Cowboy cooking isn't fancy, but once you've had the real thing you don't forget it. Tom Perini cut his teeth in the ranching business and accumulated the kind of cooking know-how and recipe arsenal that just can't be taught. His authentic "chuck" bridges the gap between life on the trail and in the backyard. From Jalepeno Bites to Ranch-Roasted Ribeye to Tom's classic Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce, Texas Cowboy Cooking is chock full of recipes for everything from a light lunch to a holiday feast. And with each dish, he serves a generous helping of personality and more than a smattering of cowboy lore. Book jacket.

A haute take on one of America's most traditional cuisines--that of the Texas ranch. Don't be thinking this book is just full of ribs, beans, and biscuits . . . . unless, of course, you're thinkin' South Texas Venison Ribs with Peanut Dipping Sauce, Black Bean Nachos with Chargrilled Chicken, and West Texas Biscuit Pudding with Southern Comfort en Glace. You see, at the Reata Restaurant in West Texas, hot chef Grady Spears is cooking cowboy cuisine with an emphasis on the cuisine. Filled with fresh, strong flavors, fascinating ranch memorabilia (these Texans take their history seriously!), gorgeous full-color food photography, and truly marvelous, utterly real food, this is American cooking at its kick-off-your-boots-and-get-down-to-business greatest.

Almost 100 recipes celebrating the cowboy lifestyle, plus cooking secrets, photos & stories from real cowboy cooks, ranchers & locals across North America. Life in the saddle, on the trail, and in the outback has forged a style of living that cowboy-turned-chef Grady Spears calls the Cowboy Way. In Cooking the Cowboy Way, he takes you on a journey around the country to amazing places full of food, history, and people who have an appreciation for the land. These places where life and living (and that always includes cooking and eating) come alive in the spirit of the cowboy. In Cooking the Cowboy Way, you’ll have a ringside seat at the rodeo as Grady wrestles down new recipes from some incredible cowboy cooks and kitchen wranglers who know what hungry cow folks want to eat. And in the process, you’ll be carried away by the magic of starry nights by the campfire and seduced by the heritage of the chuck wagon and ranch kitchens, where the menus are still stoked by the traditions of the Old West just as they have been for a century or more. Cowboys live life by a simple code that is shared through their rustic lifestyles and the delicious recipes found in Cooking the Cowboy Way. Cowboy cooks, ranchers, and locals from across North America share their recipes, cooking secrets, photos, and stories about their unique and proud way of life. From the Lone Star State to the Grand Canyon State, and from Florida to Alberta, Canada, cowboys have a way with the land and the food that comes form it. Each chapter focuses on a different location, including the Wildcatter Cattle Ranch in Graham, Texas; the Bellamy Brothers Ranch in Darby, Florida; the Homeplace Ranch in Alberta, Canada; Rancho de la Osa in Tucson, Arizona; and more. Praise for Cooking the Cowboy Way “Cooking the Cowboy Way is not a guide to old-fashioned ranch and trail grub. And that’s a good thing. The book is an homage to the cowboy legacy, which Spears finds evolving on the nation’s ranches.” —Dallas Morning News “[Grady Spears and June Naylor] went all over the country, with a heavy emphasis on Texas, of course, drawing inspiration from cooks on and around ranches large and small. They then took these recipes and adapted them for regular kitchens and modern uses (i.e., dinner parties and backyard cooking). The results sound great.” —Texas Monthly

Originally published: Austin, Tex.: Texas Monthly Custom Publishing, 2003.

Who says cooking is for homebodies? Veteran Texas food writer Robb Walsh served as a judge at a chuck wagon cook-off, worked as a deckhand on a shrimp boat, and went mayhaw-picking in the Big Thicket. As he drove the length and breadth of the state, Walsh sought out the best in barbecue, burgers, kolaches, and tacos; scoured museums, libraries, and public archives; and unearthed vintage photos, culinary stories, and nearly-forgotten dishes. Then he headed home to Houston to test the recipes he’d collected back in his own kitchen. The result is Texas Eats: The New Lone Star Heritage Cookbook, a colorful and deeply personal blend of history, anecdotes, and recipes from all over the Lone Star State. In Texas Eats, Walsh covers the standards, from chicken-fried steak to cheese enchiladas to barbecued brisket. He also makes stops in East Texas, for some good old-fashioned soul food; the Hill Country, for German- and Czech-influenced favorites; the Panhandle, for traditional cowboy cooking; and the Gulf Coast, for timeless seafood dishes and lost classics like pickled shrimp. Texas Eats even covers recent trends, like Viet-Texan fusion and Pakistani fajitas. And yes, there are recipes for those beloved-but-obscure gems: King Ranch casserole, parisa, and barbecued crabs. With more than 200 recipes and stunning food photography, Texas Eats brings the richness of Texas food history vibrantly to life and serves up a hearty helping of real Texas flavor.

