The Heart Of Texas

Pecan Pie has been one of the defining foods from Southeast Texas all my life.  One of my culinary heroes has made many millions on his definition of pecan pie.  Through the years his pecan pie has dominated the culinary world.  People from around the globe order his pies on an annual basis to consume and to give as gifts.  I'm proud to say I was acquainted with the man.  However, I am also a purist and his pies have artificial corn sweeteners and I can't abide by that!  No way!  If the recipe calls for Karo Syrup throw it in the trash! Well, that would be rude, so understand in the back of your mind it could be far better! My pecan pie recipe is all organic and it is the most flavorful pecan pie ever!  I know, I've tried them all.  That and there are a few proprietary ingredients only the most delicate of palates could decipher. Sweet, but not overly-sweet.  Fresh organic Brazos River bottom pecans lightly toasted in a black iron skillet.  A crust of nothing more th

Crawfish Pie I like to use southeast Texas crawfish when they are available.  The next best thing are Lousiana crawfish.  Although I have used the Chinese imported crawfish many times to make etouffee and gumbo.  It just doesn't feel right!  I got the urge for a crawfish pie the other day and I bought 2lbs of crawfish tails.  It turned out real good.  Here are the ingredients - 2 lbs southeast Texas crawfish tail meat (tastes better than LA) ~ :o) 2 medium 10/15 onions 2 bell peppers with the skin removed (blister method) 6 stalks of celery 5 carrots chopped 3 green onion stalks 1 cup of okra 1 T black pepper 1/2 T pink Himalayan sea salt 2 T thyme 5 cloves of garlic 3 T extra virgin olive oil cayenne pepper to taste Pie Crust 4 cups of sifted flour (I like to grind my own summer wheat berries) 8 ozs butter 1 cup of water +- 2 t pink Himalayan sea salt I use a #12 black iron skillet and it works perfect.

After experimenting with various flavors and methods the following is my conclusion to a very flavorful base mayonnaise.  Adding ingredients such as  Sriracha adds a bit of color and fire.  Homemade mayo is very easy and well worth the effort. Ingredients: 1/2 T pink Himalayan sea salt 1/2 T granulated onion 1/2 T granulated garlic 1/2 T ground yellow mustard seed 2 T apple cider vinegar The juice of 1 lime 3 C avocado oil 2 large eggs Method: Add all ingredients except to oil to a wide mouth quart Mason jar.  I use a submersible blender and I mix the ingredients.  I then continuously run the blender while I relatively slowly add the avocado oil.  I fill up the Mason jar as much as possible without making a mess.  I blend well and then I refrigerate.  The flavor is excellent!

Boiling crawfish is an annual springtime event in our family.  Typically, we buy a 35# sack of crawfish on a Saturday morning and boil them in the afternoon.  Farm raised crawfish are delicious, but the wild crawfish are far and away better!  Living in Southeast Texas has its advantages and crawfish is definitely one of them! Through the years, I have had the advantage of connections in the crawfish world.  As a kid we seined ponds and creeks for crawfish.  In the 80's we bought fresh wild crawfish for $25 per 35# sack.  My brother in law is in the freight forwarding business and we would give him an offshore cooler and he would put it on the truck.  The truck driver, as a favor to my brother in law, would stop in Crowley, Louisiana and pick up wild crawfish at cost!  We did this dozens of times and I had no idea, how lucky we were! Over the past 20 years crawfish have become Lobsters of the Bayou!  Last weekend I picked up a sack for $2.48 per pound.  Still a bargain i

Paul Prudhomme popularized the blackening process.  The process of heating a black iron skillet to very hot and quickly cooking meat coated with his signature spices most of the time with butter.  The theory was the thick coating of spices would quickly caramelize protecting the meat and creating a delicious outer crust.  I have been blackening both fish and meat for many years.  I always blacken meats outdoors because of the huge smoke cloud the process created.  Recently I ordered blackened beef tenderloin at Prudhomme's restaurant, K-Pauls', in New Orleans and it was delicious! The spice mixture I used on the steaks pictured was as follows:  granulated garlic, granulated onion, freshly ground tellicherry pepper corns and pink Himalayan sea salt.  I used about 1/3 of a stick of Kerrigold butter.  Enjoy!