Crispy dogs with bacon-jalapeño dipping sauce

“How you feel about crispy dogs?” asked a friend from San Antonio. We were discussing regional variations of hot dogs, with my favorite being the bacon-wrapped Mexican hot dogs I enjoy at the Fiesta market by my mom’s house in Houston. His, however, was the aforementioned crispy dog, which is a cheese-stuffed hot dog wrapped in a corn tortilla and then fried.

“That sounds like a flauta,” I said. He agreed it was similar, but it also reminded him of a Tex-Mex corny dog. But no matter how you define it, what’s not to love about melted cheese, juicy sausage and a crunchy fried tortilla? Yep, ever since our conversation, I’ve had a serious craving for a crispy dog.

Though here’s the thing—if you want to order a crispy dog at a restaurant in Texas, you should go to San Antonio, as they seldom appear on menus anywhere else. While its origins are a bit murky, the beloved west side restaurant Malt House says its started selling them in 1949 and believes they were the first, though they soon became popular at other places around town such as MK Davis and Ray’s.

For more history, I called the Malt House and spoke to the manager, Ivan Gonzalez. He graciously shared with me several stories about the restaurant, which his father took over in 1990 when the founding owner Herb McEwen died. His belief was that McEwen started selling the crispy dog to appeal to his customers who wanted both American food and Mexican food, making this truly a Tex-Mex dish.

Fortunately, they aren’t just limited to restaurants, as my San Antonio friends tell me that they grew up also eating them at home. They’d come home from school and their mom would fry up a few as an afternoon snack. Crispy dogs also make for fine game-watching grub, and if you pair them with some onion rings or beans they can even become a meal.

Crispy dogs are often served with the usual hot dog condiments such as yellow mustard and ketchup. Salsa, queso, chili and guacamole make for fine condiments, too. Lately, however, my favorite dipping sauce has been a mustard and mayonnaise concoction that’s livened up with diced jalapeños, crumbled bacon and a bit of cilantro, made as an homage to those bacon-wrapped Mexican hot dogs topped with mayonnaise, mustard and jalapeños.

But no matter how you serve them, if you love hot dogs and you love flautas, you'll definitely love the crispy dog. It baffles me that they aren’t more popular, as they’re a wonderful addition to the vast array of regional hot dog variations. Though perhaps this is what makes crispy dogs so beloved to my San Antonio friends, as it’s a unique taste of their beautiful Texas home.

Crispy dogs with bacon-jalapeño dipping sauce

Ingredients for the bacon-jalapeño dipping sauce:
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 slices cooked bacon, diced
1 jalapeño, seeds and stem removed, diced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
Salt to taste

Ingredients for the crispy dogs:
8 corn tortillas
8 hot dogs
4 ounces of cheddar cheese, cut into 16 sticks
Toothpicks
Oil for frying
Salsa for serving

Method:
To make the bacon-jalapeño dipping sauce, mix together the mustard, mayonnaise, bacon, jalapeño, garlic and cilantro. Add salt to taste and refrigerate while making the crispy dogs.

To heat up the tortillas, wrap them in foil and place in an oven set at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. (Alternatively, you can wrap the tortillas in a paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds.)

While the tortillas are heating, take each hot dog and make an incision down the center, lengthwise, making sure to not cut it all the way through. Stuff each split hot dog with 2 slices of the cheese.

When the tortillas are soft, place a cheese-stuffed hot dog in the center of the tortilla, roll to wrap and secure with toothpicks. In a heavy skillet, heat up 1 inch of oil to 350 degrees. Line a plate with paper towels. With a spatula, slide the tortilla-wrapped hot dogs into the oil and fry for about 30 seconds on each side or until crisp and lightly browned. Remove from the oil and drain on the paper-towel-lined plate.

Serve warm with bacon-jalapeño dipping sauce and salsa.

Yield: 2-4 servings

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Peanut butter crisscrosses

At a recent Hill Country church bake sale, I was faced with a difficult decision—which dessert to try? There were pies, cakes, and cookies, and while they all looked good I was limited to just one. It was a tough choice, but a nice woman made it easier for me when she pointed to a pan filled with peach cobbler and said, “You want that one. My mother made that cobbler and it’s the best.”

