Reata: Legendary Texas Cooking (Hardcover)

~ Mike Micallef (Author), Julie Hatch (Author), Laurie Smith (Photographer)
Key Phrases: egg wash, chocolate ganache, crisp topping, Reata Grill Spice, Sweet Molasses Glaze, Rich Chicken Broth (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A grand collection of cooking and imagery that embodies the hardscrabble cowboy culture of West Texas.”
--Tosh Brown, author of Grazing Across Texas: Rod, Gun & Ranch Cooking  
 
“Mike and Reata use traditional Texas ingredients with a sophisticated flair. The great presentations and photography give everyone a chance to see Reata’s roots.”
--Tom Perini, owner of the Perini Ranch Steakhouse and author of Texas Cowboy Cooking
 
“This group of recipes is an excellent collection of Reata’s best. The book takes basic ranch cooking to another level. Mike Micallef has hit another home run. Keep on spurrin’!”
--Cliff Teinert, owner of the Collins Creek Ranch and coauthor of Barbecue, Biscuits, and Beans: Chuckwagon Cooking

Product Description

A destination restaurant and local favorite, Reata serves up a menu that would make any food lover--cosmopolitan or cowboy--hungry for dinner. Signature dishes like Chicken-Fried Steak and Rodeo Rib-Eye share the spotlight with fancier fare, such as the Tenderloin Tamales with Pecan Mash and Sun-Dried Tomato Cream and the Shoot-Your-Own Maple Duck Breast in Sage Brown Butter Sauce. Evocative photography captures the lively and convivial atmosphere of this Fort Worth legend.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press; illustrated edition edition (November 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580089062
• ISBN-13: 978-1580089067
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #109,211 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars REAL cookbook? Or vanity press item?, April 27, 2009

By	K. Dignan "kcd" (Austin, Tx) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

We tried to visit the restaurant in Alpine, but couldn't make it work with our schedule. So I got the book. It was beautiful and the early recipes I made were great.

So I invited 18 friends over and made a dinner with 8 recipes (plus "sub recipes-- those that are within a recipe, like the Chipotle Cream Sauce. This seems to be very common in the book.)

The number of serious errors in this book are totally unacceptable. The only reason that the dinner was so good is that the basic foods are good, but the writing is very bad. The dinner would have been much worse if I didn't have experience as a professional cook. Below is a listing of some of the errors. Some of them.

We found basic errors in the recipes:
* The Cajeta is either wrong or poorly written. It calls for 4 cups of sugar and a cup of water, which you cook till the sugar dissolves. What happens is that the sugar absorbs the water or it evaporates, leaving you with crystallized sugar. Most recipes call for 2 quarts of cream and 1-2 cups of sugar.

* The Braised Cabbage had too much vinegar, or the instructions were in error. It calls for 2 cups of vinegar. This is supposed to cook off/be absorbed in 5 minutes. It is more like a soup at that point. The added sugar can't caramelize with that much vinegar.

* The Stacked Chicken Enchiladas ask for 2.5 cups of Tomatillo Sauce plus 1.5 cups of cream, which are mixed together, resulting in 4 cups of sauce. This is only used to dip the prepared tortilla into, nothing else. So there was about 3 cups extra. What a waste.

* The Stacked Chicken Enchiladas are assembled in "a large baking dish". No indication of how large. When it is all assembled it is put in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. There is no way that it could get warm through the center in that amount of time.

* The Pico Vinaigrette does not look like the picture. In the picture it is mostly white. In reality, with .25 cup of tomato juice and an equal amount of vinegar, it is red.

We found other problems with expressed yields. For example:
* The Chipotle Cream sauce says it yields 3 cups. However, the recipe calls for 3/4 cup of cream and some chiles. Not 3 cups.

* Some recipes don't give any indication of yields.

* Some yields are confusing. For example; the Creme Anglaise recipe yields about 4 cups and serves 8. It is used with the Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding Tamale, which also serves 8. Yet, the tamale recipe calls for only 2 cups of Creme Anglaise. Why the difference? If only 2 cups are needed, why not just make a recipe for 2 cups?

Some information would have been nice to have, although not critical. For example:
* It would have been nice to have volume or pound equivalents for those items that may have wide variations in size. This would include cabbage, onions, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, potatoes, limes, etc.

* I never saw a suggestion for a size of pan, casserole, or other container. That would have made assessing yields easier.

* None of the recipes seem to indicate whether or not it is recommended that the baking container be sprayed with oil. We did, but it would have been nice to know.

As I said above, the food was good. The dessert tamales were amazing. However, the authors and their editors either are very careless, or are more concerned about having a vanity-press item to market their restaurants.

this is my first review.

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this cookbook!, October 12, 2009

By	Tonya L. Carden (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a great cookbook, I can't wait to try some of the recipes. I love the restaurant, hopefully the recipes will be as enjoyable.

5.0 out of 5 stars Cookbook as great as the Reata Backstage!, February 9, 2009

By	J. L. Evans "J. L. Evans" (North Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

We were just treated to the best food at the Reata Backstage at the Fort Worth Stock show and the food was absolutely delicious, so we had to buy the cookbook. It is not just a cookbook, it is an inspiration to Texas Cuisine and those of us that want to create such masterpieces in the kitchen. Great job! Keep it coming!!!