Spirit of the West: Cooking from Ranch House and Range - Hardcover

Jacobs, Martin; Cox, Beverly

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1885183216 ISBN 13: 9781885183217

Publisher: Artisan, 1996

Synopsis

Spirit of the West presents an enticing array of hearty dishes rich with robust flavor and color. Authors Beverly Cox and Martin Jacobs extend a gracious invitation to join in this delicious roundup of recipes from the American West.

More than 100 recipes provide dishes that satisfy even the most demanding appetites. Breakfast prospects include Pecan Bread with Chokecherry Jelly, Potato Doughnuts, Buttermilk Pancakes, and the old prairie standby, Cowboy Coffee. After a long morning in the saddle, real cowboys can tuck into a Bowl of Red with Sourdough Biscuits or Kansas Fried Chicken with Authentic King Ranch Beans. Come and get it at a dinner smorgasbord of Mesquite Smoked Turkey, Prime Rib of Beef, and Pot Roast with Dumplings. Special occasions demand special chow like a Cream Can Supper (the Western Frontier equivalent of a clambake complete with sausages, corn, and potatoes cooked together in a milk can).

Behind this hearty food lies a rich heritage influenced by the cooking techniques of the native American and Mexican peoples. Ranch house cooking has been further enriched by the many ethnic cuisines brought to the region by its settlers. Photographs feature objects inherited (like many of the recipes) from the authors' forebears to illustrate this entertaining glimpse into the foods that fed the American West.

About this title

About the Authors

Martin Jacobs, an award-winning photographer who specializes in food photography, has photographed many cookbooks. He co-authored Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking, which won IACP and James Beard Awards in 1991.

Authors Beverly Cox is a fourth-generation Wyoming rancher who grew up on a cattle ranch near Cheyenne, Wyoming. Her interest in the region's traditional foods and history began in childhood. She holds a Grande Diplome from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and apprenticed with the noted chef Gaston Le Notre. Cox collaborates on a regular column on Indian cooking for Native Peoples, the magazine published by the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian.

From the Back Cover

Spirit of the West: Cooking from Ranch House and Range is filled with recipes that satisfy. Here are the robust, flavorful dishes that sustained cowpokes and wranglers, ranch hands and cattle barons. Influenced by the cooking of Mexico and of the Native American inhabitants--and enriched by the many ethnic cuisines brought to the region by its settlers--ranch house cooking is American home cooking on a grand scale.

The book includes more than 100 recipes for simple, mother-watering dishes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and anything in between. Beginning with recipes that date back to the first western ranchers--who came north from Mexico in the sixteenth century--and continuing through those served at today's dude ranches, Spirit of the West includes such timeless American dishes as Sourdough Hotcakes, Potato Doughnuts, Butterscotch Rolls, Chokecherry Jelly, Grandma Hubbard's Batterfried Chicken, King Ranch Beans, Mission-style Red Chili Sauce, Pot Roast with Dumplings, and Devil's Food Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting.

This book traces the mythic story of the American frontier through the food eaten by those who lived it. Chapters cover the vaquero tradition; the time of the great cattle drives and the open range; the era of the big ranches; the coming of homesteaders; and the traditional dude ranches of today. Chapter introductions by Western historian David Dary, author of Cowboy Culture, sketch the thrilling history of the American West. Sam'l P. Arnold, author of Eating Up the Santa Fe Trail and noted chef and owner of the world-famous Fort Restaurant in Morrison, Colorado, weaves together Western food, history, and way of life in the book's introduction.

The book includes more than 100 recipes for simple, mother-watering dishes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and anything in between. Beginning with recipes that date back to the first western ranchers--who came north from Mexico in the sixteenth century--and continuing through those served at today's dude ranches, Spirit of the West includes such timeless American dishes as Sourdough Hotcakes, Potato Doughnuts, Butterscotch Rolls, Chokecherry Jelly, Grandma Hubbard's Batterfried Chicken, King Ranch Beans, Mission-style Red Chili Sauce, Pot Roast with Dumplings, and Devil's Food Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting.

This book traces the mythic story of the American frontier through the food eaten by those who lived it. Chapters cover the vaquero tradition; the time of the great cattle drives and the open range; the era of the big ranches; the coming of homesteaders; and the traditional dude ranches of today. Chapter introductions by Western historian David Dary, author of Cowboy Culture, sketch the thrilling history of the American West. Sam'l P. Arnold, author of Eating Up the Santa Fe Trail and noted chef and owner of the world-famous Fort Restaurant in Morrison, Colorado, weaves together Western food, history, and way of life in the book's introduction.

