Classic Family Favorites

Well, guess what we're doing today, y'all

We are doing family favorite recipes. And we're starting things off right, y'all, with a hot shrimp dip

Mmm-mm. Then we're making Aunt Peggy's famous meatloaf. Another Dean family classic recipe

And one of the boys' childhood favorites, fried potato cakes. Some things, y'all, you just never get tired of

And we've got a sweet finish chocolate caramel pecan layer cake. Ta-da

Classic. You know, it doesn't matter how many recipes that I make

There's a few that are just really classic recipes that people want again and again and again

I think all of your recipes are classics. They are. Said by an unbiased child

So I thought we could start with a nice dip, Bobby. I love it

Shrimp dip. So you're going to get ready. That red bell pepper, you're going to dice that up for me

You're going to dice up some green onions. I've got some beautiful shrimp here

And they've been cleaned and deveined. And I'm going to give them just a coarse chop

And these are small shrimp, too. You know, and the smaller your shrimp, the less expensive it is

So for making a dip, you really don't need to spend the money

because the smaller ones have a wonderful sweet taste. They do just fine

So let's put a little butter in our pan now. All right. There we go

That enough? Yeah. Well, I'll add more if I need to. This is one of my favorite smells, peppers and onions

Onions and peppers, yes, there's nothing like it. And we're looking for, I believe, two-thirds of a cup

Yeah, two-thirds, three-fourths. You know when you're making recipes like this, you don't have to be exact

Well, I use that whole red bell pepper. Oh, well, that is just fine

Because I figure it's going to cook down a little bit. And I'm not going to throw in our shrimp just yet

but I am going to start grating our cheese, Bobby. Okay. And we're going to use two different kinds of cheese in our dip

We're going to use a cup of Parmesan cheese and a cup of mozzarella

A tip, y'all, to grate your cheese a little easier, if you'll throw it into the freezer just for maybe 10 minutes

you don't want it to freeze, but just get it nice and hard. It'll grate up a lot easier for you

And another trick is to spray your grater, and that'll help. With a cooking spray

Yes, just a nonstick spray. I've never tried enough. All right, so we're slowly getting this

Well, the veggies, I think, are ready. All I'm really doing is kind of sautéing these a little bit, right

Yeah, we're going to let them soften up a little bit. Not wanting to cook them into nothing. Yeah, just let them soften

All right. So, Sonny Boy, if you'd get down there and start on the chips. All right

This is going just fine. I love to make homemade pita chips

I do, too. You know, I usually, when I'm having y'all over, having a crowd of folks, I throw them into the deep fryer

But in honor of Bobby, we're going to bake them today. In honor of me

Yes. Now, I'm going to throw in our shrimp. So our shrimp are in the pan, y'all

And now I'm going to add some ingredients that's going to make this rich and creamy

I'm going to add one eight-ounce carton of sour cream. The whole carton

Yes. Well, that's a lot of shrimp. I've used a full pound

Now I'm going to add a half a cup of mayonnaise, and the mayonnaise is going to make it so rich and creamy

So in goes our mayonnaise. Butter, sour cream, mayonnaise. Yes. Every good dip has it

But we're going to bake the pita chips. Yes. Okay. You are such a smart boy

Well. All right, now I'm going to add my cup of mozzarella

A cup of the parm. So look at this, y'all. All right, now I am going to add a little salt and pepper to my dip

Am I doing anything to these chips at all? Well, we're going to just bake them off, and then when we pull them out, we can put a little light coat of salt on it

How about that? All right. All right so 350 The chips are done We going to pop them in with the casserole Yes With the dip I mean With the dip yes You wanna spray our pan son a little bit so this won stick

And you can see the shrimp are still transparent. We're gonna bake it for about 30 minutes

So I don't want our shrimp overcooked. So let's pour in our dip

All right. Mmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Looks so good. Smells so good. Yes, it does

All right. Into the oven? Yum. Mm-hmm. So in the oven, 30 minutes, 350 degrees, y'all

Y'all don't go anywhere because let me tell you, when we come back, the next recipe is one that I get more feedback from

So that's what we're going to do next. Can't wait. Our Aunt Peggy's Old Fashioned Meat Loaf

All right. Coming up, the secret to Aunt Peggy's Meat Loaf. that's going to make it so good, so sweet, and so tangy

And an old favorite, potato cake. And later, a gorgeous chocolate caramel pecan layer cake

