by Ree Drummond
With the burner still on high, deglaze the pan by adding the red wine or 1 cup of the stock and scraping the pan with a whisk to loosen all the flavorful bits.
Place the roast back in the pan and add enough stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups). Add the onions, carrots, thyme, and rosemary.
Cover the pot and roast the meat for approximately 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast) or 4 hours (for a 4-to 5-pound roast). The roast is done when the meat is tender and pulls apart easily with two forks.
Slice and serve with Creamy Mashed Potatoes (Recipes).
CREAMY MASHED POTATOES
12 servings
Sinful. In a forgivable way.
5 pounds Yukon Gold or russet potatoes
1½ sticks butter, softened, plus ½ stick for dotting
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
½ cup half-and-half
½ teaspoon seasoned salt
Salt and black pepper to taste
Milk, as needed for thinning
Chopped chives, for garnish
Peel the potatoes and rinse them in cold water. Cut the potatoes in quarters, place them in a large pot, and add water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, or until fork tender.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan. With the burner on low heat, mash the potatoes with a potato masher for about 2 minutes to release the steam. Turn off the burner.
Add the butter, cream cheese, half-and-half, seasoned salt, and salt and pepper. Stir to combine, and if the mixture needs thinning, add a little milk. Taste to check the seasoning.
Spread the mashed potatoes in a large casserole pan and dot the surface with the remaining butter. Cover with foil (you can refrigerate it for up to 2 days at this point) and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes.
Sprinkle with chopped chives and serve immediately.
BEEF STEW WITH MUSHROOMS
6 servings
For long, cold winters on the ranch. Extra wine helps, too.
4 tablespoons flour
2 pounds cubed beef stew meat (sirloin)
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces white mushrooms
½ cup red wine
Half a 10½-ounce can beef consommé
Salt and pepper to taste
2 fresh thyme sprigs
Cooked egg noodles, for serving
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the flour over the meat and toss to coat.
In a heavy pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter in the olive oil over high heat. Working in batches, add the meat and sear it until brown on all sides, taking care not to crowd the meat, a few minutes per batch. Set the meat aside on a plate as it’s done.
Reduce heat to medium-low and add the shallots and the garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the wine, the consommé, and ½ cup water.
Add salt and pepper to taste and stir. Bring to a boil, then add the browned meat and the juices from the plate. Reduce heat to low and add the thyme.
Cover and simmer for 90 minutes, or until the meat is very tender. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons flour with ¼ cup water and stir it into the stew. Cook the stew for 10 minutes, until thickened. Turn off the heat and allow the stew to sit for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
Serve with egg noodles.
FRIED ROUND STEAK
6 servings
Lifeblood for hungry cowboys.
½ cup canola oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
Ground black pepper
3 pounds cube steak (round steak that’s been extra tenderized)
Salt
2 tablespoons butter
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
On a plate, combine the flour, the seasoned salt, and 3 teaspoons of black pepper.
Season both sides of the cube steaks with salt and pepper. Dredge each piece in the flour mixture, pressing to coat with as much flour as possible.
Add the butter to the pan right before frying. When the butter is melted, add the steak, working in batches so as not to crowd the meat. Flip when the surface of the meat is deep golden brown and cook about 1 minute on the other side.
Remove to a paper towel–lined plate. Serve immediately.
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
3 dozen cookies
For a little pick-me-up…or a big chocolate fix.
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
½ cup (1 stick) margarine
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 heaping teaspoon instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons flaxseeds, slightly crushed with a rolling pin (optional)
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 heaping cup milk chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, stir together the butter, margarine, brown sugar, and white sugar until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, instant coffee, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture in batches, stirring gently after each addition.
Stir in the flaxseeds, if using, and the chocolate chips.
Drop balls of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 11 to 13 minutes, or until golden. Move the cookies to a rack and eat them warm.
CINNAMON ROLLS
Makes 4 dozen rolls (using about 7 pie pans—I often use aluminum ones for easy gift giving)
Guaranteed to heal an aching heart.
