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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 all my recipes have to be approved by cowboys,
hungry kids, and me.
We're having a great big calf working,
so I'm delivering a hearty, portable picnic
for the crew to eat at the pens.
Everyone loves spicy roasted chicken legs.
They're perfect for a picnic 'cause they're portable.
Then, to go with them, a classic cowboy side --
cowboy bacon beans.
It wouldn't be a picnic without deviled eggs --
creamy, dreamy, and wonderful.
And for dessert, totally gorgeous mocha brownies
with a thick, delicious layer of frosting.
I'm even getting in on the action in the pens.
This is one exciting morning on the ranch.
LADD: Easy. Easy!
Welcome to my frontier.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
You ready to go this morning, Todd?
Yeah.
Bryce, your glove's over here on the ground.
Why don't y'all go ahead and load your horses up?
I don't think it's quite as cold as it was yesterday.
We're having a big calf working today.
All the family's pitching in and helping.
Everyone's out gathering cattle right now,
so I'm gonna whip up a big picnic lunch
to deliver to the guys.
I'm gonna start with dessert,
and we've having big, thick, rich, delicious mocha brownies.
I'm gonna make a whole bunch of them.
That starts with four sticks of softened butter.
I sure hope my mixing bowl holds all of this batter.
There's gonna be a lot in here.
All right.
And then to the four sticks of butter,
I'll add 4 cups of sugar.
I'm gonna get a couple of the food items going for lunch,
and then I'm actually gonna go help the family at the pens
for a little while.
I'll have a little time to kill,
and then I'll come back here, finish the food, and deliver it.
That's three.
And four.
All right, now I'll just mix this together.
Sometimes when the guys have a big working like they do today,
I cook lunch here at the lodge, and they all come here and eat.
Sometimes I just drop off food at the pens.
Today I'm actually gonna set up a picnic
with a blanket and everything.
I don't always do it, but I thought it'd be fun.
All right. That's all combined.
Now, I've got eight eggs in this measuring cup,
and I'm gonna drop them in one at a time with the mixer going.
I thought this would be easier
than standing here and cracking constantly.
When I have to crack too many eggs in at once,
I wind up getting shell in there.
Invariably, that always happens.
Okay, that's all mixed together.
Now I'll just drizzle in 2 tablespoons of vanilla.
I just eyeball it.
Now, I have some melted chocolate.
I melted 8 ounces of unsweetened chocolate in the microwave.
I let it cool just a little bit.
And I'm just gonna drizzle this into the mixer.
I want to go really, really slowly
in case there's a little bit of warmth in the chocolate.
I don't want it to mess up the batter.
I love this sight
when the chocolate swirls into this batter.
Brownies are a beautiful thing.
There's just nothing like them.
This is unsweetened chocolate.
There's plenty of sugar in the brownies
to make them extra sweet.
Okay, just a little bit more.
All right.
Now, I'm just gonna give the bowl a little scrape.
Make sure everything's all mixed together.
We've got a whole bunch of baby calves on the ranch right now,
so the guys are just rounding them all up,
giving them a wellness check,
then they'll send them back out to the pasture with their mamas.
It happens several times a year,
and it's usually a big day of work.
Well, you want to take the girls and Caleb
and go on around that way?
Okay, got that all scraped.
Now I'll just give it a final mix.
All right.
Now, I'll just turn it on low,
and I'll add 2½ cups of all-purpose flour.
I'm gonna add it gradually while the mixer's on.
It'll just help it incorporate a little better.
I'm glad I'm the only one up here.
I get to lick the bowl.
Usually have to fight my kids for it.
All right. And then ½ cup.
I'm really glad the mixer held all of this wonderful batter.
And it looks just perfect. It's super, super thick.
Okay. Perfect.
Now, I've got two square baking pans.
One recipe makes one square, and I'm doubling.
And I'll just spray both pans with baking spray.
I got to say, I love baking spray.
It is so much easier than greasing and flouring pans.
Okay.
Now I'll just spread this glorious batter
right in the pans.
Oh, my goodness.
This is what life is all about right here.
These brownies are just regular chocolate brownies,
but I'm gonna top them
with a really thick layer of mocha icing.
They are to die for.
One more little bit.
Still plenty for me to lick in the bowl.
Then I'll just spread out the surface.
All right.
Now, the brownies are gonna bake at 325 degrees
for about 40 minutes or so.
And then I'm gonna take them out, let them cool,
and top them with that gorgeous icing.
MAN: Ride over and check on that fence!
There might be a calf right over there!