And that’s the truth—your mother’s dish is always the best. There’s just something about your mother’s (and grandmother’s, and great-grandmother’s) cooking that makes you happy.

Why is this? I reckon because it’s made with love.

A reader once commented on my great-grandmother’s buttermilk pie. While my great-grandmother’s recipe called for the same ingredients and method as his grandmother’s pie, he admitted he was still partial to his grandmother’s version. And that’s exactly how it should be, I said. Your mother’s (and grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s) cooking is always the best because it’s filled with good memories of the one who made it.

Now, speaking of recipes—while it’s sometimes difficult to recapture those warm feelings that comes from a dish made by our mothers, at least a recipe is a starting point to recreating some of those feelings, especially if our loved ones are no longer with us. A few years ago, my mom gave me her grandmother’s collection of handwritten recipes.

While I’m honored to have these in my possession, I’ve been scanning them into my computer so I can share these documents with the rest of the family. As I was working on this project I came across Grandma Blanche’s recipe for peanut butter crisscrosses.

This is a simple peanut butter cookie, probably the same one you grew up eating. My mom has told me how she has good memories of going to visit her grandmother and eating cookies, so I thought that making a batch of her grandmother’s cookies would make for a fine mother’s day gift.

The recipe calls for shortening, which I followed directly in one batch, but in another I substituted butter with excellent results, should you care to do the same. And while the straight peanut butter cookie is soft and rich, I couldn’t resist throwing in a handful of chocolate chips in a batch, which also makes for a delicious cookie.

Will these peanut butter crisscrosses taste as good as the ones my mom grew up eating in her grandma’s kitchen? Probably not exactly, but I reckon they will still be good because they, too, were made with love.

Peanut butter crisscrosses
Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening or 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cream together the shortening, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir in the eggs and then blend in the peanut butter. Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt until a smooth dough is formed. (If it’s a little sandy, that’s okay as the dough will come together when you form the cookies.)

Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Press the balls down with a fork making a crisscross pattern. Bake one sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes. Cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes. These are super soft when they come out of the oven and need time to harden a bit.

Yield: About 24 cookies

Note: Add 1 cup of chocolate chips for a peanut butter and chocolate cookie.

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Tex-Mex hot brown sandwich with green chile Mornay sauce

It’s not often that you have two special occasions fall on the same day but every once in a while worlds collide. Like this year—with both Derby Day and Cinco de Mayo occurring on the fifth of May.

The Kentucky Derby has a long tradition in American culture and people have been lining up to watch the first race of the Triple Crown since 1875. But Cinco de Mayo is more of recent fascination in the United States, and it’s a celebration that Americans have embraced more out of a love of Mexican food more than any desire to salute the Battle of Puebla, which is what the day honors. (Despite popular belief, it’s not Mexican Independence Day—that occurs on September 16).

Actually, Cinco de Mayo isn’t even celebrated much in Mexico except in the state of Puebla where the battle holds deep significance. But no matter—Americans love a good party so Cinco de Mayo has become a big deal the past few years. And I’m not complaining—I’ll take any excuse to serve up plates of my beloved Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine.

That said, the Kentucky Derby holds a place in my heart as well. My grandparents went to graduate school in Kentucky and my grandma enjoys telling stories about the excitement that surrounded the day. Since my grandparents were poor college students they never made it to the actual race but this didn’t stop them from enjoying the festivities, which included eating plates of hot browns.

Now, if you’re not familiar with it, the hot brown is an open-faced turkey sandwich that’s been a Kentucky tradition since 1926. The name refers to the sandwich’s place of birth—the Brown Hotel in Louisville—and not the sandwich’s color, which tends to be more white than brown. As for its composition, the sandwich is comprised of a slice of thick toasted bread that’s been topped with roasted turkey, sliced tomatoes and bacon. It’s then drenched in a Mornay sauce, a cheese-based béchamel sauce that’s a distant relation to chile con queso.

