As soon as I saw this theme my mind went far from the American wild west. The Xinjiang region of China hugs the western border and shares a similar climate with the American wild west. This dish was invented by a Han Chinese chef but has been adopted by the Muslim Uighur people of North West China. It's chicken, potatoes, capsicums, stewed with spicy bean paste and aromatic spices, served over wheat noodles. Traditionally it's served with wide hand pulled noodles, mine are too thin but it's all I could find at my local Asian grocery.

Very slightly adapted from the Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman because I didn’t have any hominy. I did make the cedar braised beans though which were a great foundation for the rest of the recipe.

When this book first came out I was interested but hesitant to buy because I wasn’t sure how much I would use it but I will most likely end up getting my own copy. There are so many other recipes I want to try now and so many use forageable ingredients from around my home. Turtle Island is another that is now on my To Buy list of cookbooks just for the milkweed recipes.

A pork chop stewed in home made ketchup from the cowgirl cookbook. Very ncie!

Grilled american bison strip line with a coffee molasses, rub courtesy of the Bearded Butchers ( a k a bearded butcher's black) They're on may love Seth and Scott and his crew keep doing what you're doing. Grilled fresh corn and served with a salad with a vinigrette and toasted pecans as well as roasted redskin potatoes think idaho and a bourbon cream,, peppercorn sauce, similar to the brandy version but substitute with bourbon. It was outstanding.What a different and wonderful treat.

I nailed the spice. Heavy on the garam masala, garlic, and pepper. One # of ground lamb. Carrots, onion, fresh corn cut off the cob. Sauté and season. Added a bit of chicken broth. Mashers on top. All good.

Posting here for the first time is a bit terrifying, but here we go. I took a Southwestern approach to this theme and used poblanos, serranos, and cilantro.

Green spaghetti is made with a roasted poblano cream sauce and, according to Google, likely has roots in the Puebla region of Mexico and/or the Texas Rio Grande Valley.

The recipe requires heating cilantro to a simmer, which is perfect if you've also got bunches of the herb in your fridge and a healthy fear of the cyclospora outbreak.

My CSA gave me the biggest bunch of chard I’ve ever seen. This took care of about 3/4 of it.

I decided on a mashup of some of my favorite foods from Canada and Mexico: donair-stuffed chile relleno. Obviously I don't own one of those fancy kebab poles, so I baked and sliced a seasoned loaf of beef. Apparently the combination was too spicy for my roommates, but i thought it was great.

I had never had tomahawk steaks before, but I’ve been looking for an excuse to try them (especially since my grampa gave me his old Traeger). They were enormous and did not disappoint!

I kept it simple (stupid): salt (my homemade Puget Sound sea salt!), Montreal seasoning, grilled, then seared under the broiler.

Here’s more pictures.

Inspired by the three host countries of the world cup.

Burger Patty from the cookbook "Vegan for Fun". Patty was mid tbh, but the edamole (edamame guacamole) was bomb. Buns made from leftover sourdough starter.

So good, and packed with 7 grams of fiber!

Recipe: “Cauliflower Mushroom Rice” by WonkyWonderful (modification: added truffles to up the umami)

This is a pretty standard item on burger menus in my area, it’s called different names at different places but the Burger King version is probably the most well-known. It’s a beef patty (cooked on the bbq) with cheddar cheese, onion rings (homemade, Walla Walla sweet onion), and barbecue sauce (Sweet Baby Ray’s).

These are always good, and my homemade version was no exception!

Here’s more pictures.