What’s the difference between cornmeal and masa harina? How is masa used to make corn tortillas? Can cornmeal be used in tortillas? Get the answers and recipe for corn tortillas.
Recipes | Jackie Alpers
Mexican Chocolate Popcorn Treats
Chile powder and cinnamon add some kick to these sweet and spicy no-bake Mexican chocolate popcorn and pretzel treats. Recipe developed for The Silicone Kitchen.
Tortilla Pizza With Gourmet Mushrooms
Thin-and-crispy white tortilla pizza with lemon infused ricotta, garlic and parmesan is the perfect palette for lion’s mane and blue oyster mushrooms. Food photography and recipe development for a feature article on BKW Farms for Discover Marana.
How to Roast a Goose
Recipe for how to defrost and roast a whole goose, and shred the meat for tacos or sandwiches with step-by-step instructions.
Sonoran-Style Goose Tacos
Recipe for Sonoran-style goose tacos inspired by Peking Duck. These goose tacos are served on flour tortillas with hoisin sauce, salsa macha, cabbage, carrots and scallions. Food photography for this recipe is shortlisted for the 2025 World Food Photography Awards in the Food Influencer category.
Lucky Cowboy Caviar
You may know that eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s day brings good luck in the new year, but did you know that Cowboy caviar was invented in the 1940’s by Helen Corbitt, head chef at the Zodiac Room, at the flagship Neiman Marcus Department Store in Dallas, Texas? Cowboy Caviar is the perfect mix of simple cowboy taste and upscale living which is why I had to include my version of the recipe in The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook. Everyone knows the Dutton family needs all the luck they can get.
Elf’s Mr. Narwhal Ice Cream Float
A frosty, blue ice cream float resembling Mr. Narwhal in the classic Christmas movie, Elf. This recipe is from The Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers.
Crispy Tortilla Stars with Guacamole
Topped with chunky guacamole and jewel-like pomegranate seeds, these crispy tortilla bites from The Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers exude holiday joy. Use Jackie Alpers’ Sonoran-Style Chunky Guacamole Recipe or your favorite store-bought version.
Green Chile Tamale Pie with Molé Cómodo
Christmastime is officially tamale season here in the Sonoran Desert, and according to my inside sources It’s also tamale season at the North Pole. This vegetarian recipe for green chile and cheese tamale pie with a quick-cooking Molé Cómodo is an excerpt from The Unofficial Elf Cookbook written with Buddy the Elf in mind. It’s a dish fit for any elf – slightly sweet and very chocolatey yet still appropriate for dinner for regular old humans.
Parmesan Ranch Macaroni Salad
A festive, creamy buttermilk and parmesan pasta salad adorned with tiny tomato “ornaments” a free preview recipe from The Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers.
Read moreHow to dehydrate chile peppers and grind them into chili powder and custom spice blends. Preserve an abundance of homegrown chiles or buy and dry store-bought fresh chiles when they show up at the market. You can save jars of single-variety powder or mix them into custom chili powders and spice blends. Some varieties of chiles can be expensive and/or hard to find, so don’t let a treasure trove of chiles go to waste.
Homemade Dried Chile Powder
How to dehydrate and grind chile peppers, with recipes for chili powder and custom spice blends using fresh homegrown and/or exotic store bought chiles. Preserve expensive and/or hard to find chiles.
Arizona Cheese Crisp with Green Chile Ranch Salsa
Tucson’s Sonoran style Mexican Arizona cheese crisp made with flour tortillas, roasted Hatch green chile strips and a creamy green chile Ranch salsa. Thank you Fry’s Foods for sponsoring this recipe.
Chunky Gazpacho
Cold gazpacho recipe with chunky fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions and peppers. The colors in the photo are a bit of an homage to Pedro Almodovar’s wonderful film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), which was the inspiration for me making gazpacho for the very first time, years ago. (Minus the pills and drama.)
Baked Falafel Pita Sandwiches
Recipe for a healthier, vegetarian falafel pita sandwich made with baked falafel, whole wheat pita, Greek yogurt, and lots of fresh veggies.
“Cake is Not my Downfall”: Jackie Kashian’s Recipe for Paprika Marinated Chicken
Recipe for Paprika Marinated Chicken. Comedian Jackie Kashian is funny on stage but her chicken recipe is no joke.
