If you’re like me, receiving cookbooks as a Christmas present is cause for joy. The opportunity to learn new dishes to test on my loved ones is better than any gift card. Here are several new cookbooks that have found their way to my desk at Cowboys & Indians. They have caught my eye and stomach. I hope they’ll do the same for you or the food lover in your life when the holidays come around.
The Cowboy’s Cookbook: Recipes and Tales From Campfires, Cookouts, and Chuck Wagons
Sherry Monahan (TwoDot Books, 2015)
Cowboy and open-fire cooking has moved off the cattle trail and into the popular realm for backyard cooks and aficionados of the Western lifestyle alike. The Cowboy's Cookbook, the latest from Sherry Monahan, president of the Western Writers of America, adds detailed information mined from 19th-century narratives and other historical sources along with recipes that are sure to become standards for readers’ own campfires. There are recipes for stewed chicken, elk steak, and squash cakes as well as classics like biscuits.
Historical vignettes give context to the dishes. Among my favorites are the stories on Dog Face, the chuck wagon cook (AKA the cookie) of the CA Bar Ranch in Colorado Country, Texas, lauded for his pit-cooked “bean-hole beans.” Also of note is the tale of Jack Hall, a cowboy who turned out to be a woman when forced to reveal herself in 1899. Teddy Roosevelt makes an appearance. These tales imbue The Cowboy Cookbook with a richness that will have readers relishing the recipes all the more. A section on cooking terminology and cowboy vernacular of the era at the front of the book is a nice touch too, giving readers a foundation from the get-go.
The Midnight Troubadour
Tough and timeless, this polo is built for the long ride. Featuring a crisp, non-collapsing collar and a rugged, stretchy fabric, it's the perfect shirt for any cowboy's wardrobe.
The Chili Cookbook: A History of the One-Pot Classic, With Cook-Off Worthy Recipes From Three-Bean to Four-Alarm and Con Carne to Vegetarian
Robb Walsh (Ten Speed Press, 2015)
James Beard Award-winning writer and champion of Tex-Mex cookery Robb Walsh stirs the pot with this latest cookbook. In it, he traces the history of Texas’ state dish across continents and cultures, from the Aztecs’ chile stews the Spanish conquistadors encountered in the 1500s and San Antonio’s Chili Queens to the influence of Hungarian immigrants on the invention of chili powder. At this year’s Foodways Texas Symposium, Walsh presented a brief review of his work on the book. Some attendees sitting next to me saw red in his research. Perhaps it was the beans — chili, like barbecue, is a divisive grub — or the goulash, a recipe for which is in The Chili Cookbook.
Walsh anticipated a similar response to his book. Right off the bat, he writes, “Mexicans, Texans, New Mexicans, and Midwesterners have been arguing about chili for well over a century. They are still debating what it is, how to spell it, and who invented it.” Walsh continues with “If you love chili, you will probably find some of the recipes in this book comforting and some of them vexing, especially if you’re a purist with firmly held ideas about beans or spaghetti or whatever.” Recipes for Cincinnati chili; vegetarian chilis, such as lentil, sweet potato, and ancho chile; and dishes calling for a mess of beans — among them a lamb and black bean chili from the Sundance Kid himself — all have a place in this book. Walsh, a partner in El Real Tex-Mex Café in Houston, also adds the restaurant’s signature chile con carne, the mother sauce of Tex-Mex. To enjoy the book and the recipes therein requires only a smidge of “trust in your taste buds,” as Walsh notes. Indeed, if you do, you’ll have the diverse flavors that helped create the West at the end of your spoon or fork.
Eat Mexico: Recipes From Mexico City’s Streets, Markets & Fondas
Lesley Téllez (Kyle Books, 2015)
Source: https://www.cowboysindians.com/2015/10/a-cookies-holiday-cookbook-gift-guide/