His cowboy beans are assertive, not aggressive - chefs of the West - recipes

Sunset, May, 1984

Sooner or later, the Western Chef is faced with preparing a meal fora crowd--be it a block party, a potluck supper, a company picnic, or any of the multifarious events in which people come together to eat and socialize. Such occasions call for the sort of dish known as a crowd-pleaser.

To fit this category, a dish must tread the tightrope between blandness, which bores everybody, and sharp spiciness, which frightens the young, the old, and the dyspeptic. The dish should be more filling than cucumber sandwiches, but less overwhelming than a Pennsylvania Dutch Sunday dinner.

The food must not only please, but be reasonably easy to prepare and serve--ideally a one-dish, serve-from-the-pot recipe. For really large groups, prepare food that can be served on paper plates and eaten with disposable cutlery. Aim for a formality level somewhere between the candlelight dinner and the mess line at boot camp.

Here are four recipes that Chefs of the West have found to please crowds.

Donavin Dressler sends a recipe for High-mileage Cowboy Beans--a dish he has prepared for as many as 60 to 80 people at Western night barbecues. He believes that modern cowpersons do not have the iron digestive systems of a century ago; for this reason his beans do not contain chili powder, pepper, or hot pepper sauces. Though assertive, they are not aggressive. Like Shakespeare's Bottom the weaver, they "will roar you as gently as any sucking dove . . . roar you as 'twere any nightingale." Any surplus will store well and quietly in the refrigerator. High-mileage Cowboy Beans

5 pounds dried small red beans

Water

2 large red or white onions, chopped

2 large cloves garlic, minced or pressed

3 to 3-1/2 pounds ham hocks

1 to 1-1/4 pounds salt pork, diced

2 cans (6 oz. each) tomato paste

1 can (1 lb.) tomatoes

1/2 cup Worcestershire

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup each Dijon mustard and chopped parsley

Salt

Sort through beans, discarding any extraneous material. Rinse beans and put in a 14- to 16-quart kettle; cover with water to within 6 inches of rim. Soak overnight.

In the morning, drain beans and cover with 4 quarts fresh water. Add the onions, garlic, ham hocks, and salt pork. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover, reduce heat, and boil gently for 2 hours. Stir in the tomato paste, tomatoes and their liquid (break tomatoes up with a spoon), Worcestershire, brown sugar, and mustard. Cover and simmer until ham hocks are very tender when pierced and beans are tender to bite, about 1 hour longer; stir occasionally.

Lift out ham hocks and, when cool enough to handle, pull off meat, discarding skin and bones. Return meat to kettle. Stir in the parsley and season to taste with salt. Makes about 10 quarts, enough for 35 to 40 servings.

Bud DeWitt's Swamp Omelet doesn't take its name from any paludal odor, texture, or appearance. The name refers only to its place of birth: a duck-hunting camp, where it's served to hunters when they return from swampy blinds with cold feet and ravening hunger. With 2 pounds of bacon and 2 dozen eggs, it packs plenty of sustenance. Swamp Omelet

2 pounds bacon, diced

2 large onions, chopped

1 large green pepper, seeded and diced

2 cups coarsely chopped celery

2 dozen eggs

1/2 teaspoon each dry rosemary, dry oregano leaves, dry thyme leaves, and pepper

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

In two 12- to 14-inch frying pans, cook bacon over medium heat until crips. Lift out bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour off and reserve bacon drippings; return 3 tablespoons drippings to each pan. Add half the onions, green pepper, and celery to each pan, and cook, stirring often, until onion is limp and lightly browned.

Meanwhile, beat eggs, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and pepper to blend. Divide mixture equally between the two pans and sprinkle each with half the bacon. Cook, lifting cooked portion so liquid egg can flow underneath, until done to your liking. Sprinkle each with half the parsley and serve directly from pan. Makes about 12 servings.

Chef Robert L. Martin, Jr., feels that the standard two-loaf bread recipe does not address a significant problem: keeping homemade bread on the table without having to bake every few days. He sent along a recipe that will make 6 loaves--enough to keep a family of five in bread for a week.

His recipe produces attractive and delicious loaves that make excellent toast and sandwiches, and they freeze well too. To minimize rising time, he suggests you warm the pans and ingredients before using them. Bob's Bulk Bread

4 packages active dry yeast

7 cups warm water (about 110[deg.])

3/4 cup each sugar and salad oil

2 tablespoons salt

About 6 pounds (5-lb. bag plus about 3 cups) bread flour

1 egg white beaten with 1 tablespoon water

About 1 tablespoon poppy or sesame seed

In a large bowl or kettle (at least 12 qt.), mix yeast and water with 1 tablespoon of the sugar; let stand 5 minutes.

Add remaining sugar, oil, and salt and stir well to blend. Add half of the bag of flour (about 10 cups) and stir with a heavy spoon to moisten thoroughly. Let stand for 10 minutes.