Author: Isabel Montclaire

Recently Randal and I were sitting on his front porch, chatting away. Somehow we got onto the topic of his extended stays in the Philippines and the starving children he saw there. He told me he’d exit a grocery store or restaurant only to be approached by children begging for food with one hand outstretched, the other patting their empty stomachs. Randal was generous and helped when he could.

I wondered what it would be like to be hungry and then be given something to eat by a complete stranger. For several days, those images haunted me and I contemplated. I thought about how yes, our country has many problems, but thankfully witnessing starvation every time I step outside is not one of them. Seeing hunger, especially in children, would be gut-wrenching. I can imagine few experiences worse than being a mother who witnesses her child die for lack of food and the feeling of being completely helpless.

We have plenty of issues in this country. We worry about grocery prices, the cost of gas, politics or whether AI might one day wipe us out. But we don’t worry about starving to death or watching someone else starve. I am grateful to live in the United States where I am spared that experience. Food resources exist for those in need — SNAP, the school lunch program and food banks. There may be hunger, but not starvation. In America, an estimated 120 billion pounds of food goes to waste every year. We’re drowning in excess. Ironically, we face the opposite problem of starvation: obesity. But that’s another column.

For some reason, Randal’s story took the idea of being grateful to a whole new level. I’m thankful I can eat what I want, when I want. The variety in my pantry astounds me: four kinds of mustard, five types of rice, 15 heirloom bean varieties, six different flours — the list goes on. I’ve appreciated for a long time the huge array of choices available in the grocery store. I’ve never gone to bed hungry or wondered if I’d eat the next day. If I were constantly hungry, creativity, pleasure and fun wouldn’t exist in my life. I’d probably spend my whole day wondering where my next meal was coming from.

Randal’s story is a powerful reminder. In the United States, we are free from one of the most crushing problems a person could have (truly, God bless America). Keep that in mind the next time you feel overwhelmed by our state of current affairs. Despite all our domestic challenges, at least none of us have to say no to an emaciated child looking for a handout.

Last August (2024) at the Wheeler County Fair’s post-judging bake sale, I bought a cake made by Tina Adams. It was the third year in a row that I had bought her award winning, blue ribbon cakes. But this year when I went to the bake sale, there was no Tina cake! I was crushed.

I hurriedly tried to get over my disappointment by turning my attention to the huge array of baked goods that covered the tops of three large glass display cases. Not even the grandest bakery in the world would have as many choices. I settled on a beautiful, golden brown banana bread.

When I got home, I couldn’t wait to cut a slice. This was not your usual banana bread. It was wonderfully moist, with a tender crumb, just the right density, not too sweet, a pure banana flavor and a crust with a slight crunch. I had to know – who made this?

The next day I went back to the fair and inquired. Eloise Mortimore and I compared all the banana breads to the slice I’d brought and we found the one that matched perfectly in size and appearance. Now that’s real detective work! And guess who made it? Tina! I got goosebumps all over. Tina and I must be soul sisters now, or something.

Of course, I had to get her recipe. Surely there must be some secret ingredient. But no – it was just the usual banana bread recipe. So I peppered her with questions. What kind of flour? Gold Medal. Oil? Wesson. Local eggs? Yes. Some people just have a knack.

I wanted to follow the recipe exactly, to see if mine would turn out like hers. But when I mashed up the bananas, I was half a cup short. I didn’t want to go to the store for just one banana. Applesauce might have worked, but then I spotted a can of Dole pineapple chunks in their own juice in my pantry. I blended in those instead. I also used freshly milled flour from soft, white, heirloom wheat berries. Since I didn’t have Wesson oil, I used grapeseed. My bread turned out quite well ‒ almost as good as Tina’s.

Tina’s Banana Bread

1 ½ cups mashed bananas
½ cup oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325⁰. Mix the wet ingredients, then the dry, then combine. Add your choice of chopped nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, dried figs, blueberries, etc. Bake 65 ‒ 70 minutes. This is the only banana bread recipe you’ll ever need, guaranteed. Thank you, Tina!

I’ve been writing about Cowboy Rob’s recipes and now I am writing about a recipe from his favorite cookbook which is now my favorite cookbook too. The book is the “Trail Boss Cowboy Cookbook”, published in 1985. The book features recipes from famous ranches around the world and includes cooking tips and historical facts about cowboys and ranching. I bought my copy on Abe Books for $5.49, shipping included.

