0:01
My friend here is truly a southern food historian.
0:06
He's got fabulous books out
0:09
and he's the studious one, and I'm kinda...
0:13
- I'm the cook and a little bit of a clown.
0:19
So Damon is gonna fill us in, aren't you?
0:22
- Well, I'll try. - On the roots
0:23
of this green tomato pie.
0:26
But first, finish slicing these five green tomatoes
0:29
while I start on the dry ingredients.
0:31
Now, I've got one and a fourths cup of sugar
0:34
and a fourth of a cup of raisins.
0:36
- Well, this one goes way back, Paula.
0:38
It goes back into the, at least before the Civil War.
0:41
We don't know how far, the 1850s at least.
0:44
- See, I told y'all he was smart.
0:46
- It was in a wonderful cookbook written
0:48
called Versteel's Southern Cooking.
0:50
It was published right after the war between the states.
0:52
- Damon, I hate to interrupt you, honey,
0:54
but just let me quickly give everybody the measurements.
0:58
Two tablespoons of tapioca.
1:01
- It goes way back and I think what it is, is you know,
1:04
you just didn't waste anything in those days.
1:06
So, you know, you can't use 'em all ripe,
1:08
so you might as well use some of those green ones
1:10
and get the vines culled down.
1:13
- A half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon,
1:16
and a fourth of a teaspoon of nutmeg,
1:21
and one teaspoon of orange zest.
1:25
It's gonna give this a little bit of zip.
1:28
- One of the things I love about this pie
1:30
is the tartness of the tomatoes.
1:31
You know, a green tomato is completely different.
1:34
- You know, a green tomato is simply a tomato
1:39
and you can see this one was on it's way to ripening,
1:42
wasn't it? - It was heading there.
1:44
- Well, you have got those tomatoes sliced.
1:46
I've got up our sweetness. - Gimme something to do here.
1:49
- If you would get the pie crust outta there.
1:53
This is gonna be a two-crust pie.
1:56
We've made a simple standard homemade pie crust.
2:00
We have taken it, we've divided our pie crust.
2:03
And now Damon, if you would take the top and roll it out,
2:08
I'll be putting our tomatoes in.
2:10
And here is your roller, - I'll take that.
2:13
You can have this. - I will take the pie crust.
2:17
And I'm just gonna line this crust, y'all,
2:23
And remember that after they cook, they're gonna shrink.
2:27
So Damon, what is it that makes Southern food, Southern?
2:33
- I think it's a combination of things, Paula.
2:36
It's, first of all the fact that we can have gardens
2:40
10 months out of the year, even in cooler parts of the South
2:43
you can have some things growing almost year round.
2:46
So that wonderful fresh produce.
2:49
Then you have the factor of who was cooking in the kitchen.
2:53
The symbiosis of African cooks,
2:55
that European cooking
2:58
and then all that wonderful fresh produce
3:01
sort of comes together and makes Southern cooking happen.
3:04
And I think that's really what sets it apart
3:07
from other parts of the country.
3:09
- Damon, look at this.
3:11
- Oh my lord, look at that. - Doesn't that look wonderful?
3:14
Now, you know, if you don't like raisins,
3:16
you could certainly leave those out.
3:19
I love the sweetness that raisins add to a dish.
3:24
So all we're gonna do now, y'all,
3:27
is just put this top layer... - Do you wanna do this?
3:32
I will do it. - Yeah, why don't you...
3:33
- So, I'm just gonna kinda pull that excess off
3:41
and then we're just gonna take it.
3:42
Oops, get back on there, I want you to stay.
3:45
All we're gonna do is just stick my finger
3:53
- Take over and finish that up for you?
3:55
And while you're doing that, I'm gonna take an egg,
3:59
and we're gonna use the white part
4:02
to brush the top of our pie,
4:04
because it's gonna make it beautiful and glossy.
4:11
You're the pie crust man, baby.
4:14
- [Damon] So we're gonna cut into this pie.
4:15
- Those little slits are gonna allow the steam to escape
4:25
- This is a serious knife, Paula.
4:26
- Yeah, it's kinda serious.
4:29
How many books do you have out now?
4:33
You've been a busy boy.
4:35
So this looks great, it just needs one more little thing,
4:38
a little bit of sugar.
4:40
Just a little bit of sugar.
4:42
- [Damon] You and I are a lot alike.
4:43
We believe in sugar and butter.
4:45
- Sugar and butter, honey.
4:47
I think that's what the South was built on.
4:50
So this will kind of crystallize on top of this pie.
4:54
It'll just give it a nice little finish.
4:58
All right. - A really pretty color.
4:59
- So Damon, let's bring it down, honey.
5:03
Now, we're gonna bake this pie for 25 minutes at 425.
5:08
So, we're gonna have it in a hot oven
5:10
so it'll brown quickly.
5:11
Then after 25 minutes, we're gonna turn the oven down to 350
5:16
and continue to bake it for 20 minutes
5:19
until those tomatoes are nice and soft.
5:23
- And juicy and luscious.
5:26
I'm gonna take the pie out of the oven
5:33
Look at that beautiful pie, y'all.
5:39
Green tomato pie, y'all.
5:43
I'm swallowing hard now, Damon.
5:54
Damon, this looks fabulous.
5:57
I've gotta taste this pie. - They just really terrific.
6:04
- (laughs) Isn't it out of this world?
6:10
Hey, y'all, it's Paula Deen.
6:12
Now, if you enjoyed this video, be sure to like it
6:15
and click the subscribe button as well as the notification
6:19
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6:23
Love and Best Dishes Y'all.
