Tag Archives: pioneer woman

Appetizers and party foods, breads

Olive Cheese Bread

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I love the Pioneer Woman aka Ree Drummond.  I have been following her since way back when.  Before she was famous.  When her cookbook cost like 10 bucks on amazon.  Before she wrote that cookbook.  I think she is amazingly talented and feel a kindred spirit with her.  So it is not surprising that I make many of her recipes.  And this is one of her’s.  Olive Cheese Bread.   Now I LOVE olives.  Black olives, green olives, any kind of olives.  Always have.  So of course I had to try this recipe when I came across it in her first cookbook, Recipes From an Accidental Country Girl.   It is a little bit like a muffaletta, but without the meat.  It is buttery, cheesy perfection that is just salty enough.  It is easy and makes a good bit and can be served as an appetizer, a side, a snack…It is extremely versatile.  It is delicious hot and not bad cold.  It is all those things you want it to be.  It aims to please.  And it will.  So grab the minimal ingredients this recipe requires and do the minimal work to make it and sink your teeth into this ooey, gooey, cheesy deliciousness tonight.

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You ready?  I thought so.  Make it.  You know you want to.

Olive Cheese Bread (from Pioneer Woman’s cookbook)

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

1 stick of butter, softened

1 lb. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1 can pimiento stuffed olives (6.5 oz.), drained and coarsely chopped

1 can black olives (14.5 oz.) drained and coarsely chopped

2 green onions, sliced

1/2 cup mayo (she insists you must use the real stuff, and I do…I actually I have started using Duke’s mayo and it is the BEST as far as mayo goes, in my very humble opinion.)

1 loaf of crusty french bread, sliced in half horizontally

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine the softened butter, the shredded cheese, the black and green olives (PW says to give them a rough chop…this means not super finely chopped, but just enough to break them into smaller pieces than whole.  It’s not an exact art, so don’t stress.) Now stir in the mayo and green onions and give it a good stir to combine well.  Spread across both sides of the bread.  Just slather it all over that bread.

Now put the bread on a large baking or cookie sheet.  Slide the sheet into your preheated oven.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheesy olive mixture is all bubbly.  Pull it out of the oven.  Resist the urge to tear a piece off of the load like a ravenous dog because it’s super hot at this point.  I speak from er…experience.   Slice into about 4 inch wide slices.  Serve.

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Cinnamon Toast Pioneer Woman style

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Morning everyone!!!  So this morning I went on a walk/run and it was wonderful.  Geez it is better than any medication I could ever take.  And then I came home and made some Pioneer Woman cinnamon toast.  Not sure if my walk/run did anything other than make me feel awesome, but oh well.  This cinnamon toast is totally worth it.

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When I say worth it, it is worth it.  So worth it.  Now, some of you may be wondering what kind of cajun mama needs a recipe for cinnamon toast?  Well…me.  I came across this recipe earlier in the year on the food blog, A Feast for the Eyes.  I had been making cinnamon toast here and there for breakfast and it was ok.  It really was.  But you must understand, my standard for cinnamon toast was pretty high.  My Momou used to make the BEST cinnamon toast (with cheesy eggs) for me when I would spend the night with her.  And I tried to duplicate it, but never could quite do it.  Well, now I know why and I have been able to recreate her cinnamon toast perfection.  The only thing missing is her.  She is still alive, but lives a little ways from me so that is not always possible on a Sunday morning.  Ok…so for those of you who love cinnamon toast.  Or love toast. Or even if you don’t, trust me, you should try this.  This is not ordinary, plain old cinnamon toast.  The key here ya’ll is REAL butter.  Not the tub stuff, not the stick “margarine”…the real deal people.  That is all I use anymore.  So do as I say and get the good stuff.  You can thank me later.  Or call me and sing me a song about your new love PW’s cinnamon toast.

