Saturday, December 10, 2011

Lisa Fain - The Homesick Texan Cookbook

Imagine hot cheesy enchiladas topped with spicy beef chili, sprinkled with chopped onions. Now think of strips of fried tortillas cooked with an ancho and tomatillo salsa and scrambled eggs. How about corn chowder with roasted jalape?os and bacon? Now finish with a little peach cobbler or pecan coffee cake. Do I have your attention yet?

Good.

Because if you love these flavors as much as I do, you need to get yourself a copy of Lisa Fain's The Homesick Texan Cookbook. Do you know Lisa Fain? A 7th-generation Texan transplanted to New York City, Lisa writes the popular Homesick Texan food blog. Lisa has been delighting us for years with homespun stories of her upbringing in Texas, favorite Texas recipes, and beautiful photography. Now she's created a gem of a book, putting into print what we've so come to love through her blog.

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Lisa's carne guisada, a Tex-Mex beef stew

Paging through the cookbook, practically every recipe is one that jumps out at me to make. Oh, I wanna make that. Oh this one too. Oh, that one looks good. Chicken-fried steak. Biscuits and gravy. Chile con queso. When I saw Lisa's recipe for Carne Guisada, a Tex-Mex beef stew, I had to make it. Best. Taco. Meat. Ever. Thank goodness there are plenty of big appetites around here or I would be tempted to eat the entire batch myself.

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Lisa's Texas Caviar, a salad made with black-eyed peas, cilantro, green onions, bell pepper, and tomatoes, is supposed to chill for several hours before serving, to let the flavors blend. Hah! Most of it never made it past the half hour.

If you check out the "Click to Look Inside" feature on the book photo on Amazon.com you'll find previews of many pages from the book, including a complete table of contents and index. One of the most useful features of the book actually is the first chapter on ingredients, where Lisa describes the different types of chiles, herbs, and equipment she uses to make the recipes.

If you are searching for a cookbook for a chili, or chile, loving friend, consider this book. Even if you aren't from Texas, Lisa Fain's The Homesick Texan Cookbook will leave you wishing you were.


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