Open Range: Steaks, Chops, and More from Big Sky Country

by Jay Bentley, Patrick Dillon

Not just a major vacation destination, Montana is a veritable melting pot of delicious grub. Add to it the wide-open spaces, outdoor living, and the riches of nature, and it’s enough to make any vacationer question the decision to go home! Prepare yourself for what the authors call “great, honest, and authentically hearty chow you can prepare at home,” the Montana way. Open Range serves up generous portions of meat—including venison, quail, duck, elk, fish, pork, and beef—in near-excess, and all manner of favorite local steakhouse sides.
The Mint Bar and Café in Belgrade, Montana inspired the book, but the recipes include much more than menu offerings. Far from dusty chuckwagon cuisine, Montana’s culinary influences are Cajun, Creole, French, and Italian. Standouts include Fried Meat Pies, Campfire Coffee Chili, Buttermilk-Fried Quail with Steen’s Syrup, Poacher’s Deer Leg, and more. The authors put their considerable knowledge of meat-eating to use: beginning with how the animal was raised through all the steps of choosing, prepping, marinating, cooking, and enjoying it. Follow the main course with basic potatoes and creamed spinach to stews,salsas, greens, and desserts: you’ll leave the table satisfied.

Genres: Cookbooks

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 23, 2012

Reviews

[Sandra Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book!! Before you ever get to the recipes it is a feast for the eyes. Gorgeous photos of one of this nation's beautiful states and glorious food tempt you immediately. There is a history of the author's restaurant as well as a brief history of meat in Montana and an "Equipment and Essentials" section before diving into the food--and what food!! Everything from your basic comfort foods of Salisbury Steak and Meatloaf to the more interesting Bison Carpaccio (okay, let's be honest here. This is a dish I'm sure to avoid as I don't like raw or even rare meat, but some would love it!), Pan-Roasted Halibut with Beurre Blanc and Fresh Chanterelles, Plancha-Grilled Flank Steak, Argentine Style, and Dearborn Ranch Pheasant Wrapped in Bacon and Grape Leaves. There are plenty of great sides and starters as well. There isn't a photo for every dish, but a good portion of them are illustrated.

There are so many lovely recipes in this book. Truly, there's something for just about everyone. The Mint-Style Barbeque Shrimp is seriously calling my name!! The Polenta and Grilled Sausage is destined for my family's "please make this again!" pile, and the Butte Pasties as well as the Natchitoches Meat Pies are sure to be made often. I love that the Butte Pasties are baked making them a little healthier, and can be made ahead and frozen for months at a time.

I knew I would enjoy this book the moment I saw it, but honestly wasn't sure how many recipes I'd actually cook out of it. I was so pleasantly surprised! Many cookbooks like this use hard to find ingredients or mostly expensive cuts of meat that don't fit into our budget, or have such off the wall ingredient combinations that it doesn't even sound appealing. "Open Range", however, caught my interest from the get go and didn't let go. This is sure to go on my favorites shelf and I highly recommend it!

I received a copy of this book from Running Press for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Heidi Roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unexpected Finesse

I admit, it's been many years since I visited Montana. The week I spent in Billings some time ago was a pleasure and eye-opening. I experienced a surprising level of culture. Still, I managed to be surprised by the flavors in "Open Range." I didn’t have expectations of sophisticated flavors.

Those expectations, fortunately, were wrong. Expectations, however, lined up with lots of options for meat dishes. I tested four recipes, the “extra” one being a salad recipe that was a great add-on for the meal. More than 20 recipes tempted me on the first quick review of the book. More were added to the list as I spent more time with the book. The breadth of international flavors piqued my attention. I see so many books and have been reading cookbooks for enough years that I regularly find just acouple recipes in a single book that pique my interest.

We enjoyed the Curried Coleslaw as this time year in California cabbage is affordable and it’s a simple recipe. I also tried a beef recipe, a chicken recipe, and a potato dish.

The results all turned out great. I would make a couple changes: less red-pepper in the coleslaw. It was too spicy as written for my family. I also would add the garlic cloves and olives to the roasted potatoes after the first 1/2 hour. The ones in my test dish burned. Burned garlic of course is not recommended. That said, the potatoes turned out great and everyone agreed that recipe was a keeper.

The tested chicken recipe, however, was the top winner. “Grilled Coriander Chicken Breasts” won over every taste bud that met the dish. Coriander plays well in a variety of arenas, savory and sweet. It is perhaps this flexibility that makes it such a fabulous match for chicken. The chicken came out moist, flavorful, and different enough from other recipes to be interesting. This is definitely a recipe to make and enjoy many times.

I look forward to trying even more recipes. For carnivores looking for new ideas and flavors with quality cuts of meat, Open Range is a great place to start.

[Rob Wesson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is currently my favorite cookbook. We have particularly enjoyed the recipes for fish and steak. (This one is not for vegetarians or vegans.) Special favorites are the Iron-Seared New York Steak, Mint-style and the Plancha-Grilled Salmon with Fresh Basil Chimichurri (This is really terrific, just watch carefully not to burn the the basil crust!), and Seared Salmon with Cajun Rub & Raspberry Sauce. All in all this cookbook has given me new perspectives about marinating meat, about searing on a grill, and about some creative and tasty sauces. I am looking forward to a chance to stop in at his restaurant in Bozeman!

[Kenneth Myrick]

Open Range: Steaks, Chops and more is a delightfuly crafted collection of exciting and proven dishes by Chef Bentley. I have been lucky to eat in his Montana restaurant and am most impressed with the cooking range of Chef Bentley, from steak, chops, seafood and just about anything is good on their seasonal menu.
This year I am giving copies of Open Range as holiday gifts. Not only is the book an easy to follow sensible approach to its dishes, the book is beautifully photographed. Better put on a bib before you start the book as you will be salivatig in no time.
I heartedly recommend Chef Jay Bentley's new book; Open Range, Steaks,Chops and more. This big book definately exemplifies "Big Sky Country"