By Marialisa Calta

Newspaper Enterprise Association

Meredith Brokaw, wife of broadcast journalist Tom Brokaw, proved herself to be a friend to parents over the years with her “Penny Whistle” books on cooking and other children’s activities. Now, in conjunction with co-author Ellen Wright, she is proving herself to be a friend to home cooks and wanna-be ranchers with “Big Sky Cooking” (Artisan, 2006).

The book, like the Montana landscape it praises, has a wide-open feel, and a proper tone of respect for the hardworking people who shoot, fish and grow the food of the area. The recipes are tasty, too. Some are a bit on the fussy side; Wright is an admitted “city girl” and New York foodie as well as the author of “Bridgehampton Weekends,” and it shows in dishes like “Fontina and Asparagus Bruschetta” and “Cold Grapefruit Souffle with Pistachios” and “Bison Osso Buco.” This is hardly the kind of “grub” that you think ol’ Dusty and Tex would chow down on while on a cattle drive (”Pass the pinot noir, Dusty”). It’s the “big” dishes from “Big Sky Cooking” that appeal, the Chile Rellenos and Skillet Sweet Potatoes and the Peach Pie with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. Don’t fence me out!

The full-color photos — buffalo grazing, a full moon over the mountains, wildflowers on a hillside — bring the landscape home, and the food photographs are hunger-inducing and down-to-earth. In addition, essays by the likes of writers Jim Harrison (a personal favorite) and Tom McGuane add to the appeal.

This book can happily join an old favorite on the cookbook shelf, “The National Hall of Fame Chuck Wagon Cookbook” (Hearst Books, 1995) by B. Bryon Price. The food in that book is much more rustic and focused on the “cuisine” created by camp cooks (a.k.a. “pot rasslers,” “grub-spoilers” and “bean-masters”) for the hungry wranglers on the trail. It is full of cowboy lore and food history.

The recipes here come from both volumes. Come an’ git it.

Frontier Eggs

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 small green bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced

1 cup diced celery

1 to 2 teaspoons chopped jalapeno chili