Pioneer Woman Cooks

I've been following this blog a lot lately. The Pioneer Woman is a blog written by a woman named Ree Drummond. I think the best way I can describe her is a city girl turned country girl, who loves to cook, take photographs and write. Oh, and she fell in love with a Cowboy. She is amazing at all these things... and does all these things well... while raising four kids! If you ever have time, find her love story on her blog... so worth the time reading it!

Since I've been cooking a lot from her book, I thought I'd review a few of her recipes. I won't add pretty pictures like she does (step by step, pretty pictures), because I didn't take any. And they wouldn't be as good anyway - just go and look at hers! I will link to her on-line recipes where they exist. But no guarantee that they are just like in the book. You really should buy her book... even if you don't like to cook, but you like horses or pretty pictures or honest writing. You won't be sorry.

Did I mention she's a red head? Like me.

PICO DE GALLO - page 16

Loved this... it's perfect to put on lots of stuff... to roll in a tortilla with chicken or just scoop up with chips. I also like piling it on a Lean Cuisine (but I'm not going to buy those anymore). I'm actually a bit sad that my supply of this is gone. I want some now.

GUACAMOLE - page 20

I really loved this too. It's just the Pico De Gallo recipe plus Avocado. Yumminess!

EGG-IN-THE-HOLE - page 46

I grew up calling this egg in the window and had forgotten all about it! It's nice to see an actual recipe for this. The boys (all 3) love it. It's simple and just right as written.

BASIC BREAKFAST POTATOES - page 48

We didn't add the optional bacon fat (but I'm sure that would have been tasty). These were simple, but very good. A definite "make again" in our house.

MIGAS - page 61

I prepared all the ingredients for this and Kent actually put it together while I went for a run. Delicious! I think I ordered something similar in Las Vegas when we were there years ago. Twice. Kent said that it was something he would order again if we went to a restaurant and is a definite "make again."

HUEVOS HYCACINTH - page 70

Kent liked this, but he might have just been being nice? First problem... for some reason I only had 3 of our flat oval ramekins. I think when Kent took some friends his famous Creme Brulee, the dishes were accidentally not returned (it happens). Therefore I had to make a couple of these in "normal" ramekins. I think this caused the egg to clump together and then when I put it under the broiler the egg didn't cook all the way, and the cheese burned. The tomatoes made the dish watery. It was all-together a mess. I ended up dumping them out and scrambling them in a skillet which made for burnt cheese scramble. Not my thing.

EDNA MAE'S SOUR CREAM PANCAKES - page 76

Melt in your mouth yumminess. Creamy, decadent, delicious. Try them, you won't be sorry. I.want.these.now.

SIMPLE, PERFECT CHILI - page 82

So delicious! It had been years since I'd attempted Chili and this was divine. I did add all the optional ingredients aside from the jalapeno. I would say it was a little spicy for the kids (but not for me). I might leave out the cayenne next time and see if the kids gobble it up. A definite "make again."

MARLBORO MAN: A COWBOY WHO STOLE MY HEART - page 85

Okay, certainly not a recipe, but an excerpt from her love story. If you read this excerpt, it will suck you in though and then you'll have to read the WHOLE THING on her blog.

MACARONI AND CHEESE - page 96

Yumminess. Spencer loved it, Finley loved it, Hudson loved it as much as anything, Kent loved it and Mom said that is was a good as my Aunt Lynne's (which is a really big deal, she makes the best Macaroni & Cheese in the Universe as we know it.). I did use 2% preshredded Sharp Cheese (it was more than free - I made money on it with coupons). It did turn out great.... I was worried it would be gritty because it didn't look like my cheese was melting right but it was delicious. Leftovers tonight! Next time I'm going to try making it with Whole Wheat macaroni... wish me luck!

BEANS - page 101

This was a basic recipe for beans made from dry pinto beans. I had never done this before. I didn't add any of the optional seasonings and felt it was bland, but Kent loved it. I did top mine with Pico de Gallo which made it yummy. We'll make it again, but I definitely want to play with the spices next time.

SKILLET CORNBREAD - page 102

I recently got my hands on a cast iron skillet. I love this pan more than I ever thought possible. So finally, last night in fact, I had the opportunity to make cornbread in it. It was so fun and so easy! I've decided never to buy shortening again so I substituted butter for the shortening and it turned out fine. Definitely tasted like butter. Funny though, I've always had sweetened cornbread before so I was a little thrown that it wasn't at all sweet. But the taste grew on me and it was great with the Chili.