REE: The family and the cowboys
are having a big calf working today,
so I'm throwing together a picnic lunch.
I'm gonna serve it on the back of a pickup.
The brownies are baked and cooled.
Now I'm gonna get moving on the mocha icing.
I've got four sticks of butter in the mixer.
I'm making a lot of icing.
And I'm gonna add in 10 -- count them, 10 --
cups of powdered sugar.
Better turn it down a little bit.
This icing recipe came from my BFF Hyacinth's mom, May.
It's so delicious.
It's got a little bit of a coffee flavor
underneath the chocolate.
All right.
Now I'll just start pouring this in.
It's a little bit easier than adding cups.
It's gonna take a little while for this to get combined.
Doing it gradually is best.
Then it won't wind up all over the kitchen.
All right. Just a little bit more.
Okay.
Now, with the mixer still on, I'll add ½ cup of cocoa.
I love making things like this.
Just turn the mixer on, add the ingredients.
Eventually it all gets mixed together.
Okay, and now, there's a lot of sweetness in here,
so I'll just sprinkle in ½ teaspoon of salt.
All right.
And then 2 tablespoons of vanilla.
This mixer is really getting a workout today.
Okay, and then the ingredient
that makes this mocha frosting --
I'm gonna drizzle in coffee.
This is just room-temperature coffee.
Turn the speed up just a little bit.
And I just go until the frosting gets to the right consistency.
Okay. That looks perfect.
Nice and smooth but still really thick.
I'll turn it up really high.
I want to get it that nice, whipped consistency.
Okay. This looks perfect.
And this is a lot of icing.
But I make no apologies.
I like to put a really thick layer of the icing
on top of the brownies.
It looks like a lot, and it is a lot.
[ Chuckles ]
But they're so, so delicious.
Okay.
Now, I'm gonna use an offset spatula.
I like to smooth the surface out so it's nice and even.
And then I made these first
because I want to pop them in the fridge
and let them cool completely.
I like them to be actually cold
because that makes it easier to cut into squares.
If I tried to cut them into squares
with the icing this soft, there'd be a mess on my hands.
[ Chuckles ]
Okay. Spread the other ones.
Now, you could definitely make half this quantity of icing
if you want to go a little thinner.
But I like to really go for it.
Call me crazy.
Now, these are gonna go in the fridge.
Let them get really, really cold.
I know my family's gonna love
the food I'm making them for lunch.
But I have a feeling they are gonna attack these brownies.
Ride off, Halle.
You got a big, old hole there.
Ha!
Ha! Ha! Ha!
Ha!
To go with everything,
I'm making a pot of cowboy bacon beans,
and the cowboys and the kids are gonna love them.
All right, I've got a pound of thick-cut bacon.
I cut it into pieces, and I've been frying it in this pot.
Most of the fat has rendered.
So I'll throw in a diced onion.
These beans are gonna be so flavorful.
Lots of different things going on.
And then I have two green bell peppers,
and I cut them into kind of a big dice.
I'll throw those in.
Now, I'm just gonna stir these around and let them cook.
I want the peppers and onions
to get just a little bit of color on them
before I move forward.
Easy. Easy!
Come on, Todd.
You just got to stay working. Stay working.
Ha! Ha!
[ Clicks tongue ]
There. We're getting close.
Go up there and get that gate closed going north right there!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! [ Clicks tongue ]
We got everything gathered.
Fortunately, we got everything. Nothing got away.
Now we're gonna separate the cows from the calves,
and then we'll work the calves.
[ Cows mooing ]
All the guys love a big pot of beans,
and these are especially delicious.
They're a little bit spicy, a little bit sweet,
really, really satisfying.
All right, I've got four cuts of pinto beans.
I washed them all, and I picked out all the little particles.
I'll stir those in to the bacon, onions, and peppers,
and now I'm gonna add a whole bunch of other ingredients.
First, I'll top off the beans with water,
and I'm just gonna pour enough water in
so that it's about an inch over the surface of the beans.
All right, now, I've got four cloves of minced garlic,
and I'll just throw it on in.
These beans have such great flavor.
I just love them.
All right, now, I'm gonna add about a 1/4 of ketchup.
Just gonna eyeball everything.
And then probably 2 tablespoons of mustard.
You can use Dijon or grainy country mustard.
I'm just using the bright-yellow stuff.
And then, to give the beans a little bit of sweetness,
I'm gonna add in a good amount of brown sugar,
probably 3/4 cup or so.
These are actually gonna be
a little bit like baked beans in a pot
once they're finished cooking.
