finding if you live anywhere else in the country. This chili is known quite simply as Texas Red. It is unanimous that Texas Red shall be composed of only meat and sauce. There are no beans, no rice, no noodles, nor any other fillers in this dish. This meat will be beef! Not pork, chicken, rabbit or any other non bovine ingredient shall now, or ever be used in Texas Red. It is also unanimously held that this chili must be hot. Very hot. Hot enough to make a seasoned cowhand sweat in February, or make small children cry at the very mention of the dish. Wimpy chili’s need not apply here.

Knowing all this, you may wonder where any discussion comes in. If everyone agrees on those points, why would anyone argue at all? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s because nobody can agree on the actual recipe for Texas Red Chili!

Chili is such a passion in Texas that we hold annual competitions. These competitions have hundreds if not thousands of entrants, and each and every one of those entrants has a different recipe for the perfect pot of Texas Red. These recipe differences are not limited to competitions. Every home chili cook has their own twist on the amounts and types of ingredients used. Some like Lisa, the Homesick Texan, will tell you that you should never, ever use ground beef. others will say that her additions of Mexican chocolate and lime juice are complete blasphemy, deserving of exile from Texas itself. There are disagreements on fresh vs. powdered ingredients, whether or not tomatoes or tomato sauce is allowed, cheese or no cheese in the chili itself, the amount of spices to use, how hot is too hot… The list goes on and on.

These differences are compounded by the sheer size of the state. Texas is huge. With a land mass of 267,338 square miles , Texas is large enough that even the most basic of regional dishes changes within her borders. In Southern Texas, which is closer to Mexico, things are going to be spicier than they will be in Northern Texas, which borders Oklahoma. In East Texas, the flavors of Louisiana and Arkansas creep in to the daily diet, while in West Texas the influences of New Mexico are frequently present. Central Texas is a huge mish-mash of all of these flavors, so it’s pretty easy to see where we might disagree on some things, isn’t it?

In the end, I present to you my version of Texas Red. I’m sure that others out there will say that it isn’t the correct recipe, or that I’ve done something wrong. But then that is generally said of anyone who makes Texas Red, so if it is the case, I’ll take the heat!

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Popularity: 6% [?]

Texas has its own rules when it comes to cuisine. I’ve seen foods here that I’d never heard of prior to meeting and marrying a Texan, then moving to her state as well. (O.K. She’s an Expat, we’re just stationed here, her license plates are Alaskan.)

This little gem is a tribute to football games, warm Texan nights and the fact that foods, especially snack foods, change by region.

Ladies and gentle-people, I give you the venerable Frito Pie!

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Beefy, cheesy goodness on a bun. With a little left over roast beef, some onions, garlic and cheese you can whip up this hearty and satisfying sandwich that’s guaranteed to crush those hunger pangs in just a few minutes.

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Popularity: 8% [?]