Montana Recipes

Enjoy some cooking that's right at home on the range, with recipes from people here in Big Sky Country.

This collection of Montana cookin' contains recipes for everything from wild game to nouveau cuisine. And be sure to check back soon as we begin our tour of the Great Chefs of Montana. Bon appetit.

Montana Culinary Excellence Award

Nine chefs were selected to participate in the Montana Chef Competition for the Culinary Excellence Award, which was sponsored by the Montana Department of Agriculture to promote the use of Montana ingredients at fine dining restaurants. Food samples were prepared on the site and judged by a panel of local and national chefs and restaurant brokers.

A total of nine recipes were selected for the Gold Class, Silver Class and Bronze Class awards in the Appetizer, Main Dish and Dessert categories. Click on the links below for more information and for the recipes developed with Montana products from the Montana Chef Competition.

Montana Culinary Excellence Award Information

Montana Culinary Excellence Award Recipes

Melt-In-Your-Mouth-Huckleberry Cake

2 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cup fresh huckleberries

Beat 1/2 cup butter or margarine in large bowl until creamy; add 1 cup white sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla until light and creamy. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk. Fold in beaten egg whites. Fold in the fresh berries. Shake a little of the dry ingredients over the berries, before adding them to the mix so the berries won't sink to the bottom.

Turn into a greased 8 by 8-inch pan. Sprinkle top of the batter lightly with granulated sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Skillet Cookies

Put in skillet:
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup cut up dried fruit
3 tablespoons soft butter
Cook 5-6 minutes, until thick, stirring constantly. Remove and let stand 4 minutes.

Next add:
1 cup chopped nuts
2 cup Rice Krispies
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pour in pan lined with coconut and sprinkle coconut on top.

Let cool - cut in squares

Mrs. Hubert Woodard, Billings, Montana

Grilled Herb Mustard Steaks

This recipe is from the Montana Beef Council free Grilled Beef recipe booklet.
2 well-trimmed boneless beef top loin or rib eye steaks cut 1 inch thick (approx. 1 lb.)

Herb Mustard:
2 tsp. water
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp. Dijon-style mustard
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 dried thyme leaves

In 1-cup glass measure, combine garlic and water; microwave on high 30 seconds. Stir in remaining mustard ingredients; spread onto both sides of beefsteaks.

Place steaks on grill over medium ash-covered coals. Grill top loin steaks uncovered 16 to 18 minutes (rib eye steaks 12 to 14 minutes) for medium rare to medium doneness, turning occasionally. Season steaks with salt, as desired. Carve steaks crosswise into thick slices.

Download this reciped card as a PDF

Huckleberry Pie

2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup lard
3 cups huckleberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup sugar
6-8 Tbs. Flour ( You can add more flour or less depending on preference)

Heat oven to 425°

Pour huckleberries into medium bowl and toss sugar and 6-8 tablespoons four with them (gently) until all berries are covered. Set aside and make pastry.

In medium bowl mix 2 cups flour, salt and lard, using two knives or any other pastry blender. I always do it with my fingers, squeezing the lard into the flour mixture until it's all crumbled and looks like cornmeal. (Wash hand first) Add about 8 tablespoons of ice water, tossing gently with a fork until it sticks together and can be rolled out. (Add more water to make it stick, a little at a time.) Roll out 1/2 of the dough on a floured, flat surface. Place on bottom of pie pan and fill with huckleberry mixture. Roll remaining dough and put on top of pie. Deal the edges and crimp edges in decorative style. Put fork pricks in the center for air to escape. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely.

Note: This always leaks, no matter how carefully you try to crimp the edges, so if you don't have an oven that cleans itself, put a lining of tinfoil under the pie to catch the spill.

Jude Thomson
Bigfork Summer Playhouse

Montana Celebrity Cookbook
Compiled by Susie Beaulaurier Graetz
For the benefit of the Intermountain Children's Home

Download this recipe card as a PDF

Bannock Bread or Indian Fry Bread

6 cups flour
3 Tbs. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups water

Heat oven to 350°

Stir together; flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add water, (if dough is too dry add more water). Knead until dough is not sticky. Grease a large baking pan, spread dough in pan and bake 35 minutes.

