The Wild West Cookbook: Cowboy Comfort Food

Modern ranch-to-table cowboy cuisine.

The Wild West Cookbook brings you a new taste of cowboy comfort food, inspired by the chuckwagon and homestead cooks of the Old West, and today’s western ranch house and restaurant fare. It’s a celebration of both historic and modern cowboy cuisine -- homey and uncomplicated but refined recipes featuring today’s farm-to-table ingredients, from heirloom potatoes and beans to artisanal sausages.

Dig into some cowboy nostalgia and learn to cook Texas-style BBQ and the kind of cowboy bean dishes that can win a chili cook-off. Try some homestyle meals and desserts, too, whether it’s an old-fashioned rhubarb pie, reminiscent of grandmother’s kitchen, or a spicy bean salsa to enjoy around the campfire or on the deck.

The Wild West Cookbook brings together a collection of 90 classic and modern recipes from Tex-Mex Smokey Cowboy Quesadillas or Cowboy Beef Jerky to ranch-classics like Prairie Oysters, Stampede Rodeo Beef on a Bun, and contemporary favorites like Flank Steak with Rye Whisky Marinade, and Spicy Caesar Salad with Smoked Chicken and Chilli Croutons.

So, grab your ten-gallon hat and discover the regional histories and foods that blend to create the familiar and delicious comforts of Wild West cooking.

Cinda Chavich is a long-time food journalist, author, and former newspaper food editor. She specializes in food and wine, cultural history, lifestyle and trends, and is a frequent contributor to magazines, radio and newspapers, along with her food and travel website, TasteReport.com. She lives in British Columbia.