Meet Me in Savannah

Here on Best Dishes, we're saying, meet us in Savannah, y'all

I got the meat, girls. Look at this meat right here. Dustin Walls, general manager of the Lady and Sons

is helping me make some of our restaurant's favorites. Starting with roasted fingerling potatoes

I adore roasted vegetables, y'all. And then southern-style steaks with gorgonzola butter

Butter. Butter? That's all I gotta say. Then we're going to be mixing up our lady and son salad that we're topping with our homemade blue cheese dressing

Finally, my specialty from my days in the kitchen, a volcano cake as hot as lava

Here's to meet you in Savannah, baby. Dustin is a wonderful cook

He started out in the restaurant, y'all, cooking hoe cakes. I'm so proud of this young man

Dustin is like the third Dean, son. if you ever have a problem in that restaurant

you just call him. Isn't that right? I'm there every day. So let's get started on the first dish

the roasted fingerling potatoes. All right, Paula, I'm cutting up this onion

and I'm going to ask you to have those fingerling potatoes. We've got a little fennel here

Fennel as well. I'm going to slice that up. Love fennel. It's like a big old ball of licorice, y'all

We've got about three pounds of fingerling potatoes. They're kind of a gourmet potato, y'all

And we're also sauteing some bacon. We cut the bacon into half-inch little slivers

We're going to use all that bacon juice and just mix it all together. That's my boy

Just how you like it. Dustin used that whole pound of bacon, y'all

So how's things going at the restaurant? We're staying steady. The boys are there about every day

Good, good. You keep those boys to work in, Dustin. You keep them straight, okay

God knows Mama needs all the help she can get. And little Jack

Little Jack takes up a lot of Jamie's terms. He's good looking. I remember the first day I saw him, I was like, well, that's my new boss

Goo goo ga ga. That's all he had to say. Goo goo ga ga. Yes, sir, I'm on it

Tell me what to do, honey. Put those potatoes in the bowl

Okey-doke. Add one onion sliced. Okay. And we've got to slice that fennel, too

Oh, okay. And if you want, because this won't take long, we can go ahead and put that bacon grease in there and toss it all together

Let's do that. Let's see why I love my baby boy. He's after Paula's heart

Bacon grease, come on. Look at that. Okay, there you go. Now pour every bit of it over in there

That's what we want, and we're done with that. Okay. You want me to kind of toss these? Toss it, and here's some fennel

Okay. And you just kind of did that like you would an onion

Here we go. Smells so good. Yep, looks looking good. Those are nice and coated

It's beautiful. Yes. You're going to add a little salt and pepper. So we're going to roast these, you say

Yep, we're going to roast them for about 40 minutes at 450 degrees. This is wonderful

I adore roasted vegetables, y'all. Oh, Dustin. It's looking good. Uh-huh. All right, so you want to put that in the oven

Yes, ma'am. And then tell us what you plan to cook next, Dustin

We're going to do a southern-style steak today, and we're going to top it off with caramelized onions and a gorgonzola butter

Now, we're going to caramelize these onions for about 20 minutes to a nice and brown

And it's going to, like, bring out the sweetness. When you caramelize those, y'all

you would swear that these onions are grown in sugar instead of salt

So delicious. I'm going to slice four Vidalia onions. Okay. We're going to add two tablespoons of butter

Okay, I'll be the judge of that. Yeah, you'll be the judge of that. You got the best eye

We get so many people to talk about our steaks. People know us for the southern home cooking that you make

And you've made famous. But our steaks, I have so many people that say they're the best they've eaten

Great cut of meat, prepared perfect. They are so shocked, y'all. And cut it with a fork

So we're going to let these caramelize for about 20 minutes. About 20 minutes

So let's start next with Lady and Son's favorites, blue cheese dressing. It is

One that you made famous. I'm telling you, I wish I could figure out how we could bottle this, Dustin

Me too. But it's got to be homemade. It's just... It's got to be homemade

It's so good. So tell me the measurements. Three-fourths cup of mayo

And I'll just eyeball that. Do you want a good premium mayonnaise

Let's do three tablespoons of sour cream. Yeah, you don't want much sour cream

You want the sour cream to help make it creamy, but you don't want that flavor to come through

