Hit the Dinner Trail
When your cowboys and cowgirls come home after riding the range — hungry — do what cowboy cooks have done for generations. Add the tang of tomatoes, the zip of peppers and the sweet heat of onions to perk up any meal.
Put a little salsa in your life and rustle up some of these authentic ranch recipes gathered from real-life chuck wagon cooks from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Fort Worth, Texas, as part of Pace Foods' effort to preserve the heritage of cowboy cooking.
Over the past five years, in partnership with Pace Foods, cowboy cook Tom Perini of Buffalo Gap, Texas, has traveled the country with his chuck wagon, giving us a taste of this 140-year-old ranching tradition.“The word ‘chuck’ is an Old English term for food,” Perini explains. “On a long cattle drive from south Texas to the rail yards in Abilene, Kan., cowboys had to put all their food, spices and utensils in a ‘chuck’ box on the back of a wagon. While on the trail, 12 cowboys had to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. With no refrigeration or running water, it was the chuck wagon cook’s responsibility to transform beef, salt pork, dried pinto beans, flour, cornmeal, lard, molasses and spices into appetizing meals.”Perini continues, “Tomatoes were among the first canned goods. If cowboys were lucky, they had a cook who could make a fresh-tasting salsa from these tomatoes. It was such a welcome addition that picante sauce is still considered a cowboy cooking staple among chuck wagon and ranch cooks today.”<i><b>Tom Perini owns the Perini Ranch Steakhouse, named one of “America’s Great Rural Restaurants” by Gourmet magazine.</b></i>
1 tablespoon vegetable oil2 beef rib-eye steaks (about 1 pound each), 1-inch thick1 24-ounce jar Pace Picante Sauce1 8-ounce package shredded Monterey Jack cheese (about 2 cups)1 small onion, chopped (about ¼ cup)1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced (about 1 tablespoon)1 small tomato, chopped (about ½ cup)Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add steaks and cook about 10 minutes or until medium-rare, turning steaks halfway through cooking.Add picante sauce and heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cook 10 minutes.Divide cheese between steaks. Cover and cook until cheese melts. Top with onion, pepper and tomato.Makes 4 servings.Inspired from a recipe by J. Arthur Garcia, Two Circle G Chuck Wagon, Lubbock, Texas.
1 24-ounce jar picante sauce1 cup packed brown sugar¼ cup all-purpose flour½ teaspoon ground cinnamon1/8 teaspoon salt1 29-ounce can cling peach halves, drained and chopped½ 15-ounce package refrigerated pie crust (1 crust)Mix picante sauce, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt in 3-quart saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Reduce heat to low. Cook and stir 2 minutes more or until mixture thickens. Stir in peaches. Remove from heat and let cool. Pour mixture into 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.Heat oven to 400 degrees. Let pie crust stand at room temperature 15 minutes or until it's easy to handle. Gently put the pie crust over the sauce mixture; crimp or roll edges to seal. Cut slits in crust with knife.Bake 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Serve warm.Makes 8 servings.Inspired from a Tomato Cobbler recipe by Daryle Hester, 2H Hester's Chuck Wagon, Fort Worth, Texas.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)4 cloves garlic, minced1 16-ounce jar medium chunky salsa1 16-ounce jar mild chunky salsa1 cup water1 medium red pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)8 green onions, chopped (about 1 cup)1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped (about 1 cup)¼ cup lemon pepper seasoning¼ cup ground cumin¼ cup chili powder1 tablespoon lime juice1 4-pound boneless pork loin roast, netted or tied1 4-ounce can Pace Diced Green Chiles12 10-inch flour tortillas, warmed1 8-ounce package shredded Monterey Jack cheese (about 2 cups)Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender. Stir the salsa, water, red pepper, green onions, cilantro, lemon pepper, cumin, chili powder and lime juice into the skillet.Put roast into 5-quart slow cooker. Pour salsa mixture over roast.Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours or until meat is fork-tender.Remove roast; place on cutting board and let stand 10 minutes. Use two forks to shred pork.Spoon 5 cups salsa mixture from cooker into 2-quart saucepan. Stir in chiles. Cook over medium-high heat to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook and stir 15 minutes or until mixture thickens.Spoon 1 cup shredded pork down center of each tortilla. Top with 2 tablespoons green chile sauce. Fold sides of tortilla over and then fold up ends to enclose filling. Divide remaining green chile sauce and cheese over burritos.Makes 12 burritos.Inspired from a recipe by Barbara Kennedy, Cowgirls Forever Chuck Wagon, Desert Hills, Ariz.
