Up next in 10
It's off to meet Mr. Jimmy at his boyhood home where he reminisces with Paula and talks about some of his favorite childhood memories and treats. Paula's hopping on a train to Mr and Mrs Jimmy Carter's home to cook in his own kitchen!
Smothered Quail - https://www.pauladeen.com/recipe/smothered-quail/
Creamy Grits - https://www.pauladeen.com/recipe/creamy-grits/
Pecan Tassies - https://www.pauladeen.com/recipe/pecan-toffee-tassies/
Enjoy!
For more great recipes, visit https://www.pauladeen.com
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0:00
Hey y'all. I'm Paula Dean and boy are
0:03
y'all in for a treat today. One day I
0:05
was on the set of Paula's Home Cooking
0:07
when I got a phone call and what a
0:10
surprise. It was from an old friend and
0:12
our 39th president of the United States,
0:14
Mr. Jimmy Carter. He was calling to
0:16
renew his invitation because he was
0:18
hoping that I could come back to his
0:20
hometown of Plains, Georgia.
0:23
Mr. Jimmy,
0:25
I'm fine, darling. How are you, y'all? I
0:29
was so excited to be talking to Mr.
0:31
Jimmy again. You know, the first time I
0:33
visited with him, I realized that well,
0:35
we really did have a lot in common. In
0:38
fact, he enjoyed the food I made so much
0:41
that he invited me to come back and cook
0:44
with him and Miss Roslin.
0:46
Oh, listen, Mr. Jimmy, I'm coming. Come
0:49
hell or high water, I'm coming. So,
0:51
today I'm going to hop on a train and
0:53
I'm heading to Plains, Georgia to meet
0:56
Mr. Miss Jimmy Carter and to test his
0:59
presidential cooking skills by cooking
1:01
up some of his favorite dishes in his
1:04
own kitchen. Dishes that he and I both
1:06
grew up on like smothered quail with
1:09
creamy grits. And for dessert, Miss
1:11
Rosland, Mr. Jimmy and I are going to be
1:13
making these scrumptious little desserts
1:17
called pecan tassis. But before we get
1:20
to baking, y'all, I beg Mr. Jimmy to
1:22
give us a personal tour of his boyhood
1:24
home. What a treat. So, don't go
1:27
anywhere, y'all, cuz this lady is
1:29
joining Jimmy Carter and his first lady
1:33
for an intimate southern dinner at home.
1:37
[Music]
2:05
[Music]
2:16
Well, hello.
2:17
Hey. How are you?
2:18
You came to see me on the train.
2:20
I did. I rode your train. How are you?
2:24
It's good to see you again.
2:25
It's so good to see you.
2:26
I'm looking forward to showing you my
2:28
house.
2:28
I want to see your house
2:29
where I grew up. I want to see your
2:31
bedroom.
2:32
All right, that's a deal.
2:33
Take me to your bedroom.
2:34
I'll take you all the way back to the
2:36
house. It's an invite.
2:37
This is a beautiful little house, Mr.
2:39
Jimmy.
2:40
This was a living room, and we built a
2:42
fire in here for special occasions, and
2:44
daddy would let me lie in front of the
2:46
fireplace until the clock struck 8, and
2:49
I would turn on the battery radio and
2:51
listen to Glenn Miller for 15 minutes.
2:53
And my mother nursed quite often 20
2:55
hours a day. So when my sister Gloria
2:58
and I would come home from school,
2:59
mother would have instructions for us on
3:01
this desk. Sweep the yards, bring in
3:04
stove wood, you know, feed the chickens,
3:06
things like that. So we quite often
3:09
wouldn't see our mother because she was
3:11
living in somebody else's house as a
3:12
nurse for 20 hours a day and she came
3:14
home just to change clothes and and do
3:16
some things like that. So later after I
3:18
came from the White House, we would
3:20
tease my mother that we thought this
3:22
black desk was our mother for a long
3:24
time. It's a nice And this is a hall
3:27
down that divides the house in two
3:29
parts. Exactly. The first room on the
3:31
right was my parents' home. When I was
3:34
11 years old, daddy put a windmill up
3:36
and we had running water in the house
3:37
for the first time. And daddy cut off
3:40
part of the bedroom and made a bathroom
3:41
here. Come here. I'll show you. Daddy
3:43
put in this bucket that's got holes in
3:46
the bottom. And so the water would come
3:47
from a cold windmill tank and fall in
3:50
the bucket and you could stand under
3:52
here and take a shower.