So, just a little bit. All right, now how much lemon juice, Dustin

I'm just going to use half a lemon. All right, we're going to do a pinch of silly salt

Our silly salt y is a seasoning that I love to use in cold things like dressings chicken salad shrimp salad Correct And you know it a combination of spices and some garlic powder Garlic yeah We going to do a teaspoon All righty

We call our dressing a blue cheese dressing, but blue cheese is very, very strong

So trying to please people across the board over the years, they have changed it in the kitchen to gorgonzola

And gorgonzola is a mild blue cheese. Still delicious. You see, it looks like blue cheese, but it's just not as hard hitting

We're going to put about eight ounces. About eight ounces. Now we're going to put some red wine vinegar

Now how much? Two tablespoons should be about right. Okay, go. And a little buttermilk

I like buttermilk better than I do plain milk. You know, because buttermilk's thicker

And that flavor is a little bit more strong, too. I'm not going to put but a drop, because we're making a very, very small amount

here. How much do we use to make it? We make it every morning, about five gallons

of blue cheese dressing fresh. Do you think they like it? And we run out at the end of the night

every night. No, you don't mean it. I like to take the

spatula and mash that cheese up in it. And that causes the flavor

to explode into your ingredients quicker. And last, we're just going to hit it with a

pinch of cracked pepper. And I'll take over the stirring. There you go

That's perfect. I got to stick my finger in here and just see if we're on the money, y'all

Sure. Perfect. Oh, yeah. Perfect. We're on the money. For sure. Gosh, it's so good

Coming up, we are cooking some fabulous steaks, y'all, with a tasty gorgonzola butter

And then we're pulling together a salad to dress with our creamy blue cheese dressing

I'm about to swallow my tongue, y'all. And later, we're bringing back an old favorite

It's my famous volcano cake, y'all. So, look at these steaks Dustin's brought in

Good job, baby. Thank you, thank you. Look at those beautiful tenderloins

I love tenderloin. No wonder you can eat them with a fork. Exactly

This is a fine quality steak. What we're going to do is a southern steak

and we're going to top it off with our caramelized onions and gorgonzola butter. It's going to be good

Does that sound delicious or what, y'all? And sometimes I think less is more

Correct. So what do you think about your salt and pepper in them? Yep, just a little salt and pepper should do it

And I kind of like to, you know, press the seasonings in. Salt, pepper, and butter is all you need

to make a fabulous steak. You're not going wrong with that combination

And I'm finishing off these caramelized onions. All right, now let's talk about temperatures a little bit, Dustin

You're like Michael. You like yours kind of on the rare side. Yes, ma'am. I like mine on the medium rare side

So what do you recommend the cooking time be for a rare steak

For me, I do mine about three to four minutes on each side. Okay

And then we'll pick it up to about four to six minutes for the medium rare

Now, I'm just going to spray our grill with a little nonstick spray. So how about if I put mine on first

Sounds good. Let's do that. And then hopefully we'll have a medium rare steak and a steak that's more rare

So I'll start making our gorgonzola butter. Yep. Now I'm going to start our salad

We're just going to do some wild greens, half a red onion, and we've got some peppers, which you can get any pepper you like

And you're just going to clean those real good, slice them into little rings, and then we're going to put it all together with our mixed greens

You could use really anything that you liked, couldn't you? Compound butters are so easy to make, y'all

Don't ever miss the opportunity to just bring your dish up a little bit with some butter

Okay, so I'm going to take one stick of butter that is at room temperature

And what do you think, Dustin, on the guacamole? Three tablespoons or really just however much you like

Okay, so just a couple. Now just take a fork and I'm just going to work that cheese into that butter

We make a lot of butters at the restaurant. We make crab butters

Oh, it's so good. We make sweet butters. We make savory butters

You just put the flavors that you like and work them into the butter

All right, Dustin, I'm gonna add your steak now, okay? Sounds good, perfect. What I'm gonna do is stick this

into the refrigerator drawer so it can chill. Sounds good. While we're getting everything else ready