Cinnamon Toast Pioneer Woman style (adapted from A Feast for the Eyes food blog)

You will need:

8 slices of bread (wheat or white is fine.  I have used both and it was divine)

A stick of real salted butter, softened (I usually pull my stick out and unwrap it and set it on the counter in a bowl when I get up and make my coffee.  After my first cup, it is usually good and soft.)

1/2 cup of sugar

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I use roasted saigon cinnamon and it is ah-mazing!!  But the regular stuff is great too)

1 tsp.  vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (optional)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degress.

Mush softened butter with a fork.  Add sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg if you are using it.  Stir until it is all mixed together.  Stop licking it off of the fork.  You won’t have enough for the toast if you eat it all.  (not that I speak from experience…ha ha)

Spread evenly on each slice of bread.  You want to cover each piece from one edge to the other.  Place each piece on a cookie sheet.  Bake in preheated oven for about 10 minutes.  Then turn your broiler on lo and until it is a beautiful brown and it is bubbling slightly.  Watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn and you won’t cry because you have to start all over.  About 1-2 minutes.

Remove from oven, slice diagonally, and try to let it cool a bit before sinking your teeth into cinnamon toast heaven.  Try to share some with your family.  They would most likely like a piece too.  🙂

Beverages, breakfast, desserts, Uncategorized

Perfect Iced Coffee

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I love coffee.  Love, love, love it.  To know me is to know I love coffee.  The words ‘coffee lover’ will be written in my eulogy.  I am defined by my love of coffee.  See what i mean…I am little obsessed.  When my son was 3, we would go through the Starbucks drive thru and he would be able to say my order…”one tall bold cup with 2 splendas and half and half”.  yep, I have apparently brainwashed my kids.  Oops!  There is just something about that warm mug full of that precious brown liquid in your hands.  When I see someone with a cup of coffee in the carpool line or on TV, I admit I feel a little jealous.  I was watching Pioneer Woman on Food Network the other day and in this episode she makes iced coffee.  I was intrigued.  Not so much with the fact that she was making iced coffee, but more intrigued with HOW she was making it. She mentions in the episode that iced coffee tends to be watered down when you make it yourself and how her method changes that.  So I figured in the interest of my blog, in the interest of those who might like iced coffee and want a foolproof method…I would give it a go.  For all of you.  For research.  Just so we are clear.  Ha Ha!!  I really didn’t have high hopes, but I was amazed.  The stuff is awesome.  I am sitting here as I type with a lovely tumbler of iced cold coffee and I am not missing my warm mug much at all.  So if you love coffee, especially if you love iced coffee, you should give her recipe a whirl.

Perfect Iced Coffee (from the Pioneer Woman)

1 pound ground coffee (a good rich roast)

8 quarts of cold water

milk or half-and-half (nice enough splash to change the color to that beautiful iced coffee color)

sweetened condensed milk (if you are feeling super indulgent)

OR a few packets of your favorite sweetener, but I used good ole pure cane sugar because Pappaw always swore it dissolved better and as usual, he was right

Place the ground coffee into a large container

Pour in 8 quarts cold water

Give it a good stir to make sure you wet all the coffee grounds

Place the lid on the container and let it sit on the counter at room temperature for a half a day or a full 24 hours (I let mine sit for 24 hours and it was perfect)

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Excuse my little helper’s hand in the picture…I needed some backup.

Lay some cheesecloth in a fine mesh strainer.  Slowly pour the coffee mixture through the strainer and into a clean container.  

After you have poured most of the liquid out, gently press the grounds with a spoon to make sure you get all of that lovely coffee out and then discard the cheesecloth with the grounds inside.  I will forewarn you, this is messy.  We used the leftover grounds in our garden…just FYI.

Chill your pitcher of coffee in the fridge.

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Pour the coffee into a glass filled with ice.

Splash in your milk or half-and-half 

Add your sweetened condensed milk or sugar or sweetener and then give it a quick stir.

Prepare yourself for iced coffee nirvana.  To fall in love with iced coffee. To be a changed person.

ImageAhhh!!!  That picture just makes me happy.