Ree preps for a cowboy and cowgirl lunch at the lodge after a big morning working calves on the ranch. She makes Spicy Pop Pulled Pork, Cilantro Slaw and Perfect Potatoes Au Gratin. Plus a Flat Apple Pie for dessert.
Ree preps for a cowboy and cowgirl lunch at the lodge after a big morning working calves on the ranch. She makes Spicy Pop Pulled Pork, Cilantro Slaw and Perfect Potatoes Au Gratin. Plus a Flat Apple Pie for dessert.
Below are the recipes used in today’s episode:
Spicy Pop Pulled Pork:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/spicy-pop-pulled-pork-recipe-2107328
Cilantro Slaw:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/cilantro-slaw-recipe-2047758
Easy Caramel Sauce:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/easy-caramel-sauce-recipe-2041446
Perfect Potatoes au Gratin:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/perfect-potatoes-au-gratin-recipe-2107171
Flat Apple Pie with Perfect Pie Crust:
On The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond shares her comforting home cooking from her kitchen on the ranch. With direct audio from her hit Food Network TV show, you can now enjoy Ree’s company as she cooks up meals for every occasion, from last-minute family suppers to elegant celebrations.
For even more recipes head to discovery+ and stream full episodes of The Pioneer Woman on discovery+. Head to discoveryplus.com/pioneerwoman to start your 7-day free trial today. Terms apply.
Find episode transcript here: https://the-pioneer-woman.simplecast.com/episodes/ranching-in-the-mist
REE DRUMMOND: I'm Ree Drummond. I'm a writer, blogger, photographer, mother, and I'm an accidental country girl. I live on a ranch in the middle of nowhere, and I've got a lot of mouths to feed.
[KID YELLING]
REE DRUMMOND: My style of food is simple yet scrumptious. And all my recipes have to be approved by cowboys, hungry kids, and me. Here's what's happening on the ranch-- the family kids and cowboys are getting up before dawn for a big misty morning of working calves. You can barely see them. So I'm making a hearty lunch for the hungry crew.
LADD DRUMMOND: Smells good.
REE DRUMMOND: A six-hour slow cooked pop pulled pork will really hit the spot. I don't often start cooking at 6:00 AM, but this is totally worth it. To go along with it, I'm making cool, crisp cilantro slaw and potatoes au gratin to die for. Everything begins the night before with make a head flat apple pie and easy caramel sauce. Mm. Hmm.
So saddle up your horses. The big calf working is about to get underway.
Welcome to my frontier. Well, my family's out getting ready for the big cattle working tomorrow, so I'm getting caught up on some cooking. Everybody's going to go up to the lodge after the working's over and have lunch. And I'm actually starting with the last dish of the day, and that'll be dessert. I'm making flat apple pie, which is my husband's favorite way to eat pie.
He loves all apple pies, but sometimes apple pie can be a little cumbersome to eat, especially if it's really, really tall. I make my apple pies flat like a pizza. That way he can just grab a slice and head out to where he's going. Perfect for cowboys on the go.
I've got five apples that I peeled and sliced, and then I'm going to add 2 tablespoons of flour. And this just binds the ingredients together a little bit. And I'm going to grab a lemon and squeeze the juice into the mixture. 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and 1/2 a cup of regular sugar and then dash a salt.
You need the salt just to offset all this sweetness. And that's all I put in my apple pie filling. OK, got that all stirred together. Now I'm going to grab the pie crust. And I realized pie crust is very intimidating, and a lot of people think they can't make a good one.
But I promise you, this one works every time. Add three cups of all-purpose flour to a large bowl with a teaspoon of salt. Then add 3/4 of a cup of vegetable shortening and 3/4 of a cup of salted butter, which makes it nice and rich. Then work the shortening and butter into the flour using a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Be patient. This takes three or four minutes. Add a lightly beaten egg, five tablespoons of cold water, and one tablespoon of white vinegar. Stir the mixture until it's combined, divide it in half, stick it in a large unsealed plastic bag, and slightly flatten it with a rolling pin. This will make it easier to roll out the crust later.
Then just seal the bag, repeat with the other half, and then chill them. So I'm just going to start rolling it. I start from the middle and work my way out, and then I flip it over. I really love this crest. My friend Sylvia shared it with me many years ago, and it really is foolproof. I've never had it not turned out well.
Now I just bake my apple pies on a regular baking sheet. I don't really have any tricks when it comes to transferring the dough over. I just kind of loosen it up. And then Hail Mary, here we go. Perfect.
So I arranged it a little bit over to the side, and then I'm going to take half the apple mixture, plop it right on the middle. And this is high tech here, guys. I just bring up the sides, fold them over gently as I bring them up, and there we have one flat apple pie. Perfect.
All right, I'm going to grab the other one. This flat apple pie falls under the category of rustic recipes that I like to make. And by rustic, I mean, they don't look perfect, and that's why I use the term rustic. If something doesn't turn out just right, I look at it and I say, look, it's rustic. And then I feel better instantly.
It's a great trick. You should try it sometime. Put the other half of the apples right in the middle and then the high tech pie crust folding maneuver.
I'm just going to dot the top with a little butter, not too much just a couple of tablespoons for each pie. And I love making pie the day before you're going to serve it because I think it just sits and gets better. But the only downside is keeping it away from my family. So I think I'm actually going to have to hide these. Now these just need to bake in a 375 degree oven for about 30 to 40 minutes.
LADD DRUMMOND: OK, boys. We've got to load up. You pushing?
KID: Yes.
LADD DRUMMOND: I don't think you're pushing.
KID: Ooh.
LADD DRUMMOND: You ready?
KID: It's going.
REE DRUMMOND: Tomorrow, I'm going to drizzle caramel sauce over the top of these right before I serve them since I'm way over the top. Now I'm just going to let these cool and then put them in their special hiding place until tomorrow. Up next, I'm getting a head start on the coleslaw, then the family's back in the saddle before sunup for a magical misty big calf working, followed by a favorite ranch lunch of spicy pop pulled pork, potatoes au gratin, cilantro coleslaw, and flat apple pie with easy caramel sauce. Yum, yum, and yum.
The families work in cattle tomorrow, and I'm getting lunch ready. After the big working, everybody's going to go up to the lodge and have lunch. So I'm getting a few things made ahead of time. I'm going to make a really spicy pork dish, so I thought the perfect thing to go with that would be this delicious cilantro coleslaw.
All right, I've just sliced up some cabbage, one head of purple and one head of white. And now I'm going to make the dressing, which I absolutely love. So it's two cups of whole milk, a cup of mayonnaise, four teaspoons of white vinegar. Then for a hint of sweetness, two tablespoons of sugar, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of black pepper, and finally 1/2 a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Yum.
I love coleslaw. I'm a little picky about coleslaw dressing, though. I don't like it too vinegary. And I don't like it too creamy. So this really has the perfect balance of ingredients.
Now I'm just going to cover these up, and then I'll just assemble it tomorrow and throw in a little cilantro. It'd be so, so good. And that is two less things I have to do tomorrow.
Oh, hey, guys.
KID: Hey.
LADD DRUMMOND: What are you doing?
KID 2: What's that smell?
REE DRUMMOND: What smell?
KID: Something smells good.
LADD DRUMMOND: Something smells good, honey.
REE DRUMMOND: No.
KID: You've been cooking?
REE DRUMMOND: No. Look how clean the kitchen is.
LADD DRUMMOND: [LAUGHS]
REE DRUMMOND: Hi, honey.
LADD DRUMMOND: How are you?
REE DRUMMOND: How was work today?
LADD DRUMMOND: Good.
REE DRUMMOND: Good.
LADD DRUMMOND: We're hungry.
REE DRUMMOND: Y'all going to take your boots off.
LADD DRUMMOND: All right.
REE DRUMMOND: Hope they don't discover the stash.
