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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.
Here's what's happening on the ranch.
It's a big day of working cattle,
so I'm making the cowboys and kids a well-deserved lunch
with dishes they all love.
Taking center stage
is a big pile of golden pan-fried pork chops.
Ladd likes them almost as much as steak,
and that's saying something coming from a cattle rancher.
On the side, I'm serving
a decadent, cheesy hash brown casserole,
and to go with them, the best green beans ever,
and I am not exaggerating.
They're just divine.
And then, keeping it cozy,
dessert's a delectable peach cobbler --
just the thing for hungry ranch workers --
a perfect meal of cowboy comfort food.
Welcome to my frontier.
-- Captions by VITAC --
LADD: Todd, are you ready?
Get your bridle.
Jump on out.
The guys are having a big calf working today.
We all got up at the crack of dawn.
So, while they're out working calves,
I'm gonna get started on a great big lunch.
Everybody's coming up here after they work calves.
I'm making a big, yummy peach cobbler
because cobbler is a cowboy favorite.
It's a fact of life.
All right, I've got a big ol' bag of frozen peaches,
and I'm gonna add 2 cups of sugar.
Of course, if I have fresh peaches available,
I'll use them,
but, really, frozen peaches are delicious.
They're a great substitute when you can't get fresh ones.
Okay, now, to this,
I'm gonna add just a little bit of lemon juice.
We'll see how juicy this one is.
Oh, pretty juicy.
[ Chuckling ] I squirted myself in the face.
And then, because this is so much sweetness,
I'm gonna add just a pinch of salt to offset it.
Now, I'll toss this around.
Peaches are really frozen,
so the sugar is really, really clinging to them.
That's just what I like to happen.
So far, the day is going really, really well.
[ Chuckles ]
Okay.
All right, the peaches are nice and coated,
so I'll just pour them into a big, buttered dish.
Get all the sugar in there.
All right.
The topping starts with 3 cups of all-purpose flour --
give or take.
You don't have to be too precise.
Two... [ Chuckles ]
I do have to count, though, or I'll lose track.
Was that 7?
No, that was 3.
Okay.
Now, I'll add 3 tablespoons of sugar --
3 heaping tablespoons.
I like the topping to be just a little bit sweet.
And then a pinch of salt...
...and 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking powder.
All right, now just stir this together,
get it all combined.
Now, I've got some very cold butter,
and I'm gonna cut about 3 tablespoons,
and then I'll cut the tablespoons into pieces.
It helps for it to be very, very cold
'cause it cuts into the flour a little more easily.
So, I'll drop those in...
...and then I also like to use cold shortening
in the cobbler mixture.
It just makes for a really nice texture when it bakes,
and I'll cut it into pieces.
It's a little softer than butter,
even when it's cold.
Okay, then I just grab my pastry cutter
and tackle the bowl.
I'm just gonna work it together
until the butter and the shortening
are totally mixed in with the flour.
We have so many baby calves on the ranch right now,
so the guys have been working calves like crazy.
They ride out and gather them.
Then they separate the calves from their mamas
just for a short time.
The whole purpose of it
is to give them a little bit of a wellness check
and make sure all the calves are healthy and strong,
and then they put them back out in the pastures,
and that's it.
[ Cows mooing ]
Hey!
We're just gathering the cattle and bringing them to the pens,
and then we're gonna work them.
[ Mooing continues ]
LADD: Hey!
Okay, that looks good.
No big chunks of butter or shortening.
Okay.
Now, for the wet mixture, I have 3/4 cup of whole milk.
I like to bake with whole milk, and I'm gonna crack in two eggs.
This is very, very simple...
...and then I'll just whisk it together with a fork...
...and then I'll just drizzle this into the flour mixture,
and I'll stir it as I go,
and I'll stop when it all comes together
and there isn't a lot of dry flour left.
Now, what I have is a bowl full of dough clumps,
and that's exactly what I want.
