Easy Weeknight Meals

Come in

Put your feet up, y'all, because it's going to be easy peasy

Today, Jamie's in the kitchen helping me make delicious, easy weeknight meals

starting with orange beef strips and a tangy orange dipping sauce. You can't get any easier and quicker than that

can you guys? Then we've got a pasta dish perfect for a crowd

It's our company pasta with delicious shrimp and mushrooms. It's delicious. So good

Finally, the fun keeps going when my dear sweet Brandon stops by to help us finish our cream cheese pound cake with grilled plums

There is not a boring day in the life of Paula Deen

Hey, y'all. I'm here with Mom in the kitchen today, and we're doing easy weeknight meals

That sounds great. So you have five options during the week, and you've got to have something good to eat, and you want to have it fast and easy

And we try to do things affordably, too. It's got to be delicious, son

And this is going to be really super good. We're doing orange beef strips with orange sauce

Oh, my gosh. I love, love, love beef strips. And Chamey is starting with a boneless sirloin

It contains the least fat of all the steak cuts. Yep. I'm going to cut strips, y'all, just not even about a quarter of an inch

Okay, okay. And we've got flour. About a cup right into my bowl

Just put enough to do the job for whatever amount of steak strips you're doing

And I'm going to take three eggs. And beat those up

And then I'm going to measure two cups of peanut butter. And these are going to make it real crisp

Okay, son. Into the flour, into the egg, into the panko. I just want a little salted a little, okay

Well, we salt our flour. Okay, great idea. As you can see, I cut these

I don't want big chunks. I just did them in nice little strips. Yes, nice little thin strips

I went to a restaurant one time. I fell in love with these beef strips that they had

And they didn't fry them. They grilled them. The place in New York? No, actually in Charleston, South Carolina

And then they served them with a honey mustard. So good. All right

So I'm going to just knock the flour off those, y'all. Run them into the egg, just make sure they're wet all over

And panko has got to be the greatest crust in the world

The Japanese know what they're doing with that panko. They got it going on

We were in the boat this morning, y'all, and it's a friend of ours' boat. You've got to know somebody that lives on that pond or they'll run you off

Oh, is it owned by like a community? A community. A neighborhood. Yeah

So we were barring this fellow's boat and we fished down one side of the pond. It's a big old pond

I've got the fryer set at 350, y'all. And it's going to take about two minutes

Yep. So we worked about halfway around it and the trolling motor started to go out

And Randy is so crazy, y'all. Wilmington Island's a small island. Everybody knows everybody, y'all

He is so crazy. So he was just cussing. He was so upset because the fish was starting to bite

We were barely puttering along. And we pulled up through yard, and he said, I see a paddle up there

And I didn't know it at the time, but he wanted me to get that paddle so he could paddle across the pond

and take one of his friend's batteries out of their boat at their dock

But Randy will return them. Mama hasn't been fishing since, I know since Jack has been born

Such a fun place to be out on the water. Jamie, look at these strips

That first batch I dropped in. I think they're ready. You know, there's nothing like coming in at the end of a busy day and getting the family in the kitchen and getting them involved

And just fixing up some delicious, simple dishes. Do you think these are done, Mom

Yes, I do. Because beef, you know, I don't like my beef overcooked

Well, these are cool, and I'm going to do our sauce real quick. Okie doke. And I'm going to drop the rest of these that we've got crusted, sunny boy

Okay. And I'm starting with orange marmalade. It's one of Mom's favorite things, and I love it, too

It's got the rind in it, so it's full of flavor. I'm going to start with a half a cup of marmalade

This is kind of an Asian dish, Mom. I'm using rice wine vinegar today

I've got a tablespoon. and I'm gonna put a squirt of Dijon

maybe a teaspoon or so. Jack would like these, Jamie. I believe that he would

He's gonna have to make some more because his daddy's hungry. I'm gonna eat them now

and then when we take a commercial break, I'm gonna load up a piece of white bread with him

Y'all, you ought to see us on break. I tell y'all, we're cleaning up during break

We're cleaning up all right. This is the way we clean up Yeah you don cut a silhouette like this It gone away from the white bread and fried steak Looks yummy

All righty, son. You can't get any easier and quicker than that, can you guys

Quick and easy. Come on down, son. Okay, I am starving. Mmm

Oh. A couple? Oops. Would you? Here. If that's the one you had your eye on, you take that one

I'm just going to go right into this phone. Just the two of us. Like all of our parties are

I'm going to have the best parties, y'all. No one's invited besides us and y'all

You like? Mmm. Yum. Yum. Yum. Delicious

And the grand part is it was like a sirloin steak, y'all

Not a real expensive cut of meat. Doesn't taste like it. Mmm

Mmm. This is a great start. When we come back, we're going to do one of my son's favorites

We're doing a pasta with a mushroom cream sauce. He could eat pasta every night, couldn't he? Yep

A little bit of shrimp in there. One of Jack's favorites. Y'all come back. We'll see y'all back in a minute

These are delicious. Coming up next... Are you ready? I'm ready. For this delicious and easy company pasta

Later... It's time for something sweet. Y'all better get ready for this decadent cream cheese pound cake

Hey, y'all, welcome back. Now, this is a recipe that's not only good enough for your family

this is good enough for company. This is a pasta that Jack loves

in his pasta with a mushroom and shrimp cream sauce. Well, I'm slicing up your baby portabellas

Okay, we need about two cups of that, Mom. Okay. And I'm gonna chop up, I need a quarter of a cup of white onion, Mom

Okay. And y'all know that I'm gonna put these onions and that garlic down in that butter

Jack is loving him some pasta, Ittney. You know, what is it about kids

They like come with this gene that says, I love macaroni and cheese

I love pasta. He just likes the plain pasta with a little butter or olive oil on it

and a little bit of Parmesan cheese. That is the cutest kid I have ever seen

And those of you who are grandmothers out there, you can certainly identify with what I'm saying, can't you

He is so cute. We'd have had those first if we'd have had any idea

All right, so one stick of butter. I'm going to saute these onions, Mom, down in this pan

I want these onions to cook down just for a little bit. I don't want them to be super crunchy

And as soon as these cook down, I want you to throw those mushrooms in for me. And I've got three cloves of garlic here

I remember Jack, his first bite of solid food was here in this kitchen

And I invited Brooke over. I think you were out of town. And I cooked some things that I knew Jack could eat

I made a squash casserole. I baked off some sweet potatoes. and that baby was sitting in his carrier seat

and I gave him a little bite of squash and sweet potatoes

and he was probably seven months old, six months old. And he looked up at me with those big brown eyes

and he said, mmm, mmm. I said, all right! Okay, that looks good, Mom

Let's get those cooking. Yeah, let's get these mushrooms down in here

We'll cook them. All right. And I see you've got some kind of herb over here

That's Italian seasoning? Italian seasoning. Yes, ma'am. A teaspoon of that, please

There we go. Okay, I'm going to put a pinch of cayenne pepper. Uh-huh

Just give it a little bit of heat. Okay, Mom, this is cooked down. That looks good. Yep, a half a cup of white wine

I'm going to kick that up, son. Okay, because we're... And let that wine kind of do its magic

Salt and pepper. Help it. Pep it. Let's go with a big pinch of salt and a little bit of black pepper

Yes. Two cups of heavy cream. All right. I've got your flame up on high

Okay. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Get it done. Get her done. And look, we have got all this beautiful fresh spinach over here

that's going to be going into our pot. I adore, adore, adore fresh spinach in pasta dishes

And I'm going to add one lemon. People ask me all the time, Paula, how have you done it

How have you kept your son so close to you? And I say, well, honey, it's so easy

You start a business, you pay them, and they can't leave. We indentured Yes okay now I got about probably two pounds of shrimp here Mm And now that this sauce has gotten some temperature to it and it started to bubble

that's how we're going to cook our shrimp, so I'm going. And, Jamie, I noticed that you're leaving tails on

Sure. That's the handle. Oh, my goodness. How delicious. And one thing about this dish, y'all, is, you know, you can put things that you love in it

You know, kind of the sky's the limit. Our shrimp are starting to turn that beautiful pinky salmon color

So I think it's... Looks like it's spinach style. Yeah. This looks like a lot of spinach, y'all

It won't make a third of a cup by the time it's wilted in there

It's just going to give us a real pretty color. Oh. This looks awesome. We're going to go in right on top of our pasta

Isn't that good? And all that creamy sauce is going to just let that pasta just drink it all up

Mm-hmm. All right, Mom, are you ready? Oh, I am so ready

Oh, my goodness. Keep it simple and delicious and easy. Got to have some good bread

I'm going to wait on you. Okay. Go ahead. Mm-hmm. Mm. Mm

Mm. It's delicious. So good. This is exactly what we wanted to do, y'all

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. It's a weeknight. Mm-hmm. It's simple, and it's delicious. You know, I just love the portabellos

It's like eating meat. Mm-hmm. It's so meaty. Mm-hmm. Love, love, love everything, Jamie

Good. They make a good burger. What a great job. Mm. Yeah, I don't go anywhere. Mm

Coming up next, we got a great dessert secret that you don't want to miss

We're going to show you what we're going to do with grilled plums on our pound cake

And later, my dear sweet Brandon stops by with some quick tips for Savannah style that certainly got my approval, y'all

You know, it's your centerpiece today. It's lunch tomorrow. I like that

Y'all, we're back in the kitchen now. It's time for something sweet. it's time for something else sweet oh thank you son this is a cream cheese pound cake and super

simple my number one favorite thing that our grandmother paul made was pound cakes she used

a sour cream pound cake and bobby and i have done a version of that but we're using cream cheese so

i'm gonna help me get started fabulous pound cake too y'all into our mixing bowl here if you will

put i need all three sticks of that butter when you get done put that entire eight ounce package

of cream cheese. Okay, in with my butter. Yes, ma'am. Okey-dokey. And I'm going to add three cups of sugar

You're not skimping on the flavors of this one, Jamie. No, we're not. Okay, so I'm going to cream

up those ingredients for you. And I'm going to crack six eggs. Okay

These are beautiful brown eggs. Thank you. My chickens do good. They like good eggs

Mom, I'm going to beat up these six eggs. Okay. I'll finish creaming that

Okay, well, I got to turn it up now that I got it. Three cups of flour in here, please. Okay

And a teaspoon, a half a teaspoon of baking powder. Okay, so this is an all-purpose flour

Yes, ma'am. Want to measure those out perfectly, y'all. Because you've heard me say a thousand times, bacon is a formula

Mom, while you're doing that, I'm going to put in a half a teaspoon of almond extract. Okay, now I'm going to add our half a teaspoon of bacon powder

And I'm just going to take my whisk, y'all. You add and I'll blend. Our dry down here, our wet down there

So we're going to start with dry and end with dry. I'm just going to walk around you every time

How's that? Oh, yum Jamie. That's beautiful batter. That is good cake batter

Tell me why you got to end with dry. Because it just makes for a smoother batter, son

You'll notice as we put in wet how it takes on a more curdled look rather than a smooth

and you'll notice when I drop the flour in, all of a sudden it takes back that smooth look. Uh-huh

All righty, here we go. Are y'all getting drunk yet? Y'all getting dizzy yet with me running back and forth

This is a beautiful batter. Isn't that a beautiful batter? And this is going to be my last drop of our liquid into the bowl

You know, pound cakes are so easy to bake. Not a lot of ingredients, and basically, it's a dense, wonderful cake

And really hard to mess up Pretty versatile too You can do a lot lot of different things with a pound Yeah you can stick different flavors in them

Finally. Mm. Now we're going into this bun, Dan. Delicious. Yum, yum, yum

All right. I remember the time that after we moved here to Savannah

I got this phone call. I had gone with a temporary agency to just find me a temporary job

until I got to know the city. This temporary agency found me a job at Memorial Hospital

and Bobby was in there in his bedroom laying down watching TV

So I went in there, and I said, Bobby, Bobby, guess what, son

the hospital called me and I'm going to start to work there

Monday. He said, oh mama, that's great. I said, yes son, but they're not going to let me do

any extensive surgeries right off. They're just going to have me doing tonsillectomies

and appendicitis surgeries. And he looked at me with the greatest admiration

He said, mama, that is so good. I said, that is a joke

Your mama cannot do surgery. But y'all tend to think that mamas and daddies can do anything, even surgeries

I thought that was so sweet. Okay, y'all, now that we've got our batter in our bun pan

I'm going to put this in the oven for an hour and ten minutes at 325. We told you that pound cake is very versatile

You can do a lot of different things with them. But when we come back, we're going to show you what we're going to do with grilled plums on our pound cake

Y'all come back. It sounds fabulous, y'all. Up next, Brandon's stopping by for some dessert

and to show us how to make an easy edible centerpiece. This cake is insane

You have to run 10 miles today. Mmm. Oh, my goodness, what a way to finish up

a casual, easy weekday night dinner than to be sandwiched in between these two fabulous men

And I got Jamie down there on that end. He's working on his grilled plums on top of this wonderful cream cheese pound cake

And I've got my personal assistant, Brandon Branch, here with me today

The daughter you never had. The daughter I never had. I love him to pieces, y'all

He has got impeccable taste. He can take a weed and make it look gorgeous

I want to show you the latest project that I have done along with Brandon

We have Paula Deen's Savannah Style Book. What we're doing today is we're making a fabulous centerpiece today

I'm taking just some clippings from Paula's gardens outside. You know, it's your centerpiece today

It's lunch tomorrow. I like that. We got all this at just the grocery store

You can go to the produce stand. Whatever's in season, just use it. Now, while y'all are working on that down there, I'm going to take these plums

and I'm going to put a little bit of butter on them. and put them on the grill. Okey-doke

And mom, I'm just gonna leave these on for a couple of minutes, just enough to blister them. Okay

Brandon's such an awesome part of our family and a friend. How long have y'all been together now

Eight years. I think eight years. Eight years. If you see anything beautiful on the show, y'all

you can just about bet that Brandon has touched it in some way

I'm ready to have some pound cake, so. Okay. Look how beautiful the cake is

Y'all ready for a piece? I would love a piece. I would too

Got our grilled plums on here with a little bit of fresh cream

Look at that incredible pound cake. And look at those delicious plums

I'm known for my Savannah style, too, y'all. Tell me what you think about the pound cake

Okay. Oh, it's delicious. Mm-hmm. It's out of this world, son. This cake is insane

I'm going to have to run 10 miles today. Well, I'll ride along behind you to make sure you're safe

That is beautiful serum paste. Isn't that pretty? Mm-hmm. Y'all, I tell you what

There is not a boring day in the life of Paula Deen

I'm surrounded by so many colorful people. Like a peacock. Yes, it's kind of like a peacock

Big, fancy peacock. They keep me laughing all the time. We work hard, we love hard, and we play hard

I love the sandwich y'all had me in today. And I love y'all out there

And we send you love and best dishes every day. Bye, y'all

Bye