Ree Drummond's Blog, page 2

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup by The Pioneer Woman

Roasted red peppers are my favorite pantry item; well, they’re up there alongside jars of good marinara sauce. You can turn a jar or two of roasted red peppers into so many different recipes, from soups to sauces to panini to dips. The flavor is mild and slightly sweet, and I’m always amazed at how much I love them. This soup boasts two whole jars of the beauties, and it’s perfect for lunch or dinner.

Plus, it’s purty. You’ll love it!

(Side note: Hi, friends! *Waving*…)

In a Dutch oven, melt the olive oil and butter over medium heat.

 

 

Add the onions and garlic…

 

 

Then add the oregano…

 

 

And stir, cooking the onions and garlic for about 3 minutes.

 

 

Add a diced russet potato (this is optional; it helps with the texture, but you can leave it out if you’re wanting to cut carbs)…

 

 

And 2 jars of roasted red peppers that have been sliced. Look at those little blackened bits. Flavah!

 

 

Stir and cook the potatoes and red bell peppers for about 3 more minutes.

 

 

Add the tomato paste…

 

 

And stir to combine, letting it cook for a couple of minutes.

 

 

Sprinkle in the salt and pepper and turn up the heat to medium-high.

 

 

Pour in the white wine, then stir and let it start to cook.

 

 

Then pour in some vegetable or chicken stock!

 

 

Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are very tender, about 18-20 minutes.

 

 

Now it’s time to puree the soup, which releases all the amazing flavor of the peppers and makes the potatoes just become a part of the mix.

 

 

Keep going until it gets to the texture you like.

 

 

This is the texture I like!

 

 

Now it just needs cream. I add about a half a cup, or up to 5 gallons. Just kidding about the 5 gallon part, but my point is that if you wanna add more cream, you should live the life you were born to live and just add it.

And truth be told, I probably added 3/4 cup of cream.

Okay, a cup.

 

 

Stir it to combine and let the cream warm up for a couple of minutes.

 

 

Finally, add a little red wine vinegar and cook for another minutes. Done!

 

 

Serve with a little grated Parmesan and some fresh oregano leaves.

 

 

A little grilled cheese rollup wouldn’t hurt either! (I’ll post these sometime soon.)

 

 

Enjoy, friends! It’s still cool in some areas, so this soup is just perfect for the weather.

 

Swoop, Snow, and Other News

Hi, friends! HUGE news. I mean, monumentally globally relevant news. Okay, not really globally relevant news. Okay, not really monumental news. Okay, not really news. Not anything, actually. Here goes: I started swooping my bangs over to one side. Here’s a pic I took to send to my sister, Betsy, and my mom. It covers my cowlick! Pardon my flushed chest. It happens sometimes. Most notably, when I have walked around in high altitude (see Colorado photos later in the post).

 

 

In case you missed it, I was interviewed for a story on CBS Sunday Morning that aired Sunday.

 

 

Here is the link if you’d like to watch! (Ladd is on it, which I really liked.)

CBS Sunday Morning with Ladd and Ree

 

 

In dinnerware news, I wanted to show you my new spring pattern at Walmart.

 

 

It’s called Heritage Floral, and it just takes my breath away. You can find it in Walmart stores right now! Thank you for listening.

 

 

We are in Colorado for a few days, and here is a photo Ladd took yesterday. He skied with his brother, Tim, because no one else will go where they go. They’re lunatic skiers!

 

 

I would never—as in never, ever, ever—ski on this hill. I would sit down and wait for help to arrive. And if you don’t think this looks very steep…

 

 

Here’s another angle. NO. No, no, no. My palms are now wet with sweat, as they were when we were driving here a few days ago. Colorado has gotten so much snow in the past week or two, and there were avalanche threats (and maybe still are.) But the folks around here are so grateful for the snow. It’s kind of like being in Oklahoma. We want rain so badly when it’s dry, but sometimes a tornado comes with that. Sigh.

