The Texas Cookbook: From Barbecue to Banquet-- an Informal View of Dining and Entertaining the Texas Way

Mary Faulk Koock

University of North Texas Press, 2001 - Cooking - 491 pages

This delightful collection captures the flavor and diversity of the cuisine of theLone Star State. The Texas Cookbook presents recipes ranging from down-home cooking to high-class affairs, from regional favorites to ethnic specialties. Mary FaulkKoock traveled throughout Texas gathering recipes from ranch kitchens and city hostesses. Scattered among these are the author's anecdotes from her vast and varied encounters with the famous and influential.

In Austin John Henry Faulk, the author's brother, savors Quail Pie with J. Frank Dobie, Walter Prescott, RoyBedichek, and Mody Boatright. Fort Worth's Van Cliburn enjoys the hostess's biscuits and offers his own recipe for a whole-wheat variety. Here is Lady Bird Johnson's Peach Ice Cream (the LBJ Ranch) and some expected classics such as Lee's Chili (Amarillo), Venison Roast (the King Ranch), and Black-eyed Peas with Okra (Austin). But you will also find the unusual in Roasted Wild Turkey (the Hill Country), Fried Apricot Pies (Fredericksburg), and Watermelon Rind Preserves (Luling). Regional contributions shine in Sauerbraten (Kerrville), Salsa Brava (Brownsville) and CrawfishEtouffee (Beaumont).

At the home of friends in Dallas Koock reveals the recipe for Chicken Cannelloni served after an opera. We share in her delight with Persimmon Salad inSan Antonio, Cold Breast of Duck with Orange Slices in Houston, andCebollas Rellenas from the Rio Grande Valley. Where else can you learn the story behind Slumgullion, a purported concoction ofFort Worth's Amon Carter Sr., and friend Will Rogers, or find the recipe forPepparkakor (Swedish Ginger Cookies) from the Austin area? Other cities with recipes featured areTyler, Abilene, Rockdale, El Paso, Waco, Columbus, and Corpus Christi. Much more than a cookbook, this collection offers a look at a way of life and entertaining,Texas style.

Hostess, businesswoman, art patron and supporter, Mary Faulk Koock has attracted people from all walks of life to her great style and love of life through over numerous printings of The Texas Cookbook. This remarkable woman transformed her family home into one of country's most elegant restaurants, Green Pastures. She traveled widely and well, nurturing a community of artists, politicians, musicians and ranchers across the state. Her capacity to create experiences and build friendships with everyone whose path she crossed transformed dinners and receptions from the simple to the sumptuous.

The Texas Cookbook is a portrait of good food and good company. It goes beyond wonderful recipes and invites us to share the hospitality of leading Texans of the 1960s. Here is aTexas we'll never know again, peopled by larger-than-life personalities and embellished with a lifestyle of grace and fun. Travel across the state and have breakfast with Van Cliburn, lunch at the world-famous King Ranch, the eighth wonder of the world,” and dinner with Joan Sutherland and Dorothy and Richard Rogers. Join Mary FaulkKoock as she stages lunch for LBJ, Harry Truman, and Sam Rayburn and a post-concert dinner for pianist LeonardPennarioand see if you don't have more fun than Martha Stewart could ever imagine.

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LibraryThing Review

User Review  - louparris - LibraryThing

Really good treatment of her visit to Beaumont

Contents

• In and Around Austin I: 46
• In and Around Austin II: 104
• Sweetbrush: 138
• Beaumont: 142
• South Middle East: 173
• Dallas: 192
• Tyler: 205
• Brownsville: 210
• The King Ranch: 226
• Amarillo: 235
• Abilene: 257
• Rockdale: 270
• San Antonio: 279
• El Paso: 296
• Luling: 308
• Waco: 318
• Columbus: 330
• The LBJ Ranch: 343
• Houston: 362
• Greenville: 384
• Corpus Christi: 409
• All Outdoors: 419
• Fort Worth: 424
• Rio Grande Valley: 431
• The Hill Country: 438
• The Campaign Trail: 465
• Index: 475

About the author

Mary Faulk Koock traveled throughout Texas gathering recipes ranging from down-home cooking to high-class affairs, from regional favorites to ethnic specialties. Scattered among these are the author's anecdotes from her vast and varied encounters with the famous and influential.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Texas Cookbook: From Barbecue to Banquet-- an Informal View of Dining and Entertaining the Texas Way; Issue 1 of Great American cooking series
• Author: Mary Faulk Koock
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: University of North Texas Press, 2001
• ISBN: 1574411365, 9781574411362
• Length: 491 pages
• Subjects: Cooking / Regional & Ethnic / American / Western States; Cooking / Regional & Ethnic / General