From an early age, Chef Adán Medrano understood the power of cooking to enthrall, to grant artistic agency, and to solidify identity as well as succor and hospitality. In this second cookbook, he documents and explains native ingredients, traditional techniques, and innovations in casero (home-style) Mexican American cooking in Texas. “Don’t Count the Tortillas” offers over 100 kitchen-tested recipes, including newly created dishes that illustrate what is trending in homes and restaurants across Texas. Each recipe is followed by clear, step-by-step instructions, explanation of cooking techniques, and description of the dishes’ cultural context. Dozens of color photographs round out Chef Medrano’s encompassing of a rich indigenous history that turns on family and, more widely, on community—one bound by shared memories of the art that this book honors.

In his pursuit of Texas terroir, the sense of place manifest in Texas wine country’s sun-baked soils, variable climate, and human intervention, Russell Kane has traveled the state tasting wine, interviewing...

Texans love to eat, and one dish they can’t get enough of is chili—so much so that chili con carne is Texas’s state meal. This seemingly simple staple of Texan identity proves to be anything but,...

Over thousands of years, Native Americans in what is now Texas passed down their ways of roasting, boiling, steaming, salting, drying, grinding, and blending. From one generation to another, these ancestors...

The Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company of West Texas had already established a reputation for the high quality of its cattle and horses when D and Mamie Burns arrived on the ranch in 1942. D became the fifth manager of the ranch’s vast holdings, and Mamie took over management of the ranch’s Big House, including the feeding and entertaining of many guests who arrived there to conduct business or simply unwind. The recipes and reminiscences in Mamie’s notes, reproduced in this book, show that she certainly enjoyed setting a bountiful table. Although she tells us, “On the Ranch I cooked more and enjoyed it less than anyone alive, I guess,” her recipes, and her comments on the life of the ranch, show her enthusiasm for preparing wonderful food to enjoy with treasured friends, family, and ranch visitors. This book will give you a taste of her special dishes, as well...

Welcome to the world of Texas ranching, where “come ’n’ get it” is the national anthem, the kitchen is the most important room in the house, meals become staff meetings, and the cook is a treasured member of the outfit. After all, hungry cowboys need hearty, hot meals that'll stretch the buttons on their Levi’s to keep them going. A Taste of Texas Ranching takes readers to more than thirty ranches in the Lone Star State and introduces them to the cook at each one. Not only do these talented souls share their best recipes (including buttermilk pie and West Texas chili), they offer colorful viewpoints of life on the range and spin a yarn or two. A cookbook, history book, geography book, story book, and a book about western America, A Taste of Texas Ranching serves up a slice of life along with a piece of the pie.