Well, it's dark and early and cold. The family saddle in their horses. They're going to work cattle. They ride the horses out into the pasture, gather the cattle, bring them into the pens, work them, and they put them back out to pasture. And that's the routine.
I'm going to help you up.
KID: Wake up, guys. Go get it.
LADD DRUMMOND: Easy. Back out. Give him some room. There you go.
REE DRUMMOND: They're going to be starving when it comes time for lunch, so I'm going to head up to the lodge and start cooking. They've got plenty of help on horsebacks, so I better go where I'm most useful. This is such a cool morning. You don't have foggy mornings like this very often.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Well, it's not every day that I'm up at 6:00 AM, getting lunch ready. But since I have to feed 15 people in about six hours, I thought I'd better get a head start. I'm going to make pulled pork, spicy pop pulled pork, to be exact. When I cook for a crowd, I don't like to make a bunch of individual hamburgers or steaks. It's a little too labor intensive.
So pulled pork is really the perfect dish. I've got a pork butt here, also known as a pork shoulder. I'm going to start by seasoning the pork with salt and pepper. And then I've got two onions that I've quartered, and I'm going to put the quarters in the bottom of this pot. And that's going to serve as sort of a base or a stand for the pork butt.
And then I've got a can of chipotle peppers, which has become a real staple in my pantry. They're smoky and extremely spicy, and they add something really wonderful to this pork. Just pour them over the top. And then I call this spicy pop pulled pork because it has pop in it.
Do you say pop or soda? We say pop around here. You can use whatever kinds you like. OK.
And now I'm going to add, for a little extra sweetness, four tablespoons of brown sugar. And this is going to cook over six hours. The pork is going to become tender. The flavors are just going to be wonderful that there'll be a sauce that's a combination of spicy and sweet. I got to get this in the oven.
This is going to cook low and slow, about 300 degrees for six hours. And it's going to be absolutely perfect. I know the cowboys and cowgirls out there are going to love it.
Next, I'm heading out into the misty morning to get some shots of the guys working. Then it's all systems go for lunch, potatoes au gratin; pop pulled pork; slaw; and apple pie. It really is as scrumptious as it sounds. It's at times like this that I'm glad I'm a blogger. I wouldn't want to miss this stuff.
They're my kids. You want to get that. That's cool. You can barely see them. All right, I got to go get lunch ready. They're going to be hungry.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So I'm making spicy pop pulled pork, and I decided to make perfect potatoes au gratin to go with them. This is such a simple dish. It really takes about 5 to 10 minutes to throw together. Sometimes I even try to race myself to see how quickly I can get it done. I've got some diced potatoes here.
I do not like peeling potatoes. It's probably one of my least favorite kitchen jobs, so I just don't peel them. And then I'm just going to make a mixture of milk, two cups of milk, and two cups of cream. I was going to add a little more cream than this, but then I just decided to split it down the middle and make it easy.
OK. And then to the milk cream mixture, I'm going to add a 1/4 cup of flour. And this just thickens up the sauce of the au gratin and makes it all hold together. And then plenty of salt, lot of potatoes, your seasoning. So don't undersalt it.
Quite a bit of pepper and then I'll just whisk this up. This is just seriously a throw together dish. OK? That's all whisked together. Now I've got buttered casserole dishes, and I'm just going to dump half the potatoes. This is about 8 to 10 russet potatoes.
All right. I'm going to grab the other one. Should have just enough. Then I just pour this milk cream flour mixture all over the top. I haven't been out working cattle all morning, but even I'm starving. The pork smells so good.
All right. Get all the pepper in there. Now I just need to cover these with foil for about 20, 30 minutes. I'm going to put them in at 400 for that time, and that'll help the potatoes get tender. And then I take the foil off and bake them for another 15 or 20 minutes until it gets brown on top.
And then at the end, I'm going to top them with a whole bunch of cheese and just send him over the top.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
OK. Now I've got a couple more things to do. I'm going to mix up the slaw, and I'm going to flip the pork over so it cooks evenly.