PIZZA CRUST - page 108

I do love this pizza crust. I am wondering what will happen with it when I use Whole Wheat flour. We shall see. I like how crispy this crust is and that it always cooks all the way through even after I put toppings on it. I am finding that I need to let it rest on the counter a good 4 hours before I use it. I can't get it to stretch out otherwise.

POTATO-LEEK PIZZA - page 110

My new favorite pizza flavor. Of course it helps that it has goat cheese. I love goat cheese. And who knew you could put potatoes on pizza? So good, so worth it, so delicious. I could eat it again and again. And it gives me an excuse to use my mandolin, which takes up precious cabinet space and is hardly EVER used. And did I say bacon? Bacon. mmmmmmmm...

TOMATO-BASIL PIZZA - page 112

This is basically pesto, tomato, mozzarella pizza. I thought, "the boys will never eat it with the green stuff on it." Funny... they ate this pizza better than any pizza I've made. They loved it. I'm still wrapping my brain around it.

PIZZA TOPPING IDEAS - page 112

I also did Shredded Chicken with BBQ sauce... sure to be another staple in our house. We're now to where I make Pizza about 3 times every 3 weeks. I freeze the chicken precooked for an easy meal and every time I made the dough, there is enough for 2 pizza nights. An economical way to make it pay period to pay period for sure.

CHIKEN POT PIE - page 126

Yum oh Yum. Spencer said, "Mom I think you should make this again, like soon." I made the filling early in the day. I was laughing at myself because after I mixed all the ingredients together I read, "pour mixture into a deep pie pan or small casserole dish." Ooops... couldn't do the casserole dish, I mean that defeats the "pie" part. I don't have a deep pie pan. I want one. And then it dawned on me... I can make 2 pot pies in "normal" pie plates and freeze one! So that's what I did. The filling was so delicious I just wanted to stand at the stove and eat it with a spoon. Yep. That good. Oh and I forgot to mention that I cheated. I still don't touch raw on the bone chicken. I will... just can't do it yet. I instead used canned chicken that I bought at Costco and haven't used. It was great! but next time I'll do the fryer chicken. I promise. I think.

PERFECT PIE CRUST - page 128

I did have a problem with the crust. First off I am not the pastry chef in the house.at.all. That's Kent. Secondly, I don't buy shortening anymore so I went to use Coconut Oil instead. Which was a great idea, except I don't have enough. So I added butter. And in my mass "replace shortening" hysteria, I forgot to add the vinegar and the water. She also suggests freezing your dough before you roll it but I didn't look at the photos that close and even did that wrong (I rolled it in the baggies super thin, oops). After trying to roll the crust about 10 times after I took it out of the freezer, Kent walked in the door and saved the day. He was able to piece it together. It looked rustic, but hey... it ate the same. I'll have better luck next time, I'm sure. I used this for the pot pie by the way, not real pie.

CHICKEN SPAGHETTI - page 130

This was really very good. Had a tiny kick to it but not too much. Again, I didn't use a fryer chicken. I used chicken breasts and boiled them. This recipe was simple and made a TON! I ended up freezing enough into gallon zip locks for 2 more dinners, which stir fried nicely. Who knew you could stir fry spaghetti?

COMFORT MEATBALLS - page 172

Oh.my.goodness. These were SO GOOD. Everyone loved them and we must make them again. Next time someone has a baby, this is what I'm bringing to nourish their nursing exhausted body. They will need it and they will want it. Next time I make it for my family, I will replace the flour with whole wheat and the sugar with honey and see how that goes. I served them with plain old mashed potatoes and my family was delighted.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

This was the first thing I made in my "so excited I can hardly stand it, cast iron skillet." It was yummy, edible and gooooooooood. However, it didn't go perfectly. First of all my shortening was maybe a little on the old side (it's now at the dump). It didn't seem to dissolve into the batter like you'd think it would. It kind clumped in bits. Secondly, I didn't let the brown sugar caramelize in the pan enough. So I put the pineapple and cherries on the brown sugar and then when I poured the batter on top the pineapple floated away! I didn't think that was right. But it ate fine and tasted fine and no one was harmed in the making of this cake. So make it, just not like I did.

So that summarizes my experiences with the Pioneer Woman Cooks... I'll be sure to blog about my experiences going forward... just not all at once! Want the book yet?