Yum. Yeah? Get rid of that thing and let's taste. All right

Because Bobby and I are in the kitchen today cooking some of the family classics

that we just love over and over and over again. So the first recipe today is a shrimp dip that is so good

Be careful, because it's so good. Mmm. Mmm. That's how it's like

Isn't that yummy? Mm-hmm. Mmm. Mmm. I don't want to spoil my appetite

I know. Because the meatloaf. Yes. Aunt Peggy's meatloaf. You know what I like about meatloaf is everybody does it differently

There's a lot of ways to make meatloaf. Right. Now, Aunt Peggy's is a classic one

I'm going to use a pound of lean ground beef, and I'm just going to put that in my bowl

While you're doing that, I'm going to make a nice topping for the meatloaf

And I'm going to need about a half a cup of an onion. So I'm going to start dicing this up

Like I said, Aunt Peggy's recipe is very classical recipe. Third cup ketchup

Bobby is making the topping that Aunt Peggy puts on her meatloaf

One tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Mm-hmm. This is a sweet, kind of spicy topping

And two tablespoons of brown sugar. Mm-hmm. All right. I'm just going to whisk this together

Now, I've got our onion. I'm going to throw it into the bowl with the ground beef

And then I'm going to do the same thing with my bell pepper. All right

That topping is done. I'm going to move down here and start putting together the potato pancakes

That's great. Another Southern classic. Definitely a classic. I haven't had these in years, and you used to make them all the time when we were kids

You know, I made them not long ago for me and Michael. That's where that came from. Anytime you have leftover mashed potatoes, y'all, don't throw them away

All right, Bobby, I've got our bell pepper diced up. Not too small and not too big, but kind of just right

And I've mashed up a couple of leftover potatoes, and I'm using cream cheese as well that has onion and chive already in it

I'm going to beat up one egg and pour it over my meat

Now salt and pepper. This is what Aunt Peggy uses, a five-minute quick-cooking oatmeal

It helps it find the meatloaf together. But it also keeps it real moist

So in goes our oatmeal. And then I'm going to put in the whole can of tomato paste

And it's a six-ounce can, y'all. All right. That's going to make it nice and thick

Yes. Rich, rich, rich, rich. All right. Now I'm working on the potato cakes

I've got the potatoes beat up. And I'm going to take one cup of panko. Which I love

I do too. You have to use something, y'all. a binder. And then one right

into this casserole dish that I'm going to dredge them through. And I'm going to beat one egg and add it as well

Yes. And I'm going in pans and all, because you can't hardly make a meatloaf

and do it up with a spoon. Simple, simple, simple. Alright, Bobby, I've

gotten my meatloaf mixed together. Alright. And I'm going to put it in a loaf pan

to bake it off. Now I'm gonna take a little of my bell pepper

that's left over, and I'm just gonna cut me about four nice strips

and lay right on top of them. Stick me a little bell pepper pieces Now how about my topping When does that go on On top I fixing to put it on there now son Alright There we go And now this luscious sauce that gonna make it so good so sweet and so tangy

Looks kind of like a football, doesn't it, Bobby? I sure hope it don't taste like one

I hope it doesn't either. I have to call Aunt Peggy if it doesn't

Aunt Peggy, if this is not wonderful, now you're fired, sister. Out of the family

But I know it's delicious. All right, so, Bobby, the meatloaf is ready to go into the oven

If you would, Bobby, put the meatloaf in for me. I'll come down here and I'll finish the potato cakes

All right, into the oven. Okay. Which is set on 375? For how long, Mom

We've got about 45 minutes to an hour. All right, and I'm going to add just a little bit more panko to my dish

These look beautiful, Bobby. They do. So let's start putting them in

All right. And that panko is going to make them so nice and crisp

I'm going to fry them in a little vegetable oil. You know, five or six minutes on each side

How good do these smell? They smell fabulous. Don't go anywhere. When we come back, we're going to have our potato cakes ready to taste

Coming up, we get a taste of Aunt Peggy's meatloaf and our potato cakes

Just like I remember when I was a kid. And later, a delicious chocolate pecan layer cake

Mmm, I can't wait. It's going to be delicious. Hey, y'all, welcome back

I'm in here with Bobby today in our kitchen. We're doing Dean classic recipes that we consistently love

We made Aunt Peggy's meatloaf. That's right. Which is so good. I get so many good comments on that

And it smells. And then we had some leftover mashed potatoes, and we made potato cakes

Something I hadn't seen in years, but Mama used to make them all the time. Meat and potatoes

