It's all about work, food and fun on the Pioneer Woman's ranch, where she's cooking up a spicy Cajun pasta lunch for her hungry kids.
It's all about work, food and fun on the Pioneer Woman's ranch, where she's cooking up a spicy Cajun pasta lunch for her hungry kids.
Below are the recipes used in today’s episode:
Cherry Limeade:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/cherry-limeade-recipe-2106107
Cajun Chicken Pasta:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/cajun-chicken-pasta-recipe-2109871
Egg-in-a-Hole:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/egg-in-a-hole-recipe-1925587
Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/marlboro-mans-favorite-sandwich-recipe-2120617
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 full episode transcript here: https://the-pioneer-woman.simplecast.com/episodes/the-drummond-bunch
[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: 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. 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.
For lunch, the kids give spicy Cajun chicken pasta the big thumbs up.
You want more pasta, more chicken or more everything?
SPEAKER 1: More everything.
[LAUGHS]
NARRATOR: A date with my husband.
I have special dinner plans for you.
A his and hers sandwich. And Lad's favorite breakfast.
Isn't it amazing how good these are?
There's delicious cherry limeade for thirsty kids.
SPEAKER 2: Extra cheesy, Yey!
NARRATOR: And a reluctant recruit, me. Welcome to my frontier.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We live about 20 to 25 minutes from town. And I like to keep a lot of staples in my pantry because I buy groceries in bulk. But I still have to make my way to town a couple of days a week at least for supplies. I got a lot of mouths to feed.
Hey, Jr.
SPEAKER 3: Hey you, Ree?
NARRATOR: How are you?
SPEAKER 3: I'm borderline perfection.
NARRATOR: That's a good answer. You're always in a good mood.
SPEAKER 3: Good.
NARRATOR: All right. I need a couple of bags of dog food for Charlie and his counterpart.
SPEAKER 3: OK.
NARRATOR: And a couple of bags of feed for the ranch horses.
SPEAKER 3: All right.
NARRATOR: Put this on Charlie's account, all right?
SPEAKER 3: OK.
[LAUGHS]
NARRATOR: Thanks Jr. I got the dog food. Got the horse food. Now, I got to get the people food. Thank you. Well, I'm going to head home and get lunch started for the kids. I'm making Cajun chicken pasta, which is one of my absolute favorite things to make. Kids have been working hard this morning so I know they're going to be hungry.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I'm going to start by making the Cajun spice. Into a Bowl, I'm adding some black pepper, garlic powder, paprika and cayenne.
[STIRRING]
Just give it a stir. And I've got cubed boneless skinless chicken breast in this bowl. And I'll just sprinkle some of the Cajun spice over. And then, just get the chicken coated.
Now, over here I've got olive oil and butter. I'm pretty high heat in a big heavy skillet.
[SIZZLES]
I'm not going to stir or disturb it at all. I just want to get it against the surface so it'll brown as quickly as possible. All right, the chicken's gorgeous and golden. Take the chicken out of the pan. Keep it on a separate platter. That butter gives it such a great color.
[SIZZLES]
So I can throw the veggies in here and get them going. Add red and green bell peppers.
[SIZZLES]
We want the sizzle. The sizzle is good. And purple onions. Then I'll add a good amount of garlic. And a bunch of nice chopped Roma tomatoes. OK, now we can give the veggies a stir. The peppers have a nice blackness going on and that means flavor. OK. Take the veggies out of the pan before they turn to mush. Mushy peppers ruin my day.
Now, this is my favorite part. See if you can guess what it is. I'll show you. Wine.
[SIZZLES]
Make sure the pan is really hot. I love that sound and I love that smell. Delicious. Now, I'm going to add a little broth.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And then, just let this bubble up and reduce until it becomes really, really thick. I'm going to go grab my other favorite part, cream. Heavy cream not whole milk, not half and half. We'll add about a cup to the reduced sauce in the pan.
And now that it's thick, I'm going to add in the chicken and the peppers. OK, this is ready. We've got the chicken and the onions and the peppers, garlic and the cream sauce. Time to put the pasta in.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Look here guys.
[LAUGHS]
Hey, you guys have sixth sense. I tell you. How are you?
KIDS: Good.
NARRATOR: How is your morning?
KIDS: Good.
SPEAKER 2: Can I have the big block of chicken, please?
NARRATOR: You want a big piece of chicken? You hungry Bricey?
SPEAKER 1: Ah-huh.
NARRATOR: Are you starving?
SPEAKER 1: Ah-huh.
[LAUGHS]
NARRATOR: You guys sit over there and I'll serve it up.
SPEAKER 2: A lot of chicken.
NARRATOR: Heavy on the chicken? Where does your dad go, guys? Did he have to help Uncle Tim some more?
KIDS: Yeah.
NARRATOR: Well, that means more pasta for us, right?
KIDS: Yeah.