A recipe that immediately got my attention was Ronald Reagan’s macaroni and cheese. It looked easy and you know how much I love easy! You might think of macaroni and cheese as a wintertime comfort food but it also pairs beautifully with summer barbeque classics like brisket, ribs and baked beans.

That said, I looked at the recipe and instantly became suspicious (no offense, Ronnie!). The recipe said to add an egg directly to the noodles and I worried that would result in scrambled egg bits laced throughout which would be . . . well, just wrong. Since the recipe is essentially a cheese custard, I mixed the egg in with the milk and added it all at once.

The original recipe called for dry mustard and instead, I substituted a couple of tablespoons of Rob’s old-fashioned mustard sauce because Theresa told me she used some of the sauce in a potato salad and said it was quite delicious. I also Googled the macaroni and cheese dish and several people said it was a bit dry so I added ⅓ cup or maybe it was ½ cup more milk. I used Tillamook sharp cheddar and slightly undercooked the noodles since they continue to cook in the oven. Topping the dish with homemade bread crumbs added a lovely finishing touch. This recipe was much simpler to make than a macaroni and cheese made with a cheese sauce.

Ronald Reagan’s Macaroni and Cheese

½ lb. macaroni noodles (about 1½ cups)
1 tsp butter
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup milk (I used whole)

Cook the noodles, then drain and rinse. Melt the butter and toss with the noodles. In a bowl, mix the egg, milk, mustard and salt. Place the noodles in a casserole dish and toss with the cheese. Pour the liquid mixture over the top. Bake at 350⁰ for 45 minutes (mine was done in just 35). Top with extra cheese and breadcrumbs during the last ten minutes. Bake until little bubbles rise along the edges.

Next time, I’m going to use extra-large macaroni noodles and that will fancy it up a bit. This recipe will definitely become a “go-to” favorite. Thank you, Ronnie and Rob!

Lately I’ve been writing about sauces because a good, homemade sauce is like the bow on a present – it adds a finishing touch. Here’s my recipe for “Savory Sauce”, my all-time favorite. This rich, creamy, tangy and salty sauce is jam packed with umami flavors (which is just another way of saying “savory”). Sometimes, I’ll eat a couple of tablespoons straight from the bottle — it’s that good. This versatile sauce compliments roasted vegetables, potatoes, salads, beans, rice, chicken, shrimp, noodles and you can even use it as a dipping sauce for bread.

Usually, I write about recipes that use ingredients commonly found at any grocery store, but this one’s an exception. You may need to visit a health food or gourmet store, or order the ingredients online. The upside? These specialty items have a long shelf life. The stars of this show are tahini (sesame seed butter), tamari (a Japanese soy sauce alternative), white balsamic vinegar and nutritional yeast. I don’t know why on earth folks call it nutritional yeast which sounds kinda’ yucky if you ask me. The stuff is delicious though; sometimes I eat it plain, all by itself. In my opinion, the name for nutritional yeast should be “savory golden flakes”. Doesn’t that sound more appetizing?

Savory Sauce

⅓ cup nutritional yeast flakes
⅓ cup tamari
⅓ cup soy sauce
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
⅓ cup white balsamic vinegar
⅓ cup spring or filtered water
3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp tahini
1½ cups vegetable oil

In a blender, combine all the ingredients except the tahini and the oil. Add the tahini and blend, then add the oil ½ cup at a time and blend some more. I store my sauce in a Crown Royal bottle and it keeps in the fridge for a couple of months. Use high quality neutral oil such as grapeseed, avocado or refined coconut oil.

The other day, I cooked some black beans. I put the beans and the liqueur (that is a fancy word for the liquid they are cooked in) in a bowl, added a couple of tablespoons of Savory Sauce and topped the beans with some salsa, chopped green onions and grated sharp cheddar cheese. This made a delicious, instant soup. I impressed myself! This dish will definitely go in my “SOS” recipe box. SOS recipes are the things I make when I am too tired to cook or even eat.

When I have a homemade sauce on hand, I can whip up something delicious to eat in a pinch. They are like magic wands in my fridge, always ready to turn humble ingredients into extraordinary treats. Savory Sauce delivers joy in every mouthful and adds a twirl of flavor to every bite!

