People who love to pick huckleberries are a pretty stealthy bunch -- their secret spots can be as safely guarded as the gold at Fort Knox.

Stephanie Hester is just as secretive as any other huck aficionado, but unlike many of her peers, Hester's reasons are as much about preserving Montana's bounty from overharvest as trying to keep the fruit all to herself.

Hester, a Helena native and lifelong huckleberry lover, along with her husband, Alex, has released a new cookbook extolling the virtues of Montana's favorite fruit -- and the virtues of sustaining it for future generations.

"We wanted to point out there's an ecological fragility," said Stephanie. "We wanted to put that environmental message out there and have people realize that we need to be cognizant of the ecological balance."

Stephanie had the idea for a huckleberry cookbook several years ago when she was working as a book editor at Globe Pequot's Helena office.

In addition to the environmental message she also envisioned a book filled with more than just recipes of muffins, pancakes and the like, but rather one that had recipes for breakfast, dinner, dessert and everything in between.

Unfortunately, the right author could not be found in the book-acquisition process.

But when Stephanie left Globe a couple years ago to take a job at the National Parks Conservation Association, her former boss, Erin Turner, asked if she and Alex would do the book themselves.

Alex, who works as a counselor at Intermountain Children's Home, is also a chef who has done some small side catering jobs.

"(Turner) thought the two of us working together would be a good team," Stephanie said. "Alex was over the moon about doing something for a cookbook."

Stephanie does most of the family's baking, she said, while Alex is the resident chef. So Alex developed most of the main entree recipes, while Stephanie came up with most of the baked goods.

"It was a collaborative effort," Stephanie said. "I did most of the writing part. He did most of the recipes."

Stephanie said her favorite recipes include one for Coq Au Huckleberry Vin -- a Montana take on the classic French dish -- and one for Huckleberry Lemon Scones.

The book is broken into six sections: breakfast and brunch; breads, muffins and pastries; appetizers, salads and sides; main entrees; desserts; and staples, such as jam, barbecue sauce and vinaigrette.

"We really did some eclectic, different dishes," Stephanie said. "We wanted to demonstrate that you can use huckleberries in a lot of different ways besides baked goods."

Interspersed with the book's 55 recipes are sidebars on how to identify huckleberries; the huckleberry season; tips for finding and picking the prized berries; the fruit's relationship with bears; and Trout Creek, dubbed the "Huckleberry Capital of the World" by the Montana Legislature in 1981.

There is also a section for serious huckleberry hounds listing festivals in the United States and Canada, including ones in Swan Lake, Whitefish and, of course, Trout Creek.

Coq Au Huckleberry Vin

3 tablesppons olive oil

½ pound thick-cut bacon, diced

1 chicken (about 3 pounds), rinsed and quartered

¾ cup coarsely chopped shallots

2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch lengths

2 pounds white mushrooms, cleaned and quartered

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups huckleberry wine

¼ cup tomato paste

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

6 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Egg noodles, prepared per package instructions

Preheat over to 375 degrees F. In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat on stovetop. Add bacon and render (the cooking process of extracting the fat) until brown and crispy. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined bowl. Let sit and drain.

Using the same pot, brown the chicken, about 5 minutes per side. Set aside.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add shallots and carrots to pot and cook for about 10 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and cook 4 more minutes. Next, add butter and mushrooms and cook 6 minutes. Stir flour into the vegetable mixture and let cook a few more minutes. (This makes the roux or thickener for the sauce.)

Deglaze the pan by adding the chicken broth and huckleberry wine, scraping the bottom to extract the entire flavor. Next add huckleberry preserves, tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf and salt and pepper.

Stir prepared bacon into the mixture over the chicken until it is well coated with the sauce. Bring to a boil. Immediately remove from heat, cover pot, place in oven and cook for 35 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 30 minutes. Add parsley and cook for a final 5 minutes. Remove from oven and serve over noodles.

Serves 8-10.

Huckleberry Cookbook by Alex and Stephanie Hester, Globe Pequot, $14.95.