So, I'm gonna take little pinches of the dough
and just dot the top of the peaches...
...with pieces of it here and there.
Cobbler topping is actually a very controversial subject.
Some people think that fruit cobbler
is just fruit with a flat pie crust on top.
Another kind of cobbler I make starts with a batter,
and then you pour the fruit in,
and it sort of bakes like a cake,
but this cobbler is more of a cobblestone top,
which is why I suspect
this is what cobbler is supposed to be like,
and this actually is the kind the cowboys like best.
That's why I'm making it.
[ Cows mooing ]
Hey!
LADD: Well, I think we got them all now.
I thought it went really well.
Now we just got to get them sorted,
and then we can go to working them.
[ Mooing continues ]
Now, the last thing I do
is just sprinkle on about a tablespoon of sugar,
just get it all even over the top,
and then when it bakes,
it has this nice, little sugary-sweet crust.
It's so delicious.
Now, this is gonna go into a 400-degree oven
for about 30 to 40 minutes
until this fruit is hot and bubbly
and the crust is golden.
Up next, I'm starting on the sides --
cheesy hash brown casserole and the best green beans ever.
Then I'm frying up the crispy pork chops.
I'm gonna have a very happy calf-working crew
at the lodge for lunch.
[ Cows mooing ]
MAN: Get in here. Let's go.
Push him back. Push him back.
The whole crew's out working calves this morning.
They've been up since dawn,
and I'm getting a big lunch ready
'cause they're all coming up here afterward.
I've got a cobbler in the oven, and I'm gonna get moving
with a cheesy chili hash brown casserole.
It's got cowboy written all over it.
I've got eight slices of bacon,
and I fried them till they were crisp.
Now, before I get crackin' on this dish,
I'm already thinking forward
to the other side dish I'm gonna make for this meal,
so I'm gonna drain
all the bacon grease from the bacon
into this separate skillet
so it'll be here waiting for me when I need it.
And I'm gonna grab just a little bit of butter
and throw it into the pan.
Adds extra flavor to anything, pretty much.
And then -- Well, maybe 3 tablespoons.
It's a big skillet.
All right, now, I've got two big onions,
and I chopped them up,
and I'm gonna throw these into the skillet.
I've got the heat on high 'cause I want the onions
to get a really nice color on them.
So, I'm gonna spread these out, stir them around.
All right, now, I'm gonna let those sit for a minute.
Now, I've got some chilies to chop,
'cause cowboys love chilies.
I've got two jalapeƱos, two Anaheim chilies,
and one poblano.
I like this mix of chilies
because there's a little bit of spicy
and a little bit of not so spicy.
Okay.
Now, stir the onions around.
Yeah, those are looking really good,
got some nice color on them already.
Now, the heat is still on high,
so I'm gonna throw in all the chilies...
poblanos and Anaheims...
and jalapeƱos.
Now, I'm gonna keep the skillet going.
I want the veggies to get a really nice color on them.
I don't mind if there is some black and dark-brown areas.
That just means they'll have great flavor.
Almost 100% of the time, when I cook lunch for this crew,
it involves some kind of meat and potatoes, of course.
I'm making pork chops for this meal,
and I knew I wanted to make a really yummy,
delicious potato dish to go with it.
This totally fits that bill, and the bonus is, it's easy.
It's basically a one-skillet dish.
MAN: Come on, guys.
[ Cows mooing ]
LADD: Right now we're just working the calves,
and we're just branding them, castrating the bulls,
and giving them all their vaccinations.
Keep them tight 'cause they will turn around on you.
Don't let him by you, Caleb.
CALEB: He will not get by me!
Don't hit him or anything. Just be gentle.
PAIGE: Hey, let's go.
I thought you said he wasn't gonna get by you.
Hey, he got by Alex!
That didn't last very long.
[ Cow mooing ]
Push it up. Push it up.
Okay, the veggies are ready. They look gorgeous.
The onions are nice and golden brown
and the peppers have little dark pieces on them.
