Customer Reviews

Texas Cowboy Cooking

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Texas Cowboy Cooking by Tom Perini arrived yesterday. It is a cookbook that makes you want to jump up and make the recipes as you are turning the pages of the book. We have already tried the Cowboy Bloody Mary, Lisa's Favorite Caesar Salad, the seasoned olive oil for the Sourdough Bread Chips to use as croutons for the salad and are in the process of making the Sourdough Starter for the Sourdough Bread. It's the best Caesar Dressing that we've tried and the croutons are very good.

The historical information is good and has added color to this cookbook. It is not Texas boastful--simply well done. We plan on giving it as Christmas gifts to family members who have visited us here in Abilene, Texas.

By Bob Schieffer

We're Texans and knew Texas Cowboy Cooking would be for us but we put it to the ultimate test: we had a dinner party, made sure we invited no one from below the Mason-Dixon line and served only food described in this book.

And the answer is..they licked their plates clean and would have eaten more if it had been there. I call that a real final answer.

My wife Pat who is the chief cook and bottle washer at our Washington D.C. corral served up a tenderloin done up in the dry rub described in the book and surrounded it with hominy and green chilis, black eyed peas with okra after a gazpacho start. We finished off with the peach crisp. Comments ranged from Wow! to Hot Damn! (actually that last one came from me) and we're talking people who had never seen hominy. Most of all this is a book about cooking meat and Author Tom Perini may know more about it than anyone on earth. If you can find a fire and a good or even an average piece of meat he can show you how to make it taste better than anything you've ever put in your mouth.

But like his combo of jalapenos and hominy, he'll also introduce you to some dishes you may never have heard of and every one is better than the next one. The bonus here is that you could throw all the recipes out and this would still be a great coffee table book filled with terrific pictures of Texas Ranch life.

Buy this book. We can't all live on a ranch but we can sure eat like cowboys.

Since we frequent Perini's Steakhouse, we know Tom's award-winning cuisine first-hand! His cookbook is a "no-holds barred" approach... giving ALL of his famous recipes from his unbeatable steak rub to green chile hominy to his signature bread pudding with whiskey sauce!

In addition to fabulous recipes, the book also showcases wonderful photography depecting life in West Texas. Sidelines feature insights into several famous Texas ranches.

Your cookbook collection shouldn't be without this book! It is one you will be sure to use often!

Texas Cowboy Cooking makes your stomach growl with anticipation! The recipes are easy to understand and end up exactly as described. An added bonus is the beautiful photography and brief histories of Texas ranches. One of the better cookbooks on the market today.

My copy is gonna sit on the coffee table. This book is absolutely gorgeous. Lots of history and local color, lots of cowboy photographs and art. Fantastic food photographs. Tom's cooking has been a favorite of our family for years. Read the book, try the recipes and you'll love it too.

Word has it that if he is elected president, George W. Bush will ask Tom Perini to be his White House chef. This book gives ample reason why George W. has such a high opinion of Tom's food. My family and I are frequent visitors to his steakhouse, and Tom seems to have included recipes for every one of his restaurant dishes. These are by far the best barbeque, steaks, and ribs that you will ever prepare, and the other recipes are yummy, too. This is a cookbook that I think you will use far more than whatever other cookbooks that are sitting on your kitchen shelf.

No one else needs to write another cookbook on this subject. Tom Perini wins hands down! Not only is it a feast for the eyes, it is absolutely chock full of the most delicious culinary creations ever known to man or woman. There's no "trick food" here - just honest to goodness All American Fare. You don't need to live on El Rancho Grande to prepare this delicious food. Why even a City Slicker could whomp up these vittles. The recipes are clear and easy to follow and Tom's sidebar comments are not only amusing, but helpful. The photographs are amazing and the historical tidbits are extremely interesting. The author's warmth and personality come through in his superbly written treatise on cowboy cookin'. Amen and pass the cream gravy. Yum, yum!

I got this book about a week before the 4th of July (a holiday that my family and I don't really celebrate). However I thought I would be adventurous and festive and wanted to attempt to make some traditional American food. Not knowing where to start, I bought a bunch of different American-style cookbooks, including "Texas Cowboy Cooking", which in the end blew all the other cookbooks away. The recipes were easy to follow and well written. There were lots of pictures of the different dishes, as well as stories behind some of the dishes and how/where they originated. Contrary to what one might think, when imagining the combination of cowboys and cooking, this cookbook offers more than just the predictable, standard steak and ribs type of dishes. There are lots of different kinds of entrees, salads, desserts, cocktails, appetizers, etc. Each dish has its own distinctive flavor. I highly recommend this cookbook to anybody who enjoys cooking and eating.

10 days ago my wife and I were in Abilene and our host, Aaron Waldrop, took us to eat at Tom Perini's Steakhouse. Since this isn't a restaurant review, I won't tell you about the food except the bread pudding. I don't like it very much so I decided to share some with my wife. Bad mistake. It's hard to describe in words. Aaron bought Tom's book for my wife. Five days ago, we had a BBQ on the opening day of dove season (Sept. 1). We used Tom's recipe for potato salad and his rubs for the ribs and brisket. We are still getting phone calls and emails about the food. One more thing: this is a great book to just sit down and read. As others have said, the photography is great and the stories are informative, humorous and historical. This is not just a cookbook. Man, I can't wait to get some more of that bread puddin'.

The book would be a welcome addition to any cookbook library, but we don't think you will be content looking at this book on a shelf. Our guess is the purchaser will find the book being used over and over. There is a wonderful variety of recipes from which to choose, whether preparing a meal for family or friends from the neighboring ranches or, shoot, if you happen to live in a city then this type of cooking is sure to please. Over the years we have been fortunate to enjoy many pounds of prime rib cooked the Perini way with the flavor of the beef drawn out with his Texas Herb Rub found on page 85, cooked over mesquite coals and served with some of the delicous recipes that can be found in the side dishes section, followed by Tom's bread pudding with whiskey sauce found on page 173, leaves me hoping others will be so fortunate. In additon to recipes, the book is filled with ranch photographs taken by a well-known rancher/photographer and the food photography is stunning. Also the information about historic ranches, ranch cooking and the old photographs will be fascinating to anyone with an interest in real Texas food told by a man who is now sharing great food ideas with you.