SHOW & RECIPE FOR OCT. 20

COWBOY MAGIC WITH BEEF
In cowboy-crazed Abilene (in fact, in the tiny village of Buffalo Gap just outside it), Tom Perini has been cooking true to his roots as long as anybody can remember. And in addition to his destination Perini Ranch Steakhouse – a “real joint,” he calls it - Tom has a peculiar habit of catering dinner parties as far away as Washington and even in Europe. We sit down with this master of the modern chuckwagon and hear all about what it takes to cook Texas food both downhome and a few thousand miles removed from it.

NEW BOOK OF VINEYARD CUISINE
Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo have been two of the icons of the Texas wine industry from the beginning. Their Messina Hof label (the name combines their family hometowns in Sicily and Germany) is likely to show up in any setting that welcomes wine from the Lone Star State – and to hear Paul and Merrill tell it, there’s more such settings all the time. In today’s Grape and Grain segment, they report not only on the state of Texas wines but on their brand-new cookbook from Bright Sky Press.

ONLY IN AMERICA
Around Texas towns like Albany and Abilene, there is the standard-issue presumption of a rugged all-Americanism going back generations. Indeed, several local ranch family histories show precisely that. But one of the area’s most beloved restaurant families actually left Iran when the Ayatollah-types took over and started on the long road to – well, West Texas. Today, two generations of the Esfandiarys cook and serve some of the best chicken fried steak and all its culinary kin you’ll ever lift to your lips.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipes…
BRISKET-STUFFED 1015 ONIONS

10 large Texas 1015 onions
1 pound smoked beef brisket, shredded
½ teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon sage
½ teaspoon ground red pepper
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs

Peel the onions and boil in salted water about 10 minutes, then drain reserving the water. Cut the centers from the onions to create shells. Heat the shredded brisket in a sauté pan, adding the garlic and seasonings. Stir over medium heat about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the bread crumbs. Spoon the brisket stuffing into the onions and set in a shallow baking dish. Add enough of the reserved onion water to cover the bottom of the dish. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven until onions are tender, about 45 minutes. Serves 10.