The Cowboy's Cookbook by Sherry Monahan

Author:Sherry Monahan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493016105
Publisher: TwoDot

Beat the eggs in a small bowl and add the salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.

Place cornmeal in a separate bowl.

Dip the fillets into the eggs and then into the cornmeal.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and gently add the fillets.

Cook 4–8 minutes, turning once, until fish flakes easily with fork and is brown on both sides.

Drain on paper towels.

RECIPE ADAPTED FROM SCAMMELL’S CYCLOPEDIA OF VALUABLE RECEIPTS, 1897.

From a Rancher’s View

Herbert Hilsop and Walter Vail bought Edward Nye Fish’s ranch in 1876. The ranch was located between Tucson and Sonoita. Herbert was an Englishman and acted as the cook for the ranch for a while. He and Walter went on a week-long scouting mission to the Fish ranch in July. They wanted to experience the ranch before they bought it. By September they would purchase the ranch from Fish and rename it Empire.

On July 24, 1876, Herbert wrote to his sister Amy, “The third day I was appointed cook and so while they were out in the morning herding, I was making bread and preparing dinner. It was grand fun, if anyone could have seen me making bread. I put it in the bake pot (here they bake it in pots, having no ovens) and my fire was too hot and began to raise it too quickly and when I thought it was nicely done I took it out but found on cutting it open it was in the same condition in the middle as when I put it in so I cut it in quarters and baked it separately very well indeed. As I had some time to spare before their return, I thought I would make some custard which was thoroughly appreciated and very nice indeed though I say it myself.”

Once they got settled at the Empire, they began building homes and buying cattle. Herbert wrote, “I am the cook and my partner tried to make some bread one day and failed so it falls upon me to cook. I am getting rather swell at making bread now and biscuits with a few currants on Sundays as a treat, as they are too expensive for us to indulge in often.”

Herbert also created an English favorite for the ranchmen, “I seem to think no one can make bread like me and my success at Yorkshire pudding has been acknowledged by all who have partaken of it as well as pastry. You seem to think it is fun cooking, but I can tell you I don’t like it; it is pretty hard work to cook for a lot of hungry men.”

Herbert eventually went back to England to marry Margaret Newhall. When they returned to his ranch he and Margaret hired a Chinese cook named Ah. Margaret wrote letters to her mother and some of them included references to the food that was eaten on the ranch in the early 1880s. In August of 1884 she wrote, “We had a splendid shower yesterday and another one today. The ranch looks so beautiful I wish you could see it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.