 

 

As I was writing this post, Ladd sent this photo of Bryce to me. This stopping point is actually called Two Elk Lodge, and there happened to be an elk in front as they arrived to eat lunch. What are the chances?

 

 

As you can see, Bryce has no fear of wildlife.

Or maybe his goggles are coated with ice?

Or (updated, after talking to Paige)…maybe it’s a statue! Haha. I am cracking up.

More snowy updates to come!

I’m Goin’ Back to Cali…Cali…Cali…

I have been in Los Angeles for the past week shooting a show for Food Network, and because I can’t be away from home for very long before my eyebrows start to twitch and I start to suck my thumb and cry, home came to me over the weekend.

I would like to say I’m exaggerating, but I’m a hopeless homebody homegirl whose battery starts to rapidly deplete the longer I’m away from my nest.

 

So my birdies came! Well, two of them: Alex and Bryce. First and third. Older girl and older boy.

 

And a bonus: Mauricio, Alex’s FRIEND. He hangs well with us.

We walked to Santa Monica Pier at night, and it was carnivalicious fun. I peer pressured, or parent pressured, Bryce to ride one of those wildly swinging amusement park rides, and he yelled while we were on the ride so loudly that I got tickled and couldn’t breathe. I was worried I’d be one of those people that passes out on amusement park rides, but it wouldn’t be because I had some kind of vascular issue or because I was scared, it would be because I am the kind of mother who pressures her son to ride a scary ride and then laughs when he yells about it.

Gosh, Ree!

 

It was fun to be with the Drummond kids on the beach. It isn’t our usual jam! Bryce wasn’t sure how to navigate the rings. I would have shown him, but I didn’t really want to show off.

 

 

He had no problem with the pull-ups, though! Again, I would have…but…

 

 

We had a delicious brunch on Saturday! I had Lobster Florentine Benedict, which is everything I love in the world. Look at how red that lobster is! I’m such a hick, I thought they were chunks of red bell pepper at first.

Also, guess what celebrity I saw at the restaurant? You’ll never guess. I’ll give you a hint.

Her daughter is an actor.

She’s been with her longtime partner, another actor, for many years.

Her first name contains the name of a color.

She was once in a movie with Bette Midler and Diane Keaton.

She’s blond.

She’s amazing.

Her name rhymes with Boldie Prawn.

Have you figured it out yet?

 

 

I had so much fun with the kids. On Saturday we rode scooters around in the rain and I didn’t fall once. I started out in a floral kimono and cowboy boots and I ended with a rain jacket and tennis shoes. Yes, I still call them tennis shoes. They’re mauve-ish pink and I love them.

I’m heading home Wednesday and can’t wait to fall into the arms of Ladd, Todd, and my seven hundred dogs.

Happy Monday, friends!

Analyze THAT!

I was awake at 2:00 am last night for no reason, then finally drifted off to sleep again at 3:30. As often happens following a middle-of-the-night bout of insomnia, the dreams that followed were vivid and extremely weird. I am well aware of how obnoxious it is when someone tries to relay his/her dream to others who did not experience the same dream, but I have to get this out so I can move on with my daily work. Thank you for indulging me. If you stop reading now, I understand. In fact, I encourage it.

I dreamed I was lying in the chair of an endodontist in Cincinnati. She was informing me that she had to pull out one of my teeth, and that the new tooth she would put in its place would be a subtle shade of green, and this would only be visible if I were on TV. “But…I am on TV,” I responded. So she replied that the only other option would be charcoal grey. I tried to respond that I’ll just keep the bum tooth I had and take my chances, but she had already administered a numbing agent and she thought I said “Okay, I’ll go with the charcoal option.”

The extraction forceps were headed toward my tooth when I heard the voice of an ex-boyfriend from high school. He was in the waiting room at the same Cincinnati endodontist, and had heard my protestations about being on TV and not wanting a green tooth. He recognized my voice, so he came to the doorway of my exam room and struck up a conversation with me, and I had to try to look and act charming while the endodontist’s extraction forceps were clamping around my bum tooth.

