Frito Pie season is open

 

    My pantry is telling me it’s Frito Pie season. I love and respect the Texas connection to this delicacy. I don’t often crave Frito Pie, but when I do, it’s in the fall.

    My first encounter with this was the Eugene Field Elementary carnival in Beaumont. It started right after school so I was aloud to attend it alone, with some pocket money. I saw a sign for Frito Pie and imagined it would look like an apple pie, with chips sticking out. Imagine my surprise when someone’s mom ripped open a little bag of Fritos and ladled some chili on top. It was a match.

    Homemade chili is the best and there are all levels of canned chili. This year I went outside the box with Hormel Cilantro Lime. It was a bit watery if you ask me, but the cheese served as a binder and some chopped onions and pickled jalapenos made it alright, alright, alright in Texas. 

How to keep fermented, sharp and growing:

"Do/Ferment/Gut boosters and foods that fizz" - Have you ever even thought of fermenting tomato water? Served a shrub sour? Matthew Pennington and Nicola Cradock are "that couple" that forage about with their lurcher Lint, filling baskets that will later foam and become syrupy blossoms the delight with flavor and gut health. Imagine shelves filled with jars of Swedekrout, Curtido and Peakles. It makes more sense with the book in front of you, but hey, this is like a fairy tale. They lived with better gut function ever after. 

"Do/Maintain: How to sharpen knives, scissors and garden tools" has some handy tips. I have a whetstone from a grandfather who died before I was born. I use it, but never knew it was supposed to be, wet. Gareth Heaton can fill in for the older wise ones may may have never had. Know how to check the burr? Know how to face a serrated blade? How are your loppers holding up? This is a modern take on the how-to books my parents used to rely on. Get sharp with this book.

Got a Garden? – I’ll be dining on the patio as long as the weather allows. Nature is good for digestion. Here are two products helping my garden grow:

Moon Valley Nurseries has ties to League City, and their Moon Juice mixes into a bucket of water to douse your plants. A proprietary blend of amino acids “makes plants happy” as the product helps create a stronger root system, makers say. Go to https://www.moonvalleynurseries.com/products/fertilizer to learn more.

That Yucca Stuff is an eco-friendly soil conditioner that improves soil structure, promoting sustainable growth. Organic yucca extract is key here. Maybe it is like making your soil feel like it is not “old as dirt,” and become rejuvenated. www.thatyuccastuff.com will have one plant making you see other plants in a whole new light.

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie enjoying pumpkin spice season. Reach her via panews@panews.com

Getting 'messy' in The Valley

 

Frito Pie is a Texas classic that never gets old. Your Texas-based Frito bag is slit open on the side and layered with chili, cheese and lots of chopped onions and jalapenos. That’s how my fantasy goes, anyways. This scenario takes me back to the Eugene Field Elementary School carnival. Tastes like fall.

Visiting my husband’s family in the Harlingen area of The Valley yielded a new-to-me treat.

Enter the “Marranada.” In Rio Hondo, Cousin E. directed us to a “hole in the wall” eatery painted bright yellow. Just walk up to the window. The menu is painted on the wall. Cheetos are a favorite of mine, but I went for big, round corn chips this time. The bag, slit on the side, had creamy white cheese and corn ladled onto the chips. Just get a fork and dig in there.

What does this name mean, Cousin said it translates into “messy,” because you can easily drip this goodness all over you. But, YOLO, in The Valley. You Only Live Once, so get messy

 

Icy Donuts – Jennifer Chang Icy Donuts in Groves makes me smile. So does her breakfast eggrolls. This Groves eatery is a popular hit I hope you’ve tried. Ms. Change was discussing her fresh ingredients and how they heat up the sausage to bring out the flavor. She gave me a comment about their business technique and said I could quote her: “We never do lazy.”

Come over for a …. Do you go grilling or to a cookout. Or a barbecue? I read a trend report that found Texas leads in use of the term barbecue. That’s no surprise, but Hawaii came in second with New Mexico and California next. I’d pack up for a barbecue in Hawaii. They grill in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Cookouts are likely in the Carolinas, West Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. It’s all good to me if there’s onions, peppers and pickles set out in each state.

 

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who’d love some barbecued SPAM in Hawaii. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Boss Burger goes for nostalgia, Frito Pie is a Texan thing

 

 Who’s the boss at Boss Burger? Joe Oates and Mary Fuller are owners of the Nederland-based food truck offering burgers made from ribeye and chuck roast. Go on Facebook to find out where they’ll be. Oates said downtown Port Arthur will be getting their flavor often. I had a slider the other day with what I believe fans call bacon-infused sriracha mayo. It all smelled so enticing and I want to head back for the full-on burger.

Oates said he wants to “bring the burger back” to people. He elaborated by saying he wants his customers to be taken back to a burger the enjoyed on the porch as children. He’s after nostalgia.

“I guess I want to hear them say that,” he said.

Do you have a waffle iron?

I do not need the temptation of a waffle iron. Here’s an idea for those of you who do. I recently attended a breakfast buffet where chefs put little rounds of cinnamon rolls into irons and produced a waffle-print delicacy with optional toppings of bourbon syrup, whipped cream and candied pecans. The table was strangely devoid of conversation because diners were so focused on this meal. At one point I was using my bacon strip like a chip to scoop up the fluffy cream.

Frito Pie

Some non-Texans at an event were baffled by Frito bags already opened on a table. They picked them up and they were heavy, with meat and spices. “Tacos in a bag” is what they called them. Bless their hearts. Down here in Texas, Frito Pie is a real thing. It was a pleasure to witness their experience.

darraghcastillo@icloud.com