Cowboy Flavors: Ranch Recipes and Tales

From a "collection of delicious, easy recipes and stories" (Ted Allen, host, Food Network's Chopped), Kent Rollins, a Food Network "favorite" chuckwagon cook turned celebrity, offers comfort food that satisfies. 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, this gifted cook, TV contestant, and storyteller takes us into his frontier lifestyle with simple food anyone can do.

A cowboy's day starts early and ends late, and Kent Rollins provides 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, revealing the secret to its lightness – Hamburger buns.

Kent Rollins gets creative with everyday ingredients, 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.

As noted by Amy Thielen, author of "The New Heartland Table," "[Rollins] serves up the beans with a side of profundity and wit." And according to Amanda Freitag, chef and judge on "Chopped," "You will want to make and eat every single one of these mouthwatering recipes." Similarly, Cat Cora, cohost of "Iron Chef America," shares that this book "Takes me right back to my Southern roots. . . . This is the good life, and with my fast-paced world, I want to be there."

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