Original subtitles

I'm Ree Drummond,

and all my recipes have to be approved

by cowboys, hungry kids, and me.

Here's what's happening on the ranch.

Ladd's feeding the cattle and wild horses,

and I'm getting a jump on the day,

making spicy stewed beef along with pimento, cheese,

and bacon grits,

and a hearty side of roasted broccoli salad

in a sour cream and parsley dressing.

Then with dinner in the fridge,

I'm future-proofing breakfast with a mason jar mix,

ready to knock out pancakes anytime in the days ahead

or if a passing rancher stops by.

Welcome to my frontier.

Ladd is out feeding this morning,

and he got a really early start,

so I thought I would get an early start on dinner.

I'm gonna make a pot of delicious spicy stewed beef.

It's always a hit, and it always feels good

to get dinner finished early in the day.

I'm gonna start by browning half of the meat.

I'm using chuck roast that's cut into really big pieces.

It's also called stew meat

if you buy it in the grocery store.

I've got a mixture of oil and butter in the pot,

and I'm just gonna cook the meat in two batches

until it's totally browned.

Meantime, over to Ladd and his morning so far.

He set off just as the sun was coming up.

He filled up his truck with cake feed

and then collected hay bales.

He's got a lot of animals to feed this morning,

so he's gonna have to load up several times.

LADD: This is truly one of my favorite times of the day.

First thing in the morning,

everything's kind of quiet, nice and easy.

It's just nice to get out, get everything fed really early,

'cause they know that you're gonna come feed 'em

some time that day,

so they'll just be sitting there waiting on you.

REE: He's gonna feed his cattle first,

and then he'll get started on the mustangs.

I tell you, between Ladd and me,

we are always feeding something or someone.

I got all the beef browned and it's back in the pot,

so I'm gonna add some flavor.

I'll start with some salt and pepper.

This is quite a bit of beef.

Now for the spicy part,

I'm gonna add a couple of teaspoons of chili powder...

and a tablespoon of ground cumin --

so delicious --

and some garlic, five cloves.

I'm gonna add this before I go forward

so it has a chance to start cooking.

And I'll stir it around

and let those spices start to deepen in flavor.

Oh, this is such a delicious stew.

It's pretty much the typical process for any stew.

You brown the beef, add some seasonings and liquid,

and then let it cook for 2 or 3 hours.

But this one is really stepped up in the spice department.

It kind of keeps us awake during these long working days.

Okay, this has really started to cook,

so I'm gonna add some liquid in the form of beef broth.

You can use beef stock.

You can use water with some beef bullion cubes,

whatever you've got handy.

You can also add a little bit of red wine

if you want that sort of flavor going on.

Now, the chili powder was part of the spice,

but I'm also gonna add a small can of chipotle peppers.

I did make this stew once and I added 2 cans of chipotles.

That was even too much for me. It was a little bit too spicy.

So one can is just perfect.

The whole peppers are just gonna dissolve

and become part of this whole mix.

Oh, that looks so great.

Now I'm gonna give this a chance to come to a boil,

and then I'll reduce the heat to a simmer,

cover it, and cook it for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

♪♪

LADD: Morning, girls.

♪♪

Are you hungry?

So, I just got one bale unrolled,

and now I'm gonna unroll the second one.

And then after I get the bales unrolled,

I'll dump some cake on top of it...

and put a line down beside it.

♪♪

To go with the spicy stewed beef,

I'm making a batch of pimento, cheese, and bacon grits.

How good do those sound?

I'm gonna start by making the grits.

I'm measuring 1 1/2 cups of stone-ground grits --

my favorite kind --

and I'll slowly whisk it into 4 cups of boiling water.

It just came to a boil.

You can also use broth of any kind instead of water.

You could even spike it with a little white wine.

These grits are gonna be so flavorful, water is just fine.

Okay, they're all whisked in,

so I'm gonna add plenty of salt.

I want to have them nice and seasoned.

And I'll stir that in.

Okay, that's all mixed in.

So now I'll put the lid on the pot

and I just need to simmer 'em for 30 minutes

until they're done.

I'll stir 'em occasionally.

Ladd's out feeding, I'm cooking.

This is quite a productive morning.

♪♪

♪♪

Up next, I'm adding the good stuff

to the pimento, cheese, and bacon grits,

finishing dinner with an awesome roasted broccoli salad,

and filling jars with pancake mix,

marvelous for make-ahead breakfast

and perfect for unexpected cowboy callers.

♪♪

Ladd and I are both doing our thing this morning.

He's out feeding, and I'm in the kitchen cooking.

I'm getting a headstart on dinner tonight.

I'm gonna keep going with these pimento bacon cheese grits.

Oh, my goodness.

They look delicious.

I'm gonna make 'em more delicious

by adding a generous cup of half and half.

Yes, you can add milk if you want,

but the thing I love about grits like this

is they're really rich, super sumptuous.

The half and half is all mixed in,

so I need to let 'em cook for another 20 minutes

and then I'll add the pimento, bacon, and cheese.

♪♪

LADD: Doing hay is a lot easier nowadays

than it was in the old days.