[CHATTER]
REE DRUMMOND: While lunch is cooking, I thought I'd sit down and blog about the cattle working this morning. It was such an unusual morning because there was so much fog, and you don't see that very often. So the photos really turned out hazy and a little bit mysterious. So I'm going to get my blog post up before everybody gets here for lunch. Up next, it's a big lunch for the kids and cowboys.
And the best part, apple pie for dessert. And to go along with it, I'm making easy caramel sauce. Hope you're hungry.
For recipes from this episode, go to foodnetwork.com/pioneerwoman.
LADD DRUMMOND: You ready to go get something to eat?
REE DRUMMOND: OK.
LADD DRUMMOND: Yah! Let's go.
REE DRUMMOND: The whole family's been working cattle all morning. We all got up really, really early, and this pork's been in the oven since about that time. All right. Ready set go. OK.
Aw, it made it. Good. And then I'm just going to pull the pork. Oh my goodness, it just completely falls apart. I love this recipe.
I make it all the time. It's just too easy to throw in the oven. When in doubt, make spicy pop pulled pork. Having a bad day? Make spicy pop pulled pork.
I'll stop now. I'm just going to skim a little bit of the fat off of the liquid. The extra fat will just slide right on the spoon. All right. Now I'm just going to scoop it back in, and this just lets the meat soak in that liquid and injects extra flavor into that meat.
Now I'm just going to go finish off the rest of the food. Potatoes first. Sprinkle a cup of freshly grated cheddar over the top and stick it back into the oven for five minutes until it's melted and bubbly. Then the slaw-- add two cups of chopped cilantro, stir everything together, and it's done. Back to the potatoes-- all they need are some sliced green onions.
Everything's ready.
LADD DRUMMOND: Hey, honey.
REE DRUMMOND: Perfect timing. It'll be about an hour. You all go sit down. [LAUGHS] You guys hungry or what?
LADD DRUMMOND: Yeah. You look chilly--
REE DRUMMOND: All right. You want to get a little coleslaw on your plate, OK? Who's next? So gosh, the fog finally burned off.
LADD DRUMMOND: Yeah.
REE DRUMMOND: That was a crazy morning.
LADD DRUMMOND: That smells good.
REE DRUMMOND: Well, I have foggy pictures of all of you this morning. You can't tell it's you guys.
LADD DRUMMOND: Was it warm in there?
TODD: I have two things that I'm really loving right now. My mom's a great cook, and my dad is my dad.
LADD DRUMMOND: Thank you, Todd.
REE DRUMMOND: All right, guys. I'm going to go get apple pie ready, so.
LADD DRUMMOND: Yay!
KID: She looks hungry.
[LAUGHS]
REE DRUMMOND: There's nothing better than cowboys doing the dishes. I made a really easy, really delicious caramel sauce to drizzle over the flat apple pies. It's one of my favorite things to top desserts with. The sauce is just four tablespoons of butter melted in a pan with one cup of brown sugar, a 1/2 a cup of half and half, a pinch of salt, then gently whisk everything together over medium low heat for about five minutes until it thickens. Add a tablespoon of vanilla and cook it another minute or so to thicken it a little bit more.
And that's all there is to it. All right, guys. Pies ready. I knew you'd be first in line, honey.
LADD DRUMMOND: It looks good. I want to take this piece right--
REE DRUMMOND: All righty.
LADD DRUMMOND: Thank you.
REE DRUMMOND: Get on up here, Tony.
LADD DRUMMOND: I don't want to forget my-- Thank you, honey.
REE DRUMMOND: There you go.
LADD DRUMMOND: Thank you.
REE DRUMMOND: All right. See ya. Y'all have a good afternoon. Say when.
JOSH: Keep going. That's good.
REE DRUMMOND: OK. Bye, Josh.
JOSH: Let's go load up. Boys, hop up.
KID: Did we really just--
JOSH: Load up.
[MUSIC PLAYING]