Linguine With Whole Canned Clams
A meaty yet lighter creamy, cheesy, linguine with white clam sauce made with whole canned clams, greek olives, and tomatoes.
Snack of the Day: Nacho Cheese, Slim Jims and Beer Nuts on a Bagel.
This snack is best eaten very late at night, preferably after attending a party of some other festive gathering. It’s easily assembled and pleasant to look at, even when blurry.
Chipotle Lime Mexican Grilled Corn
Recipe for a lighter version of Sonoran – Mexican style grilled corn on the cob, with chipotle, crema and lime.
Arizona Cowboy Caviar
My Arizona Cowboy Caviar is made with is made with lentils, chile peppers and red onion in a spicy citrus vinaigrette. It’s similar to Texas Caviar made with black eyed peas and the lentils do resemble fish eggs.
Buddy The Elf Spaghetti Recipe
After extensive research I found out what Buddy The Elf really puts on his breakfast spaghetti in one of the memorable food scenes in the movie,”ELF.” This recipe is from The Unofficial “Elf” Cookbook by Jackie Alpers.
Spicy Sonoran-Style Mexican Green Rice
Spicy, Sonoran-style Mexican green rice (arroz verde) recipe made with tomatillo salsa verde, peas and cilantro from the Taste of Tucson cookbook.
Thai-Mexican Coleslaw in Serrano Vinaigrette
This crunchy, salty, and spicy no-mayo Thai/Mexican coleslaw is an excellent companion to Sonoran style dishes. It’s inspired by Som Tum (green papaya salad).
Sonoran Salsa Chicken Lettuce Tacos
Chicken slow-simmered in salsa, then shredded for serving in as a filling for tacos, tostadas, enchiladas, and is keto when served in lettuce cups.
Chicken Fried Steak Dinner
How to make the perfect chicken fried steak dinner – includes recipe links to my smoky mashed potatoes, sausage gravy, and garlic butter green beans. Fun fact!: The vintage plate shown in this photograph matches the one from Yellowstone that this meal was served to “Jimmy” on at the 6666 Ranch in Texas.
Watermelon Moonshine
Easy recipe for Watermelon Moonshine inspired by the Lainey Wilson song featured on Yellowstone. Made in a mason jar and served with lime to cut the burn.
Pot Roast Braised in Irish Stout Beer
Pot roast with carrots and potatoes braised in Irish Stout beer is similar to recipes brought to the American West by Irish settlers. Inspired by the Yellowstone 1923 TV series. Use as the base for Cara Dutton’s Irish Pasties recipe.
Sonoran-Style Spicy Salsa Verde
This Sonoran-style spicy green rice is like summer in Tucson – dependably hot, greener than you might expect, and full of complexities that must be experienced to be appreciate
Chipotle Chicken Salad Wraps
Southwestern chipotle chicken salad recipe utilizing all of the elements of a great chicken salad: something oniony, something crunchy, something pickled, and something a little bit spicy. This recipe is Paleo, low-carb and gluten free.
Beth’s Breakfast Smoothie
How to make Beth Dutton’s famous “2 scoops of ice-cream, 3 shots of vodka” smoothie from the Yellowstone TV series from Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook.
Charro Cowboy Beans
Vegan recipe for the saucy, whole Sonoran-style pinto beans that you see cowboys (charros) eating in old Western movies, from the Taste of Tucson cookbook by Jackie Alpers.
Tucson’s Famous Topopo Salad
The topopo, Tucson’s most iconic salad is visually stunning. It’s made to look like volcano in Sonora with lettuce piled on a bean tostada and surrounded with grilled shrimp, Tajin dipped vegetables and cheese. It’s crowned with a green olive and a slice of tomato.
Sonoran-Style Red Pozole
This pork and hominy Pozole is a traditional “low-and-slow” braising recipe. It takes about 3 ½ hours to cook from start to finish because pork shoulder is a fatty cut of meat that takes a while to break down. But the pork fat is what gives this soup its richness. My Sonoran-style version of this dish is topped with lots of fresh vegetables and citrus.
“Train Station” Funeral Potatoes
A healthier recipe for the comforting cheese and hash brown potatoes casserole that’s covered in baked sour cream and cheddar potato chips, with a cowboy inspired spin from Yellowstone’s “train station.”