How's that? Turn these onions and clean these peppers. So right in there it goes

Oh, Gonzalo butter, y'all. You want to stir those onions for me

I will stir those onions. You know, and it may take longer than 20 minutes

depending on how many you're doing and how big your potty is

But those are sweating down pretty good. All right, now I'm just going to kind of take my steak

and I'm going to turn it that way, so I can get my grill mark in a cross formation I am a big advocate of only turning a steak one time Me too That key I like to seal it on one side and seal it on the other

There's different methods that you can use to see if your steak is the right temperature

My favorite method, Dustin, is the old hand way. You would start with a real loose fist and mash right there in the fatty part of your hand

That is what a rare steak feels like. It sure is. Do you agree

I learned that method the first time I started cooking. Then you tighten your hand a little bit more

That's the feel of a medium rare. You tighten it a little bit more

That's the feeling of a medium steak. You make a fist hard as you can

That's a well done. It's over. Which don't fool with that. Don't fool with a well done steak

If you're going to eat a well done steak, have a hamburger. Exactly. A lot cheaper

All right, look at this, y'all. Look at those beautiful grill marks

I think that's probably ready to turn for you. I didn't kick it too long

No, ma'am. It's going to be perfect. I'll get our potatoes while you're finishing that

Sounds good. These look delicious. Oh, this is beautiful. It's kind of roasted down

So good. Look at that. Now we're just going to take that bacon we sauteed earlier, mix it all in

Drum roll. Drum roll. It's all you. I'm just going to use it all

You can never have too much bacon. No. Oh, those are not hot

No, I got cook hands. These ain't hot, you know. You know, our hands

do get really tough in the restaurant business. That looks delicious. Yes

Y'all don't go anywhere because I am looking forward to wrapping my lips

around that steak. Coming up next, we're finally going to dive into this meal

Butter. Butter? That's all I got to say. Then, y'all, we're making my favorite dessert, volcano cake

And later, a special topping that's just going to melt in your mouth

I so want to just give y'all a bite. Hey, welcome back

Today, I'm in the kitchen with the gem of the Lady and Sons, Dustin Walls

Dustin has put us together a fabulous meal, and I'm going to give you the honors of plating this, okay

Get some of those caramelized onions. I'm about to swallow my tongue, y'all

That beautiful butter you made. I'm going to do kind of a big. Yeah

That's going to be the best part. I'm going to move mine out of the way

and I'll come down here, and I'll dress our salad. Oh, and Dustin, I found you some candied walnuts

Oh, that's going to be so good. You know, I can't operate a kitchen without nuts. Got to have them

I'll get me a little salad. You're getting some of these potatoes

Oh, Dustin. All I can think of is this fabulous piece of meat

Look at that. Perfect. I'm going to make sure I smear some butter on that piece

You've got to have some butter. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Butter. Butter? That's all I gotta say

Butter? Butter. I love those little fingerling potatoes. And how about the salad

I love the purple onion. I'm gonna take a Jamie Dean bite, it looks like

It's pretty good. I guess he learned it from his mother. Well, Dustin, I could throw my face down on that plate

Not bringing it up until the plate was clean, but we got a dessert to make, son

Let's do it. This volcano cake was one of my specialties at the Lady and Sons

I've got an old 13x9x2 pan. Would you spray that for me

I sure will. This is like our gooey butter cakes. You know you can really shake this up and make so many different flavors

I'm going to start with a German chocolate cake mix. And Dustin, if you would just kind of help me throw everything in

Yes, ma'am. Just tell me what to do. We're just gonna mix this up just like the directions tell us to on the box

Okay, three eggs a little oil and water and if you would just whip that up

Now to my pan. I'm gonna add one cup of Sweetened coconut flakes and you see I'm just eyeballing it

But I'm just gonna make sure it covers the bottom of our pan Now on top of our coconut. I'm gonna use a cup of pecans and you can change this up

You can use walnuts, almonds, you know, the nut of your choice

Really does not matter. All right, so Dustin, that looks perfect. Uh-huh

Here's the kicker, y'all. We are fixing to fold into this cake a little bite-sized candy

Please have one. It's one of my favorites. It's got an almond in the center and coconut all underneath it

but you can use any kind of candy bar you like So we just stir those in just fold them in This is about 10 little bite pieces How simple and easy can you get So just pour that over there and

then I'm going to be getting up the rest of our ingredients because we've got a little

something special that we're going to dollop on top of that mix. Oh, I remember that little

dollop. You remember that little dollop? I do. I barely remember that anyways. All right

I've got one eight-ounce package of softened cream cheese. I'm going to use the same beaters

I'm not even going to do it. Doesn't matter. I'm going to take a stick of butter

I'm going to rip it for you again. That would be great. And I'm going to throw in two cups of 4X, 10X sugar, confectionate sugar

So just beat the heck out of it, honey. You're going all the way. I can't tell y'all how much you're going to love this recipe

That looks perfect Grab your spoon And we're just going to take dollops of this, y'all

Now, we don't want to cover this up Because when this cake bakes

It is going to sink down In the spots that we put the cream cheese

And it's going to look like craters Hence the volcano cake Y'all have got to bring it back

This is one of those that I used to make all the time When I was back in the kitchen cooking

But you made it best Look at that. So I'm going to put this in our oven, y'all

We're going to bake this for about 40 or 45 minutes on 350 degrees

When we come back, you won't find this in the recipes, in the cookbook

but I'm going to take it to one more level, and we are going to be so happy

I barely can't wait. Coming up next, we're bringing this cake over the top with a treat you don't want to miss

Wow. Good gosh. You can stick your face in that for sure

You know, I didn't tell anybody in the cookbook, and I don't know why

but I always like to put a chocolate glaze on our volcano cakes

So we're just melting half a stick of butter here. Now, you could do this in a mixing bowl, never even involving heat

But I love cooking mine on top of the stove because that takes this chocolate glaze to like a fudge level

Next, I'm going to add a fourth of a cup of cocoa powder. So if you would take your little whisk. Whiskey

Uh-huh. And I'm going to bring this to a bowl, y'all. And I'm just going to eyeball the milk

I'm probably going to use about a half a cup. And I'm going to make this thinner because I want it to just pour over our cake

I don't want to have to take a knife and spread it. If it's a little too thick, then we'll just add a little bit more milk

All right, now I'm going to start adding some confectionate sugar. And once again, I'm not going to really measure

And I think these are quarter cups. Quarter cups? I don't know

We'll put a little bit more. I used about a cup and a half of confectionate sugar

I wouldn't recommend putting more than three cups in those. All right

I'm going to add just a little bit of almond extract. Now, this is a very strong flavoring, y'all

Smell it immediately. Uh-huh, smell it immediately. You don't want it to overpower, so I'm going to add probably like a half a teaspoon

So let's take the cake out of the oven, Dustin. You see how it's got little holes in it

It's pulling away from the edges of the pan with us. So all we're going to do while that cake is nice and hot..

Smells good. Just pour that beautiful glaze on top. That almond flavoring just really gives it a little kick

There we go. I'm so ready to eat that cake. What a perfect ending to a delicious meal that you've prepared for us, Dustin

It's hot. It's steaming. That's ridiculous. I know. Look at that cream cheese oozing out

I think I might need the spatula to just kind of coats that out

Oh, look at that. But look at that. It's melting. Yep. This is straight out of the oven hot, and I recommend y'all letting it cool

But I couldn't do that. You can put a little fresh cream topping on it

Look at it. It's melting off. Look at that. Oh, wow. Dustin, I have never eaten a volcano cake

Right out of the oven. No, not right out of the oven. Let's do it. Cheers

Here's to meet you in Savannah, baby. That's right. Wow. Mm-hmm. Gosh

You can stick your face in that for sure. Oh, I so want to just look down that camera and give y'all a bite

Ah, y'all are missing out. Oh. Well, y'all, it's been great with you today

We hope that you will meet us in Savannah. and Dustin and everybody at the Lady and Sons and I

wish y'all best dishes and love from our kitchen to y'all. See you in Savannah