November 2001
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Features
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Tortilla Factories
In April 2001, Texas Monthly ran a feature on tortillas, including a list of local factories in selected cities in Texas where you can buy freshly prepared masa for making tortillas or tamales. Here is an updated list of the factories that were still open for business in November 2001. In Texas cities with large …
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Shipping News: The Best Mail-Order Tamales
Every November and December, the phone calls and e-mails pour into my office: “Where can I order tamales to be shipped to friends?” Here are the best of the companies I’ve ordered from. Each one prices its shipping differently, but overnight delivery runs at least $20 whether you order one dozen or several dozen tamales, …
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Shelf Help: The Best Store-Bought Brands
Watching tamales being mass produced is a bit like watching sausage being made: it takes the romance out of the process, to say the least. Once you’ve seen the two huge drums mixing the masa and tumbling the mechanically shredded meat—and the extruders ejecting one never-ending tamale from two concentric pipes—you understand why most commercial …
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How Good Is Your Kid’s School?
Find out in our rankings of nearly every public elementary, middle, and high school in Texas–the most comprehensive and accurate ever done in the state.
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How Enron Blew It
The Houston-based energy giant put the pursuit of profits ahead of all other corporate goals, which fostered a climate of workaholism and paranoia. And that was only part of the problem.
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Texas Ranges
In an excerpt from their forthcoming book, Texas Mountains, senior editor Joe Nick Patoski and freelance photographer Laurence Parent celebrate the wild beauty of the state’s sierras.
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Tony Sanchez’s New Deal
The 58-year-old banker and oilman from Laredo is enormously wealthy, has impeccable Texas roots, and–best of all–is Hispanic. Sounds like the Democrats’ dream candidate, right? Maybe.
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The Shuck Stops Here
Whether you plan to buy tamales or make them from scratch this holiday season, here’s everything you need to know about these simple (and simply delicious) gift-wrapped treats.
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Around the State
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Tune In
DEEP SINGING The Dallas Opera premieres popular composer Tobias Picker’s new English-language adaptation of Emile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin this month, and it will sizzle. Picker, who gained a Texas following with such haunting pieces as Old and Lost Rivers and The Encantadas while serving from 1985 to 1990 as composer-in-residence with the Houston Symphony, says …
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Straight Talk
HOLD ON, MR. EX-RESIDENT ABC News veteran Sam Donaldson will be the grand marshal in the Las Palmas Del Sol Sun Bowl Parade in El Paso November 22. Have you been the grand marshal of an El Paso parade before? No, this is a high honor. Let me tell you something. I was raised on …
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Sports
THE CHAMP The Cowboys’ stock may be down (okay, it’s Black Tuesday down), the Rangers may be struggling (okay, struggling like a beached whale), but at least we can brag on the Astros, who at press time were in the thick of the pennant race. Home team or not, though, Texans always enjoy the chance …
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Columns
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The Plot Sickens
Sandra Brown’s latest novel-and her umpteenth best-seller-is called Envy. Funny, that’s the last feeling I get when I read her work.
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My Grief, and Ours
When I lost my father to cancer this summer, the greatest comfort I found was in understanding how to grieve. That came in handy on September 11.
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Less Is Moore
For almost four decades, G. A. Moore, Jr. has quietly gone about becoming the greatest high school football coach in Texas history.
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Dreade Locke
Russell Erxleben and Brian Russell Stearns were first-rate frauds who cheated scores of unsuspecting investors. So how did the prominent law firm of Locke, Liddell, and Sapp get stuck footing a $30 million bill?
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A Report Card
Why principals matter.
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Distress Signal
San Antonio’s Clear Channel Communications may dominate Texas’ airways, but the way it does business is tuning out to the best things on the radio.
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Cocina Confidential
What did I do when I wanted to indulge my weakness for cooking classes? I put San Miguel de Allende on the menu.
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Reporter
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Keith Graves
Keith Graves draws from the experience of his projects.
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My September 11
Dan Rather reflects on the attack at the World Trade Center.
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Playing Around
Michael Hall riffs about his rock n’ roll days.
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Web
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Spaghetti alle Vongole
This is Ferré’s version of the classic Italian recipe for spaghetti with clams in white-wine-and-garlic sauce.
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Texas Tidbits
Instead of simply decorating your tree this holiday season, select your own at one of the many tree farms around the stateand if you’re really in the spirit, cut it down yourself too.
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Happy Trails
Spend a fabulous weekend in Austin without going near a tourist trap.
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Books That Cook
Cooking Fearlessly
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“The Count’s Soup”
This excellent recipe for a classy black-bean soup has cognac to give it an extra flavor dimension. Crema Conde (The Count’s Soup) 2 cups cooked black beans (Bush’s brand black beans are good if you’re not up to cooking beans from scratch) 4 small tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped 1 small garlic clove, mashed …
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Tall Tales
Photographer Laurence Parent and senior editor Joe Nick Patoski talk about climbing, the best shot, and their new book, Texas Mountains.
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Report Card
Executive editor S. C. Gwynne tells the story behind this month’s cover story, “How Good Is Your Kid’s School?”