Bacon with cheese sauce? Yep, it’s easy to see why the hot brown is a Kentucky favorite, and it’s long been on my list of things to make. Though when I realized that Derby Day and Cinco de Mayo were the same this year, I decided to buck tradition and give the hot brown a Tex-Mex twist as a way to applaud both.

To make my Tex-Mex hot brown, instead of regular bread I used Mexican bolillo rolls, which often form the base of Mexican sandwiches known as tortas. Then I spread on some refried beans, stacked on roasted turkey, poured over a Mornay sauce that I’d spiced up with roasted green chiles, sprinkled on some diced tomatoes and bacon, and slid the open-faced sandwich under the broiler until brown and bubbling. To finish, I scooped on some guacamole and showered the sandwich with salty Cotija cheese. It was decadent but very, very good.

Now purists of the Kentucky hot brown may scoff at this Tex-Mex rendition of their classic sandwich, but you can never go wrong with green chiles, guacamole and bacon. And no matter who finishes first on Saturday, this Tex-Mex hot brown is already a winner.

Tex-Mex Hot Brown with green-chile Mornay sauce

Ingredients for the green-chile Mornay sauce:
1 poblano chile
1 or 2 jalapeño chiles (depending on how hot you want it)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 medium yellow onion, finely diced (about 1/4 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups half-and-half or whole milk, plus more if needed
4 ounces shredded white cheddar (1 cup)
4 ounces shredded Muenster, asadero or Monterey Jack (1 cup)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Pinch of cumin
Pinch of cayenne
Salt to taste

Ingredients for the Tex-Mex hot brown sandwich:
2 6-inch bolillo rolls (or 2 6-inch French bread rolls or baguettes)
1/2 cup refried beans
1 pound roasted turkey, thickly sliced
6 slices (about 6 ounces) cooked bacon, chopped
1 plum tomato (1/4 pound), diced
Guacamole, for serving
Cotija cheese, for serving

Method:
To make the green-chile Mornay sauce, roast the poblano and jalapeño chiles under the broiler until blackened, about 5 minutes per side. Place the chiles in a paper sack or plastic food-storage bag, close it tight and let the chiles steam for 20 minutes. Take the chiles out of the bag and rub off the skin. Remove seeds and stems and dice.

In a saucepot, on low heat melt the butter. Add the onions and while stirring occasionally cook until onions and jalapeños are softened, about five minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds. Whisk in the flour and cook until it’s well incorporated and a light-brown paste forms, about 1 minute.

Pour in the half-and-half, turn up the heat to medium high, and while whisking bring the sauce to a boil. As it boils, continue to whisk until it thickens, which can happen anywhere from immediately to a minute. After it thickens, turn the heat back down to low.

A handful at a time, whisk in the white cheddar and the Muenster, waiting until it melts before adding more. Once the cheese is incorporated, stir in the diced green chiles, cilantro, cumin, and cayenne, and add salt to taste. If the sauce seems too thick, you can thin it with more half-and-half.

To assemble the sandwiches, turn on the broiler. Cut the bolillo rolls in half, lengthwise, and place each under the broiler until lightly toasted, about 20-30 seconds. Remove from the oven.

On a rimmed oven-safe plate or small skillet, place a toasted roll half. Spread on the roll 2 tablespoons of refried beans. Top the beans with 1/4 of the roasted turkey. Pour over the sandwich some of the green-chile Mornay sauce and sprinkle with some of the cooked bacon and tomatoes. (Any leftover sauce will go dandy with some tortilla chips.)

Place the sandwich under the broiler and cook until the sauce begins to brown and bubble, about 1 to 2 minutes. For serving, top the sandwich with a scoop of guacamole and a shower of Cotija cheese. Repeat for the other sandwiches. (Depending on the size of your oven, you can broil several sandwiches at a time.)

Serve warm.

Yield: 4 servings

Note: You can find bolillo rolls at most Mexican markets. They're also not hard to make if you're so inclined! French bread is a fine substitution, however.