My column last week was about Cowboy Rob’s delicious barbeque sauce and this week it’s about his mustard sauce, made from a family recipe that’s about a hundred years old. It’s easy to put a meal together when you have a few homemade sauces in the fridge.

Rob’s recipe is simple; there is no need to cook it, just dump and stir. I blended the ingredients and the sauce was a pale yellow. But within ten minutes, the color had morphed into a vibrant, goldenrod yellow. The color was so pretty that I wanted to paint a whole room that color or find fabric that matched and make a dress. I tasted the sauce and it was good, but nothing to write home, or a column about. The instructions said “Let sit for 24 hours” and while it sat, I kept peeking as if it was a beautiful piece of art.

I tasted it the next morning and during the night, Little Miss Mustard had dressed up in finery and gone to the ball. The flavors had indeed melded and the hot caused an intense sensation up in the nose which is a bit of a thrill, you know. The next evening, the sauce was even better. The color stayed vibrant and was still incredibly beautiful.

I put the sauce on a fried egg sandwich made with pita bread, and for a moment, I was at a five star restaurant (sorry, French’s, you’ve just been retired). Then I cooked some shrimp and it occurred to me to mix the mustard sauce with the barbeque sauce I made last week. Wow! That was one of the best sauces I’ve ever eaten, bar none. In fact, the sauce was so good I stood at the kitchen counter and ate it like it was a main course and not a condiment, before I told myself that was not very ladylike and stopped. The zippy duo had it all – tangy, savory, sweet, salty, sour, hot and bitter flavors. The sauce made a pork chop blossom. I even put it on ramen noodles. This mustard sauce goes with Rob’s barbeque sauce like salt goes with pepper. That’s fusion happenin’ in the kitchen!

Old-Fashioned Mustard Sauce

4 tbsp dry mustard
4 tbsp sugar
12 tbsp all-purpose flour (I used cake flour)
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp salt
½ cup water and ½ cup distilled white vinegar

Mix the ingredients and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours, then refrigerate. I used S&B Oriental Hot Mustard powder. If you need last week’s barbeque sauce recipe, by all means please write to me – Isabel@isabelmontclaire.com. Thank you, Rob, for sharing your incredible recipes with us!

If you wondered where I’ve been for the past few weeks, the paper had public notices to print so it ran out of room for my column. To pick up where we left off, I was writing about my conversations with Rob Couture (his nickname is “Couche”) and his amazing collection of cowboy recipes. Rob spent a lot of time in cowboy cookhouses and knows all about simple down-home cooking.

I thumbed through the recipes in his wooden box and pulled out his barbeque sauce recipe. When I have a homemade sauce in the fridge, I can always make something delicious to eat, even if there is not much in there! And poof! Suddenly a ho-hum dish becomes a treat.

Rob’s barbeque sauce recipe looked interesting because it calls for butter; I have never seen a barbeque sauce recipe that uses butter. The next time I make this sauce, I will probably cook it in the crockpot for a couple of hours on low. Crockpots are handy because they eliminate the need for stirring; you add in the ingredients and just walk away.

Cowboy Couche’s Barbeque Sauce

1 cube butter
½ cup dried onions or 1 cup fresh, diced
8 tsp garlic powder
44 ounces Heinz ketchup
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp cayenne
1 tbsp liquid smoke
2 tbsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onions and garlic and sauté on low and be careful not to scorch it. Mix the remaining ingredients and simmer on low for about an hour and stir every now and then, adding water as necessary.

Rob was very specific about using Heinz’ ketchup and I bought the one made with sugar, not corn syrup, because the sweetness of corn syrup tends to overpower the other flavors. I blended the sauce with my immersion blender at the end.

I was fascinated how the flavors melded together as the sauce sat on the counter for a few hours and the next day, it was even better. I must have tasted it 25 times which is half the fun of making your own food, plus the house fills up with such a lovely fragrance.

When the sauce was finished, I baked a potato, buttered it, added extra sharp cheddar cheese, sprinkled on bacon crumbles, topped it with green onions and covered it all with sauce. A delicious fast food dinner! The next day I added a couple of tablespoons of the sauce to a bowl of freshly cooked pinto beans and that was awesome, like instant baked beans.

Thank you, Couche, for this simple, savory and tangy recipe, the very best sauce! 

