His Recipes

Dad loved to barbecue and to bake.  He began cooking at age 12 in a local Denton restaurant (Miller's Grill) where he learned to bake pies.  He would later in part fund his college education by baking pies at home for local restaurants.  His barbecue and chili are legendary and I am happy to include several versions of these along with his renditions of other favorite foods.  I did find part of an essay he wrote about Miller's grill; unfortunately I do not have the missing pages (or perhaps he never finished it) but it is worth reading as it contains his thoughts on several things (Miller's Grill)

Dad's Chili

A few years ago I read a book (My Last Supper:  50 Great Chefs and their Last Meals (Melanie Dunea)) celebrity chef's and their "last meal."  The premise was simple...if you got to pick your dinner guests and menu for your last meal, what you have?  It's an interesting game to play...I would have to work on the guest list (would depend on how many I could invite), but the meal would be Dad's chili.  As fate/life would have it, this was the last dinner I shared with Debra..my rendition of Dad's chili (Virginia and Janet prepared other family favorites).  In Debra's book (in her section of this page), she has a long discussion about chili.  Worth reading, and this chili is worth cooking...savor, enjoy.  It takes me back to Eastway winters with friends and family.  Dad's chili was simple...spices, beef, time...no beans/tomatoes/noodles or anything else.  Dad very much enjoyed these "variants" but he preferred his version best.  Me too.

Dad's Barbecue

Little if anything in life brought Dad more pleasure than preparing barbecue.  He would start the night before by making gallons of sauce, and then early the morning of a planned evening dinner, he would fire up any of a number of grills which dotted our backyard...Webers, custom oil drums...dedicated smokers...for big events he would have several grills.  He could control the temperature of the fire better than I can control $$$ oven.  Patiently over the ensuing hours he would baste, turn, baste, turn and then, many hours after it started, he would start to trim off a few pieces..."Give it a taste Johnny and tell me what you think."  Here's what I think:  1)  I was a lucky boy  2)  It tasted great.  I really don't expect anyone to be able to create a barbecue quite like Dad, but if you are willing to try, below is the recipe for something that is simply special:  John D. Rowlett's Texas Barbecue....pull up a chair, spend a day preparing, and enjoy

John D. Rowlett's Texas Barbecue


Dad's Sausage Gravy

Dad learned to make sausage gravy as a cook in the Coast Guard at the close of WWII...bouncing around on a small ice breaker in the Bering Sea, he made gallons of this inexpensive but tasty staple for his shipmates.  Dad always kept a steak hidden in the freezer in case the captain got hungry...thinks this decreased the amount of midnight watches he had!

Vegetable Soup

A Sunday evening classic...complete with grilled cheese sandwich and the Wonderful World of Disney.