Delicious.
Okay, now, part of what makes this hash brown casserole
so easy is, I use frozen hash browns.
I love using these for dishes like this
'cause you really can't tell
that you didn't use fresh potatoes.
They're all uniform in size,
and you can pull them right out of the freezer
and pour them in.
And if I were to use fresh potatoes for this,
I would have had to get up
even earlier [chuckles] this morning
to peel them and -- Oh!
I don't even want to think about it.
Now I'll just stir it around
and try not to make a huge mess and throw potatoes everywhere.
I just want to get the potatoes and the onions and the peppers
all mixed together.
So, I'll let that sit and start to get a little bit brown.
I'm gonna grab my bacon...
...give it a rough chop.
Scoot that over.
Now, I need to put quite a bit of salt in here.
This is a lot of potatoes. They don't come pre-salted.
Put in some pepper.
Now, get that stirred in.
I'm gonna have to sweep up a little bit.
[ Chuckles ] Little bits of potato flying everywhere.
I've got a great big old butter dish
'cause I have a whole bunch of potatoes.
I'm just gonna pour the potatoes right in.
Oh, so pretty with all those green chilies...
onions. Yum.
The guys are gonna love this.
I have a feeling, based on prior experience.
Now, I'll just sprinkle on plenty of cheese --
a mix of cheddar and Jack,
but you can also do pepper jack,
which would add a really nice spiciness.
That looks good. Now, on top of the cheese,
I'm gonna put all the crumbled bacon.
There is nothing in the world about this
that doesn't look scrumptious.
Now, it's just gonna bake in a 375-degree oven
for 30 minutes.
Up next, it's the best green beans ever,
and then it's on to a real cowboy-pleaser --
crispy pan-fried pork chops
for the ultimate cowboy comfort-food lunch.
[ Cows mooing ]
The guys have been out on the ranch
working calves all morning,
and they're gonna come up here to eat.
I'm making a big lunch
of yummy, stick-to-your-ribs food.
I've got the peach cobbler in the oven,
the hash brown casserole in the oven,
and I'm gonna get moving on a really yummy side dish
to go with everything -- the best green beans ever.
[ Chuckling ] I call them "the best green beans ever"
because they start with a little bit of bacon grease.
I've got 4 tablespoons
that I reserved from the pan when I fried the bacon,
and I'm gonna throw in a diced onion.
[ Sizzles ]
I've got to get the cowboys to eat their vegetables somehow,
and having a little bacon grease involved
is always a good way to do it.
And then, with the onions,
I'll throw in about three or four cloves of garlic,
minced up really fine
and then a red bell pepper.
Now, I'm gonna stir this around, let the veggies start cooking.
I happen to love green beans,
and I can pretty much eat them raw.
I'll eat them any way I can get them.
I don't mind them steamed with no seasonings at all.
The cowboys --
They're not quite that easy when it comes to vegetables.
You have to kind of romance them a little,
got to learn the tricks.
I've learned several through the years. [ Chuckles ]
I need to start writing them down,
so I don't forget.
MAN: Hey!
MAN #2: Hey!
[ Cow moos ]
LADD: Missy, this next one needs a shot.
Small one or a big one?
How many cans you got left?
The big one.
[ Laughs ]
Josh! Hold on to him.
He's just a baby.
[ Josh laughs ]
Push, push, push.
That's it. Push him on out.
We're pushing cattle.
[ Chuckling ] Oh.
Ow!
PAIGE: We're doing good.
The calves are a little big, but we got them.
We're down to the last couple calves,
and after this, we just have to run the cows through
and turn them out in their pasture,
and then we can go eat.
All right, the onions and peppers
are getting nice and golden brown,
starting to soften,
so I'm gonna throw in 2 pounds of green beans.
Now, I rinsed these and trimmed them a bit.
They're not perfect, but they don't need to be.
All right, now I'll throw in some salt and pepper...