SPEAKER 1: Can I have some more, mother?
NARRATOR: Sure. You want more pasta, more chicken or more everything?
SPEAKER 1: More everything.
[LAUGHS]
NARRATOR: Good. Hits the spot. Doesn't it, kiddos?
[LAUGHS]
Up next, dinner and breakfast, and a date with my husband.
SPEAKER 4: Date night at the lodge.
[LAUGHS]
NARRATOR: With a certain canine tag along.
[BARKING]
And I've got a little something planned for the kids.
You're being hard workers. Good job.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Well, our kids are at Tim and Missy's house for a sleepover. So my husband and I have a rare night to ourselves. We're not going to go to any nightclubs or fancy restaurants because there are no nightclubs or fancy restaurants. We're just going to drive around so I can get some pictures, and go have a nice dinner together at the lodge.
Come on, Charlie. Let's go. Charlie, come on.
SPEAKER 4: He likes to make you work for it.
[LAUGHS]
[GROWLS]
NARRATOR: He's getting the royal treatment. It's a gorgeous night.
SPEAKER 4: It is nice.
NARRATOR: I wonder what the kids are doing with Tim and Missy.
SPEAKER 4: Probably, wrestling and watching movies.
NARRATOR: Hi, guys. Who's winning?
SPEAKER 5: We are. Yeah. In your face boys.
SPEAKER 2: The winner's got to clean up the mess.
SPEAKER 5: No, the loser.
NARRATOR: Yeah, let's get some ranch horse pictures honey.
[SHUTTER CLICKS]
SPEAKER 4: You don't mind?
NARRATOR: Thank you for the beautiful pose there.
SPEAKER 4: You know what? Papa likes this horse, right? It's easy to get on.
NARRATOR: He is a short horse. Isn't he?
[LAUGHS]
He's coming closer.
[SHUTTER CLICKS]
OK, you ready?
SPEAKER 4: Yep, I'm ready to go eat.
NARRATOR: I have special dinner plans for you and for me.
[LAUGHS]
SPEAKER 4: I'm looking forward to it. Date night at the lodge.
[LAUGHS]
NARRATOR: Are you going to be back in about 30 minutes or so?
SPEAKER 4: Yeah, I'll be back. All right.
NARRATOR: See you in a little bit.
SPEAKER 4: All right. See you honey.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: I'm making dinner for my husband and me tonight. And I knew I wanted to make him his favorite sandwich on Earth. We've made this sandwich for years in our house. And it's basically just a big meat fest. He's what you would call a meat and potatoes guy.
So I'll make the basic sandwich. The same for both of us. But at the end, I'll bring out all sorts of ingredients from the fridge and pile mine high with cheese and tomato. And I might even freak my husband out and add some arugula. This is truly a his and hers situation.
OK, I've got some onions sauteing and some butter. I brown the onions and meat separately because I just want to give them both a chance to get some nice color.
[SIZZLES]
So I'm just going to coat the Iron skillet with more butter. Again, this will not be the last you see of the butter. And season the meat with just a little salt, a little bit of pepper, cayenne if you like a little spice. When the skillet is smoking, it's time to throw it in.
[SIZZLES]
OK, and in go the onions.
[STIRRING]
[SIZZLES]
Give this a stir.
[SIZZLES]
And now, I'm going to add Worcestershire. Several dashes of Worcestershire. This is a really savory, rich sandwich. And you want to have quite a bit of liquid.
[SIZZLES]
OK, that's good. The kids are gone so we can get pretty spicy. And I can handle it. So I really go to town on the Tabasco. I think that was exactly 13 dashes of Tabasco. But you can add or subtract depending on your tolerance for heat. And then, just to be extra sinful a little more butter in the pan.
[LAUGHS]
And I'll just let that simmer. Let the butter melt. And talk about rich. I mean, this is delicious.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 4: I think, she's making my favorite steak sandwich, which is a strip steak sandwich with sauteed onions. That's something we not really on a special occasion but it's kind of more of something we just treat ourselves to. I don't think she would mess with my sandwich. I think, she knows that I like it the way I like it. So I don't think she'd mess with it.
NARRATOR: I've actually had people make this sandwich for my husband and me. And without fail, the rolls just never quite seem to have enough butter. And they really should be drowning in butter and then Golden Brown on the surface. You can soften the butter ahead of time and spread it on the rolls, but I rarely plan that far in advance.
And then, half the rolls. And as you're putting them on the griddle, take it as an opportunity to swipe it along the melted butter. Just make sure it absorbs as much as possible. Know what, I think I'm going to do another roll for Lad. He's been working hard today and he probably needs it. And look, it fits perfectly. So it's a sign. He needs a second sandwich.