When we were kids, we had a bunch of smaller square bales.

One of you would drive,

and two of you will get on back, cut the wires off,

and kick the hay off slowly as you drove along.

You always want to be the guy driving.

That was the best job.

It is time to move forward

with the pimento/bacon/cheese part of the grits.

I just fried 5 strips of bacon,

and I'll let it cool for a second,

and I'm gonna really make these grits something special.

I've got 4 ounces of softened cream cheese.

Whenever you're adding cream cheese to grits

or anything like that, you want it to be super soft.

If it's cold at all, it won't melt as well.

You'll get little bits of cream cheese here and there.

Okay, I'm also gonna add some grated sharp cheddar cheese.

And then I have 2 jars of pimentos.

They're diced pimentos, and I drained out the liquid.

So I'll get all those in.

This is just a play on pimento cheese.

Of course, I'm a big fan.

Pimento cheese sandwiches

are one of the best things on earth.

Pimentos and cheese and grits, wow.

I want to give the grits a little bit of tang,

so I'm gonna add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard.

You could do country brown mustard

or just regular yellow mustard,

probably amp up the color a little bit.

Okay, now it's time to chop up the bacon.

I just kind of guessed on the five slices.

You can add more or you can add less.

Mmm, okay.

Get all of this in there.

I'm keeping the bacon in pretty big pieces,

but you can chop it up as fine as you want.

I tell you what, I can eat these grits

with just a side salad, and I would be a happy, happy woman.

Oh, this looks perfect.

But what's gonna make it more perfect is black pepper.

Such a Southern combination,

cheese grits with lots of black pepper.

Okay, now I'm gonna get the grits into a baking dish.

These are all done.

And then when that spicy stew is cooked,

I'm gonna spoon it over the top, let it cool,

and keep it in the fridge until dinnertime.

♪♪

LADD: So, when we bale all our hay,

we bale it with a protective wrapping.

Kind of helps it shed moisture, keeps the hay fresher.

But before you unroll it,

you gotta cut all the wrapping off.

♪♪

♪♪

The stew is cooking,

the grits are in the pan in the fridge,

and I'm gonna make a roasted broccoli salad

for dinner tonight to go with everything.

It is a super tasty salad, really easy to make,

and it's actually more delicious if you make it ahead of time.

And so it's just the right thing for tonight's dinner.

I've been cutting up some broccoli florets.

I'm trying to get them all generally the same size.

They're pretty small.

And I am gonna roast these,

so I'm gonna get them all into a big bowl.

I really, really like broccoli, but roasted broccoli,

oh, it is so good, same with cauliflower.

I'm also adding a sliced red onion.

It gives it great color and of course, delicious flavor,

and I'm gonna drizzle in some olive oil for the roasting.

This is so easy.

It takes nothing to throw it together.

Some salt and pepper.

You can also add some different seasonings,

paprika, garlic salt if you want.

I'm keeping it simple for the Drummond household.

All right, the veggies are all coated with the oil.

So I just need to get it on to a sheet pan.

It's almost too easy. I can't believe it.

I'm gonna put this into a 425-degree oven.

It's gonna roast for 18 to 20 minutes,

and I'll shake 'em halfway through.

Then I'll let 'em cool and turn 'em into salad.

Hey, it's still morning, and dinner is almost done.

Just got done feeding all my cows.

Everything looked good. Everything was healthy.

That's the main thing. That's what you like.

Now I've got one pasture of horses to feed.

There's like 242 horses in that pasture.

I always like feeding the horses

'cause I mean there, it's just a beautiful site.

REE: Up next, a great creamy dressing for the broccoli salad,

I'm finishing the stew and grits,

then moving on to jars of make-ahead mix

for easy breakfast pancakes.

With my other half out feeding horses,

I suspect they'll be handy sooner rather than later.

♪♪

♪♪

Ladd's been out feeding since first thing this morning.

And I sprang into action,

and I have just about got dinner ready for tonight.

That is a good feeling, I tell ya.

I'm making roasted broccoli salad.

The roasted broccoli and red onions are nice and cool,

so now I just need to toss it in the dressing.

This is a really scrumptious take on ranch.

It's got sour cream and lots of other good stuff.

Let me tell you what's in it.

So there's the sour cream, 1/2 cup,

1/4 cup of mayo, 3 tablespoons of whole milk,

and a tablespoon of chopped parsley.

Then there's a teaspoon of sugar,

a teaspoon of paprika,

2 teaspoons of kosher salt, a pinch of ground pepper,

a quick mix and it's done.

I'll pour the dressing over the broccoli.

I'll stop just short.

I can always add more if I need to.

And before I toss it, I'm going to chop up some bacon.

I think I fell in love with broccoli and bacon salads

at the country club near my house when I grew up.

They had a Sunday brunch,

and I still remember that broccoli salad that I would get.

It's funny how the things that you eat

when you're a child stick with you your whole life.

And the bacon goes in.

And then I have some chopped parsley.

I'll just add a little bit,

and I'll toss this all together.

Making a roasted vegetable salad is so perfect

when you're making dinner ahead of time.