Serve hot with chokecherry jelly and thin sliced fried potatoes, beef from a roast, sliced thin before cooking and then fried. Peppermint tea or coffee is usually served with this meal.

This is a traditional meal for our people.

Earl Old Person, Chief
Chief of the Blackfeet Nation

Montana Celebrity Cookbook
Compiled by Susie Beaulaurier Graetz
For the benefit of the Intermountain Children's Home

The Butte Pasty (pass-tee)

Pastry:
3 cups flour
1/2 -1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups lard or shortening
3/4 cup very cold water
Measure flour and salt. Cut in lard until dough resembles small peas. Add water and divide into 6 equal parts.

Filling:
5 or 6 medium potatoes (red are best)
3 medium or 2 large yellow onions
parsley for flavoring
2 pounds of meat (loin tip, skirting or flank steak)
butter
salt and pepper

Roll dough slightly oblong. Slice in layers on dough, first the potatoes, then the onions and last the meat (sliced or diced in thin strips). Bring pasty dough up from ends and crimp across the top. Making the pasty oblong eliminates the lump of dough on each end. Bake at 375° for about one hour. Brush a little milk on top while baking.

Note: Old-timers claim the pasty arrived in Butte, Montana along with the first housewives who followed their husbands into the mining camp. Long favored in the copper miner's lunch bucket, the pastry-wrapped meal was an ideal way for "Cousin Jeannie" to provide a hearty meal for the hard working "Cousin Jack." As the miner unwrapped his lunch, he would refer to the pasty as a "letter from 'ome." Its popularity spread quickly throughout the camp, and today the pasty is as much a part of Butte as the Berkeley Pit. -From the Butte Heritage Cookbook-

Pat Williams
US House of Representatives

Montana Celebrity Cookbook
Compiled by Susie Beaulaurier Graetz
For the benefit of the Intermountain Children's Home

Montana Special

3 pounds venison roast
1 good-sized onion
1 can tomatoes, no. 303
1 cup water
1 can tomato hot sauce
salt
pepper
flour
garlic salt
oil or shortening

Trim the roast of fat and bad spots. Cut the roast as thin as possible. Sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic both sides of each piece of the roast. Then flour both sides. Use enough oil or shortening to cover the bottom of fry pan. Heat, brown on both sides. Put the pieces in a roaster or covered pan. Put the rest of the ingredients over the top the roast and bake in the oven at 300° for about 3 hours or until done. Take the meat out and use the rest for gravy. Serves 10 to 12.

Mrs. Jean Denton
Mrs. Denton's recipe won first prize in the Wild Game Cooking section of the Montana Standard recipe contest several years ago.

From the Butte Heritage Cookbook

Pan-Fried Trout (for camp or kitchen)

To prepare fresh brook or other pan-sized trout, clean and scale if necessary, soak in salted water for 1/2 hour to remove film from fish. Rinse thoroughly and remove head (optional). Dry. Dip in beaten egg and roll in rich cracker crumbs sprinkled with seasoning salt. Fry in hot fat. When golden brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Turn only once.

These are especially good, fresh caught, cooked over a campfire in a heavy skillet, using the grease from fried bacon strips. Fire should be hot but not flaming so fish will not cook too fast or burn. Cook only until they flake easily when tested. Top with crisp bacon.

Jean McGrath
Note: Here is a good accompaniment for pan-fried fish when not using bacon for frying. Sauté chopped green onions with fresh or canned mushrooms in butter. Add a little sherry or white wine and heat. Do not boil. Serve with fish for brunch, along with minted fresh fruit and blueberry muffins.

From the Butte Heritage Cookbook

Baked Trout in Wine Sauce

10 to 12" trout (1 fish per serving)
fresh mushrooms or canned
onions, chopped
parsley, chopped
bread crumbs
seasoning (salt, pepper, thyme, and bay leaves)
butter
white wine

Sauté fresh or canned mushrooms, onions, and parsley in butter. Toss with breadcrumbs and seasoning (to suit own taste). Stuff trout cavities. Place in greased baking dish, place lemon slices on top (2 for each trout). Melt butter in pan, add equal amount of white wine and 1/4 as much lemon juice. Baste frequently with wine sauce as fish bake for 20 to 25 minutes in hot 400° oven.

