Book excerpt: A proudly Texan cookbook with 125 recipes that blend sophisticated techniques and ingredients with hearty, down-home ranch cooking, from a chef with five successful restaurants. A descendent of cattle ranchers, chef Lou Lambert has created a cookbook that taps into deep Texan pride with cuisine that is neither chuck-wagon chow nor French bistro fare. He melds real West Texas flair with the contemporary fine food that he learned to cook in culinary school, creating big flavor dishes such as Beef Tenderloin with Blue Crab and Bearnaise and Coriander-Roasted Leg of Lamb with Border Chimichurri. If you’re serving up a down-home feast fit for a cattle rancher’s table, try the Achiote-Seared Chickpeas, Spicy Oak-Smoked Chorizo, Wood-Roasted Chicken with Mexican Chocolate Chile Rub, Crispy Wild Boar Ribs with Fresh Plum Barbecue Sauce, or Fried Green Tomatoes with Crab Rémoulade. If urban bistro classics are more your style, you won’t want to miss the Brandied Chicken Liver Terrine with Caramelized Onions, Foie Gras Mousseline, Panfried Pork Cutlet with Parsley-Caper Butter Sauce, and Roasted Beet Salad with Shaved Fennel and Candied Shallot Vinaigrette. The Big Ranch, Big City Cookbook is a lot like the great state of Texas itself—if you don’t already call it home, you’ll want to return again and again.