Restaurateur Jay Bentley loves meat. At the Mint, his bar and grill in Bozeman, Mont., customers can order beef steaks and burgers, but they'll also find bison stew, trout and salmon sizzling in inventive sauces and a wide selection of wild game from duck to venison. Open Range offers a host of savory, hearty recipes paired with vintage photographs and anecdotes from Montana's history.
While Bentley confesses he's a "seat-of-the-pants" cook, he includes helpful lists of equipment, herbs and spices (complemented nicely by a chapter on rubs and sauces). His recipes mix classic techniques with fresh influences, producing such inventions as bison peanut saté and honey-chipotle pork chops. Between recipes, readers can feast their eyes on panoramic photos of Montana's buttes and plains interspersed with mouthwatering close-ups of Bentley's handiwork.
Flavorful and nourishing, Open Range evokes the big sky of Montana while serving up comfort food to satisfy the hungriest cowhands. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams