Me and My Boy

This is a face only a mother could love, y'all

Today, it's me and my boy Jamie here in the kitchen, and we're starting off a dish that you can be very creative with

a marinated vegetable salad. You're only limited by your imagination. Then I'm gonna knock Jamie's socks right off, y'all

with our pork chops with cheesy grits and bacon. This may be the best thing I've ever eaten on your show

Really? I'm not kidding. And finally, I got the cutest young friend coming by to help me finish up our extravagant Mississippi mud cake with me and my boy

Way to go, boy. Thank you, Mama. Thank you very much. Hey, y'all

Welcome to Best Dishes Today. I'm gonna be in the kitchen with my boy

Hey, Mama. Hey, son. How are you? I sure would like a piece of Mississippi mud pie

I can handle that for you. Hey, y'all. Never know what my boy's up to, I tell you

Well, today, y'all, he's going to be helping me make my Mississippi mud cake

And it is one fine cake. Y'all, wait. When the batter looks like mud is how it got its name

Muddy water. I mean, it's real thin. So you're going to get our creaming of our sugar and our butter

I've got three cups of sugar, y'all, that I'm going to cream up with two sticks of butter, which equals out to one cup

Melted butter, y'all. Melted butter, y'all. So I'm going to get that going. And you've got three eggs and your vanilla flavoring

So while Jamie's creaming that, I'm going to come down here and I'm going to measure out our dry ingredients

I'm going to need two and three quarters a cup of all-purpose flour

That's a fine start. Sounds like a great cake to me

Two and three quarters. So there we go. Our two teaspoons of baking soda

And I'm going to put in a half a teaspoon of salt

now i'm just gonna take my whisk and whisk those together okay mom i've got our sugar and our

buttercream so i'm gonna add my three eggs okay you want to help me with the cocoa mom yeah i will

and you know what that just sticking to that pot was about a tablespoon of butter and i'm not gonna

let that butter escape me. Never have. Okay, Mama, I've got a teaspoon of vanilla going in

All right. One and a quarter cup of unsweetened cocoa, y'all. All right

I'm just going to mix that in with my flour. Like I said, this is going to be so, so

thin because we've got our cup and a half of buttermilk and then we've got our water

that's going in. All right, now we're going to alternate the flour

and the buttermilk into Jamie's creamed butter and sugar. This is easy to remember

We're going to start dry and dry. There you go. There's your spatula so we can keep those edges down

See, that's already starting to look mighty fine. There's no way you can mess up

if you start with three cups of sugar and two sticks of butter, y'all. That is a..

That's a good start for sure. You know, if you're like me and just had male children

that doesn't matter because the guys like to cook too. Don't think just because you got all sons that you can't get in the kitchen

and have a good time with them because you can. I always like to eat is why I always like to cook

Jack was so cute. Your Uncle Bubba had a birthday last month

Jack was sick, so he couldn't come to Bubba's birthday dinner, but Jack made him a cake

He said, well, if I can't go to the party, I'm going to make Uncle Bubba a birthday cake

All right, that's the last of the buttermilk, y'all. Yeah, we need to scrape those sides good

and while you're doing that, son, I'm going to measure out a cup and a half of boiling water

Perfect. I wish y'all could smell this. I know. How good it smells

I know. While you got that lid up, son, I'm just going to take this and add the last of the flour, okay

Watch your blouse. Okay. And if you put our speed on the lowest setting son because I don want to walk away with a brown and white polka dot shirt Or scalding burns Yes Okay You can turn it on that first There you go See how thin that batter is y

Looks like mud. You know how I usually measure a cake out, son

Mm-hmm. But this is so thin. We're just gonna pour it? Yeah, we're just gonna pour and eyeball it

All right, son, that's it. Now, I'm gonna spray our pans, y'all

We're gonna do it in layers today. I love the way a layer cake looks

All right, there's one, son. Here's the second one coming up. Okey-doke

Just pour it in. There you go

You want to go over to the other one? Okay, son. Yum

Yum. Now we're going to put this in the oven, y'all. 350 degrees for 45 minutes

but, you know, always start checking your cake about 10 minutes before your cooking time's up

because ovens vary, and you don't want to burn this cake. All right, so I'll catch the door on the oven

Okay. It's going to be delicious. Y'all come back. Way to go, boy

Thank you, Mama. Thank you very much. Coming up next, we're making a marinated vegetable salad

that's the perfect complement to any meal. It's the perfect summer salad that you can have year-round

And then Jamie can't believe it, y'all. We got pork chops and cheesy grits coming up

Y'all might not believe everything you see on TV, but you can believe this. And later, don't forget about our mud cake

We're topping it off with something special, y'all. I'm here in the kitchen with my boy

I'm here with my mama. And we got our Mississippi mud cake in the oven

It's baking away, and it's going to be so delicious. And now we're doing our beautiful marinated vegetable salad

Jack eats a lot of these type of dishes, doesn't he? He loves vegetables

And I know, too, one of my favorite things, the broccoli salad that you used to make when we were kids growing up

With the raisins. I love raw vegetables. I've got cauliflower, zucchini, carrots

I've got a not too spicy, but a little spicy jar of cherried peppers

And I tell you what, you can go to Philadelphia, son, some of my favorite places there

I always get me a Philly steak and cheese. And they serve these peppers on the side

And I've not known them to be hot. Full of flavor, but not heat

So you're going to handle the dressing live? I'm going to handle the dressing. And I've got me a nice fat clove of garlic here, y'all

And I'm going to mince it up real, real good, real fine

I used to make these a lot, Jamie, catering for the bag lady

They would be so gorgeous, and I'd just put everything but the kitchen sink in them

I'd put pickled okra and olives and just have all this grand color

I mean, anything you want. You're only limited by your imagination. Now, I'm making a very, very simple dressing for these

I'm going to use about a half a cup of olive oil. and a half a cup

And I'm going to need a quarter of a cup of white vinegar. And that's going to bring my measurements up to three quarters of a cup

I'm going to add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Now this is something that y'all can do ahead of time for your parties

and it's a perfect complement for anything that you might be barbecuing outside. This is a great, great side dish

This needs to sit in the refrigerator and marinate at least for two hours, y'all

So, yes, this is one of those great salads you can make the day before or the morning of

Now I'm going to add a half a teaspoon of sugar. And I'm going to add one tablespoon of Italian herbs and seasoning

And a little salt and pepper. I'm adding a half a teaspoon of each

now I'm just going to whisk this up and then we're just going to pour it over our

vegetables and let all those flavors marry together mmm

that's very good but I'm going to add one more half a teaspoon of salt

All depends on your palate and what you like. Because what one person likes

another may not. But around here, we all like what Mama likes. Okay

Mmm. This is good. That olive oil gives it kind of an

olive-y taste. Yeah, now if Bobby Dean was here today, there would definitely be olives in here

There would definitely be olives in here. All right. If you want to pour this on here mama I just gonna give this kind of a quick turn to coat everything and we cover this And you want to put this in the refrigerator for a couple hours before you serve it Look how beautiful that salad is

It's gorgeous. So I'm just going to drizzle this on. And you got you some plastic wrap right there, son

You can cover this up. All right, son, I'm going to get our pan to heat down here

because we've got four beautiful pork chops that we're going to sear off

We're going to serve those on top of grits. What? Yes, pork chops, boy, pork chops

I do love pork chops. Yes, you do. Now, for our pork chops, I'm just going to season them just with salt and pepper

And we're going to serve these pork chops, Jamie, on top of grits

As I go up north and travel, I'm seeing grits more and more on menus

You see grit cakes. Even outside of the south. So I'm going to take a little olive oil

and then I'm just going to add two tablespoons of butter. All right

I'm going to stick this in the refrigerator, Mom. Okay, you can just stick it right there in that drawer, son

And what can I do to help you? Not a thing, but just stay with me

Hang with your mama. I like the thickness of these pork chops, son

They're not real thick, but they're kind of thick. I like them about that size in the pan, but if I'm going out to the grill, I like big-sized chops

Oh, me too. Me too. I like an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half

Got them going? I got them going, sonny boy. When we come back, y'all, we're going to get started on our grits

And this ain't your everyday grit. This is a cheese and bacon grit

Yes. And that's where those pork chops are going to live. Yes. So y'all come back. Thanks

Up next, we're finishing our grits and getting this meal ready for a taste

I've almost swallowed my tongue, y'all. And later, a special friend stops by to help us finish up our cake

It's a big piece of cake. It's as big as your head

Welcome back, y'all. Now, we got our pork chops going. I'm just going to flip these over

And one of my favorite things in the world are grits. And, Mama, we're using a great recipe

Look at these pork chops. They're perfect. Now, we're going to boil our grits in straight milk this morning

And our milk is scalded. It's not boiling yet, but that's all right

We can go ahead and put our grits. We have five cups of milk, and we're going to put in one cup of five-minute grits

Okay. Now, my recommendation to y'all is, just because the package says five minutes

don't mean they're going to be ready in five minutes. Even five minutes needs 30 minutes when you're cooking grits

And I keep some heavy cream around, so once it tightens up, always..

If it needs some more liquid. Yep. And it always does. So this milk is going to make them very, very creamy

And son, did you salt the milk? I did. Okay, because if you don't salt your grits..

