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I grew up in Texas, around cows and cowboys, and one thing I know is both groups like to eat.
A ranch hobbyist with a small herd, my dad was determined to turn me into a cowgirl. While I preferred to play the piano, sew and study the fashion of Audrey Hepburn and other classic Hollywood stars, I was his hired hand, getting paid a weekly allowance for calling and feeding the cows. Sometimes I got paid extra coins for dusting their backs to reduce the number of horn flies they swatted at with their tails.
Cowboy work, which includes other things like stretching barbed-wire fences and digging up mesquite, prickly pear and rocks in the pasture, can burn up a lot of calories. To quell our growling stomachs, Mom made things like chicken fried steak, Frito Pie, fried okra, coconut cake and pecan pie. I helped by making cream gravy, setting the table and drying the dishes.
Memories such as these came back to me while I was thumbing through “A Taste of Cowboy: Ranch Recipes and Tales from the Trail” by Kent Rollins with Shannon Keller Rollins. He grew up on the Oklahoma-Texas border along the Red River, which I’ve crossed more than a few times.
Most of the recipes are familiar, but with a modern twist. Almost bringing a tear to my eye are Mexican Tortilla Lasagna (P. 72), Green Chile Chipotle Relish with Cream Cheese (P. 107), Roasted Bean-stuffed Poblano Peppers (P. 168), Smooth-as-butter Creamy Corn (P. 181) and Bread Pudding with Whiskey Cream Sauce (P. 190). Then, there was one recipe that was so creative that I had to try it: Cowboy Sushi.
I immediately thought of my dad, who served in the U.S. Army during the Occupation of Japan. He was a meat-and-potatoes sort of farm boy, so subsisting mainly on fish and rice during his tour of duty was a big culture shock. Until the day he died, he avoided rice, saying he’d already eaten his share to last a lifetime. As for fish, he stuck to catfish we caught out of our own ponds.
This Cowboy Sushi doesn’t contain fish or rice, so I think Dad would have liked it. Today would have been his birthday.
COWBOY SUSHI (Page 116)
3 (5- to 8-ounce) sirloin steaks or thin-cut Milanesa
Lime juice
Meat tenderizer
Seasoned salt
Black pepper
1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
1 to 2 jalapenos, cut into thin 2-inch-long spears
1/3 medium-sized cucumber, cut into thin 2-inch-long spears
2 green onions chopped
Cowboy Sushi Sauce (recipe follows)
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and thinly sliced
Lemon juice (optional)
1. Unless you are using the Milanesa, wrap the sirloin steaks with plastic wrap and flatten with a meat hammer until about 1/8-inch thick, or as thin as possible and into approximately three 6-by-11-inch rectangles.
2. Remove the plastic and rub both sides of each piece with several drops of lime juice. Repeat with a few shakes of the meat tenderizer and seasonings. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes in the icebox.
3. Preheat a grill to low.
4. Remove the meat from the icebox and let warm to room temperature before grilling. Grill the meat over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until rare to medium-rare. You can also pan-fry the steaks by searing them on both sides over high heat in a cast iron skillet. Just be sure to keep the meat on the rare to medium-rare side because it will be easier to handle and more tender. Cool to room temperature.
5. Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese evenly over one side of each steak. Place about a 1½-inch-wide row of jalapeno and cucumber spears closer to one long side of the steaks, using your judgment about how much to include.
6. Sprinkle the green onions on top. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of the sushi sauce on top of the vegetables.
7. Starting with the long side of the vegetables, tightly roll up the steak. Cover and place in the icebox for 10 minutes.
8. Cut the rolls into ¾-inch-thick pieces. Top the rolls with the avocado slices. You can squeeze a little lemon juice over the avocado to keep it from browning. Drizzle with the sushi sauce or use for dipping and serve.
SUSHI SAUCE
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1¼ tablespoons prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1¼ teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients until smooth. Serve with the sushi rolls.
Our assessment: These beef sushi rolls would make a great party appetizer. They're colorful and tasty, and people will talk about how different they are.
To flatten the steak, I put it between two pieces of plastic wrap and used a rolling pin as if I were rolling out pie dough. I think that’s easier than using a meat mallet. Also, to control the cooking of the steak, I decided not to grill outdoors, but rather to cook it in my home, on the range.
From the book: "A Taste of Cowboy: Ranch Recipes and Tales from the Trail" by Kent Rollins with Shannon Keller Rollins; 248 pages, $30. Published by Rux Martin, 2015.
What you get: Chapters are divided into breakfast, lunch, appetizers, dinner and dessert; plus, there's a cowboy glossary and a guide on using cast iron cookware.
In his own words: "Cowboy cooking is made from ingredients you'll already have on hand such as potatoes, cheese, canned beans and onions. You won't need to saddle up and ride to the store to pick out some foreign food you can't pronounce …." — Kent Rollins
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