Texas Cowboy Cooking

If you've ever longed for the taste of cowboy cooking right in your own back yard, then chuck wagon cook Tom Perini has something for you. He's the author of Texas Cowboy Cooking, a cookbook with recipes that will have you feeling as if you're cooking at a real Texas ranch.

On The Early Show, Perini rustled up an authentic cowboy meal. Here are the recipes:

Perini Ranch Steak Rub

Ingredients

1 teaspoon cornstarch or flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon granulated beef stock base

Mix all ingredients together. Either sprinkle or rub into meat. Makes 1 1/4 cups. Perini says not to let meat sit in refrigerator overnight in this rub because the salt will naturally extract moisture from the meat, leaving it dry.

Chuckwagon Beef Salad With Hot Bacon Dressing
(Serves 4)

Ingredients

1 pound top sirloin, cut 1-inch thick
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon fresh parsley or 1/2 teaspoon dried
8 cups washed and torn romaine lettuce
1 red bell pepper, seeded and halved
1 onion, sliced into thick rounds

For the dressing:

4 strips bacon, fried crisp (reserve drippings)
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

To make the dressing, add flour to bacon drippings, over medium heat, stirring to dissolve. Add water, vinegar and sugar, stirring constantly. Cook to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. Crumble bacon and add to the dressing.

Season steak with salt, pepper, and herbs. Grill steak, red peppers and onions 4 to 6 inches above medium coals, 12 to 15 minutes (for medium rare), turning once.

Slice the steak diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick strips. Slice the red pepper into thin strips. Arrange the steak, peppers and onions over lettuce. Serve with warmed dressing.Tom Perini is also the current proprietor of Buffalo Gap's Perini Ranch Steakhouse in Buffalo Gap, Texas, (pop. 499).