Soon the waiting room had filled with three other boys I had dated in my past. I won’t name any names, because I am friends with all of them today, and I don’t want their wives to know that I was dreaming that they were at my endodontic appointment. Not that their wives would feel threatened by this, I just don’t want them to know how weird I am. But basically the gist of this is that I ran into all my ex-boyfriends at once, and instead of making sure I looked as good as I could possibly look, I was getting one of my teeth pulled with a really numb face.

When I got home from my Cincinnati trip, I discovered that I had forgotten to tell a construction crew not to show up and renovate my house, and everything was covered with tarps and there were contractors everywhere. Then I heard Ladd’s voice saying “Honey…honey…” and then I woke up. Seems I had overslept and my phone was on silent and he’d had to drive home from feeding cattle to wake me up. I’ve never been so glad to see my husband in my entire life.

So please forgive me if I’m a little off today.

My tooth is feeling a little sore…

Did You Ever Know that You’re My Hero?

I don’t go feeding with Ladd very often, because we both have busy mornings to juggle. But there was something about this morning. It was 10 degrees, icy, snowy, bleak, and I didn’t want him to face it alone.

Also, I wanted to take photos. Ha.

 

 

Ladd does this every morning when the weather is this desperate. The cattle do much better in the cold, cold weather when they have their morning fill of hay and feed.

I do better when I have my morning feed, too, so I can totally understand!

 

 

It’s always interesting to see the difference in the way the cattle act toward humans this time of year. Most of the time, they are skittish and jumpy, and run away when a human is around. This morning, I got out of the truck with my camera and walked all around them and they couldn’t be bothered to care. They just kind of looked at me, not like I was a fly that needed to be flicked off of their shoulder, but like I was a redheaded woman holding a camera who needed to tell her husband to hurry up and get the feed on the ground.

 

 

On mornings—and moments—like this, I feel so much admiration and gratitude for Ladd, his brother Tim, and all the cowboys—and frankly, for all who work in agriculture during weather extremes. There simply is no snow day in farming or ranching, when the animals have to be cared for. There’s no sitting by the fire and sipping hot chocolate—at least not until the work is done. The dedication is unwavering, and another thing I’ve observed through the years is that there isn’t really an uptick in complaints during times like these. They just go about their daily work of feeding, often riding in a feed truck by themselves for hours on end, and they don’t stop until the last animal is accounted for and fed.

They’re all kinda my heroes.

Walter’s Two Beds

I thought you would enjoy seeing what ol’ Walter has been up to! You’re looking at it. Ha.

But in all seriousness, you’re looking at it. Walter is not a fan of winter, and if you add in his age and a Basset Hound’s innate fondness for napping, you wind up with a dog that is more Koala Bear than canine. If I didn’t interrupt him or push him to get more activity, he would sleep 22 hours a day, no question. He is perfectly content with this, his favorite activity. It doesn’t hurt that he has two—count ’em two—exceedingly comfortable beds in the house. The memory foam version you see above…

 

And this velvet-esque sofa in the mud room. He switches from bed to bed, just to give himself a change of pace and to ensure his life remains varied and exciting. Unpredictable Walter! Always changing things up.

Really, I have to say that despite his desire to sleep the days away, Walter is actually doing great. As I mentioned, I have to be proactive about getting him up, around, and out a few times a day because his weight had really ballooned in recent months and I, I mean he, needs to watch his waistline. Over the past months, I, I mean he, has actually slimmed down a bit, so I’m encouraged that we, I mean he, will be back to our, I mean his, fighting weight come springtime.

Walter is a sweet boy. He loves nothing more than being home, being loved on, and smelling like stale Fritos. Ladd loves him, as he is the last remaining dog that reminds us of a time when the kids were little, and we make sure to show him how much we cherish him.

The ol’ Frito head.