My friend, Rob Couture (his friends call him Couche), is a retired buckaroo. A buckaroo is a highly skilled cowboy. Rob worked on ranches for most of his life and our conversations often veer to the topic of cowboy cuisine. We both agree the best food is just plain and simple down-home cooking. Gourmet food is fine for city folks, but not buckaroo cowboys.

One day, Rob mentioned he had a box that contained about 1000 recipes. Since handwritten, handed-down recipes are one of my favorite things (next to actually making that thing), I asked if we could look through the box sometime. He agreed and we set a date.

After I saw the recipes, I felt like a pirate who had discovered a treasure chest. The recipes were alphabetically organized with dividers. Many recipes were from way back and on tattered paper written with faded ink; a few were over a hundred years old. Some were typed on an old-fashioned manual typewriter.

Recipes handed down from family members seemed like treasures that passed through generations of time. Some recipes were from friends who served him food that was so delicious, he just had to ask for the recipe. Some were clipped out of magazines and not tried yet (I will write about “Donkey Sauce” soon). Sometimes I asked him about the person who passed the recipe along, especially if it was handwritten. The stories added a lovely dimension and suddenly the recipe had a face as well as a name.

When we were finished with the first round, I asked Rob to write down a few of his favorites in his own penmanship. My mouth watered when I read his recipes for barbeque sauce, homemade noodles, dumplings and sourdough biscuits. All of them have a special “twist” that sets them apart from the ordinary, humdrum versions of the same recipe. Over the following weeks, I will try them out and write them up.

Near the end of our visit, he showed me a book titled “Trail Boss’s Cowboy Cookbook”. This cookbook was written in 1985 by the Society for Range Management, an international non-profit organization. This book had so many fabulous recipes from famous ranches around the world it made my head spin! Two recipes in particular stood out – Ronald Reagan’s macaroni and cheese and a Pit Barbeque for five to 600 people. If I could have only one cookbook, this would definitely be it. I ordered my own copy from Abe Books.

Stay tuned for Rob’s cookhouse recipes, just in time for summer barbeques, evening campfires and rodeo parties. Thank you, Rob for sharing your favorite recipes with me and my readers.

My book, the Joy of Plenty, is the story of how I learned that a pantry full of basic staple ingredients plus a few fancy extras were the keys to freedom in the kitchen. Sometimes a special, fresh ingredient arrives on the scene, much like a guest artist who accompanies a symphony. The special ingredient combines with the repertoire of food I already have on hand and orchestrates a dish that has symphonic flavor.

That ingredient could be fresh trout or salmon, just picked lettuce or . . . like last weekend, rhubarb. I opened my door to see a little pile of it sitting on my doorstep, a surprise from reader David Hudson. What to make? A crisp!

I started with a basic crisp recipe. Blend butter, brown sugar, oats and vanilla. I had just bought a bag of almond flour so I added that along with a few tablespoons of einkorn flour. Rhubarb needs a lot of sugar and in the interest of trying something new, I used a cone of panela sugar (a common ingredient found at Mexican grocery stores or in the Mexican section of a grocery store; the sugar has a lovely, complex flavor). I started to grate it but that was too tedious. So I put the cone in a pan with a little water and dissolved it into syrup. Then, I remembered Theresa’s fruit pie secret. Make a roux with flour and butter, then stir in fruit juice and thicken the pie with that. I cooked the roux, added apple juice to the sugar syrup and made a sauce. Next, I cut the rhubarb into small pieces and then remembered the blueberries and peaches in the freezer. I mixed the fruit with the sauce, Ceylon cinnamon and lemon juice. Suddenly, the thought of a nap lulled me, so, I napped! When I woke up, my first thought was “coconut”. I added a cup of toasted coconut to the topping and then, touché, my crisp felt complete. The following measurements are approximate; remember I was winging it! Tune into your senses and you can wing it too. You can make almond flour in the blender; just grind them up.

Healthful Fruit Crisp

Topping:

½ cube salted, softened butter
½ cup brown sugar
1½ tsp vanilla extract
2 cups oats
¼ cup flour

Filling

½ cube butter, melted
¼ cup flour
8 ounce cone panela, melted into syrup
½ cup fruit juice
6-8 cups fruit
2 tsp cinnamon
Splash of lemon

Bake at 350⁰ for an hour or until the crisp bubbles around the edges. Serve the crisp warm with cream and see how a guest artist can make your pantry shine. 