3:53
Real. So it worked like a shower.
3:56
Well, it was a shower. Sure. You want me
3:58
to stay there? I'll show you.
4:01
You can turn it on.
4:02
Absolutely. If you turn that valve.
4:03
Oh, no. I would freeze to death.
4:05
I know.
4:06
So, this is where you took most of your
4:08
meals.
4:09
Yeah.
4:09
Now, there was five of y'all,
4:11
right?
4:11
But I only see three places. So,
4:13
all the other chairs are here, though.
4:14
We had
4:15
So, y'all just
4:16
Yeah. Two of us sat over here, two of us
4:18
sat here, and daddy sat there.
4:19
And that was dad's place.
4:20
That's right. And this is where all the
4:22
cooking was done. And obviously had a
4:24
warming place up you could keep stuff
4:26
all during the day. And this is where
4:28
where we kept the stove wood cuz
4:30
obviously the fire stove was with wood.
4:33
Would you like to see my bedroom?
4:35
I'd love to see your bedroom.
4:37
To it.
4:39
This is my bedroom. The coldest place in
4:41
the house. As I said, the cold winters
4:44
is what I remember most unfavorably.
4:47
You had more covers than this, didn't
4:49
you? No, that was they we had u
4:52
comforters, you know, with with a goose
4:54
down and we would have to pick the geese
4:57
uh twice a year and daddy would would
4:59
take the down and have comforters made
5:01
of it. So it kept
5:02
So it was down is very very warm.
5:04
It was. And sometimes mama would wrap a
5:06
brick, heat it in the fire and wrap it
5:08
in the towels and put in the bottom.
5:10
Put it in your feet.
5:11
Yeah.
5:11
Why don't we go out? Let me show you the
5:13
back porch.
5:14
This was a working place. You know, this
5:16
farm was the foundation of my life. We
5:19
had a kind of a haven as a as a
5:21
close-knit family.
5:22
Well, if you had to choose one thing to
5:26
credit your political success to, what
5:29
would that be?
5:31
Well, I think the love and care that I
5:33
had for my family instilled confidence
5:35
in me that I could do whatever I set my
5:37
mind to. And I had a typical farmer's uh
5:40
determination once you start something,
5:42
never give up. I was very tenacious
5:44
about things. But I would say that it
5:47
was my connection with Plains, with our
5:49
family farm, with u our churches, with
5:52
our neighbors. So I always felt that I
5:54
had a foundation of my life. Plains was
5:58
u the stabilizing factor in my life.
6:00
I really understand.
6:02
Paul, why don't I show you the rest of
6:03
the farm?
6:04
I'd love to see it.
6:05
Let's go.
6:12
Anything?
6:13
No. No. how he worked.
6:15
[Music]
6:16
This is this on Saturday afternoons, we
6:18
would open this commissary and pay off
6:21
the workers for the week and then they
6:25
would get their groceries and their
6:26
overalls and and their shoes. And
6:29
so this was y'all store.
6:31
Yeah. kind of a basic supply where
6:34
people could get, you know, flour and
6:36
lard and sugar and coffee and and we
6:39
sold gasoline for about 16 to 20 cents a
6:44
gallon.
6:45
Well, speaking of the farm,
6:46
want to see the rest of it?
6:47
Yes, sir.
6:48
Well, why don't we take a walk?
6:49
Let's go. I'm with you.
6:53
All right.
