February 2000 Issue

On the Cover

Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?

You do, right? Joe Jamail, Red McCombs, Mark Cuban, and seven other superrich Texans tell you how.

Features


Gourmet Breakfast

Orange-Glazed MuffinWith a hint or two, you might guess that these decadent orange muffins are made with sour cream. But would you ever imagine that the secret ingredient is olive oil? The flavor doesn’t intrude, it just adds a subtle richness. Recipe from Cipollina, Austin.Smoked-Salmon Omelet with CapersAs long

Feature

Healthful Breakfast

Fruit-and-Nut GranolaNo retro granola, the Houstonian’s classy version updates the multigrain cereal of the sixties with almonds, pistachios, and a medley of dried fruits, including cranberries, currants, and apricots. Recipe from The Houstonian Hotel, Club and Spa, Houston.Scrambled Egg Whites With Shiitake Mushrooms and Roma TomatoesThe surprising thing about

Top of the Morning

Recipes for the state’s best breakfasts, including empanadas from Joe T. Garcia’s Bakery in Fort Worth, smoked-salmon omelets from benjy’s in Houston, and gingerbread pancakes from Austin’s Magnolia Cafe.

Mexican Breakfast

Cinnamon-Pumpkin EmpanadasThe incredibly flaky, yeasty crust of these empanadas is so good—and so easy to make—that you’ll immediately abandon all other recipes. The pumpkin filling, also a breeze, is traditionally Mexican. Recipe from Esperanza’s Cafe (Joe T. Garcia’s Bakery), Fort Worth.Potato Pancakes With Sour Cream-Chipotle SauceMost people look at

Thanks a Million 1999

What do Tom Hicks, Jerry Jones, and Charles Barkley have in common? They’re all good sports — and they were three of Texas’ top philanthropists last year.

Feature

Thanks A Million 1999: $1 Million

BILL AND ANGIE BARRETTDallas, $1 million$1 MILLION to the UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER AT DALLAS to establish the Barrett Family Center for Pediatric Oncology. Mr. Barrett is the chairman of Willow Distributors.LOUIS A. BEECHERL, JR.Dallas, $1 million$1 MILLION to the UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN to fund programs

Feature

Thanks A Million 1999: More than $1 million

FRED THOMSON COUPER AND MARY FRANCES BOWLES COUPERHouston, $10 millionA home, eighteen wooded acres, art, and furniture valued at a total of $10 MILLION to MEMORIAL HERMANN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, in Houston. When the Coupers no longer live in the house, it will be converted into a wellness center. Mrs. Couper

Homey Breakfast

Gingerbread PancakesAsk the folks queued up at the Magnolia Cafe what their favorite breakfast dish is, and nine times out of ten the answer will be gingerbread pancakes. You can put syrup on these fat, fluffy beauties, but they’re great just by themselves. Recipe from Magnolia Cafe, Austin.Buttermilk BiscuitsRolled,

Feature

Thanks A Million 1999: More than $10 million

AUDREY JONES BECKHouston, $80 millionForty-seven Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings valued at an estimated $80 MILLION to the MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON. The paintings, which include works by Cézanne, Monet, and Renoir, have been on display at the museum since 1974 along with 23 others previously donated by Mrs. Beck

This Is living.com?

He’s worth tens of millions of dollars at age 28, but money, as they say, can’t buy happiness: Two weeks in the life of Andrew Busey, dot-com hotshot.

Northern Exposure

With Fort Worth’s Michael Auping as a curator and nine of the state’s artists participating, this year’s Whitney Biennial puts a New York spotlight on the art of Texas.

Columns


The Art Guy

He looks like a cross between Ed Asner and Uncle Charley from My Three Sons, but don’t get Dave Hickey started on the subject of beauty— his own or anyone else’s.

Live and Learn

East Texas native George Dawson couldn’t read until he was 98. Now, at 102, he’s written a memoir. Next up: a high school equivalency diploma—but no driving.

Business

Green Acres

How a retired agribusinessman from Houston is betting the ranch (and the jungles of Mexico) on bamboo.

Crime

Unhappy Trails

Although they hate to let anyone get away with murder, Harris County detectives Harry Fikaris and Roger Wedgeworth are finding that cracking unsolved cases is no easy task.