Reviews

While Cox and Jacobs (Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking) do a fine job of gathering recipes for the foods cowboys ate, the cowboy diet will excite few modern palates. What readers will enjoy, however, is the background. The authors cover the various eras that transformed the West, and Cox tells a few tales about her versatile great-grandmother, who, when she wasn't patrolling her land with a shotgun when the U.S. Army tried to claim it, found time to invent Grandma Ketcham's Macaroni Casserole. The first and last chapters?on vaqueros, or Mexican cowboys, and modern dude ranches, respectively?provide the freshest recipes for such dishes as Eggs Baked in Red Chile Sauce, El Pato Mexican Rice and Eaton's Ranch Oatcakes. The remaining chapters, e.g., "The Homesteading Era," rely heavily on lard and use scant fresh produce, since little beyond cabbage was available to cowboys. This leads to interesting experiments such as Sonoran Beef Jerky, Fried Apricot Pies made with dried apricots, a No-Egg Squaw Cake using kidney fat, Two Old-Fashioned Taffies (requiring the two-person pulling method), Sourdough Hotcakes and Potato Doughnuts. Literary Guild selection; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Cox and Jacobs are the authors of Spirit of the Harvest (LJ 11/15/91), which focused on North American Indian cooking. Now they look at the cowboy culture of the early West, the big ranches, and the homesteaders, with a brief final chapter on today's dude ranches. They start with the vaqueros, the Mexican predecessors of the American cowboy, and then move north. Cowboy Coffee is here, as are Biscuits on a Stick, but most of the homey recipes are more appealing than those few that have been included more for the sake of curiosity or authenticity. Jacobs's striking photographs illustrate the text, Cox's headnotes are readable and informative, and Western historian David Dary provides additional background in the chapter introductions. There have been a few scattered titles in this area, but none on this scale; recommended for regional libraries and other large collections.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lest readers seriously believe that all cowboys eat chile and chuck-wagon stew and that all ranch kitchens resemble the set of Bonanza, Cox's latest gastronomic collection will quickly disabuse them of such foolish, romantic notions. The sections are buttressed by briefs on the life and cooking styles found among the cowboys and homesteaders and on dude ranches. Each section also includes both short and long introductions to every one of the 125 recipes. Where did the dish come from? What is the origin of the recipe name? Who provided the provenance or history? In fact, the background is almost as fascinating as the actual foodstuffs. In every recipe, due credit is given and acknowledged 10-fold for culinary contributions, such as atole (Mexican blue cornmeal porridge) to son-of-a-gun-in-a-sack (a unique combination of English and colonial suet puddings). Barbara Jacobs

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Roundup Fried Potatoes and Eggs

On long cattle drives eggs were a luxury. Chuck-wagon cooks usually packed a few dozen unwashed eggs between layers of salt and brought them along to use in cakes or puddings, but they seldom "fried up a mess of eggs" for breakfast. But on roundups where camp was made within a few days of ranch headquarters, and re-supplying it was easier, fried potatoes and eggs were a favorite cowboy breakfast.

Even in more permanent camps, chuck-wagon cooks worked very hard. Cowboys had to be ready to ride out at first light and "Cookie" was usually up preparing breakfast two to three hours earlier. To simplify his morning routine, the cook would peel and cut up his potatoes the night before and store them in a bucket of water.

Jerry Baird has been cooking for roundups and chuck-wagon cook-offs for twenty-five years. Cowboys look forward to his hearty potato- and egg-breakfasts. He varies the recipe depending on what he has on hand, sometimes throwing in some chopped jalapenos or mild green chiles. He usually serves up some biscuits or corn bread with pan gravy on the side. Jerry is used to cooking for crowds. When figuring out quantities he allows one pound of potatoes and a half-dozen eggs for every three people.

3 pounds red potatoes (4 to 6)

6 tablespoons bacon drippings (see Note)

1 large onion, peeled and chopped (1 1/2 to 2 cups)

18 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 3/4-inch dice. If making ahead, store them in cold water to cover to keep them from discoloring. Drain well and pat dry with a towel before frying.

In a Dutch oven or 13- to 14-inch skillet, heat the drippings over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and fry, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until browned and half-cooked. Add the onion and continue to cook for 8 to 10 minutes more, or until the potatoes and onion are tender. Beat the eggs with the salt and pepper. Pour the eggs into the potato mixture and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the eggs are set.

Serves 9 to 10

NOTE: Three tablespoons each of butter and vegetable oil may be used in place of the bacon drippings.

Dorcie's Corn Cakes

During the cowboy era in south and east Texas, cornmeal was more widely available than wheat flour. So cowboys ate a lot of corn bread. Corn pones, corn dodgers, or hoecakes--fried in a skillet or baked in the embers of the campfire--were simple breads that a cow hunter could throw together quickly. Leftovers were packed in his saddlebag for trail food. At ranch headquarters, or on trail drives where a cook and chuck wagon accompanied the crew, lighter, more elaborate corn breads made with eggs and milk were a welcome treat.

The old-fashioned corn cake recipe comes from Guy and Pipp Gillette's mother, Doris Porter Gillette, who remembers her mother and grandmother preparing this dish. they made one large cake the size of the skillet and served it cut into wedges. Mrs. Gillette finds that individual cakes are easier to turn and brown on both sides. They go well with chili and are great for breakfast, served with bacon and eggs or topped with butter and syrup.

2 cups yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons corn oil

In a mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, and salt. Stir in 2 cups of boiling water and form the mixture into 10 to 12 patties. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the patties 3 to 5 minutes on each side, until well browned.

Serves 4 to 6

Excerpted from Spirit of the West. Copyright (c) 1996 by Beverly Cox. Reprinted with permission by Artisan.

Edition details

• Publisher: Artisan
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1885183216
• ISBN 13: 9781885183217
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224