Cowgirl Chef: Texas Cooking with a French Accent

390 Pages·2012·5.35 MB·English

by  Ellise Pierce

Cowgirl Chef
TEXAS COOKING
with
A FRENCH ACCENT
by ELLISE PIERCE
© 2012 by Ellise Pierce Photographs © 2012 by Steve Legato, except for the photographs on the
following pages: 19, 105, 122, 125, 273 photographs © Ellise Pierce, page 103 © Xavier L’Hospice
Published by Running Press,
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ISBN 978-0-7624-4463-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011944642
E-book ISBN 978-0-7624-4505-9
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing
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Some recipes in this book call for the use of raw eggs.
Please note that the consumption of raw or undercooked eggs may increase the risk of food-borne
illness, and is especially not advised for young children, pregnant women, and the elderly.

Contents
How I Found My Inner Cowgirl Chef
Cowgirl Chef Kitchen Basics
CowgirlSpeak: A Trail Guide
CHAPTER 1
Appetizers: Old Favorites and New Beginnings
CHAPTER 2
Cowgirlified Frenchy
CHAPTER 3
Souped Up
CHAPTER 4
Greens
CHAPTER 5
Tacos, Tarts, and Tartines
CHAPTER 6
Riding Side-Saddle: Veggies
CHAPTER 7
From the Farm and Sea
CHAPTER 8
Desserts
CHAPTER 9
Tex-Mex 101
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Index

HOW I FOUND MY INNER
COWGIRL CHEF

After a year in Paris, I was ready to call it quits.
I had completely given up. Given up on the relationship I had moved
halfway across the world for. Given up on learning the language. Given up
on myself.
My freelance writing career was all but over. Magazines that I’d written for
had merged with others, stopped using outside contributors, or simply gone
under. The future of journalism looked bleak, and mine looked worse. I had
less than 100 euros in my bank account, and my credit card was maxed out.
I needed to do something … and quick.
I wanted to move back to Texas, but couldn’t afford the plane ticket.
Home was horse country, a college town called Denton, about a half-hour
north of Dallas and Fort Worth, where I learned to ride bareback, fearlessly
and at full gallop, after school.
Back then, Denton was still a small town, with its old-fashioned square and
turn-of-the-century courthouse. It had one high school, two movie theaters
(plus a drive-in on the north side of town), a hamburger joint called
Johnny’s, a Sonic, and Luby’s cafeteria, where we’d sometimes go for
chicken-fried steak.