...and then just stir them around a little bit,
just get them mixed in with the onions and peppers.
I love this dish.
This really is my favorite way to make green beans.
They totally disappear.
It doesn't matter how much I make.
Now, the last thing to add
is 2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth.
[ Sizzling ]
Oh, I love that sizzle --
one of my favorite sounds in the world.
Okay.
Now all I need to do is just put the lid on,
let it simmer for 20 minutes, and they'll be done.
Hey, hey, hey, hey!
Hey!
Hey! Let's go! Hey!
Now we're running the cows through,
and we're giving them shots.
Then we're done.
LADD: Great job. Great job. Great job.
That didn't take too long.
REE: Up next, I'm making one of Ladd's favorite recipes --
golden, crispy, pan-fried pork chops --
pure cowboy comfort food.
For recipes from this episode,
go to foodnetwork.com/pioneerwoman.
The guys have been working calves all morning,
and they're wrapping up things now.
They're coming up here for a big lunch,
and I've got almost everything ready.
I'm gonna move on to the very last thing --
simple pan-fried pork chops.
These things are so wonderful, not just because they're easy,
but because the guys absolutely inhale them,
and I've got them all salted and peppered.
Cowboys love lots of black pepper.
Now, all I'm gonna do is dredge these
in a really simple flour mixture,
and that starts with about 4 cups of flour,
quite a bit of salt...
...and lots of black pepper,
and then I like to throw a little seasoned salt in there
just for a little bit extra flavor,
and 'cause the cowboys can definitely handle it --
a little cayenne, just to keep them on their toes.
[ Chuckles ]
All right, now I'll just grab a couple pork chops
and throw them in.
Make sure they're nice and coated,
and that's as complicated as it gets.
All right, I got two coated.
Now I got to hurry up and get the rest of these done.
All right, I'm gonna go ahead and start frying them up.
I've got a big skillet
with a mix of canola oil and butter.
Now, these are just gonna go for about two minutes per side
until they're nice and golden and crisp.
Y'all ready to go eat some lunch?
Shoot, yeah.
Get your coat and stuff.
We'll meet you up at the lodge, all right, for lunch.
BOY: Yes, sir.
REE: These are looking good, so they're ready to turn.
It's funny, 'cause the guys are cattle ranchers,
how much they love pork chops,
but they really are favorites of all the guys...
and the girls, too.
These look nice and golden brown,
so I'll get these out.
Now I'm gonna fry up the rest of these.
The cheesy hash brown casserole
is golden brown and bubbly hot...
...the green beans are soft, but still a little bit crisp...
...and the peach cobbler is all ready to serve up.
Hey, honey. How are you?
It's the calf workers.
Hey, papa!
Who's hungry?
You want to go first, Bryce?
BRYCE: Okay.
How are you, Josh?
LADD: That looks good.
TIM: Me next!
Go ahead, Tim.
I'm ready.
We're ready.
These green beans look good, honey.
Come on, Caleb. You're holding up the line.
You want some water, Bryce?
The potatoes look good.
REE: How many calves did you guys work this morning?
145.
MAN: I think the little ones got kind of chilly.
Yeah, it was chilly.
LADD: It was cold.
So, then Ree, Friday we'll have your horse saddled
and ready to go.
REE: Okay.
Those potatoes and the green beans
are something else.
Now, they're good!
Oh, papa.
Amazing! [ Chuckles ]
All right, who wants peach cobbler?
ALL: Me!
There you go.
JOSH: You are the girl.
Thank you, sweetheart.
REE: Who are you taking this one to?
ALEX: To my dad.
Okay.
Ali, me next.
Yay!
LADD: Thank you for fixing us lunch, honey.
Appreciate it.
REE: You're welcome.
Hey, I have an idea.
Next time you guys work calves,
I'll come out and get on a horse,
and, Tim, you can come fix lunch for everybody. How's that?
I'm game.
I don't really want peanut butter and jelly.
[ Laughter ]
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.