All right, and then for some zip and spice,
I'll add a good tablespoon of chili powder.
This will also give the beans a really nice color.
All right, and then, of course, they need plenty of salt.
There are a lot of beans in here.
And then lots and lots of black pepper.
All right, now, I'll just stir this around,
and I think it looks about perfect.
The beans are boiling, and they look great,
so I'm just gonna reduce the heat
and let them simmer for about three hours
till the beans are tender and the sauce is really thick.
And while I do that, I'm gonna head to the pens.
Guys just got back to the pens. I'm gonna go help.
This is where the real work begins.
They're roping the calves one by one, dragging them to the fire,
and then we'll brand them, give them their shots,
and send them on their merry way.
I'm on shot duty.
[ Cows mooing ]
All right.
I'll do your job for you.
Yeah.
I've already made mocha brownies, yummy beans,
and the most delicious deviled eggs you'll ever taste.
I kind of think deviled eggs are the quintessential picnic food,
and all the guys love them.
So for the hard-boiled eggs,
I just add a whole bunch of eggs to boiling water.
Then I turn the heat down and simmer them for 10 minutes.
After that, I run them under cold water
to make it easier to peel.
Then I slice them in half, scoop out the yolks into a bowl,
and then I add a whole bunch of good stuff...
...starting with some mayo, some yellow mustard,
some chopped pickles, and then I like to add
a little bit of the pickle juice for extra flavor.
Then comes a little white vinegar,
a few dashes of hot sauce that gives them a little zing,
a little bit of sugar for sweetness,
and then I add salt and pepper,
mash it all together with a fork,
spoon the filling back into the egg halves,
and they are the best deviled eggs ever.
All right, now I got to get up to the lodge
and make some chicken.
I just got one more thing to make for the big picnic --
spicy roasted chicken legs.
They're portable, they're really flavorful,
and the guys absolutely love them.
I've got four sticks of butter
that I've melted in the saucepan,
and I'm just squeezing in the juice of four lemons.
I've got a little strainer over the pan
to get out all the pulp and the seeds,
and now I'll add some good flavor to the pan.
I've got eight cloves of garlic that I minced,
and then I'll add a good amount of salt and pepper
and then 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper,
and it'll add a nice spice to the chicken legs,
and the cowboys can definitely handle it.
Okay, I'll just whisk this together.
I tell you, I really don't know why
I got all cleaned up this morning.
30 seconds in the pens, and it was all blown to smithereens.
Oh, well, I tried.
All right.
I've got 48 chicken legs,
and I'll just dunk them one by one
into this wonderful, flavorful butter, get it totally coated.
Oh, it smells so good already.
Now, I'm just gonna set them on a baking sheet
that I lined with foil.
I've got a lot of chicken here,
but I've got a lot of hungry mouths to feed.
[ Calf moos ]
Just a second now. I got to give it a shot.
I'm just finishing up the spicy roasted chicken legs,
getting them all ready to go in the oven.
I coated them in this wonderful, spicy butter.
And right before I put them in the oven,
I'm just gonna give them
one more coating of the wonderful, spicy butter.
This butter is so good.
You've got the tang of the lemon and the spice of the cayenne
and all that wonderful, garlic flavor.
It's really delicious.
Now, I'm coating them now,
and then, about halfway through the cooking process in the oven,
I'll just reach in there
and brush a little bit more of the sauce on there.
These are flavorful, flavorful, flavorful
[chuckles] chicken legs.
That was a mouthful.
Okay, these look awesome.
Now I'm gonna put these
into a really hot oven, about 450 degrees.
They're gonna roast for 30 minutes or so.
They're gonna be nice and juicy and golden-brown.
The guys are gonna go crazy over them.
They love chicken legs.
All right. While the chicken roasts,
I'll slice up the brownies, get everything else ready,
and then I'll head to the pens.
That didn't go too bad. Pretty quick.
We'll have a good bonfire here in a minute.
That's a good idea. Whoo!
That feels good. Ready for food?
I'd love it.
You want to spread this out on the tailgate?
Napkins.
This is the centerpiece -- chicken.
Wow. That's the best smell I've ever smelled.
All right you guys. Ready?
These beans look really good, honey.
REE: I just made a casual dessert.
I didn't think you'd want anything big.
[ Laughs ]
Whoo!
Those beans are really good, honey.
What'd you put in them?
Ree, that was good. Cleaned my whole plate.
REE: I'm proud of you.
[ Laughs ]
Well, mom, it's the best meal I've ever had.
Family's all fed. Everyone's full.
I'd say my work here is complete.
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