6:55
That first little one we'll see in a
6:57
minute. Little small one.
6:59
And that's it work. Walk down and take a
7:02
look.
7:02
I would love to. Wow. Still work.
7:05
That provide. It still works. Just pour
7:07
water down. Thank you.
7:08
Well, I'm glad you've enjoyed the visit
7:10
to the pond.
7:11
I have. This has been very special being
7:14
with you, having you all to myself. But
7:17
you know what?
7:18
I know what you're thinking. Rosan's
7:20
waiting for us.
7:21
Another woman we have to consider.
7:23
And she's probably getting hungry. So,
7:25
I bet she's hungry.
7:26
You think we can cook something for her?
7:27
I'm ready to cook for her.
7:28
Let's go.
7:29
Okay.
7:31
When we come back, y'all, I'm going to
7:33
be in the kitchen with Mr. Jimmy.
7:36
Welcome back, everybody. In case you've
7:39
just joined us, I'm here in the home of
7:41
Mr. and Miss Jimmy Carter cooking up
7:43
some of his boyhood favorites like
7:46
smothered quail and creamy grits. But
7:49
first, I had something I wanted to give
7:52
my favorite southern gentleman. I
7:54
brought you something from the lady and
7:56
sons.
7:57
All right. You can't cook without an
7:59
apron. And look what it says.
8:02
All right. Look at that.
8:03
Hail to the chef.
8:05
And that would be you.
8:07
Very nice.
8:10
All right. Turn around and let me dress
8:11
you.
8:12
All right.
8:13
Hail to the chef with best dishes and
8:14
love from Paul and Dean.
8:16
All right, let's get started. Are you a
8:18
good cook?
8:19
I used to be a good cook and still a
8:20
cook. Yeah, I cook quail. I know how to
8:23
cook grits.
8:24
Well, I'll just stand back and let you
8:25
do it.
8:28
All right. So, what we're going to do is
8:30
we're going to start with two cups of
8:31
water. All right.
8:32
And a cup and a quarter of milk. Now, do
8:34
you put milk in your grits?
8:35
No, but I'm willing to try it.
8:37
Okay. Well, to me, it just makes them
8:39
creamier.
8:40
I love creamy creamy grits.
8:43
And it's important, you know, to to salt
8:46
your Look at You're supposed to be doing
8:48
this and I'm up there doing
8:49
All right, but we forgot one thing. We
8:50
forgot the grits.
8:51
What do Well, there's the grits, but we
8:53
got to wait for the water to boil. And
8:55
plus, we're going to put some butter in
8:56
there, too, to ensure that that kind of
8:59
keeps our grits separated.
9:01
So, if you want to put a table couple of
9:03
tablespoons of butter,
9:04
right?
9:06
And you can go ahead and give me Well,
9:08
I've got some butter over here. I'll go
9:09
ahead and get my own butter over here
9:11
because I'm going to get our quail
9:13
started.
9:14
Absolutely.
9:14
What you're going to do, I think your
9:16
pan's good and hot. It is.
9:17
You're going to throw in a half a cup of
9:19
celery.
9:20
Is this this?
9:21
Yes, sir.
9:22
No, that's a half a cup. All of that.
9:24
That's right.
9:26
And uh
9:28
it's a half a cup of mushrooms. It looks
9:30
like more, but it does.
9:31
Look at this sauté man go, y'all.
9:35
Okay. And onions, too.
9:36
Yes, sir. And the onions.
9:38
Wow.
9:41
Well, it's going to have a lot of
9:42
flavors going on in it and it's going to
9:45
produce that wonderful, wonderful gravy.
9:49
Okay.
9:49
All right, Mr. Jimmy, you're boiling
9:51
now.
9:51
All right. That's true. It really is
9:53
boiling.
9:54
Yes, sir.
9:54
This will cool it down. Then we'll turn
9:56
then I'll turn the heat down.
9:57
Then we'll have to turn it down. Now,
9:59
this is the important spot right here uh
10:02
for stirring. It's important that you
10:04
stir those.
10:05
I will
10:06
real real good, right? Like right now.
10:09
You want me to stir it?
10:10
Oh, they'll clump. Look at here. This
10:12
This makes the best grit stir right
10:15
there cuz it separates them.
10:18
Oh, those are going to be wonderful
10:19
grits. person I've ever had with milk in
10:22
it.
10:23
Really?
10:23
Yeah. But I'm looking forward to
10:24
Well, you know, if there's a way to add
10:25
a calorie, Paula can do it.
10:29
So, we got our quail over here,
10:31
Mr. Jimmy, in our casserole dish. And
10:33
you can see we're not going to fry those
10:35
or anything. We're going to make this
10:37
wonderful
10:39
sauce over here to go on them.
10:41
Oh, I see. So, we make the sauce over
10:42
here and put on the Yes, sir.
10:44
And what you need to do right now is
10:46
just toss in that flour. kind of just
10:48
shake it like you would salt
10:51
and stir. And that's going to make
10:53
everything tight for us.
10:55
Right.
10:58
I'm getting hungry already.
10:59
I'm hungry, too.
11:02
Perfect.
11:05
And this is just a simple browning
11:07
sauce, y'all. And it's going to help
11:09
give our gravy some color.
11:15
Oh, we
11:16
How is it?
11:17
It's yummy. Stick your finger in it.
11:20
It's not too hot.
11:23
That is great.
11:25
Okay, Mr. Jimmy, bring that on over
11:26
here.
11:27
And let's pour it over our quail.
11:30
Oh, wow.
11:32
Right there. Right there.
11:36
All right. So, Mr. Jimmy, I Yes, sir.
11:38
I'll do that.
11:39
Grab the tin foil and we're going to
11:41
cover it. All right. Now, I'm going to
11:42
just smear this. All right.
11:45
Evenly over there.
11:49
I'll try.
11:50
Yes, sir.
11:52
All right. Let's put this in the oven
11:54
and we're going to we're going to keep
11:57
an eye on the time
11:59
and we're going to let that cook for 20
12:01
minutes.
12:01
It's got a timer on it.
12:02
Okay, good.
12:04
After 20 minutes, we're going to pull it
12:06
out. We're going to take the liquid and
12:08
mix it with some sour cream and then
12:10
pour it back over those quail.
12:13
All right. And when we come back, y'all,
12:15
the first lady is going to be joining us
12:17
to help bake up some scrumptious pecan
12:21
tassies.
12:23
Welcome back to my very special time
12:26
with Mr. Miss Carter. And I'm inside
12:28
their beautiful home in Plains, Georgia.
12:31
While Mr. Jimmy's smothered quail is
12:33
baking, I want to make some southern
12:35
pecan tassis. So, I got Miss Rosland
12:38
started on the sweet pecan filling, and
12:41
then Mr. Jimmy and I got to work on the
12:43
crust. All right, Miss Rosen, what I
12:46
want you to do is take your brown sugar
12:49
and just dump it in your bowl.
12:52
And I'm going to pour the melted butter
12:54
over it. About a half a stick of melted
12:57
butter. And now, if you'll break your
13:00
eggs into another bowl, you want to
13:02
break your eggs and put them in a bowl
13:05
first in case there's it turns out that
13:08
it's not such a good egg. So rather than
13:11
messing up our dish, we're going to
13:12
crack one egg at a time and then just
13:14
toss them over in there. All right. Now,
13:16
all you need to do is mix that together.
13:19
And then I got you a 10 oz bag of like
13:22
toffee bits
13:23
and a cup of pecans and add a teaspoon
13:27
of vanilla to it. Our filling is going
13:29
to be ready to go. So y'all can see how
13:31
easy this is. It's like it's really like
13:33
a pecan pie filling.
13:35
And Mr. Jimmy, what I need for you to do
13:39
is unroll this crust. You
13:41
mind if I put
13:42
No, sir. No, sir. There's you some
13:44
flour. And look, I even got a smiley
13:46
face on that flower waiting on you.
13:48
So, all we're doing here is using just a
13:51
a refrigerator pie crust because it's
13:55
it's good and it's so easy and so
13:57
simple. So, all you have to do is take
14:01
your biscuit cutter.
14:03
All right. Dip it in your flour and then
14:06
check just take your cutter and go
14:07
around and I'll put your pie crust in
14:10
for you. Just stick your finger in
14:13
there. There you go. And push it out and
14:16
I'll bring them over here.
14:19
Perfect.
14:21
All right. So, now we've all got our
14:23
jobs.
14:24
Good production.
14:26
Yes, it is. But we've got some time on
14:28
our hands
14:30
while we're doing our
14:33
little tassies,
14:34
right?
14:35
So, why don't we gossip? Oh,
14:37
that's a good idea. You know any good
14:39
telling gossip?
14:40
I don't I don't know. I was counting on
14:42
you to tell me.
14:44
Well, I can tell you we had been in the
14:46
Navy for after we got married for seven
14:49
years and I had the best job in the
14:51
Navy. I was working for Admiral Rickova
14:53
developing the second atomic submarine
14:56
and uh I came home when my father was
14:58
dying and I saw life in Plains, Georgia
15:02
and I saw what my father meant to the
15:04
community and uh I just decided I don't
15:08
know why to get out of the Navy and I
15:11
had always meant for it to be my life
15:12
career and I went back to connected in
15:15
New York and told Rosen that we were
15:17
getting out of the Navy and she
15:20
didn't like it. I mean that's putting it
15:22
mildly. So we finally got cleared from
15:25
the Navy and we drove home
15:28
from Skenctity to Plains
15:31
about almost 900 miles. She never spoke
15:33
to me all the way to Plains.
15:36
I've heard this story a lot of time. I
15:38
don't believe it's true.
15:39
When she wanted if she had to go to if
15:42
she had to go to the bathroom, she would
15:43
say, "Jack, tell your daddy I need to go
15:45
to the bathroom."
15:46
As much.
15:46
I remember it well.
15:50
Why did you not want him to leave the
15:52
Navy?
15:53
Because I was enjoying it. He had really
15:55
good duty. He was had one three-month
15:58
cruise that in that seven years.
16:00
The we had two years in Hawaii. I mean,
16:02
it was fun.
16:03
Oh my goodness. That was fabulous,
16:05
wasn't it?
16:07
Kind of slow, but perfect.
16:09
Perfect.
16:10
That's That's kind of my life.
16:12
That's right. Do you still use oldtimey?
16:15
Well, actually in my in my wood shop, I
16:17
made one that that um the cracks between
16:19
that you you put it like that and do it
16:22
like that
16:22
because I'm a I'm a furniture maker, so
16:24
it wasn't hard to make.
16:26
Now, what kind of nuts are these? Are
16:27
these
16:28
like slimes?
16:29
We used to call them paper shells when I
16:31
was
16:31
paper shells.
16:32
Paper shells.
16:33
Hard to correct.
16:35
It's hard to sell them as fast as some
16:37
people eat.
16:38
Oh, really?
16:42
Who would you be talking about?
16:45
Well, do you think the quilt about
16:46
ready?
16:47
Yes, sir. I think they're probably about
16:48
ready.
16:48
Okay. And the grits are ready. All
16:49
right.
16:50
Um, and the tassis, we're going to
16:52
probably cook them for about 12 minutes.
16:54
And Miss Roslin, if you want to go get
16:57
comfortable, Mr. Jimmy and I are going
16:58
to wait on you tonight, and we're going
17:01
to pull this meal together.
17:03
Okay.
17:03
Now, where do y'all normally eat, Miss
17:05
Roslin?
17:06
Well, when we're at home by ourselves,
17:08
we eat um with trays on and sit on the
17:11
sofa.
17:12
Wonderful. Can we do that tonight? eat
17:13
for tonight's
17:14
she's a boss.
17:16
Will you?
17:16
That's right. I forgot.
17:18
May we eat in there?
17:19
Put your company. We'll put you a little
17:20
table.
17:21
Oh, I I I I'm not company.
17:24
I want to be treated like family. Great.
17:26
Okay, that's great.
17:28
So,
17:28
Ros, you go relax.
17:29
Uhhuh.
17:29
We'll get this supper ready.
17:31
Okay, that sounds great.
17:32
Why don't you get the TV trays ready for
17:34
us?
17:35
Okay.
17:35
And then we'll have everything else and
17:37
you sit down and just look pretty.
17:40
I'll sit down.
17:44
You know, y'all, I can't believe my life
17:46
sometimes being invited back to Plains,
17:49
Georgia to cook and dine with our 39th
17:52
president, Mr. Jimmy. He and I made a
17:54
delicious meal from his boyhood days,
17:57
smothered baked quail and creamy grits,
18:00
while Miss Rosland topped our dinner off
18:03
making these wonderful little sweet
18:05
pecan tassies. And just in case there
18:08
was any doubt, the Carters really are as
18:10
simple and warm as any southerners you
18:13
could meet. In fact, it seems so natural
18:16
for just the three of us to sit there
18:18
enjoy our meal the way the two of them
18:20
pretty much do every night when they're
18:23
not entertaining. That is
18:25
So, what do you think of the meal, Mr.
18:27
Jimmy?
18:27
Oh, this is one of the best meals I've
18:29
ever had.
18:29
Uh oh. Are you serious? No, the the
18:32
recipes are wonderful and the and the
18:34
chefs
18:36
obviously a consmate.
18:41
I totally agree.
18:44
Who's ready for dessert?
18:46
I am.
18:47
I am too.
18:50
Ain't that yummy?
18:51
That is really great.
18:54
M.
18:55
How'd you like planes?
18:57
You know I love planes.
18:59
You know, you don't need an invitation
19:01
to come back to Plains. But
19:03
thank you.
19:04
This is something we rarely give out and
19:06
that's a key.
19:07
No.
19:08
To the city of Plains.
19:10
No.
19:11
City of Plains on it. And we want you to
19:13
feel that even when I'm not here and
19:15
Ros's not here and we don't invite you
19:16
special. Just come on over because you
19:19
now are a citizen of Plains, Georgia.
19:22
Sweet. No. Does this fit the vault? You
19:25
can if if it doesn't, you just tell
19:29
anybody they'll do what you want.
19:32
You all wonder Thank you for these
19:34
dishes. They're really
19:35
Oh, you're welcome. You know, these are
19:37
by Gail Pitman and I just love her work
19:41
and I I'm o I'm overcome. I don't think
19:43
I have a key to any city.
19:45
No, you do.
19:46
Y'all are so sweet and so special to me.
19:49
Um,
19:50
thank you.
19:51
This is really going to be a hard close.
19:53
This is going to be hard for me to say
19:55
goodbye today. Um
19:59
because the time has been so special.
20:02
As for us,
20:03
I'm I'm truly had the privilege of
20:05
sitting here with some of the most
20:08
wonderful people uh in America. They
20:11
they they never forgot from where they
20:14
came and they do everything in their
20:17
power to be their brother's keeper.
20:21
I'm truly sitting right next to the
20:24
greatest humanitarian walking the face
20:27
of the earth today.
20:29
And and y'all are so kind to let me come
20:32
into your home and share uh with the
20:36
world out there just exactly uh the kind
20:39
of people you are. And I don't I don't
20:42
know what else to say other than I love
20:45
y'all. Uh and I love my time with you.
20:48
And until next time, America, the
20:51
Carters and I wish you best dishes from
20:54
our kitchen to yours.
20:57
You blessed our home.
20:59
Thank you.
#Food & Drink
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