Whether he's beating Bobby Flay at chicken-fried steak on the Food Network, catering for a barbecue, bar mitzvah, or wedding, or cooking for cowboys in the middle of nowhere, Kent Rollins makes comfort food that satisfies. A cowboy's day starts early and ends late. Kent offers labor-saving breakfasts like Egg Bowls with Smoked Cream Sauce. For lunch or dinner, there's 20-minute Green Pepper Frito Pie, hands-off, four-ingredient Sweet Heat Chopped Barbecue Sandwiches, or mild and smoky Roasted Bean-Stuffed Poblano Peppers. He even parts with his recipe for Bread Pudding with Whisky Cream Sauce. (The secret to its lightness? Hamburger buns.) Kent gets creative with ingredients on everyone's shelves, using lime soda to caramelize Sparkling Taters and balsamic vinegar to coax the sweetness out of Strawberry Pie.

Moving to Paris was the best bad decision that Texan Ellise Pierce ever made. Wooed to the city by a Frenchman, she soon found herself with just 100 euros in her bank account. So she launched a last-ditch effort to stay in the City of Light: She started her own catering business and began teaching other American expats how to re-create flavors from home. Using French ingredients and techniques from both sides of the Atlantic, she did more than found a culinary company -- she created a unique style of cooking that's part Texas, part French, and all Cowgirl. Recipes include: Cornbread Madeleines Jalapeno Pimento Cheese Tartines Cauliflower Galettes with Chipotle Creme Fraiche Green Chile-Goat Cheese Smashed Potatoes Peanut Butter-Chocolate Soufflees

From Our Ranch to Your Table: Hey ya'll! I'm Paige Murray. A lot has changed since the release of Southern Fried Skinnyfied several years ago. I'm now married to Ty Murray, the King of Cowboys. I also became a step-mom to Kase and a mom to Oakley. My recipes have become more family oriented and are perfect for an ongoing healthy lifestyle you can maintain. This isn't a cookbook for a short-term diet. Instead I cook the way nature intended with fresh produce, whole grains, healthy fats and meats. I'm from Lancaster, South Carolina but now call the TY Ranch in Stephenville, Texas home. I brought my cowboy boots and my love of food, cooking, fitness and nutrition with me. I took my favorite southern foods and added my own touch keeping health in mind, what I call Southern Fried Skinnyfied. I also learned to cook flavorful New Mexican and cowboy dishes that remind Ty of home. I'm not a chef and prefer stress-free recipes, you know the kind you find in your Granny's church cookbooks. These recipes are simple, wholesome and scrumptious. It's your everyday cookbook! Eating healthfully should go hand in hand with eating pleasurably. Of course I had to include just a couple of my favorite childhood dessert recipes too for those special occasions.I've also included some recipes that we love from our family and friends. To me, a passed-down recipe goes far beyond a meal. It evokes memories of that person and feelings of love, comfort, joy and excitement. Recipes are a way to preserve our heritage as well as a part of ourselves and the gatherings in the kitchen that make us who we are. I share photos of each person who shared a recipe with me. I also include photos we've taken of the ranch to give you a feel of what it's like to live on a real, working ranch. Hopefully these photos and recipes will allow you to create meals that are a meaningful experience.

In essays ranging from his earliest cooking lessons in a cold-water walk-up apartment on New York's Lower East Side to opinions both admiring and acerbic on the food writers of the past ten years, John Thorne argues that to eat exactly what you want, you have to make it yourself. Thorne tells us how he learned to cook for himself the foods that he likes best to eat, and following along with him can make you so hungry that his simple, suggestive recipes will inspire you to go into the kitchen and translate your own appetite into your own supper.