Cooks' Books by Lisa Messinger

"Big Ranch, Big City Cookbook: Recipes from Lambert's Texas Kitchens" by Louis Lambert with June Naylor (Ten Speed, $40).

Chefs who get their start in prestigious locations like New York's Culinary Institute of America and then begin their careers at big-city restuarants don't always stay in those dining meccas.

Award-winning chef Louis Lambert, who followed just that path, spread the joy to Texas by opening four hopping spots — specializing in everything from steaks, to barbecue, to burgers — in Austin and Fort Worth.

He's become so prolific and well known from his restaurant Lamberts Downtown Barbecue and his other joints, that the delights from his Texas kitchens now fill a scrumptious (in terms of both its recipes and gorgeous color photographs) cookbook.

What he also will undoubtedly add to his cooking lessons are plenty of home chefs who will be well versed in many of the huge state's culinary secrets and specialties — as well as those from Lambert's rich background. That's what it's all about to him.

"The chefs and cooks that I have always had the most respect for have one thing in common — the foods they cook have a depth of soul and flavor rooted in their life experiences," writes Lambert, who cooked with Wolfgang Puck after culinary school graduation.

"My father's mother is a decedent of the original French Arcadians who settled in Louisiana. Whenever we visited Grandmom in Port Arthur, she spent all day in the kitchen making the foods my father grew up eating — stuffed deviled crab, Cajun smothered pork chops and our favorite, shrimp gumbo, to name just a few.

"My earliest memory of eating barbecue was my father taking my brothers and me to Leroy's Pit Barbecue in Odessa when we were kids. Leroy, like all the old timers, made everything he served from scratch — creamy cole slaw, tangy vinegar barbecue sauce and plump spicy hot links. My grandmother's shrimp gumbo and Leroy's hot links are examples of foods that have such a deep and unique flavor and feel, eating them comes close to a religious experience for me. There is nothing fancy about either dish, but I'd choose them over a $200 dinner in most fancy restaurants."

His blend of old and new, from his childhood to his big-city days with Puck, make this take unique. When you're at home on the range, you'll see what a large range of cooking there is for you to excel in. Cured and other specialty meats you'll feast on may include peppered lamb pastrami, brandied chicken liver terrine with caramelized onions, jalapeno and cheddar beef hotlinks and Pecos wild duck rillettes.

Taking a Tex-Mex turn, try stacked chili con carne enchiladas with fried eggs, Serrano escabeche or chicken sopes with roasted corn crema.

Salads, soups and stews, vegetables, breads and desserts all get their due, as well as a large chapter with signature stocks and sauces, such as fennel salsa verde, cider-mustard barbecue sauce and fruited herb grain mustard.

All chefs should be required to have owned four distinct, though related, restaurants before penning a cookbook. The variety and depth of Lambert's recipes are unmatched, as is his command of techniques and ingredients — innovatively applied — that turn simple dishes into smashes.

 

FRUITED HERB GRAIN MUSTARD

3 / 4 cup whole grain mustard

1 / 2 cup Dijon mustard

3 / 4 cup fruit chutney or fruit jam

1 tablespoon finely chopped chives

1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 / 4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 / 2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

Yields 2 cups.

In a small bowl, stir together all the ingredients. Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

 

GREEN ONION SKILLET CORN CAKES

2 cups finely ground yellow cornmeal

1 1 / 4 cups all-purpose flour

1 / 4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

6 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1 (4-ounce) can creamed corn

1 / 4 cup finely chopped green onion, white and green parts

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons for the skillet

Yields 24 small corn cakes.

Preheat oven to 200 F.

In a large bowl, stir together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk eggs until blended. Add buttermilk and creamed corn to the eggs and whisk together. Add egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Finally, add green onions and 6 tablespoons of the melted butter and stir until batter is smooth.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add remaining melted butter to coat bottom of the pan. Using a large spoon, a 2-ounce ladle or a 1 / 4-cup measuring cup, pour the batter into the skillet, being careful not to crowd the cakes (you'll have to cook them in batches). Cook until bubbles form and burst on top of the cakes and the bottoms are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip the cakes and brown the other side, about 2 minutes more. Keep the cakes warm in the oven while you finish the other batches. Serve hot.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "After-Work Gourmet" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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