DOUGH
1 quart whole milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 packages (4½ teaspoons) active dry yeast
9 cups all-purpose flour
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1 heaping tablespoon salt
FILLING
2 cups melted butter, plus more as needed
2 cups sugar, plus more as needed
¼ cup ground cinnamon
MAPLE ICING
1 pound powdered sugar
2 teaspoons maple flavoring
½ cup whole milk
¼ cup melted butter
¼ cup strongly brewed coffee
1/8 teaspoon salt
To make the dough, heat the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat; do not allow the mixture to boil. Set aside and cool to a little warmer than lukewarm.
Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit on the milk mixture for 1 minute.
Add 8 cups of the flour. Stir until just combined. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a relatively warm place for 1 hour.
Remove the towel and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and remaining 1 cup of flour. Stir thoroughly to combine. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour, punching it down if it begins to rise too much.
To assemble the rolls, remove half the dough from the pan. On a floured baking surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 30 × 10 inches.
Pour 1 cup of the melted butter over the surface of the dough. Use your fingers to spread the butter evenly.
Sprinkle 1 cup of the sugar over the butter. Sprinkle generously with half of the cinnamon.
Beginning at the end farthest from you, roll the rectangle tightly toward you. Use both hands and work slowly, being careful to keep the roll tight. Don’t worry if the filling oozes out as you work!
When you reach the end, pinch the seam together. Cut 1½-inch slices with a sha
rp knife. Place the sliced rolls onto buttered pie pans, being careful not to overcrowd.
Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Cover the pans with towels and set aside to rise for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Bake for 13 to 17 minutes, or until golden brown.
While the rolls are baking, combine all the icing ingredients in a large bowl, adjusting the proportions of sugar and liquid until you have the desired consistency.
Pour icing over warm rolls fresh out of the oven. Allow the icing to settle into the cracks and crevices.
Serve warm. You can also cover and freeze the cinnamon rolls for gift giving.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
TO MY friends and readers of my website, ThePioneerWoman.com, for your love, encouragement, and support over the past several years. I feel it daily. Thank you.
To my editor, Cassie Jones Morgan, for believing in me back when you didn’t really have any reason to. You’re the first, best, only, and last editor I’ll ever have.
To Sharyn Rosenblum, for keeping me on track and making me smile.
To Susanna Einstein, for your help and support.
To my oldest friends, Jenn, Sarah, Jules, Mitch, Kash, Christy, Shaney, Ang, Kristi, Shelley, Susan, and Carrie.
To Mom, Dad, Nan, Chuck, Betsy, Doug, Mike, Missy, Tim, Hyacinth, Connell, Lela, Betty, Becky, Patsy, Edna Mae, Ga-Ga, and everyone who’s loved me all my life.
To Bartlesville, for raising me.
To Pawhuska, for being my home.
To my kids, for being wonderful.
To Marlboro Man, for being mine.
About the Author
REE DRUMMOND began blogging in 2006 and has built www.ThePioneerWoman.com into an award-winning website, where she shares recipes, showcases her photography, and documents her hilarious transition from city life to ranch wife. The number one New York Times bestselling author of The Pioneer Woman Cooks, Ree has appeared on Good Morning America, the Today show, and The View, and has been featured in Ladies’ Home Journal, Woman’s Day, People, More, and Southern Living. Ree lives on a working cattle ranch near Pawhuska, Oklahoma, with her husband, Ladd, and their four children.
WWW.THEPIONEERWOMAN.COM
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Credits
Jacket design by Mary Schuck
Jacket illustration © by Michael Koelsch
Copyright
THE PIONEER WOMAN. Copyright © 2011 by Ree Drummond. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Drummond, Ree.
The pioneer woman: black heels to tractor wheels—a love story / Ree Drummond.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-06-199716-7
1. Drummond, Ree. 2. Oklahoma—Biography. I. Title.
CT275.D8764A3 2011
976.6’054092—dc22
[B]
2010038872
EPub Edition © January 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-208433-0
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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