Texas League Crawfish Dip
Football is such a mania in Texas, you might not know that baseball was the state's first professional team sport and a source of considerable pride in the past. We named this dip not for the tepid Texas League of today but for its mighty predecessor of the early twentieth century, when the stars included Tris Speaker, Rogers Hornsby, Dizzy Dean, Carl Hubbell, and Hank Greenberg. Those fellows could cook crawdad tails with anyone.
½ cup sour cream
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons chopped tomato
3 tablespoons chopped celery
3 tablespoons minced onion
2 garlic cloves, roasted ([>]) and minced
½ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon cayenne
½ pound cooked crawfish tails, chopped
Makes about 2½ cups dip
Mix all the ingredients except the crawfish in a medium bowl until they are well combined. Fold in the crawfish. Cover the bowl, and chill the dip at least 1 hour.
Serve this dip with crackers or small slices of bread, or scoop it up with celery sticks.
George Bush Dunk
If you think George Bush was full of bunk about broccoli, dunk it to him in this savory sausage-and-broccoli blend.
½ pound spicy bulk breakfast sausage
¾ pound fresh broccoli, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1½ tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
Salt to taste
Makes about 3 cups dunk
Brown the sausage in a skillet over medium heat. Drain off any accumulated fat, and transfer the sausage to a dish. Set the dish aside.
Steam the broccoli in a saucepan until it is tender but not mushy. Rinse it under cold water, so that it keeps its bright color, drain it, and set it aside with the sausage.
In the skillet used for the sausage, melt the butter over low heat. Sprinkle in the flour, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring continuously. Pour in the milk slowly, stirring to keep the sauce smooth.
Add the sausage and broccoli, and heat through. Taste, and add as much salt as you like. Thin the mixture with a little milk if it seems overly stiff.
Serve the dunk in a chafing dish or heatproof bowl on a warming tray. It's best with those Texas chips, Fritos, in the size made for dipping.
* * *
Tris Speaker (lifetime batting average of .344) and Rogers Hornsby (the highest average in National League history—.358) not only starred in the Texas League but also came from the state. Other native baseball greats include Ernie Banks, Frank Robinson, and Nolan Ryan.
* * *
* * *
Bush's favorite game, golf, has always been big in Texas. In addition to the incomparable Babe Zaharias, pro stars from the state include four other LPGA Hall of Famers, Ben Hogan, and Lee Trevino.
* * *
Tequila-Almond Dunk for Fruit
This is the most healthful tequila cocktail you'll find at a Texas party, particularly if you substitute yogurt for half of the sour cream.
2 cups sour cream
¼ cup ground toasted almonds
3 tablespoons tequila, preferably gold
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dark brown sugar, or more, to taste
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon minced orange zest
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon minced lime zest
Makes about 2½ cups dunk
Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Cover the mixture and chill it, preferably overnight.
Serve the dunk with fruit such as seedless grapes and pear slices (dipped in lemon juice) during football season, and strawberries, pitted cherries, or chunked melon, piled high, for a cooling summer treat. The dunk can also be thinned with milk and served as a dressing over fruit.
* * *
If you're cooking for dieting players or cheerleaders, check out Mrs. Ida Chitwood's Choice Recipes, Food Charts and Reducing Methods, published in Fort Worth in 1927. Mrs. Chitwood says the first step in losing weight is to shrink the stomach by eating nothing for nine days except either three grapefruit or four half-pint glasses of buttermilk daily. You can continue eating grapefruit afterward, but not buttermilk because it becomes fattening, she says, when consumed with solid food.
* * *
Spicy Apple Dip
Apple and spice go nice with both fruit and chips.
1¼ cups ranch dressing, homemade ([>]) or store-bought
1 Granny Smith or other tart apple, chopped fine
1
to
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground mace
Makes approximately 2 cups dip
Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Cover the dip, and chill it at least 1 hour. Serve this dip with Rangerette Sweet Potato Chips ([>]), wheat crackers, or apple and pear slices dipped in diluted lemon juice.
Beer Cheese
The Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner Texas, came up with this long-lasting, make-ahead spread. Pack it, if you like, in several small containers so that you can pull out a fresh one when unexpected guests arrive.
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated
½ cup beer
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons minced onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
Makes about 2½ cups spread
Mix all the ingredients together in a food processor or mixer. Pack the cheese into crocks or a bowl, and cover tightly.
