‘The Pioneer Woman’ Ree Drummond on Her Husband Ladd’s Favorite Sandwich: ‘He Invented It’
Food Network star Ree Drummond is clearly a family gal: she loves cooking for her five children and husband, Ladd.
For Ladd, there’s only one sandwich he prefers above all others, as she revealed in her book The Pioneer Woman Cooks. And it really isn’t too much of a surprise.
Ladd loves steak, period
Ree’s husband Ladd is a cattle rancher. So, of course, his favorite meal is a good steak. Ree illustrated this point in her book The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels as she recalled trying to work out her wedding reception menu with her beloved.
The future television personality asked her betrothed, “I need you to name your absolute favorite foods in the entire world.” Ladd’s response? “Probably steak.”
“Duh,” she continued. “Well, besides steak.” Ladd repeated, “Steak.”
Still, however, Ree persisted. “And what else?” To which her future husband replied, “Well, steak is pretty good.”
Eventually, she was able to cull from Ladd that in addition to steak, he enjoys biscuits, gravy, tenderloin, chocolate cake, barbecue ribs, and scrambled eggs.
Ree says this is Ladd’s favorite sandwich
As for Ladd’s preferred sandwich, you just know it has to involve steak in some way. And it does.
“[Ladd] loves this sandwich,” she writes in The Pioneer Woman Cooks. “He invented it (well, I helped a little), and I make it for heads of state, dignitaries, kings, queens, and world leaders whenever they stop by our homestead on their way to a rodeo. Cowboys, too—they love it.”
The sandwich stars cube steak, which Ree says “is tenderized round steak that’s been extra tenderized by the butcher.” It also involves onions, butter, seasoned salt, lemon pepper, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and rolls.
The butter is melted in a skillet, to which you’ll add the sliced onions until tender and then the sliced meat, along with the seasonings and sauces. To get the most flavor out of the steak, Ree cautions not to stir the meat but to let it sit for a minute and then do the same when you turn it.
Once the onions and meat are cooked, the rolls are sliced in half and browned in the same skillet. Pan juices are spooned over the sandwich filling.
Ree almost dares her fans to “try it out—make it for a group of hungry guys. Eyes will roll back in heads. Engagement rings will be thrown your way. You’ll be carried on a litter the rest of your life. Love songs will be composed. Sonnets written.”
How Ree says she’d change Ladd’s sandwich for the better
As much as the mother of five loves the sandwich as is, she did elaborate on how she’d take it to the next, even more delicious level.
“If I weren’t married to a straight-up-meat-and-potatoes rancher, I would probably cook a bunch of sliced mushrooms with the onions,” she began. “I’d add a little sherry to the meat mixture. And I’d melt a little sliced mozzarella on the top. But that’s just me. Truth is, you could play around with this sandwich as much as you’d like: different veggies, different seasonings (thyme, fresh garlic, and so on), or different cheeses. Go play! Oh. One more thing. If you’re looking to shrink your waistline, you might want to steer clear of this sandwich.”
