Gingerly plucking burned pads of prickly pear cactus out of the hot coals and rocks in the pit oven they had dug open moments before. "It smells like molasses," said Alston Thoms. A cowboy turned ...

Cooking steak on a solid salt rock turns seasoning into the cooking surface itself. The method introduces extreme heat control challenges and a constant risk of over-salting the meat. As the steak ...