Mini Turtle Cheesecakes by The Pioneer Woman

I love cheesecake, but sometimes I can’t be bothered to make a big, honking full-sized one. I don’t know what the mental block is, but if I have the idea “Hey! I think I’ll make a cheesecake!” I immediately get really tired and want to get back in bed. I think it’s partly to do with the fact that a full-sized cheesecake is a living, breathing thing, and while I can usually avoid winding up with a big crack down the middle, sometimes a cheesecake does what it wants to do. In addition, a full-sized cheesecake takes so long to chill properly, and by the time you can actually cut a slice and enjoy it, you have now aged 27 years.

As I said, I just want to get back in bed.

So mini cheesecakes are where I live! They’re simpler, provide more immediate gratification (relatively speaking) and you can freeze them and just pull out what you need when you need it.

And they don’t make me tired. Sold!

 

First, make the chocolate cookie crust. Add chocolate graham crackers to a food processor. (Or you can use Oreos!)

 

 

Add a little sugar…

 

 

Then pulse the crumbs…

 

 

Until they’re really fine.

 

 

Keep pulsing while you drizzle in melted butter.

 

 

This makes the crumbs nice and moist.

Oh, and buttery!

 

 

Line a couple of muffin pans with paper cups, then add crumbs to each one. You need about 2 tablespoons of crumbs in each cup.

 

 

Use your fangers or the bottom of a 1/4 cup measure to pack them tightly in the cups.

 

 

Now just set these aside; no need to bake ’em!

 

 

Next up: Make the cream cheese filling! That’s softened cream cheese…

 

 

Sugar…

 

 

And eggs.

 

 

Oh! And vanilla!

 

 

Beat this until it’s totally smooth…

 

 

Then (this is where things really go off the rails) drizzle in some jarred salted caramel. (If you can’t find salted caramel sauce, you can just use regular caramel sauce with a little salt added.)

 

 

Mix this in, scraping the sides of the bowl and trying really hard not to dive in and eat this with a spoon. Just remember everything your mama taught you about patience being a virtue!

 

 

Divide the batter equally among the muffin cups.

 

 

It should work out to be roughtly 3 tablespoons of batter per cup. Give or take a gallon.

Now put these into a preheated 350 degree oven and bake them for about 15 to 17 minutes, until they’re set.

 

 

Let them cool for a bit, then pop the pans into the fridge to chill completely, about 2 hours or so. (Or you can make these and keep them in the fridge overnight if you have a life to go live!)

 

 

When the cheesecakes are chilled and you’re ready to finish them, make a luscious and easy ganache: Add chopped semisweet chocolate to a bowl…

 

 

Then pour over hot heavy cream…

 

 

And let it sit for a couple of minutes.

 

 

Once the chocolate has started to soften, start whisking it slowly…

 

 

And keep going until the mixture is smooth and perfect. This is a slightly thick ganache; you can add a little more cream if you want it to be a little thinner.

 

 

Add a little ganache to the tops of the chilled cheesecakes and spread it to even it out.

 

 

Lightly press a pecan half in the center…

 

 

Then sprinkle mini chocolate chips all over.

 

 

The straw that broke the camel’s back is a little more salted caramel sauce on top! Don’t try to be neat about it; if it gets on the paper cup, great. Life is beautifully messy.

 

 

You can freeze these in the finished form, then just pull them out and let them thaw. Or you can chill them in the fridge and serve them later in the day.

 

 

Or…

 

 

You can just dive in right now.

As you can see, that’s exactly what I did.

Enjoy these, friends!

 

Cooking Away by The Pioneer Woman

I mentioned on Confessions that I’ve been cooking away on recipes for my next cookbook.

 

 

It won’t be out until NEXT October.

 

 

It feels great to start ahead of time! This is a new concept for me.

 

 

I’m a little afraid it will be like the few time I have started Christmas shopping really early: I wind up getting too much because I have way more time than I’m used to.

 

 

Although, that will work out better for the cookbook. If some recipes are good, more recipes are better…and too many recipes are even better!