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Chiles in Walnut Cream Sauce
This dish, served in the fall when a fresh crop of walnuts has just come in, makes a spectacular display with its colors of the Mexican flag: red, white, and green. Chiles en Nogada (Chiles in Walnut Cream Sauce) Walnut Cream Sauce 1 cup cream 1/2 cup queso fresco or mild feta cheese 1 to …
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Cool It
Looking at the notes I took at Ferré in Dallas, I seem to have written the word “cool” a lot. The decor at this new uptown spot mixes a cool, contemporary loft look and angular motifs from the thirties through the fifties (the light fixtures look as if they came from a Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers …
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Red Pepper Salsa for Tamales
This recipe was made to go with the corn-and-poblano tamales from Hot Damn, Tamales!, Fort Worth. But it’s a good salsa for many purposes, and a pretty one too. 20 Roma tomatoes 2 cloves garlic, peeled 5 red bell peppers, roasted, seeded, and skinned 4 ounces canned chipotles in adobo sauce (or more or less …
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Corn Poblano Tamales
Masa 2 cups (1 pound) chilled lard or vegetable shortening 6 cups dried masa harina for tamales 2 tablespoons ground red chile 2 teaspoons cumin 2 tablespoons baking powder 3 tablespoons kosher salt 3 to 3 1/2 cups warm water or chicken stock, and a few tablespoons more if needed Using an electric mixer, beat …
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Roasted Corn Tamales
These polenta-like tamales are a specialty of Cafe Annie’s. 2 cups fresh yellow corn kernels (about 4 ears) 2 cups (1 pound) masa harina for tamales 2 cups (1 pound) stone-ground white grits 1 generous tablespoon salt 1 stick (1/4 pound) butter at room temperature 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) lard at room temperature 1 …
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Cranberry and Pecan Tamales
The filling for these sweet holiday tamales is mixed right in with the dough. 1/2 cup chilled butter 1/2 cup chilled lard or vegetable shortening 4 cups (2 pounds) dried masa harina for tamales 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 3/4 teaspoons salt 1 cup brown sugar 2 cups dried cranberries 1 cup chopped pecans …
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Cucumber Soup
This easy soup can be prepared in about ten minutes flat, not counting the chilling time. Sopa de Pepino (Cucumber Soup) 4 cucumbers, peeled and diced 1/4 white onion, peeled and diced 1 garlic clove, peeled and diced 1 1/2 cups milk 1/4 teaspoon salt pepper to taste fresh mint or parsley (for garnish) Note: …
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Texas History 101
For Prairie View A&M University, diversity has always been a top priority.
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Ghost Town
South Padre Island has changed since part of the Queen Isabella Causeway collapsed. The beach is deserted, hotels have shut down, and commuting is a pain.
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Savory Cheese and Pumpkin-Seed Shortbread Cookies
These nutty, unsweet cheese cookies make a great hors d’oeuvre. Galletas con Queso y Pepitas (Savory Cheese and Pumpkin- Seed Shortbread Cookies) 2 cups flour 2 sticks (1 cup) cold butter, cut into small pieces 2 cups (about 1/2 pound) grated mild cheddar or yellow cheese; the original recipe calls for manchego) 1/4 teaspoon cayenne …
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Pork and Raisin Tamales
Raisins give these classic pork tamales a touch of sweetness. Pork Filling 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut in 1-inch chunks 8 large or 10 medium ancho chiles, enough to make 3/4 cup purée 2/3 cup (5 ounces) lard 1 tablespoon salt 3 tablespoons cumin 1 tablespoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon black pepper 1 tablespoon …
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Chocolate Chile Mole Brownies
This recipe does not actually contain mole sauce but does have ingredients that are typical of mole, namely chocolate, chiles, sesame seeds, and nuts. Don’t worry: These chewy, almost caramel-like brownies are not hot, just cinnamony and interesting. 1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted 4 ounces good quality unsweetened chocolate 4 ounces butter 2 large eggs …
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Miscellany
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Deep Singing
DEEP SINGING The Dallas Opera premieres popular composer Tobias Picker’s new English-language adaptation of Emile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin this month, and it will sizzle. Picker, who gained a Texas following with such haunting pieces as Old and Lost Rivers and The Encantadas while serving from 1985 to 1990 as composer-in-residence with the Houston Symphony, says …
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Straight Talk
HOLD ON, MR. EX-RESIDENT ABC News veteran Sam Donaldson will be the grand marshal in the Las Palmas Del Sol Sun Bowl Parade in El Paso November 22. Have you been the grand marshal of an El Paso parade before? No, this is a high honor. Let me tell you something. I was raised on …
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Sports
THE CHAMP The Cowboys’ stock may be down (okay, it’s Black Tuesday down), the Rangers may be struggling (okay, struggling like a beached whale), but at least we can brag on the Astros, who at press time were in the thick of the pennant race. Home team or not, though, Texans always enjoy the chance …
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A Great Weekend
REMEMBER THE ALAMO CITY In San Antonio a prima ballerina takes the stage and beginner mariachis meet their masters November 16-18. But there’s more. Your weekend itinerary: Friday morning after ten o’clock, wander through the McNay Art Museum’s recently refurbished mansion and see “Corot to Picasso: European Masterworks From the Smith College Museum of Art.” …
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Hail to the Kinkster
George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and me.
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