Cookbook Review: Cowgirl Cuisine

Cowgirl Cuisine
Rustic Recipes and Cowgirl Adventures from a Texas Ranch
Paula Disbrowe
Hardback 2007 ISBN:978-0-06-078939-8

I got this one in a  recent state of the art swap in the online cookbook group CookbooksEtCetera on yahoo grous,  from Anne in Texas. It's wonderful and I've been reading it for teh past couple weeks. It has a beautiful story weaved through the book and the author manages to connect the recipes to the chapters in her story of moving from NY to her ranch in TX. She shares the journey of her and her boyfriend, now husband and how city slickers became a cowboy and cowgirl. You get romance, adventure and comedy as well as some delicious recipes when you read this book.

Upon first glance at this book I marked several recipes to try; Greens with Red Chili Sauce, Garlic greens, Smoked Turkey wraps, Scorpion Tails with Sauce, Banana Bread with almonds and orange essence, Shiner Bock Beans with epazote and Chocolate Pecan Squares.  I have already made the Garlic Greens (we loved them), Smoked turkey Wraps (amazing) and the choco Pecan Squares. I have to admit I messed up on the last recipe. I somehow got to much flour for the base and had to double the recipe. As we all know sometimes doubling recipes doesn't work and in this case it didn't. They are still edible but not what they should be, I don't think. They are super sweet and a little goes a long way.

I really would like to make the Scorpion Tails (cheese filled jalapeno peppers on a saucy bed), but can't find pequillo peppers in a jar here for the sauce. Anyone have a suggestion for a substitute for these peppers? I'm also having problems finding sherry vinegar here and lately it's been turning up in several recipes I want to try including one of the test recipes at Leite's Culinaria. I'm sure I can find the sherry vinegar when I visit the big city and maybe the peppers as well.

I made  the Chili greens and shiner Bock Beans tonight and we loved both recipes. I did notice one mistake in this book in the bean recipe. In the instructions it doesn't say how to make a puree of the chipotle chiles. Not a problem for me but someone with little cooking experience might find this confusing.

The only complaint I have about this book is the fact you have to turn the page to see all of some recipes, but the  information she included with the recipes make this a minor complaint.

This is a fun read and I'm enjoying cooking from it and look forward to many delicious meals from it. Thanks to  Anne for giving me a glimpse into where she lives.

Garlic Greens with Red Pepper and Sweet Onions

serves 4

3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
2 to 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more to taste
8 cups mixed Texas greens (such as Swiss chard, collards, turnip greens, mustard greens, spinach and kale), stemmed, cleaned, and chopped
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and red pepper and saute until soft and wilted, about 4 minutes. Scrape the mixture onto a plate and set aside. Add the remaining oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes to the skillet; heat until fragrant. Add the greens, in batches if necessary and stir until they begin to wilt and turn dark green. Add the reserved onions and peppers to the greens and continue to cook down until the greens are tender, about 5 additional minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and finish with lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Joan's notes: Of course being in NC I used NC greens from my Dad's garden -- mustard, kale and turnip greens. I didn't have a red pepper on hand so I used a green bell. It didn't say hot or mild but I'm sure it would be good with either. I know I'll be making these again as we loved them.