"western" news and stories

Fruits and veggies, shellfish and such are best eaten in season. When it comes to bragging rights over who grows the best grapes, is privy to the best fishing banks, you will certainly have a food fight on your hands. In this case, I'm talking about peaches. Georgia, the peach state, grows a good peach. Alabama, too. But I'd like to turn you on to peaches grown in western Colorado, and the several varieties that have peaked or are at peak right now. Specifically, peaches grown around the rural town of Palisade, CO., are among the sweetest, if not the sweetest I've ever tasted (in particular the O'Henry and the Rising Star). Western and Southwestern Colorado also produce some of the finest cider and applesauce apples in the world.

As to peaches. Check out this recipe for Peach Delight that won grand prize at the Palisade Peach Festival a couple of weeks ago. I tried a variation that did not include the egg replacement (since it's not cooked, don't mess around with raw eggs these days: salmonella) and it was divine.

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Forget about the so-called Italian spaghetti western. This time around, Food Movies We Love brings us to Tampopo, the world's first Japanese noodle western.

Written and directed by Juzo Itami, Tampopo tells the story of  Goro (played by Tsutomu Yamazaki) a truck driver/guardian angel who comes to town to help widowed noodlemaker Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto) create the greatest fast-food noodle joint Japan has ever seen.

Equal parts Shane, The Seven Samurai and Big Night, Tampopo is a crossover hit. Whether you like art-house movies with subtitles or whether you like noodles, Tampopo is guaranteed to please.

People magazine called this cookbook "gussied up frontier fare" and it manages to deliver not only recipes, but a little bit of the "frontier" style, as well. Big Sky Cooking is written by Meredith Brokaw, wife of Tom Brokaw, and Ellen Wright, veteran cookbook author. Meredith and Tom lived much of their lives in New York City, but bought a ranch in Montana some 16 years ago. It was there that they learned to appreciate what you can grow and cook from the pantry, because they were not able to run to the store at a moments notice to pick up fresh avocados or lemongrass on a whim. Montana taught Meredith to slow down, plan and simply enjoy food and cooking, which is what she tries to pass along in this book, complimented by photos of delicious, home style food and western scenery.

The recipes focus on things that would be best in the summer, like Butterflied Turkey on the Grill, Berry Cobbler and Watermelon and Feta Salad, though others would be equally good all year round, like Frontier Eggs, Pesto or Jalapeno Cornbread. 

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