 

 

Just wanted to give you a little peek at some of the things I’ve been cooking. I’m going to try to save the recipes for the cookbook and not post them here ahead of time…

 

 

But I’ve never been really good at patience.

Instant Pot Pot Roast by The Pioneer Woman

(First, can we just reflect on the phrase “Pot Pot” in the title of this post? There’s just no way to avoid it! I tried. Pot Pot!)

Instant Pots are everywhere! They’re a cooking appliance known as a “Multi Cooker” which means it has several different functions, its most notable (and useful, in my experience) being a pressure cooker. I have to say, I was a bit of a latecomer to the Instant Pot world. I am generally resistant to new electronic cooking appliances, because I’m old school and love a dutch oven and an iron skillet. But then my BFF Hyacinth, who is an Instant Pot evangelist, gave me one for my birthday last January. I’ve slowly but surely come to LOVE it, and noticed that I wasn’t ever putting it away in the pantry. So naturally…

I thought it would be amazing to work with Instant Pot to bring PW patterns and colors into the mix! I’m so excited, and I’ll be sharing many Instant Pot adventures in the weeks to come. (Pssst. I’m giving some away over on PW Giveaways—go enter!)

The first Instant Pot recipe I want to share is my Perfect Pot Roast, a Drummond family favorite, which cooks in half the time (sometimes even less!)

Here’s how to make it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want to sear the roast before I cook it, so I hit the “saute” button. This heats the bottom of the insert.

 

 

While it heats up, season a chuck roast with nuttin’ but salt and pepper.

 

 

When the Instant Pot is ready to saute, it will say “Hot!”

 

 

So pour in a little olive oil…

 

 

And throw in the roast!

 

 

It’ll start to suh-MOKE and stu-EAM. It gets hot in there! Not quite as hot as a heated cast iron dutch oven…

 

 

But definitely hot enough to brown the surface of the meat.

 

 

When it’s browned on both sides, remove it to a plate.

 

 

Then throw some large chunks of onion right in. These are going to cook down to almost nothingness, so the bigger the pieces, the better.

 

 

Move the onions around for a couple of minutes and let them start to brown.

Note: I would normally add carrots to my pot roast! But guess what? Some turkey in my house ate all my carrots. So imagine there are large carrot chunks in this beautiful Instant Pot, kay?

 

 

Now’s the time to add in some red wine. A little…or not a little. (Translation: About 1/2 cup.)

 

 

Stir the onions, scraping up the bits from the bottom as much as you can. Let the wine cook for a minute or so…

 

 

Then pour in beef broth.

 

 

I love rosemary and thyme in my pot roast!

 

 

Chuck it right in, no need to chop.

 

 

Finally, the meat—as well as all the juices on the plate.

 

 

Now it’s time to pressure cook! Put the lid on. It locks closed, and you’ll know it’s locked when it emits a lovely little chime.

 

 

This is the pressure valve. You want to make sure it’s in the “Sealing” position.

 

 

Push the “Manual” button.

 

 

Hit the plus sign until it gets to 60 minutes (hard to read in this photo, but it says “60”), then give it a few seconds…and it will start the pressure cooking process! And here’s what happens: After a little time, you will see some steam releasing from the valve in a steady stream. This is normal! The Instant Pot is releasing excess steam as it comes up to temperature. This can take several minutes.

 

 

When this little button pops up, as pictured here, that means the unit is sealed and the pressure cooking has begun. From there, it will cook for 60 minutes.

 

 

Once the 60 minutes is done, the unit will automatically change to “Keep Warm.” During this time, the Instant Pot will remain locked and will begin naturally releasing pressure on its own. It is best not to disturb the process during this time.

 

 

Rather than counting down from 60 as it did when it was pressure cooking, the Instant Pot will now count up the minutes it is taking to release the pressure naturally.