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Enchiladas verdes recipe

When I used to go home to Houston, my first stop after I got off the plane was a restaurant called Amalia’s. It was a Tex-Mex joint and on the menu there was one of my favorite dishes—enchiladas verdes.

Amalia’s enchiladas verdes were the best in their class. The sauce wasn’t complex, as it was just a tomatillo, serrano, garlic and cilantro blend. And the meat wasn’t fussy, as it was just sweetly caramelized little bites of pork that were both crisp and juicy. But when you combined those two with homemade corn tortillas, melted cheese, onions, avocadoes and sour cream, you suddenly had a plate of food that felt like home.

Now, I realize this is a restaurant dish I’m talking about, and one thing I’ve learned through the years is that nothing beats home cooking. But there was something to these enchiladas—which I’d been eating since I was 10—that made me happy. Amalia’s was a family restaurant so I suspect some love was added to each plate.

But then late last year I received sad news. The owner’s daughter had read an article in which I expressed my admiration for the enchiladas verdes, and while she thanked me for the mention she informed me that her mother Amalia had decided to retire and close her eponymous restaurant.

Now, this might sound odd, but the news was devastating—it was almost as if a friend had died. For most of my life this had been my go-to restaurant, with the enchiladas verdes my first choice for a meal whenever I returned to Houston. Heck, one time my mom even got it as a to-go order for me since my flight arrived long past serving hours. She laughed as I came into her kitchen and stood at the counter eating my order of enchiladas straight from the container long past midnight. But if you have a favorite dish that you can’t find anywhere else then you completely understand.

Fortunately, the last time I ordered the enchiladas I took notes. “Tomatillo, serrano, cilantro and garlic,” was what I had written, which was a good place to start. There were also plenty of photos of the plate to guide me. It wasn’t much, but as it was all that I had, it would just have to work if I was going to make this dish at home.

Amalia’s salsa had a mellowness to it, which implied it was cooked as tomatillos are pretty tangy in the raw. To recreate it, at first I tried roasting the tomatillos and aromatics under the broiler, but the salsa was too strong and smoky. I then tried pureeing the vegetables with a long cooking time afterwards, but this version was still not quite right.

After a few more unsuccessful attempts, I read about a Hatch chile salsa that boiled everything before throwing the ingredients into the blender. I was a bit dubious, but I tried the method with my tomatillo and serrano salsa. Well, wouldn’t you know it—the boiling was the key and the result was a balanced salsa verde that was smooth enough to be eaten on its own but was also an excellent companion to the tortillas, cheese and pork.

While my favorite enchiladas verdes always had carnitas as the filling, you could just as easily use chicken, beans or cheese, too. Though I insist you top the enchiladas with slices of onion and avocado as these add yet another layer of flavor as you tuck into each bite.

As with all recreations, these enchiladas aren’t exactly like the ones I grew up eating, but they’re still very good. I’ll miss driving straight from the airport to get my plate, but fortunately there are still plenty of other dishes that also say, “Welcome!” You know how it is—that first taste of Texas that tells you that you’re home.

Enchiladas verdes
For the salsa verde:
1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husks removed
1/2 medium yellow onion, peeled, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 or 2 serrano chiles, cut in half, stems removed (depending on how hot you want it)
1 cup cilantro, leaves and stems
Salt to taste

For the enchiladas:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 corn tortillas
2 1/2 cups cooked carnitas or cooked shredded chicken
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Muenster, Asadero or Monterey Jack cheese
Sour cream
1/2 medium onion, peeled, cut into rings
2 peeled and pitted avocadoes, cubed

Method:
To make the salsa, place the tomatillos, onion, garlic, serrano chiles and cilantro in a large pot. Add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil on high. Continue to boil uncovered for 10 minutes or until the tomatillos go from a bright green to a light, muted green (If the water doesn’t cover them completely, don’t add more water just turn the tomatillos in the pot halfway through the cooking so all sides are exposed to the boiling water). Turn of the heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Transfer the pot contents to a blender and blend until smooth. (If you don’t let the vegetables cool, the steam will make the blender lid pop off, which makes for a bit of a mess.) Add salt to taste.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish and spread 1 cup of the salsa along the bottom. In a skillet, heat up the oil on medium-low heat. One at a time, heat up the tortillas in the oil, and then keep them wrapped in a cloth or tortilla warmer until all the tortillas are heated.

