Ranch food has no interest in being decorative. It needs to be hot, filling, forgiving, and ready when the work finally loosens its grip.
In Half a Ranch, Alex Pierce arrives at Crowder Ranch after twenty-five years of work are reduced to a nine-minute corporate call. The ranch begins teaching her that care, presence, and belonging cannot be calculated on a productivity report.
Tate already knows how to keep land and livestock alive. What he has forgotten is how to let another person share the work.
This casserole belongs between them. Alex would approach it like an operation. Tate would insist it did not need improving.
Somewhere between her plan and his stubbornness, they would make supper.
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 can diced tomatoes, 14½ ounces, drained
- 1 can pinto beans, 15 ounces, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn
- ½ cup beef broth
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
- ¾ cup cold buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
How to make it
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or deep oven-safe skillet.
- Brown the beef. Drain excess grease, then cook the onion and bell pepper for 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add the garlic and tomato paste for 1 minute.
- Stir in tomatoes, beans, corn, broth, Worcestershire, seasonings, and simmer 6 to 8 minutes.
- Remove from heat, stir in 1 cup cheddar, and place in the baking dish. Top with remaining cheese.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder. Cut in the cold butter, then stir in buttermilk just until a shaggy dough forms.
- Drop biscuit dough over the filling, brush with melted butter, and bake 25 to 30 minutes. Rest 10 minutes.
From Susannah’s Kitchen
This is the kind of supper that earns its place during a demanding week. The beef filling can be made ahead, the biscuits do not have to be perfectly shaped, and nobody needs to dirty a serving platter.
The Book Connection
The casserole works because separate ingredients share the same dish. The filling carries the biscuits. The biscuits soften the weight of the filling. Neither half is quite enough by itself.
Cook Along with Lark Mesa
Half a Ranch
This kitchen story is paired with Book 4 in the Lark Mesa Romance series. Meet the people, places, and small-town moments behind the recipe.
Explore the Lark Mesa books →