You will never get them salty enough. You will never get them salty enough. You need that whole thing of salt right there to just get these salty enough

All right, now son, you fried off some bacon because we're double porking it

with this dish. Now, a must-have ingredient that goes in our pot is butter

Surprise! Into my pot. And that just helps keep a grip on those grits

And so I'm going to go back down here now because we're going to put some cheese in our grits

And I'm going to use a cheddar cheese. And, you know, we're not going to put a whole bunch

a quarter of a cup, a third of a cup. but I tell you what, if you like cheesy grits

then put you a cup in there. Doesn't that look good? Well, I've way got a quarter of a cup

So I'll come down here, and I'll chop up our bacon, and I'm just gonna give our bacon a rough chop

I think the recipe calls for four slices, so we're having eight. Yes

Because why have less when you can have more? Now, Mama, these grits are just about ready for our stuff

I'm going to go back down here and add the cheese, Jamie. Yep. And I'm going to add our bacon

Okay. Yes. Wow, kabow. This is fabulous, son. That is going to be awesome

Look at that. I'm telling you what, son. That is one fine pot of grits

Is that mine, son? It can be. Okay, that's a plenty. All right, now I'm going to top that with another pat of butter

and I'm going to come in here and just nestle my pork chop

And, y'all, I've got kale out in my garden, and I just stuck some of this in the oven and just baked it off

and I'm going to use that as our garnish. Look at that

A little piece of kale Great day in the morning Y see that I fixing to eat it Come on down here son

I've almost swallowed my tongue, y'all. This is so gorgeous. Yes. You know, at this point, are you really worried about salad

No. No, I'm really not. I'm going to taste it first before I get distracted

Okay, well, you just go ahead. And as these grits cool down, they get thicker and thicker

So we have wound up almost in the middle of what is a fork and a spoon grit

This is really awesome, Mom. This is so stinking good. Okay, enough of vegetables

You know, and this makes a fabulous breakfast, brunch, or dinner, doesn't it, Jamie

Are you having a moment, son? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb y'all

This may be the best thing I've ever eaten on your show. Really? I'm not kidding

I guess it's all what you love, and y'all know I love pork chops, and I do so love grits

Y'all might not believe everything you see on TV, but you can believe this

This pork chop and these grits, the best thing I've put in my mouth in a long time. Well, son, I'm so glad you love it

Damn, Mama. I know, boy. And it's only getting better, y'all. When we come back, we're going to finish our Mississippi Mud Cake

Mm-hmm. Coming up next, my new friend Dagny is helping us taste test

one of the most decadent desserts this show has ever seen, y'all

Three thumbs up. Hey, y'all, welcome back. Jamie and I are in here in the kitchen with a precious friend of ours

from New York. Her name is Dagny, and I love that name

Where did you get that name, Precious? My grandma is Norwegian, and I was named after her

Okay, so it's a Norwegian name. Well, she has agreed to come in and help Jamie

with the frosting of this cake. We've got our Mississippi mud cake out of the oven

It's cooled. I want to tell y'all something interesting about Dagny. She's nine years old, and she's standing on a wooden block back here, y'all

So she appears taller than she is, but she's a horsewoman. Mm-hmm

My pony's name's Spider-Man. Spider-Man. Oh, I like that. So you jump, and you want to one day go to the Olympics in the equestrian event, right

Mm-hmm. Which I think that's wonderful dagging. Can I frost it? Sure you can

This is just the filling right now, Dagny. And Jamie is actually going to make the frosting that we're going to frost this with

Right after we put our second cake layer on top. It's an awesome icing, y'all

I've got six cups of powdered sugar, a cup of butter, two sticks that I've melted

Dagny's going to add 10 ounces of unsweetened chocolate for us. And I'm going to cream this up a little bit

We're going to do one teaspoon of vanilla. Good job. and then I'm going to blend in

eight ounces of cream cheese. So this is a classic Dean family icing

that we're doing. Do tell Auntie Paula Dagny what you cook. I usually cook apple pie

chocolate chip cookies, and crepes. Wow. I love all of those things

I do too. Okay, Jamie has got our icing made perfectly, Dagny

and you can help me I put a little icing up there on top of the cake, and we're just going to bring it down, and we're going to frost the sides of our cake

So I'm going to come back in with a little bit more icing and cover that white, and we're done

All right, Dagny, now we're just going to slip out our wax paper just like that

And look, isn't that gorgeous? Mm-hmm. And then we can top it with some mini marshmallows

That looks yummy. And we've got some chopped pecans, too. And finally, we're topping it off with some chocolate syrup, y'all

I think we got a masterpiece. Uh-huh. Awesome. Good job. I'll cut

Look, look, look. Here we go. Whoa. Whoa. That looks like..

How is that for a piece of cake? Is that as big as your head

Yeah, it's like as tall as my head. It's a big piece of cake

That's the way we like our cakes, Dagny. All right, you ready

Yum! Yum! Three thumbs up. Do you know what I say at the end of every show

I give you love and best dishes from my kitchen to yours

That's exactly right