Bison Nachos
Bison are a seminal component of Western American history. The massive bison hunts of the 19th century resulted in their near extinction. With conservation efforts in place, the Yellowstone bison are considered the last truly wild herd of American plains bison in existence. Regenerative bison farms have reintroduced this healthy beef alternative into American food systems.
Chile Colorado with Beef
Cubed beef simmered in red chile sauce for enchiladas, tacos, tostadas, salads or burritos. From the Taste of Tucson Cookbook by Jackie Alpers.
Sonoran Enchiladas
Recipe for Enchiladas Sonorenses: Flat Sonoran-style enchiladas are unique to the desert Southwestern region surrounding the Tucson/Sonora, Mexico border are small corn masa pancakes covered in red enchilada sauce.
Mediterranean Style Grilled Octopus
Recipe for Mediterranean style grilled octopus served with scallions, romaine and fresh tomatoes in a light citrus vinaigrette from The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook by Jackie Alpers.
“Meaner Than Evil” BBQ Hot Wings
BBQ hot wings recipe. Choose your own eating adventure with spice levels varying from hot to insanely hot.
Creamed Corn Chowder with Popped Amaranth
This rich and creamy, charred corn chowder is made with lowfat buttermilk and topped with popped Amaranth which is a gluten-free, ancient grain native to the Western and Southwestern United States that can be popped like popcorn which a nice crunch.
Mushroom, Onion and Acorn Soup
Wild morel mushroom and onion soup with toasted bread and melted cheese inspired by ingredients local to Northern Montana where the TV series Yellowstone is set. From The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook by Jackie Alpers.
Texas-Style Chile con Carne
Chile Colorado con Carne recipe from The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook. In the season 4 finale of Yellowstone, the bunkhouse gets into a heated debate over whether or not chili has beans. The Unofficial Yellowstone cookbook shares a recipe for both chili with and without beans because Texas where the character “Jimmy” had recently visited, is famous for their Chile Colorado which is made without beans – it’s mainly beef and red chiles, and it is fabulous. Get the chili with beans recipe… and more in The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook.
Berry Tinted Irish Soda Bread
Recipe for Irish soda bread with blueberries and currants inspired by 1923 from The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook author Jackie Alpers.
Sweet and Spicy Nut Brittle
Inspired by ingredients local to the Northwestern U.S. this crunchy, spicy, sweet mixed nut brittle is perfect for holiday gifting. Walnuts, hickory nuts, and hazelnuts are grown in Montana where the television series Yellowstone is set
“6666 Ranch” Pan Roasted Garlic Butter Green Beans
After a hard day’s work at the 6666 Ranch in Texas, Jimmy devoured a plate of Country Fried Steak smothered with gravy and a side of green beans. I’m sharing my recipe for Sheet Pan Roasted Green Beans to whet your appetite… you’ll have to wait for The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook for the main course.
Dry-Fried Asparagus
Dry-fried asparagus is charred and crispy on the outside, and tender on the inside. It has direct contact to the pan without oil or butter. Asparagus grows wild in Montana where the Yellowstone TV series is filmed.
Cara Dutton’s Irish Pasties
Traditionally made with leftover Sunday pot roast, Butte pasties are a beloved Montana via Ireland tradition to this day.
Tri-Colored Smashed Potatoes
These tri-colored smashed potatoes utilize heirloom varieties of produce, which help restore diversity to local agriculture. This recipe is an outtake, cut for space from The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook.
Drinks from the Yellowstone Bunkhouse: The Red Domino Cocktail
A cocktail recipe from The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook author Jackie Alpers for Gin & juice – Yellowstone Style! With ingredients local to the Dutton family ranch. Drinks from the Yellowstone Bunkhouse: The Red Domino Cocktail.
Sonoran Hot Dog Tacos
Is it a hot dog? Is it a taco? Is it Beans & Franks? Yes, it is! My hot dog tacos are made with charro beans and topped with pickled red onion and a special sauce. This recipe is an excerpt from Taste of Tucson: Sonoran Style Recipes Inspired by the Rich Culture of Southern Arizona by Jackie
Campfire Corn on the Cob
How to perfectly grill corn in the husk for campfires or cookouts using a grill or fire pit. The secret is soaking the ears first.
