Cookin’ Like a Cowboy

I thought I’d start by romanticizing about what it’s like to be a cowboy — long days out on the range, herding cattle in the baking sun. Dust. Lots of dust…and snakes. Night after night after night camping under the stars — on the hard ground with the distant cry of coyotes. Then it struck me.

The food. The delicious and hearty food. Cooked over an open flame. The kind of meal that satisfies after a long day of back breaking work. The kind of meal that sticks to your ribs so that you can sleep under those stars — satisfied and full. So, that’s what I decided we’re going to talk about.

You see, I love to cook. It’s one of my favorite past times, especially with and for the people I love. And what better time than now to try something new? When we are all cooped up together, I have the perfect captured audience.

I started by making a list of all the standards — at least from what I’ve seen in old westerns — and searched online for “the best cowboy stew ever,” “the best ranch bean recipe of all time.”

So, today is your lucky day. You are the recipient of the ultimate in curated cowboy culinary delights and I hope you enjoy making them as much as my family enjoyed eating them.

Rancher’s Stew

Classic Cornbread

Campfire Baked Beans

Hair on Your Chest Coffee

Iron Skillet Steak & Egg Hash

Don’t Forget the Frontier Whiskey

Christine DeBastiani: Christine DeBastiani is a crisis manager and educator working with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. She is the mother of two children and lives in Lexington Park, MD.