From the Butte Heritage Cookbook

Chokecherry Jelly

Cover chokecherries with water and cook until soft and tender. Cool. Drip through jelly bag for jelly, or squeeze through for use in syrup. 1 cup of juice to 1 cup of sugar plus 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Cook down till jelled.

From the Butte Heritage Cookbook

Venison Steaks

Clean and trim steaks. Marinate steaks in a preparation of olive oil seasoned with minced garlic for approximately 1 hour. Remove, then broil to taste. Add a pat of butter to each steak and place them back in warm broiler until butter melts. Serve with wine sauce.

Port Wine Sauce:
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 tablespoons port wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon currant jelly

Combine all ingredients in saucepan; stir until jelly is melted and ingredients are well blended. Pour hot over broiled venison. Makes sauce for approximately 2 steaks.

Marinade for Wild Game

2 medium onions
2 carrots, scraped and sliced
2 stalks of celery with leaves, chopped
6 parsley sprigs, minced
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, crushed
8 whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
2 whole cloves
1/2 cup wine vinegar
2 cups burgundy or port wine
1/2 cup olive or salad oil

Blend all ingredients in a large bowl. Stir well and let flavors blend before adding meat. Marinate game overnight, preferably refrigerated. Turn meat at least twice. (Enough marinade for about 5 pounds of meat.)

From the Butte Heritage Cookbook

Elk Pasties

Dough:
4 1/2 cups flour
2 cups shortening

Mix to crumbly stage, then add:
1 egg
1 teaspoon vinegar
Put egg, vinegar in cup; add cold water to make 1 cup.

Filling:
10 medium potatoes (diced)
5 pounds elk meat (diced, raw)
3 large onions, chopped
1 cup suet beef, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

For each pasty: Roll out dough the size of a saucer, then add 1 cup of meat mixture. Add 2 squares of butter on top: fold dough over and pinch edges. Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until done.

From the Butte Heritage Cookbook

Swiss Steak, Venison Style

2 1/2 pounds deer steak
1 small can mushrooms, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup green peppers, chopped
2 stalks celery
salt and pepper to taste
4 1/2-ounce cans tomato sauce
1 3-ounce can of tomato paste

Pound deer steak with flour, salt and pepper. Fry in 3 tablespoons oil until browned, then add rest of ingredients. Simmer 1 hour on low heat.

From the Butte Heritage Cookbook

Oven-Dried Venison Jerky

2 pounds fresh venison
Liquid smoke

Salt Mixture:
2 to 3 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon alpine touch
fresh coarsely ground pepper

Jerky can be made from scraps of meat left after butchering - use the pieces you would originally grind up for hamburger. Any tough cuts also make good jerky - just partially freeze the meat and then slice it into thin strips or chunks across the grain.

Put salt mixture on one side of meat, brush other side with very little liquid smoke. Stack the meat in layers in a flat pan, a salty side against a smoky side. Place another pan on top and weight it down to press out meat juice. Let stand overnight.

The next day drain off juice. Grind fresh pepper over meat. Place on oven rack at 250°, making sure you line the bottom of the oven with foil to catch all the drips. Leave meat for about 5 hours or until dry. It may be dried up to 8 hours but it becomes drier and more brittle. Store in closed containers. Keep in a cool place.

From the Butte Heritage Cookbook

Evel Knievel's Grandmother's Green Rice

2 eggs, beaten
1 large can of evaporated milk
1/3 cup salad oil
2 cups boiled rice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 small onion, minced
1/2 cup fresh parsley*, chopped and stemmed
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Using mixer beat eggs. Add milk and oil; beat all together well. Add 2 cups boiled rice, 1/4-teaspoon salt, garlic, onion and parsley. Grate cheese, using medium-sized grater. Be sure to add plenty of cheese or it is ruined. Bake for 50 minutes in 350° oven in a serving casserole. Check after 50 minutes with knife inserted into casserole to see if it is set. Bake a few minutes longer as main dish and serve with a tossed salad.

*A tip on parsley: buy 1 to 2 bunches of fresh parsley. Wash well. Cut off stems and chop sprigs on chopping block. Put 1/3 to 1/2 cup of parsley in plastic bags and freeze. Take out as needed for cooking.

Mrs. Emma Knievel

From the Butte Heritage Cookbook

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