And a little dollop of sour cream. Mm-hmm. Mm

Golly, that meatloaf is great. Have you tasted the potato cake yet? No, but I'm fixing to dig in

Mm. Mm. Just like I remember when I was a kid when you used to make them

You know, some things, y'all, you just never get tired of. Mm

Well, what do you think about us moving on to our dessert? Mm

We're going to do a caramel pecan layered chocolate cake. You have a half pound of butter, which is two sticks, three eggs, and two cups of brown sugar

Okay. And a couple of teaspoons of vanilla flavoring. So if you would cream that up together

You got it. I'm going to need one cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

so you can tell this is going to be a nice, rich, chocolatey cake

Oh, well, with a pound of butter. How could it not be

All right, now I'm going to measure out a cup and a half of boiling water

And while you're working on that, Mom, I'm going to add some vanilla to my half pound of butter

Okay. Two teaspoons of vanilla. Oh, she does. And a couple of cups of brown sugar

Okay, I'm going to measure out our dry ingredients now. And I'm going to use three cups of a cake flour

All right, now I'm going to add one and a quarter teaspoon of baking soda

All right, then I'm going to go ahead and crank this up. And look at this precious little chicken, Bobby

I saw that. That is literally a pinch of salt, isn't it

No, it's actually a teaspoon. Look at the little chicken just holding our salt

So in that goes. You got you some chickens, didn't you? You know I got me some chickens

I love those chickens. All right, I've got three eggs here that I'm going to add one at a time

So alternately with our flour and our cocoa mixture, starting with flour and ending with flour

And then our flour. One more. All right, now we're safe to turn that up a little bit

Whoa I mean All right Bobby I think that good son So I will bring our pans up here

and we'll want to be careful that we measure properly our cake batter

You need some pan coating? I cut out some parchment paper and put it on the bottom

but yes, I would like a little bit more pan coating. Mmm

Oh, my gosh, that's so good. Make sure you get those edges good, son. Mmm

Yum-y. Bobby, you want to lick the beater? I'll wait until it's done

Mmm. So good. So rich and chocolatey. All right, now I'll show you the way I do it, Bobby

because if you would take those off that sheet tray, please. I like my cakes to be perfectly even

so I kind of... Measure it. Yeah, do this number to it

That's smart. All right, these are ready to go in the oven

We're gonna bake these, y'all, at 350 for about 25 minutes. This is gonna be delicious

Coming up, a caramel icing to take this layer cake over the top, y'all

Isn't that gorgeous? It's beautiful. All right. Help me help you. Now, I have made a filling, y'all

It's just basically brown sugar, butter, a little milk, and vanilla flavoring

I'm going to bring our cakes up. Okay. And I'm going to punch holes in it

And now I'm just using the handle of a wooden spoon. I'm going to take my filling

and I'm just going to pour that in there. Let me go ahead and transfer this one to our cake plate

We're going to let that sit, son, and we're going to come down here and we're going to make our frosting

Now, we've got six tablespoons of melted butter. Fumal butter. And if you would add two-thirds a cup of brown sugar to that

we're going to dissolve that, and I'm going to be measuring out

a quarter of a cup of whipping cream. In goes the heavy cream

All right, now we're just going to stir this up. Yes. and I'm going to add a generous serving of vanilla

about a teaspoonful, a little bit more. All right, now I'm going to transfer this to my bowl

and if you would just beat in your confectionate sugar using the little hand mixer, about two and a half cups

All right, now I've got some nuts here. that I'm just going to kind of coarsely chop

Now I'm going to just layer this with a few nuts. You can see I'm not even mixing it in

So the good stuff is going to be all throughout that cake. All throughout this cake, y'all

Now I'm just going to put a little dollop of this. and if I may have my butter knife, please

And I'm just going to spread this out. Mm-hmm

And now for the final step. A few more nuts. And we've got a beautiful chocolate cake with a caramel filling and a caramel icing

Oh, that's beautiful. Ta-da! Classic. Isn't that gorgeous? Beautiful. You ready to taste

I'm ready when you are. Look at that, y'all

Oh, my gosh. Do you like it, son? I like it. Where's the milk

It's in the fridge. I wish y'all were here right this second to have a piece with us

But hopefully, you know, you'll go to foodnetwork.com and get the recipes

and they'll soon become one of your family's favorite classic recipes that you'll enjoy for years to come

But until then, Bobby and I send y'all love and best dishes from our kitchen to y'all's

Happy cooking, families