Reporter


Music Review

One Endless Night

Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s voice reminds me of reading the Bible. The speech is so stilted and hopelessly antiquated, it somehow rings poetic. Since 1991’s groundbreaking After Awhile, though, the voice and the songs seem to have been either muddled in the mix or overwhelmed by bombast passing for production values.

Music Review

Something Happened

Three tracks deep into Something Happened, “Peace of Mind” jolts to a start with a ricochet drum beat. Close behind, electric guitars bleat in accompaniment as Seela begins to sing: “Peace of mind, peace of mind, I’ve been doing fine without you here.” Seemingly nothing special, a simple melody; but

Book Review

Chill Factor

Houstonian Chris Rogers shows more poise and less noise with her third Dixie Flannigan mystery, Chill Factor (Bantam). The story, centered around a group of granny bandits who drop the dishcloth and take up armed bank robbery, tracks well and neatly wraps up with a tight curtain closer. Tough-gal Dixie

Music Review

The Big “D” Jamboree Live, Volumes 1 & 2

From the late forties into the early sixties, the Big “D” Jamboree was Dallas’ answer to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport. Broadcasting live from the Sportatorium on KRLD, the Jamboree was a favored stop for touring stars as well as a launching pad

Music Review

Broke Down

Slaid Cleaves is a craftsman. Broke Down, his second national release, is carved and polished just so, the work of someone who has studied his influences: Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Bruce Springsteen. Lured to Austin from Portland, Maine, a decade ago by the work of Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock,

Artist Interview

Briefly Noted

Little Jack Melody and His Young Turks’ Noise and Smoke (Kilroy), celebrating Texas’ most twisted cabaret act, finally captures the group in its element (i.e., recorded live). . . . Catfish, Carp, and Diamonds: 35 Years of Texas Blues (Catfish), a survey of homegrown sounds recorded by folk scholar Tary

Music Review

Hot CDs

Catfish, Carp, and Diamonds: 35 Years of Texas Blues (Catfish), a survey of homegrown sounds recorded by folk scholar Tary Owens, includes tracks by the Grey Ghost, Mance Lipscomb, and Dave Tippen, an elderly prisoner who delivers a heart-wrenching performance recorded behind prison walls.

Music Review

Hot CDs

Quiero Un Camaro (#3), by Los #3 Dinners, marks the first recording in more than a decade by San Antonio’s loosest garage band.

Music Review

Hot CDs

Mean Gene Kelton’s Most Requested (Avatar) offers fifteen scorching boogie and blues tracks, including the signature “My Baby Don’t Wear No Panties” from the journeyman Houston bar warrior, with his two sons as his rhythm section.

Music Review

Hot CDs

Rob Roy Parnell’s Jacksboro Highway (Blue Rocket) manages to pay righteous homage to jump blues, T-Bone Walker, the Jacksboro Highway, and the Texas roadhouse experience on this eleven-song compilation produced by his brother, Lee Roy.

Book Review

The House of Gentle Men

In this quaintly addictive tale, the house of the title is a sort of anti-bordello for women, where the male residents provide lovelorn ladies not with sex but with solace, sweetness, and romance. The adroitness with which Kathy Hepinstall carries off this surreal premise is all the more impressive given

Book Review

If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates

If the gods hadn’t meant us to laugh, they wouldn’t have given us Jim Hightower. The rabidly populist Austinite (and former Texas ag commissioner) inspires chuckles all around as he champions workaday Americans in If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates (HarperCollins). Needless

Web


Recipe

Orange-Glazed Muffins

Muffins4 eggs 11/2 cups sugar 1/2 cup olive oil zest of 3 oranges 11/2 cups sour cream 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 pound cake flour (about 37/8 cups unsifted cake flour; you may substitute 31/2 cups all-purpose flour, but the texture of the

Recipe

Fruit-and-Nut Granola

Fruit-and-Nut Granola12 ounces plain granola of your choice (about 3 cups) 3 ounces pistachios (about 1/2 cup), roughly chopped 3 ounces slivered almonds (about 1 cup) 1/2 ounce dried apples, diced (about 1/8 cup) 1/2 ounce dried apricots, diced (about 1/8 cup) 1/2 ounce dried papaya, diced (about 1/8 cup)

