A Taste of Cowboy: Ranch Recipes and Tales from the Trail

by Kent Rollins, Shannon Rollins

Overview

Irresistible recipes from pantry ingredients by an authentic cowboy and TV veteran

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. This gifted cook, TV contestant, and storyteller takes us into his frontier world with simple food anyone can do.

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 prized 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.

With stunning photos of the American West and Kent’s lively tales and poetry, A Taste of Cowboy is a must-have for everyone who loves good, honest food and wants a glimpse of a vanishing way of life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544273184
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	443
Sales rank:	384,577
File size:	43 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

KENT ROLLINS grew up ranching and began cooking for cattle ranches in 1993 from his Studebaker chuckwagon. An acclaimed storyteller and poet, Kent has appeared on the Food Network and CBS Sunday Morning. He and his wife SHANNON, are the stars of their YouTube channel, Cowboy Kent Rollins. 

Editorial Reviews

04/06/2015
Rollins has been cooking for cowboys for more than 20 years in all types of weather as a camp cook. His tool of choice is an 1876 Studebaker chuck wagon, and though his cooking options may be limited, his creativity isn’t, as demonstrated by the book’s many wonderful, field-friendly recipes. Rollins, never daunted by the prospect of preparing three square meals a day for hungry cowboys in the middle of a prairie with no electricity, manages to make sloppy joes with smoky macaroni and cheese, and bread pudding with whiskey cream sauce; he also includes the recipe for chicken-fried steak that beat out star chef Bobby Flay in his Throwdown. Though Rollins offers sage advice on choosing and caring for cast-iron cookware, readers won’t need to worry about building a fire, since these recipes have been adjusted to allow followers to recreate cowboy fare in the comfort of their own kitchens. However, Rollins remains true to his methods by incorporating a wide variety of boxed, canned, and prepared ingredients such as creamed soups and processed cheese. Rollins’s campfire stories and DIY cures for ailments such as arthritis (honey in your coffee) and spider bites (tape a penny on it) give warmth and personality to a book that even city slickers will enjoy spending time with. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

“Kent Rollins is one of my favorite people ever to appear on Chopped. His cowboy-gentleman manners, his jokes—but, most of all, his delicious chuckwagon cooking—needs to find its way into your heart, and onto your table. I know your family will enjoy this collection of delicious, easy recipes and stories as much as I do.” — Ted Allen, host, Food Network’s Chopped
 
“Kent Rollins is the real deal. This book is a humble and delicious tribute to life on the trail. With its heartwarming stories, rich descriptions, and honest, down-home recipes, you'll feel as though you're sitting by the fire, under the wide-open sky.” — Mike Mills, 17th Street Barbecue
 
“Ken Rollins is a modern day ‘cookie,’ a wise-acre, a secret poet, and a damned fine cook. With humor and reverence in equal measure, he opens up the cowboy's kitchen to us: There are angel-wing biscuits here, and creamy chile-based sauces, and the most epic chicken fried steak ever devised —along with the weirdest equipment list I've ever seen. (A gourd dipper and a shovel!)  In the tradition of chuckwagon cooks, he serves up the beans with a side of profoundity and wit.” — Amy Thielen, author, The New Heartland Table
 
 “Kent and Shannon Rollins take us on the stunning journey of a chuck wagon cook.  You will want to make and eat every single one of these mouthwatering recipes. This book is complete with life lessons, home remedies, and touching stories of a tightly knit cowboy family. You will learn the cowboy code: “Don’t question the cook.”  Wise words to live and eat by! — Amanda Freitag, chef and judge Chopped

“A Taste of Cowboy takes me right back to my Southern roots.  The eloquent prose and breathtaking pictures make me want to head to Oklahoma, jump on the Chuck Wagon, jingle the horses, cook on Bertha and sit around a campfire with Kent and Shannon to hear some cowboy stories.  This is the good life, and with my fast-paced world, I want to be there." — Cat Cora, cohost Iron Chef America
 
"Kent and Shannon have taken me along the plains of Oklahoma on their chuck wagon without my ever having set a foot there. Along the ride, I have buckled my belt more than twice from laughing so hard at their stories.If there is any book that can remove the fear of cooking from absolutely ANYONE, it is this one." — Pati Jinich, author, Pati’s Mexican Table 

From the Publisher

04/15/2015
Caterer Rollins travels the country to feed hungry customers from his mobile kitchen, a restored and horse-drawn 1876 Studebaker wagon. His debut (cowritten with his wife, Shannon) won't teach readers to be wagon cooks, or even to cook outside, but it will offer them the opportunity to create rib-sticking cowboy fare at home. Recipes such as wagon-wheel steak, pickled okra and jalapeno cheese dip, and gooey marshmallow chocolate cake call for many canned and packaged ingredients, which will please readers who have limited access to fresh produce or frequently cook from their pantry or freezer. Affably, Rollins relays colorful stories from ranches, rodeos, and rough country, and orients readers to cowboy lingo and cast-iron care. VERDICT If you're looking for easy, down-home dishes to satisfy a hungry family or your inner cowboy, this may be the cookbook for you.

Library Journal