The cheese is best after at least a day's mellowing, and it keeps for a couple of weeks. Serve it with crackers or bread.
* * *
Wonder what they would have called their high school teams in these old, defunct Texas towns: Cream, Pancake, Bacon, Onion, Okra, and Bean Creek?
* * *
Pimiento Cheese
As popular in Texas as peanut butter, pimiento cheese is best, we think, when it's not as sweet as the commercial versions. If your childhood memories insist on extra sugar, add another spoonful of pickle relish.
1 pound medium cheddar cheese
½ cup mayonnaise
4 ounces (about ¼ cup) pimientos with juice
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
2 teaspoons minced onion
Makes about 3 cups spread
In a food processor, grate the cheese. Add the rest of the ingredients, and process until the mixture becomes a smooth purée. Pack the mixture in a bowl, and refrigerate the bowl, covered, for at least 30 minutes.
Pimiento cheese keeps up to 5 days. Serve it with crackers or the favorite white bread from your childhood.
Variation: For a spicy pimiento cheese, use our Hellish Sweet Relish ([>]) in place of the regular sweet relish, or add 1 tablespoon, more or less, of minced pickled jalapeños to the cheese mixture before processing it.
* * *
Technique Tip
Tailgate parties in a stadium parking lot are as treasured a tradition in Texas as football itself. Most of the morsels in this chapter are ideal for the occasion, but keep a few general strategies in mind:
Take foods that are not only easily transported but also easy to eat. Limit silverware to one fork per person.
Wrap hot foods in layers of foil surrounded by newspaper.
The best desserts are sheet cakes in covered pans, cookies, and brownies.
Pack some wet cloth wipes for hands and plastic trash bags to simplify the cleanup.
* * *
Jezebel Sauce and Cream Cheese
You can fix this treat faster than Coach Darrell Royal snapped up three hundred-pound recru
its for the University of Texas. Some versions of this sauce—sometimes referred to as Jeff Davis sauce—are more potent than this one, but you can increase the firepower easily by adding an extra tablespoon of horseradish.
SAUCE
1 cup orange marmalade or peach or apricot preserves, or a combination
⅔ cup apple jelly
5 tablespoons Creole mustard or prepared brown mustard
¼ cup prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon coarse-ground black pepper
1 pound cream cheese
Makes about 2 cups sauce
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, and mix well. Refrigerate for a day or two for the best flavor, although the sauce is tasty from the start. It keeps indefinitely.
Serve the sauce over the cream cheese. We use about a cup with 8 ounces of cheese. Accompany with crackers.
Jezebel sauce enhances smoked meats, too. We especially like mini-sandwiches of turkey or ham with sharp cheddar on split biscuits topped with a dollop of the sauce.
* * *
Technique Tip
If you don't want to make your own Jezebel Sauce, Tastes of the Southwest in Tyler and New Canaan Farms in Dripping Springs make excellent commercial versions. Both are listed in "Mail-Order Sources" ([>]).
* * *
* * *
See "Country Canning" ([>]) for more ideas on pickles, relishes, and other condiments to complement your munchies.
* * *
Smoked Catfish Spread
You can find the smoked catfish needed for this spread in many supermarkets, but in most cases you can get better versions by mail (see "Mail-Order Sources," [>]).
8 ounces smoked catfish fillet, broken into small pieces
4 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1
to
1½ tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons minced onion
1½ teaspoons brandy
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
Makes approximately 2 cups spread
Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or mixer, and mix well. Pack the mixture into a small serving bowl, and refrigerate the mixture, covered, at least 30 minutes and as long as 48 hours.
Serve the spread with crackers or bread.
* * *
At Texas Christian University, they call their team mascot the horned frog, but everyone else in the state knows the little critter as a horny toad. Actually a lizard, the animal has been around Texas for eons and once was as popular a curiosity as the armadillo is today.
* * *
Devilish Eggs
Deviled eggs are as popular in Texas as a Cowboys cheerleader who's buying a round at a honky tonk.
12 hard-boiled eggs, shelled
2 tablespoons Hellish Sweet Relish ([>]) or commercial sweet pickle relish mixed with minced pickled jalapeño to taste
2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 tablespoon minced celery
½ teaspoon paprika, plus more for garnish
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream or additional mayonnaise
¼
to
½ teaspoon salt, to taste
Additional parsley, optional, for garnish
Halve the eggs lengthwise. Remove the yolks, and place them in a bowl. Using a fork or your fingers, crumble the yolks. Add the relish, mustard, parsley, onion, celery, and paprika, mixing lightly. Stir in the mayonnaise and sour cream, a few tablespoons at a time, checking the consistency before committing yourself to the full amount of either. Taste the yolk mixture, and add salt and more of anything you especially like.
Spoon, or pipe with a pastry tube, the yolk mixture into the egg whites. Sprinkle the eggs generously with more paprika. Place them on a serving tray with egg-shaped indentations, or on a regular plate with a bed of parsley to keep the eggs from sliding around. Refrigerate the eggs, covered, until just before serving time.
* * *
Deviled eggs have been a Texas favorite for many years. The Houston Presbyterian Ladies, who authored the first known Texas cookbook back in 1883, included three different recipes for what they called "stuffed" eggs.
* * *
Bacon-Wrapped Watermelon Pickles
These are as simple as they are scrumptious.
Slices of slab bacon, cut into thirds
Watermelon pickles, homemade ([>]) or store-bought
Preheat the oven to 400° F.
Wrap a slice of watermelon pickle in a piece of bacon and secure the bacon with a toothpick. Repeat with as many pickles and bacon slices as you like. Bake 13 to 15 minutes, until the bacon is brown and crisp. Drain, and serve.
* * *
Pete Gent, the author of North Dallas Forty and a former Dallas Cowboy, once told a rookie skimming the team play book, "Don't bother reading it, kid; everybody gets killed at the end."
* * *
Venison Meatballs
Who wants to eat Swedish meatballs during a game when you can have some real game?
SAUCE
1 1-pound can cranberry sauce
½ cup chili sauce, preferably homemade ([>])
⅓ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons dried cranberries, optional
1 tablespoon Pickapeppa or Jardine's Texapeppa Sauce (see "Mail-Order Sources," [>])
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
MEATBALLS
1½ pounds ground venison
½ pound ground pork
¾ cup dry bread crumbs
½ cup sliced green onion
¼ cup minced parsley
3 tablespoons Pickapeppa or Jardine's Texapeppa Sauce
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 egg
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
Oil, preferably peanut, for frying
Makes about 3 dozen meatballs
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a heavy saucepan, and simmer over low heat 30 minutes. Add water if the sauce becomes overly thick. Keep the sauce warm.
Place all the meatball ingredients in a bowl, and mix well. You can use a spoon, but we prefer to do this with our hands. Form the mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter.
Pour a thick film of oil into a heavy skillet, and warm the oil over medium heat. Fry the meatballs until they are lightly browned, in batches to avoid overcrowding. Since venison can dry out quickly, you may want to fry a test meatball to make sure your timing is correct.
Combine the meatballs and any pan drippings with the warm sauce.
Serve the meatballs hot, with toothpicks.
Wing Dings
The citizens of Buffalo should be begging for chicken wings as saucy and sassy as these.
SAUCE
1 cup beer
¼ cup unsulphured dark molasses
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1½ tablespoons chili powder, preferably homemade ([>]) or Gebhardt's
Juice of 1 medium lime
½ teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon anise seeds, toasted and ground
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ dozen chicken wings
Makes 3 dozen pieces
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a large baking pan or dish.
Combine the sauce ingredients in a large, heavy pan. Simmer them over medium heat 15 to 20 minutes, until they have reduced to a thick sauce.
While the sauce simmers, prepare the chicken wings. With a cleaver or butcher knife, remove the wing tips. Then cut each wing in half at the joint.
Add the wings to the sauce, and stir to coat them. Ladle the wings and the sauce into the baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes
, then stir the wings in the sauce. Turn the heat up to 425° F, and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the sauce glazes the wings.
Serve the wings hot.
* * *
University of Texas students sing "The Eyes of Texas" at football games as though it's a hymn, but actually the song originated as a prank. An early president of the university liked to admonish students to remember always that "the eyes of Texas are upon you." In 1903, as part of a minstrel show, an undergraduate mocked the phrase by setting it to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad."
* * *
Texas Home Cooking Page 45