You would never toss a regular salad with lettuce

or other greens, but the roasted vegetables hold together.

They're still slightly crisp

when dinnertime rolls around, and it is so nice

because they take on the flavor of the dressing.

I think that is looking just perfect.

I've got a smaller bowl to put it in

to keep it in the fridge.

I always toss in a larger bowl.

I give myself a fighting chance that way.

I'll see if this bowl's gonna be big enough.

It's always fun to play the guessing game

with which size bowl do I need.

Hey, look at that.

Just right.

So, I'll sprinkle a little bit of parsley on top.

Now I just need to cover it in plastic wrap

and pop it in the fridge.

LADD: I feed the rest of them over up on a little indention

over here, kind of out of the wind.

Just over here and honk a little,

get them to come to this,

and we'll take them over the hill

and feed 'em where the grass is a little bigger.

♪♪

It's a beautiful site when you get that many horses

just running and mucking and playing and having fun.

Basically, I feed the horses just like I feed the cows.

The spicy stewed beef is all done.

It could not look any better.

It's super tender.

The beef is actually starting to fall apart,

which is exactly what you want.

So, I am gonna put this beef

right on top of the pimento/bacon/cheese grits.

My gosh, wouldn't this make a great dish for a potluck?

This is gonna hold just right in the fridge all day.

And then when dinner time rolls around,

let me show you what it looks like.

First, I've gotta heat up the stew and grits.

So, I'll put the pan in the oven at 350 degrees,

give it 30 minutes,

then it'll be nice and hot and ready to serve.

Everyone gets big spoonfuls of stew and grits

with a sprinkling of sliced green onions for garnish,

and some of the roasted broccoli salad on the side.

Yum, yum.

I say bring on dinnertime.

This is my kind of dinner right here.

I want to get all of this sauce in the very bottom of the pot.

When this mixes with those grits, look out.

Now I just need to let this cool completely,

and then I'll cover it and pop it in the fridge.

And then I'm gonna move on to make-ahead breakfast.

I took my vitamins this morning.

♪♪

Up next, make-ahead mason jar pancake mix,

perfect to wrestle up for breakfast fast,

and a lifesaver when surprise ranchers drop by unexpected.

Well, it has been a busy morning.

Ladd's been feeding cattle and wild horses,

and I've already got dinner in the fridge for tonight.

But it doesn't end there.

I've got breakfast on the brain,

and I'm gonna fill all of these jars

with make-ahead pancake mix to have on standby.

All right, I'll see you in the kitchen.

I got all the cows fed, all the horses fed,

so I think I'm in pretty good shape.

Now I'm gonna head up to the lodge and see what Ree's doing.

Maybe I can catch her making something to eat.

Right now, I'm a little hungry.

As busy as life is around here,

I really love being prepared.

And having homemade ready to go pancake mix in the pantry,

let's just say it makes this mama feel very good.

I'm gonna start by measuring flour.

It takes 8 cups of all-purpose flour.

I want to be careful to measure the right amounts.

When you're making a batch this big,

if you go too far off the beaten path, chaos can ensue.

Okay, I just about used all my flour in the canister.

I love it when that happens.

2 cups of sugar.

I like a sweet pancake mix.

I'm sure that doesn't surprise you one bit.

2 cups of dry buttermilk comes next.

And this is what allows you to just add water to the mix.

You don't have to add milk or cream.

That's always a great shortcut.

So that goes in along with 1/2 cup of baking powder,

which sounds like so much baking powder,

but we are making a lot of mix.

And then 2 teaspoons of salt.

Not too much for this amount of mix.

And then I'm just gonna go in with a whisk

and totally mix this up.

When you're making a mix that's gonna be distributed

to a bunch of different jars,

you definitely want to make sure you mix it well.

If you don't, one jar is gonna wind up

with this amount of baking powder.

The other jar will wind up with not enough sugar.

Again, lots of chaos can break out.

I think that is well mixed together.

So, I'm gonna grab a widemouthed mason jar...

and I'll just use a scoop to fill it

to about the 1 1/2 cup mark.

One jar of mix will make about eight pancakes.

That can serve one or four, depending on who you are.

[ Chuckles ]

Okay, that is right.

As you can see, I'm leaving room to mix it all up

and make pancakes later.

Okay, I'm gonna fill the rest of the jars.

And while I do, I'll tell you

how to turn this pancake mix into pancakes.

I'll just add 3/4 cup of water to a jar

along with a teaspoon of vanilla.

I'll shake up the batter then pour out each pancake

onto a greased griddle.

Give it two minutes on side one and two minutes on side two,

then pile up three per person onto a plate,

top them with a pat of soft butter,

a drizzle of warm syrup,

and that is an unbeatable breakfast.

The jars are all filled.

Now I've gotta stash these in the pantry,

and then I'll be ready to make pancakes

whenever the need arises.

♪♪

♪♪

It's always a good idea to get ahead.

You never know who's gonna show up around here.

♪♪

Hey. Oh, hey.

What are you doing? What's up, honey?

What's for breakfast?

Hey, I've got just the thing.

All right.