Book excerpt: The Tex-Mex Grill and Backyard Barbacoa Cookbook is a grand tour of famous Tex-Mex restaurants, taco trucks, cook-offs and tailgating get-togethers, with recipes to bring this popular American regional cuisine to your home grill. Sizzling fajitas are probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Tex-Mex's contribution to the backyard barbecue. But mesquite-kissed T-bones with grilled corn on the cob slathered in ancho chile butter is Tex-Mex too—and so are grilled jumbo Gulf shrimp with pineapple kebabs and red snapper fish tacos. In The Tex-Mex Grill and Backyard Barbacoa Cookbook renowned Texas food writer and James Beard Award winner Robb Walsh showcases the full spectrum of outdoor cooking in Texas and Northern Mexico in his unique style, with photos and 85 easy-to-follow recipes. The smoky and spicy flavors of the Tex-Mex grill evolved from the culture of the Latino cattlemen. Walsh traces the history of grilling in the border region and provides a handbook of techniques, step by step photos, and interviews with legendary Tex-Mex chefs. Here are all their recipes and more for grilled meats and seafood adapted for the backyard barbecue, along with the frijoles and side dishes, picante salsas, and festive tequila cocktails that fill out the fiesta.