To assemble the enchiladas, take a heated tortilla, place 1/4 cup of the cooked carnitas or chicken down the center, and then roll the tortilla. Place filled tortilla in the baking dish and repeat.

Pour evenly over the rolled enchiladas the rest of the salsa. Top with the shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned and bubbling. Serve warm topped with sour cream, onion slices and avocadoes.

Yield: 4-6 servings

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Strawberry spoon bread

Every spring when the wildflowers bloom, Texans will say thank you to Mrs. Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson, the former first lady and native Texan who made it her life’s work to protect and preserve native plants in their natural habitat. But besides her commitment to keeping Texas and America beautiful, Mrs. Johnson was also known as a gracious hostess who entertained with taste and ease.

When people come over for dinner, it’s not unusual if you like a dish to ask for the recipe, and I’ve heard that Mrs. Johnson was always quick to give friends her family’s recipes, such as her method for making spoon bread.



If you’re not familiar with spoon bread, it’s an old American cornmeal-based baked pudding that’s dense, custardy and smooth, much like bread pudding. While it’s usually associated with the South, it’s been documented in early American cookbooks from New England going back to the early 1800s.

Spoon bread is a simple dish, made with cornmeal, milk, eggs and a bit of baking powder. Traditionally, it’s served as a savory side that pairs well with hearty meat dishes or a bowl of beans. But it’s also like a thick bowl of hot cereal before you pour on some milk, which makes it good at breakfast, too. Matter of fact, I read that the Mrs. Johnson preferred to serve it in the morning along with homemade venison sausage.

Now, while it’s typically a savory dish, since strawberries are now in season (at least in Texas—local ones should hopefully arrive in New York City soon), I took Mrs. Johnson’s recipe and added a bit of sugar and strawberries to make a sweet dish instead. And when topped with a dollop of whipped cream and a handful of more strawberries, you have a springtime dessert that, as the name implies, is best eaten with a spoon.



If you’re a fan of cobblers, this dish is for you. While the spoon bread is smooth rather than flaky, as it's made with eggs and cornmeal rather than flour and fat, the interplay of cornmeal with the berries is sweet and satisfying. And in case you’re wondering, this strawberry spoon bread keeps for a day or so in the refrigerator. While it’s best served warm I’ve been known to dip my spoon into it cold, as well.

So even though she's no longer with us, if you try this be sure to say thank you to Mrs. Lady Bird Johnson for all the beauty she gave us, along with her recipes for wonderful Texan food.

Strawberry spoon bread (adapted from Lady Bird Johnson's spoon bread recipe)
Ingredients:
2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and quarterd
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
3 cups whole milk, divided
1 cup cornmeal
3 tablespoons butter
3 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons honey or sorghum syrup

Method:
Sprinkle the strawberries with 1/4 cup of sugar, and leave at room temperature for an hour or until juicy.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a metal bowl in the freezer. In a large cast-iron skillet, on medium heat, stir together 2 cups of milk and the cornmeal and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and stir in the remaining milk and butter. Once the butter has melted, stir in the eggs, baking powder, salt and remaining sugar. Drain the juice from half the berries (reserving the juice by pouring it back into the remaining berries) and stir the strawberries into the spoon bread batter.

Place the skillet into the oven and bake uncovered for 35 minutes or until the bread is set and golden brown. While it cools, whip the heavy cream in the chilled metal bowl with a whisk, eggbeater or electric mixer. Once it’s tripled in size and soft peaks have formed, stir in the honey or sorghum syrup.

Serve the spoon bread warm topped with the remaining strawberries and whipped cream.

Yield: 8 servings

Notes: Taste the berries--if they're especially sweet feel free to cut back on the sugar for the maceration process. Also, if the berries are small, just cut them in half rather than in quarters.

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