 

 

You have the option to use a spoon handle to manually push the valve to “Venting” to manually release the pressure. However, when I have the time, I try to let the Instant Pot release as much pressure naturally as possible before I release the rest of the pressure manually. I think the food is the better for it.

After about 15 minutes of natural release, I’ll often go ahead and release the rest manually so I can get this show on the road!

 

 

When the steam is no longer coming out…

 

 

The button will pop down, indicating the pressure has been released and it’s safe to open the lid.

 

 

And look at that! It looks like a roast that’s been simmering away for 3-4 hours.

 

 

The first thing I do is skim off as much fat as I can from the top before disturbing everything and mixing the fat in.

 

 

Um…look at this meat! It is absolutely falling apart. It’s a miracle.

 

 

Serve big shreds of the pot roast with a side of mashed potatoes and the cooking liquid spooned over the roast. (Imagine this with big chunks of carrots!)

 

 

I love my dutch oven. But I’m really loving my Instant Pot, too. It’s been fun to dive in and experiment. I”ll be sharing more recipes in the coming weeks!

Food Network and Cookbook Update! by The Pioneer Woman

I’ve been handling Paige’s departure to college pretty well! After the initial weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, I basically just set up camp in my kitchen and have hardly left. It’s my safe zone. My haven. My happy place. Unless the sink is full of dishes, then I want to sell the house.

Oh, and I’m going to see Paige for her birthday today. I think once-a-week visits are a great gameplan! I’m sure Paige would agree with me if she would ever call me back. Ha.

Happy Birthday, Paigie!!!

 

FOOD NETWORK UPDATE

There is a wacky rumor circulating around Facebook that I have decided to quit my Food Network show and devote my life to selling facial cream. The source of the rumor is an unscrupulous company trying to trick people into buying (you guessed it) facial cream. I have nothing to do with this facial cream (please don’t buy it!), and more importantly: I am not quitting my Food Network show! On the contrary: I’m just getting warmed up, man! The past seven years have just been one gigantic dress rehearsal!

You want recipes, cookbooks, pretty plates, pans, and Basset Hound cookie jars? Head my way!

You want facial cream? Head to Walmart, Ulta, Sephora, or a department store. Don’t head to Pioneer Woman. I get my facial cream at Walmart, Ulta, Sephora, and department stores! (Which is to say I rotate a lot. I think it’s healthier for the skin. Hey, maybe I should sell facial cream! Just kidding.)

All this to say, it’s going to be a great fall on my Food Network show, which I ain’t even close to quittin’! From now until the end of the year, you’ll see a brand spanking new episode every Saturday morning at 10 am Eastern/9 am Central. (I think one exception to this is Thanksgiving weekend, but that’s the only break in new episodes.) I’m having so much fun with the new shows these days, and hope you’re loving the recipes!

Recipe: Ranch Pork Chop Sheet Pan Supper

 

Between filming, planning my cookbook (more on this below!), the boys’ football schedule, and a few other things I have going on this fall, that hasn’t left much time for me to post step-by-step recipes here on my blog. I still love food-blogging and once I clear a few things off my plate in the next few weeks, I hope I can climb back in the saddle with my fancy boots on.

So to speak.

Recipe: Teriyaki Shrimp and Pineapple Parcels

 

There’s lots I want to share, including the step-by-step recipe for this gloriously easy cake!

Recipe: 11-Carton Cake

 

 I’m making this on the show tomorrow morning! It’s called “To the Nth” because everything in the show is just beyond ridonkulous.

Sneak Peek Recipe: Grilled French Toast

(Enter at your own risk.)

 

COOKBOOK UPDATE

On the cookbook front, I wanted to thank you SO DARN MUCH for all of your helpful input and suggestions for my next cookbook! As I explained in this post, I really want this next cookbook to go to the next level in terms of being a cookbook you (yes, you!) want to use. And while I already had a sense of a direction or two I wanted to take it, having your specific preferences in mind is really so helpful. Thank you for weighing in.

I love ya!

xoxo,

P-Dub