The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier by Ree Drummond

There is something so comforting and endearing about watching Ree Drummond and her family who "live on a ranch in the middle of nowhere" as she reminds her viewers each week on her wildly popular Food Network show, Pioneer Woman, which is named after her wildly popular blog of the same name. And yet, despite the fact that she lives in the middle of nowhere, I am fascinated by her life. She manages to find lots to do with her time, what with keeping up with the extracurricular schedules of four kids, not to mention homeschooling them, along with the busy workings of a cattle ranch. It's a life I wouldn't wish for myself, but I certainly find it interesting to watch. And I think that's why it's so interesting to watch: it is a life that she didn't wish for herself. Ree didn't plan for a life on a cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere. She was an L.A. girl. She was a vegetarian. She wore designer clothes. But then she met the love of her life who happened to own a cattle ranch in Oklahoma and everything changed. But everyone who is familiar with Drummond knows her back story, so I won't get too involved in her biographical details, but  if you want to know more, you can read all about that in her memoir, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels (and you should because Ree is an amazing writer).

The recipes in this volume are typical fare for what you would expect from Drummond: simple, easy comfort food. There isn't anything special or unique about what she makes, but what does set this cookbook apart are the places where Drummond injects photographs of her family and of life on the ranch. Again, she manages to make a subject I never found much interest in -- living on a ranch -- fascinating and endearing. So while I won't be clamoring to make many of the recipes in this book (though her sloppy joes were quite tasty and I must say, I will be using that recipe again), I will be clamoring for more stories and pictures because she makes me want to be adopted into her family  -- well, maybe as a cousin or something so I don't have to live on the ranch. I'd just want to come visit from time to time :)

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier by Ree Drummond
Published: March 13, 2012
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 304
Genre: Cookery
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Library Copy

Don't be afriad to get subversive with your bolognese

I remember the first time I watched Secrets of a Restaurant Chef with Anne Burrell. She made pasta bolognese on that first episode and the reason I remember it so vividly is because even though Anne started her first show with a very simple recipe, her manifesto on that show and every show from that day forward was "brown food tastes good," imploring over and over again the need to brown your food for ultimate flavor.

For bolognese, Anne says she was doing it wrong until she went to Italy and they told her that her vegetables weren't cooked enough. She thought they were cooked plenty, but they hadn't achieved that brown "gunk" at the bottom of the pan that is the base of all flavorings for sauce.

So from then on, her mantra became "brown food tastes good" and she advises her viewers to brown the veggies in your bolognese almost to the brink of disaster.

I don't follow her recipe to the letter anymore the way I used to, but I always make sure to follow that sound piece of advice. I haven't made a bad bolognese yet.

I'd say this is close to the brink of disaster. Time to deglaze. 

Another thing I learned from Anne is that a bolognese is not a sauce and it shouldn't have a lot of liquid, so this will need to reduce down.

Mmmm... now I'm hungry. Glad I have some leftover in the freezer.

Check out Anne Burrell's pasta bolognese recipe and always remember that "brown food tastes good." :)

Inspired by other bloggers, I bring to you.... MacGyver Meals

Last weekend, Beth Fish Reads wrote about Desperation Cooking, which she referred to as

"when the thought of dirtying up the kitchen, chopping veggies, and waiting for flavors to develop in a simmering pot are just to too much to bear."

But this week, I'd like to talk about a different kind of Desperation Cooking, something I'd like to refer to as: MacGyver Meals.

Meaning, by the time you realize you have a virtually empty fridge and freezer, you must, in desperation, improvise and create something delicious to eat for dinner.

But what does MacGyver have to do with this? Well, if you remember anything about that old show from the 80s (besides Richard Dean Anderson's ability to make a mullet look good), it was that MacGyver could get himself (and whatever damsel in distress he was attempting to save that week) out of any predicament using some string, a box of toothpicks and some bubble gum.

In my case, these were but a few of the minimal items I had laying around in my kitchen:

eggs
milk
Gruyere cheese
onions
frozen pie crust

Hmmmmm.... how could I possibly save dinner with those few items.

I KNOW! Quiche!

Let me just explain to you, quiche is not on my normal repertoire of items I make on a regular basis.  But desperate times called for desperate measures, and with a little bit of ingenuity, I managed to create dish that was not only tasty, but fancy too: French Onion Quiche. Out of my desperation and my MacGyver skills in the kitchen, I managed to save the day and whip up a meal that satisfied both me and The Husband.

put the cheese and caramelized onions in the pre-made crust

pour milk and egg mixture into crust

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375. ENJOY!

Don't ask me for measurements for this recipe because I totally made it up on the spot. But that was the fun of it. So next time you're running low on staples in the kitchen, rather than calling for take-out, just ask yourself: WWMD, What Would MacGyver Do?

The Pleasures of Cooking are in the Small Things

What I love about cooking is that it is such a sensory experience.  The smell of the garlic perfuming the kitchen, the sizzle of the onions hitting the pan, the feel of my knife making quick, even slices.  I get such pleasure out of the little things when I'm in the kitchen.

Believe it or not, one of those things is chopping onions.  Since I wear contact lenses, I never cry when I chop onions and strangely enough, is one of the reasons I want to KEEP wearing contacts instead of getting lasik.  I know, I'm strange.  But you see, not crying when I chop onions is part of the reason it is not a chore for me.  It is actually quite soothing and helps me to unwind from a stressful day at work.  And of course, the smell of onions meeting olive oil in a pan is probably one of the best smells there is.  Give me that smell over a vanilla-scented candle ANY DAY!

I was thinking about these small pleasures this morning as I was making breakfast because I looked down at my pan of rendering Spanish chorizo and thought to myself what a beautiful sight it was to behold:

And I'd venture to say that I got more pleasure out of watching that amber-colored fat ooze out of the meat than I did actually eating the finished product of scrambled eggs with chorizo, chives, and gruyere cheese:

Don't get me wrong, the eggs were quite delicious.  But part of what made them so delicious was the memory of watching those small bits of fat emerge onto the pan. 

What small things give you pleasure in the kitchen?