Wow, the world’s current state of affairs is like a roller coaster ride! We anxiously wonder what will happen next, as if a big bad wolf lurks around the corner. The world is also a sad place for many people now. Some probably feel shattered, like broken plates, when they learn the rug was pulled out from under them

The vortex of bad news can swirl a person down into an ugly trap if they are not careful. The fix for that is to consciously shift the focus to the bright side of life. It works! For example, the other day Jim said “Just look at all the things humans get to drink. The other animals only get water”. That statement struck me like a lightning bolt. I remembered when I worked at Murray’s Drug and I read the OLCC’s list of approved spirits. The list was eight pages long. Vodka, gin, tequila, whiskey, rum, brandy and liqueurs – everything you could imagine and more. The OLCC carries only a fraction of the spirits available in the world. Add to that list sodas, teas, coffee, juices, sparkling waters and milks, all in a wide variety of flavors.

Randal and I made a plan to make glazed donuts with a gadget I bought at a thrift store last week. I sorted through all my flavorings: maple, vanilla, chocolate, peppermint, lemon, almond, bacon (yes, bacon – it’s for barbeque sauce). Flavorings are just one category of all the foods we have available to eat.

My mind jumped back to the time I went to a trade show hosted by UNFI, the wholesale food distributor that supplies grocery stores. The show was in the Oregon Convention Center’s cavernous ballroom. Vendors brought all their wares and the selection was enormous. Take McCormick for example. Your local grocery store may only carry thirty items in their product line because that’s all the shelf space the store has. But I discovered McCormick’s entire product line included hundreds of foods. I visited a vendor who sold dozens of varieties of gourmet rice. Yes, dozens. The trade show was so over the top of the top it almost shook me out of my shoes.

The next time you get grumpy when the headlines flash chaotic, angry vitriol across the screen, stop for a moment and notice all the excess. It’s a privilege to live here on Mother Earth and in the western world. We are so accustomed to our incredible bounty, it’s easy to take it for granted. The next time the big bad wolf headlines make you anxious, just wink, turn around and walk away. You’ll be glad you did!

Last week I continued my baking jag, thanks to my friend Don who gave me five pounds of einkorn wheat and a cookbook titled “Einkorn: Recipes for Nature’s Original Wheat”. The baked goods I made were so delicious that even though the grain is obscure, I wanted to write about it.

Einkorn is the world’s oldest wheat and traces back to the end of the Stone Age, about 12,000 years ago. All modern day wheat descends from wild einkorn. The wheat isn’t grown on a large scale which is why you probably haven’t heard of it. The grain has less gluten, more nutrients and definitely more flavor than regular wheat.

Don also gave me a basic bread recipe (from the Ancient Baker on YouTube) that looked quite simple so I tried it. And I have an embarrassing confession; I made it twice and each time I made mistakes. The first time I inadvertently added too much water and the second time, I forgot the oil. Then I had to add the oil in after the bread had been mixed. But the bread forgave me was still delicious. This makes me think this recipe is foolproof and would be great for beginners and children who want to make bread. The loaf has a crumbly, cake-like texture so it’s perfect for toast that’s covered with butter and jam and eaten with a fork.

Einkorn Bread

1 cup warm water
2 tsp yeast
¼ cup honey (or, ⅛ cup honey and ⅛ cup molasses)
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups einkorn flour (400 grams)
1 tsp salt

In a bowl, combine boiling water with cold water until a thermometer reads 120⁰. Keep one cup, add the sweeteners and the yeast. The yeast will get foamy; when the foam completely covers the surface of the bowl, add the olive oil. Pour the liquid into the flour and salt. Mix with a big rubber spatula. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about an hour. Put into an oiled loaf pan and let it rise again. Bake at 375⁰ for 30 minutes.

I was puzzled because I weighed the flour and 400 grams was four cups, not three which goes to show you how much variation there is in flour. If you can, weigh the flour. You want the mixture to be a thick batter. You may need to add more flour or water. I used a cat heating pad to speed up the rise.

Obscure as the grain is, it can be found at health food stores and of course, on Amazon. I love its robust and nutty flavor! Thank you, Don, for the introduction.