Potato Pancakes With Sour Creamy Chipotle Sauce
Recipe

Potato Pancakes With Sour Creamy Chipotle Sauce

Sauce2 teaspoons prepared chipotle sauce 1/3 cup sour cream (low-fat if desired) 1 tablespoon milk 1 tablespoon chopped chives (optional)Whisk ingredients together. Warm in a pan or microwave oven before serving.Potato Pancakes2 3/4 pounds unpeeled red potatoes 4 large eggs, lightly beaten 4 tablespoons flour 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots

Recipe

Cinnamon-Pumpkin Empanadas

Pumpkin Filling1 15-ounce can pumpkin 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional) 1/4 teaspoon ginger (optional) 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)Mix ingredients together and set aside.Empanada Dough1/3 cup water 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon salt 2 1/4-ounce packages dry yeast (41/2 teaspoons) 1/8 teaspoon baking powder

Recipe

Fresh Fruit With Mint-Yogurt Dressing

Recipe from Bistral, DallasDressing1 cup plain yogurt (low-fat if desired) 1/2 cup sour cream (low-fat if desired) 2 to 4 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint 1 tablespoon lemon juiceMix all ingredients together.Fresh Fruit1 cup halved green grapes 1 cup diced cantaloupe 1 cup diced pineapple 1 cup quartered

Recipe

American Beauty Cake

Flourless Chocolate Cake12 ounces European or other good-quality dark chocolate 2 sticks unsalted butter 6 eggs 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons dark rum 1 tablespoon vanilla extractNote: You will need 4 four-inch heart-shaped pans or 1 nine-inch round or heart-shaped pan, greased and lined with parchment paper.Preheat oven to 350

Cottage Potatoes
Recipe

Cottage Potatoes

2 pounds unpeeled Idaho potatoes, cut in 3/4-inch cubes 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 tablespoon butter 1 cup chopped bell peppers, green, red, or yellow 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon seasoned salt (such as Lawry’s) 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper Tabasco sauce to taste (optional) 3/4 cup grated

Recipe

Chocolate-Chunk Pancakes

2 eggs, separated 21/2 cups milk 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted 2 cups all-purpose flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 4 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup European or other high-quality dark chocolate, cut or broken into chunks a little larger than a chocolate chip.Beat egg whites until

Recipe

Chilaquiles With Queso Fresco

1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husks removed 1 serrano chile (about 1/2 ounce), stem removed 3 small garlic cloves (about 1/4 ounce) 2 large stems fresh epazote (leaves only), available in ethnic markets and well-stocked supermarkets 1/4 cup safflower or other light vegetable oil 10 stale corn tortillas (about 6

Recipe

Buttermilk Biscuits

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 4 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut in small pieces 2 cups buttermilkPreheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together. Cut butter into dry ingredients until consistency of coarse

Recipe

Gingerbread Pancakes

3 eggs 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup brewed coffee 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cloves 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1 tablespoon ginger 1 tablespoon nutmeg 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, meltedCream eggs

Recipe

Scrambled Egg Whites With Shiitake Mushrooms and Roma Tomatoes Beau

Mushroom-Tomato Side Dishsalt and pepper to taste 8 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, thinly sliced or cut in 1/2-inch dice (other flavorful mushrooms may be substituted) 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 Roma tomatoesSalt and pepper mushrooms. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat and cook mushrooms until lightly

Recipe

Egg in a Hole

1 thick slice good-quality bread, your choice 1 pat butter, melted 1 eggBrush bread with melted butter on both sides and cut a hole about 2 1/2 inches in diameter in the center of each slice. Put the bread in a large skillet over medium heat, break an

Miscellany


About Faces

In these days of online overkill, it’s rare for someone not to be plugged into a computer, particularly someone who works for magazines and newspapers. This month we welcome a newcomer to the world of high technology: Dallas illustrator Dorit Rabinovitch. A veteran artist who usually does her color work

Around the State

Around the State

San Antonio's Carver Center builds for the future with groundbreaking productions. Plus: A picture-perfect exhibit opens at the Dallas Museum of Art; celebrities open the book on Texas letters in Dallas; a capital gang heads to Odessa; and a music symposium composes itself in Georgetown.

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