Here on the ranch, this his and hers sandwich is the key to marital harmony. But of course, I can't leave well enough alone. And I'm going to pile mine high with all the things that make me happy. Start with a buttery golden brown roll. And then, put a big helping of meat and onion over each half. And then, you want to get the good stuff out of the bottom of the pan. So grab a spoon and just drizzle it over the meat.
OK, we've got meat on mine and meat on my husband's sandwich. And that's where the similarity ends. Lad would not approve of what I'm about to do. It's totally against his religion. I'm going to add a couple of thick slices of mozzarella. And then, a couple of thick slices of tomatoes. And then, I'm going to pile it high with arugula, which is going to give it a fresh green, kind of peppery flavor. Yum.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 4: Oh yeah.
[GROWLS]
Oh man, you're stinky. Are you hungry?
NARRATOR: Lad is totally going to think this is a sacrilege. Charlie. Oh hey, honey.
SPEAKER 4: Oh?
[LAUGHS]
NARRATOR: What? That one's yours.
SPEAKER 4: No, that's yours. I'm not eating that.
[LAUGHS]
[SHUTTER CLICKS]
This looks good.
NARRATOR: You want a bite?
SPEAKER 4: No, I don't. This is fine.
NARRATOR: Honey.
SPEAKER 4: I'm perfectly happy with my sandwich.
NARRATOR: You need to expand your horizons a little.
SPEAKER 4: You can have your sandwich. I don't need another.
NARRATOR: I'm going to have my sandwich. I mean, I have it right here.
SPEAKER 4: If I need another, I'll take another one like this one.
[LAUGHS]
NARRATOR: Honey, the more that's on a sandwich the better.
SPEAKER 4: No. I bet Charlie prefers mine to.
NARRATOR: Someone is looking at us with longing eyes. Charlie, you want a bite?
[GROWLS]
Speak.
[BARKING]
Charlie doesn't care what sandwich he gets. You're a good boy Charlie.
SPEAKER 4: Good boy.
NARRATOR: Just Lad and me and Charlie. So much for a night alone without the kids.
Well, the kids are still at their sleepover. Lad got up really early to work cattle. And I slept in. I feel so refreshed. I'm a new woman. The house was so quiet.
Well, Lad will be home pretty soon. But I'm going to make his favorite breakfast called egg in the holes. His grandmother used to make these for him when he was a little boy. I pretty much had to learn how to make them before we got married. It was part of the deal. But they're so simple and so delicious.
It starts with a piece of regular bread. And you can use a glass or a biscuit cutter. And you just cut out a hole in the bread. I've got butter melting in the skillet. A lot of butter, of course. And we'll just drop both of these into the skillet. And we really want to get them coated with butter on both sides. And then, my favorite maneuver. Drop in a little more butter. And just flip the pieces over.
Once they start to get toasty, you just take a regular egg and crack it in the middle. It's the simple things in life I tell you. Sprinkle on a little salt, little pepper. Honestly, I make egg in the holes two or three times a week in my house and they really have some sort of gravitational pull.
My husband and kids will be elsewhere. I'll have no idea where they are. All I have to do is throw egg in the holes on the skillet. And they all just sort of appear around the stove. It's kind of magical.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
This circle of bread is in high demand. I don't think I've eaten one since I had children because everybody always steals mine.
SPEAKER 4: Hi, honey.
NARRATOR: Hey, honey. What are you doing?
SPEAKER 4: Oh, just playing. What are you doing?
NARRATOR: Made you egg in the hole.
SPEAKER 4: Great. I'm hungry.
NARRATOR: Isn't it amazing how good these are?
SPEAKER 4: I know.
NARRATOR: I mean, we make this three times a week for 15 years, and we're still not sick of them.
SPEAKER 4: I think, it's my favorite breakfast.
NARRATOR: I'm going to make myself one. The kids aren't here to steal my toast circle.
[LAUGHS]
I deserve an egg in the hole. Did you guys know I was making egg in the holes?
KIDS: No.
NARRATOR: Well, daddy and I are just having breakfast. You guys scoot along now.
SPEAKER 1: Daddy, we'll test if their poisonous for you.
NARRATOR: All right, that's mama's. Whoa! Todd.
[LAUGHS]
What are you guys doing? My egg in the hole. You guys are painting extra fence this afternoon.
[LAUGHS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I'm going to go grab them something cold to drink. I made cherry limeade earlier. And it is delicious. All you do is add a cup of lime juice to a pitcher, a cup of sugar, a two liter bottle of lemon lime soda, a jar of maraschino cherries with the juice, and a bunch of lime slices. You just stir it all up. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes and it's perfect.
The lime slices are for show. The cherries are for eating. And I need to put some extras in my babies. He could eat a whole jar if no one was looking. He loves them.
Cherry limeade guys. Here you go, Alex.
[LAUGHS]
Here you go.
SPEAKER 1: Good.
SPEAKER 2: I'm saving the cherries.
NARRATOR: For recipes from this episode, go to foodnetwork.com/pioneerwoman.