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Cookbook Reviews:

The Texas Cowboy Kitchen

The Texas Cowboy Kitchen is a wonderful cookbook by Grady Spears and June Naylor.

The Texas Cowboy Kitchen not only has absolutely fabulous recipes for everything from Pan Roasted Trout Ranchero to Dutch Oven Strawberry Cobbler.

It is also filled with gorgeous old black and white images of cowboys working and relaxing on the trail.

You can see Grady's love of his southwestern food in every recipe.

Each and every one pops off the page begging to be made.

They even sound luscious...

Texas Goat Cheese Sliders with Creamed Onion Jam
Dr Pepper Marinated Skirt Steak Tostadas
Green Chile - Cheese Grits
Mac and Texas Cheeses and Roasted Chiles
Corn Tomato Bisque
Lone Star and Molasses Baked Beans
Smoked Salmon Chowder
Snapper with Ancho-Tomatillo Sauce
Dry Aged Rib Eye with Bandera Butter
Beef Tenderloin with Hollandaise Diablo
Pat's Lamb Chops with Orange Fig Pecan Relish
Smoky Caesar Salad Dressing
Sourdough Flapjacks with Cowboy Blueberry Butter
Burnt Caramel Custard

If you love Tex Mex recipes, you just have to have this cookbook in your collection. You will love Grady's take on everything food related.

He takes Tex Mex to a whole new level and in this book also gives you an appreciation of the culture of the cowboy. The book is really part amazing cookbook, part ode to the cowboy ways. It's a great mix and fascinating reading, even if you wouldn't think you would have been that interested in cowboys.

We have three recipes on the site from this wonderful cookbook. You will find:

Grady's Basic Tamales.

cheese biscuits

Cheddar and Pepper Biscuits

Mary Lou's Buttermilk Pie

Here are what others are saying about The Texas Cowboy Kitchen:

T. VanMeter says:
I received this cookbook as a gift for this past Christmas, and have loved trying the different recipes. Most seem to have ingredients common to our home, and they aren't difficult if you can follow instructions. The stories are very interesting, and the photos make you want to cook the recipe that day. I hadn't heard of it prior to receiving it, and within 2 weeks have cooked 5 recipes, and planning on more. Main dishes, desserts, baked goods, all with a TexMex flare. My recommendation, is go ahead and buy it.

Kristi wrote:
Wonderful, delicious recipes! Everything from drinks to desserts. I purchased this book for myself and then bought two more for my mother and mother-in-law for mother's day. My mother insisted on having it! We used several of the recipes for my husband's birthday party and the dishes were a hit. Be sure to check out the mac and cheese.

And Gail states:
While categorized as a cookbook THE TEXAS COWBOY KITCHEN is so much more than that - it's a visual history of the Old West thanks to a series of marvelous full-page photos by famed cowboy photographer, Erwin E. Smith; it's an informative, smile provoking collection of commentary about cowboys, their lives and the famed Chisholm Trail; and a selection of over 100 mouth-watering recipes that have withstood the test of time and culinary fads.

Beginning with Starters, those tempting appetite teasers that introduce a meal, the recipes are clear, concise, brimming with preparation hints and substitution suggestions. I could make a full meal of Grady's starters - my favorite being Barbecued Quail Tamales with Avocado Cream.

Of course, early cowboys didn't enjoy the munificence of multi course meals, but we do. Thus, there is a section titled Soups, Salads, and Sides ripe with everything good from Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus to Corn-Tomato Bisque to Bread Salad with Oven-Dried Tomatoes and Cheeses (easy, quick, and a perfect way to use day-old bread).

Biscuits with a capital B! ... Buttermilk and Nut-Mash Biscuits are the best - serve with jelly if you wish but they're more than tasty by themselves.

Of course, the concluding chapter features sweets. For me, nothing could top Grandma Spears's Dr. Pepper Cake - rich, moist, and ever so delicious.

If you love Texas style cooking, you may also want to have a look at other cookbooks by top chef Grady Spears: