To The Road! A Cookbook: History, Recipes, and Horse Traditions

By Gloria Austin

A Cookbook for Horse Owners & Lovers - Favorite Recipes from the Equine Heritage Institute. This cookbook is not only a compilation of tested recipes, it is also a brief history of cooking and baking. Horses have been a part of the journey from cooking on a spit to preparing meals in a chuck wagon for a trail crew, to making a family dinner

• Language: English
• Publisher: Equine Heritage Institute
• Release date: Mar 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781951895037

Gloria Austin

Gloria Austin lived and worked in Canada for many years. She is a graduate of the International University of Metaphysics and lives on the island of Tobago in the Caribbean, where she volunteers at Philma’s Early Childhood Center. Since her diagnosis with cancer in her early seventies, she grows her own herbs and vegetables.

Book preview

A BRIEF HISTORY OF COOKING

Nobody really knows when humans first started cooking their food. It may even have happened by accident. Perhaps someone found the flesh of a dead animal, killed in a forest fire, and decided it was more palatable than raw flesh! The next step may have been using a spit to cook and then steaming food may have happened next.

Archaeological evidence has shown that people also wrapped food in wet leaves and cooked the food over hot embers. At some point, humans also discovered they could prepare food by boiling or stewing. The first cooking receptacles may have been skulls or shells then, eventually, people learned how to make earthenware containers. With the domestication of livestock, people discovered they could make use of animal’s milk for many purposes. People also learned that they could cultivate edible plants and eventually also discovered ways to preserve foods by pickling, salting, smoking or chilling.

The horse has been a part of the evolution of cooking and was early man’s partner in the quest for food. First, the horse was hunted for food; man was the predator and horse was the prey. Then humans learned to manage herds of horses in order to use the horses as food sources. This led to the domestication of the horse and eventually to man learning to ride the horse; man could then use the horse to hunt for his food rather than for his food.

Today horse ownership is a hobby rather than a necessity just as cooking has become a hobby for many as well.

This cookbook traces the history of cooking and how horses have been a part of the journey from cooking on a spit to preparing meals in a chuck wagon for an entire trail crew, to making a family dinner in a crock pot. Crock pots?! What do they have to do with horses? Join us on this cooking journey and find out! Included are many of our favorite tested, researched and yes, TASTED recipes! Some are new recipes and some are updated, older recipes that require cooking techniques handed down through the ages but now - using all of our modern appliances!

COOKING ON A SPIT

The practice of spit-roasting meat over an open fire is cooking at its most primal. With his horse partner, man would hunt for and carry food back to his family, sometimes on a spit, and then cook it on the spit.

In the American west, Plains Indians constructed large travois and hitched them to horses in order to transport the animal they had slain on the hunt.

Today, this from of cooking is called rotisserie cooking. It is a style of roasting on a long solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked over a fire in a fireplace or over a campfire,or roasted in an oven. The rotation cooks the meat evenly in its own juices and allows easy access for continuous self-basting. Rotisseries work by roasting meat on a long rod (or spit) that turns over grates at a constant speed. It allows your meats to cook at the same degree of heat evenly over a period of time. Food will be moister because it sears quickly and seals in natural juices.

You can roast leg of lamb, ribs, whole turkey, whole and fryer chicken, vegetables, ham, fish and kabobs and much more.

The heat source for this method of cooking can be charcoal, gas, firewood or a convection oven indoors. Rotisserie cooking is fairly easy. There is not much checking, moving or flipping of the food. Just make sure the fire is burning and cooking temperature is reached. You may brush-baste using the juices dripping in the pan if you want or use a BBQ sauce. Most of the time though, the rotisserie food is self-basting.

The most important thing to remember in using a rotisserie is balance and security. Place the meat in the middle of the rotisserie skewer and fasten as firmly as you can. If you set up your rotisserie so that the top of the item is moving away from you and place the drip pan slightly towards the front of the grill then you will have an easier time scooping up the drippings for basting.

MEATS

Rotisserie Chicken

yield: 1 whole chicken

source: Foodie Crush

3 1/2 - 4 pound chicken

1/2 cup kosher salt (plus more for seasoning)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 bay leaves, whole

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1/2 red onion, quartered

2 lemons, quartered

4 garlic cloves

fresh herbs such as rosemary, sage, and parsley

olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

1.Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity of the chicken and rinse the chicken with cold water. Trim any excess skin from the neck area. Set aside.

2.In a large stock pot or bowl, add the 1/2 cup of kosher salt and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar to the pot. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and pour over the salt and sugar and stir vigorously until it dissolves. Add enough cold water to the pot to cover the chicken and add the bay leaves and peppercorns. Place the chicken in the pot and refrigerate for 4 hours up to 12 hours or overnight.

3.Prepare the grill on high. Remove the chicken from the brine and rinse the chicken with cold water, then pat dry. Season the inside of the cavity generously with kosher salt.

4.Toss the red onion, lemons, garlic cloves and fresh herbs with a drizzle of olive oil and kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Stuff the mixture into the cavity of the chicken. Rub olive oil over the skin and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

5.Insert the rod through the chicken and attach the prongs, being sure to affix them tightly. Tie the chicken legs together with twine and fold the wings under the chicken breasts.

6.Put the chicken on the grill/rotisserie attachment and start the rotisserie. If you have multiple burners, turn off the middle burner and leave the sides on so the chicken cooks over indirect heat. Check the temperature of the chicken often and if it seems to be cooking too fast or too slow on either side, adjust accordingly. Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the thickest part of the thigh registers 165° F.

COOKING TIPS

• A leaf of lettuce dropped into the pot absorbs the grease from the top of the soup. Remove the lettuce and throw it away as soon as it has served its purpose.

• Chill cheese to grate it more easily.

• Potatoes soaked in salt water for 20 minutes before baking will bake more rapidly.

• Sweet potatoes will not turn dark if put in salted water (five teaspoons to one quart of water) immediately after peeling.

• The odor from baking or boiling salmon may be eliminated by squeezing lemon juice on both sides of each salmon steak or on the cut surface of the salmon and letting it stand in the refrigerator for one hour or longer before cooking.

• To prevent splashing when frying meat, sprinkle a little salt in to the pan before putting the fat in.

• When bread is baking, a small dish of water in the oven will help to keep the crust from getting hard.

• Rinse a pan in cold water before scalding milk to prevent sticking.

• Let raw potatoes stand in cold water for at least half an hour before frying to improve the crispness of french fried potatoes.

• Use a strawberry huller to peel potatoes which have been boiled in their jackets.

• Use greased muffin tins as molds when baking stuffed peppers.

• A few drops of lemon juice in the water will whiten boiled potatoes.

• If you add a little milk to water in which cauliflower is cooking, the cauliflower will remain attractively white.

• When cooking cabbage, place a small tin cup or can half full of vinegar on the stove near the cabbage, and it will absorb all odor from it.

• It is important when and how you add salt in cooking. To blend with soups and sauces, put it in early, but add it to meats just before taking from the stove. When cooking vegetables salt can be added to the water in which they are cooked. Put salt in the pan when frying fish.

Brined & Honey Garlic Rotisserie Turkey Legs

yield: 6 turkey legs

source: Dad Cooks Dinner

6 turkey legs

3 quarts water

1/2 cup table salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

fresh herbs of your choice to

make a herb brush

1.Put the brine ingredients (water, salt, brown sugar) in a container large enough to hold the drumsticks, and stir until the sugar and salt dissolve. Add the drumsticks, cover, and refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours.

2.Put all the baste ingredients (remaining ingredients) in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 1 minute in the microwave, or until you can smell the garlic and the butter is melted.

3.Make a herb brush by tying together the sprigs of herbs at the base of the stem to make the brush.

4.Skewer the drumsticks on the spit and spit forks. Run the spit through the narrowest part of the meat, in the middle of the bone, and secure the knob of the drumstick on the spit fork. Add a second drumstick with the bone end pointing in the other direction to the same fork, the same way, with the spit through the narrow part of the meat, fork through the thick part of the drumstick. Repeat, putting two drumsticks on each spit fork. Wrap the bone end of each drumstick with a small square of aluminum foil to keep it from burning. Let the skewer sit at room temperature while you prepare the grill.

5.Set the grill up for Indirect Medium-High Heat (400°F) according to the manufacturer’s instructions for your grill. Put the spit on the grill, start the rotisserie, and cook, covered, for 30 minutes. Using the herb brush, baste the drumsticks heavily. Cook, covered, for another 5 minutes. Baste the drumsticks again, and cook for a final 5 minutes. Remove the spit from the grill, remove the drumsticks from the spit, and let the drumsticks rest for ten minutes before serving.

NOTES:

Bourbon Rotisserie Pork Roast

serves: 6-8

source: The Spruce Eats

5-6 pound boneless pork shoulder

1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt

For the Rub:

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 teaspoons/ whole black peppercorns

2 teaspoons mustard seed

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

For the Mop:*

1 cup bourbon

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 small onion (pureed)

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup corn syrup (preferably dark)

2 tablespoons brown mustard

1.To make rub, place peppercorns and mustard seed in a coffee grinder. Pulverize into a medium grind and place in a small bowl. Add remaining rub ingredients.

2.Season pork shoulder all over with rub, wrap in plastic, and place in refrigerator for 12 to 15 hours.

3.Remove roast from the fridge and let meat stand at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes before grilling. Season with kosher salt right before putting it onto the grill.

4.While roast is resting, whisk ingredients for mop in a medium bowl. Set aside until ready to use.

5.Preheat grill and follow instructions for using the rotisserie. Secure roast on rotisserie rod and cook over direct low heat for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. The internal temperature should be at least 1450 F when done.

6.After the first hour of cooking, apply mop every 20 minutes for the remainder of cook time. Remove roast from the rotisserie, cover with foil, and let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

* Note: Sometimes called a sop, a mop isn’t just another kind of barbecue sauce. It is a thin, watery solution that drips over meat adding moisture to combat the drying of an open fire. Think of it this way; a sauce is applied with a brush, like a paintbrush. A mop is applied with, well, a mop. Sauces are thicker than mops. Mops should have a consistency close to water. You can buy a miniature tool that looks like a kitchen mop to mop your meat.

NOTES:

Herb and Red Wine Rotisserie Leg of Lamb

serves: 6-8

source: The Spruce Eats

5 to 7 lb leg of lamb (bone-in)

For the Marinade:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup beef or vegetable stock

3/4 cup fresh mint leaves

1/4 cup dry red wine

juice of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons fresh rosemary

1 shallot, chopped

5 sage

4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

(optional)

For the Baste:

1 cup beef or vegetable stock

1/4 cup marinade mixture

Garnish: salt and black pepper

1.Cutaway any excess fat from lamb leg. Rinse and pat dry.

2.Combine marinade ingredients in a food processor.

3.Remove 1/4 cup and set aside.

4.Apply remaining marinade liberally onto lamb leg.

5.Place into a deep dish, cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

6.Meanwhile, prepare the baste. You can use some of this mixture to inject directly into the lamb before cooking.

7.Preheat grill for medium heat. This is best done with a drip pan underneath the lamb to prevent drippings from causing a flare-up.

8.Putting a bone-in leg of lamb on a rotisserie skewer can be a little challenging. A long thin knife or large metal skewer can be used to make a hole by starting at the bone end and working it through the thickest part of the leg. It is important to try to find the center to balance the leg of lamb on the rotisserie rod. Secure with the rotisserie forks tightly. It might be necessary to tie the leg with kitchen twine.

9.Place the leg of lamb on the grill, making sure it is properly centered and able to turn freely.

10.Place a drip pan under and add several cups of water to the pan.

11.Keep the grill on medium to medium-high heat. Water in the pan should not boil. If the grill has a rotisserie burner, you must use that only. However, If the grill doesn’t have a rotisserie burner, but has more than two main burners, you must use the burners on either side for indirect grilling.

12.Grill lamb leg for about 20 to 30 minutes per pound.

13.Check the temperature in the thickest part of the meat, avoiding the bone. Once the lamb has reached an internal temperature above 1450 F (or higher if desired), remove from heat and tent with aluminum foil for 10 to 12 minutes.

14.Carve and serve.

NOTES:

Rotisserie Rib Roast

serves: 15

source: Certified Angus Beef

7-pound Certified Angus Beef ®

prime rib

1/4 cup kosher salt

2 tablespoons coarse pepper

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1.Mix seasonings and rub onto all sides of the prime rib roast.

2.Place on rotisserie and cook at 250°F for 4 hours to an internal temperature of 130°F.

3.Remove from rotisserie and allow roast to rest for 10-15 minutes.

4.Slice and enjoy.

NOTES:

Apple Venison Rotisserie Roast

serves: 8

source: Hunting Widow’s Guide to Great Venison Cooking

2 to 4 pound boneless venison roast

Marinade

2 cups apple cider

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 apple, diced

1/2 onion, chopped

water

1.Mix marinade ingredients together, except for the water, in a large bowl.

2.Place the roast in a large pot - big enough to fit the roast and have room for the liquid.

3.Pour the marinade over it. Add enough water so that the marinade covers the roast completely.

4.Place in refrigerator and marinate overnight (or about 10 to 12 hours).

5.Heat grill to 225°F.

6.Put roast on rotisserie. Grill for 2 to 3 hours, until roast reaches an internal temperature of 125°F.

7.Remove from rotisserie and let the meat sit until the internal temperature reaches 135°F (rare) or 145°F (medium).

NOTES:

Rotisserie Ham with Maple & Brown Sugar Glaze

serves: 10

source: Weber Grill

8-pound bone in ham (shank or butt end)

Do not use a spiral sliced ham for this recipe. The juices will leak out of the pre-sliced ham, and it will dry out on the grill. Get a ham labeled ham, ham in natural juices, or ham, water added. Avoid boneless ham and water product, formed into a loaf shape, which is a pressed loaf that is so full of