Movie Night at the Winery

Hey y'all, I'm Paula Deen, and there's nothing I like better than a night out at the movies

and I mean really out. So today I'm going to show you what's in my goodie basket when I go to the Flicks

like savory bacon breadsticks just perfect with a summer splash, or spread the word and get the crackers for this cheesy chaser

or maybe a quick sweet peanut treat you can eat till the credits roll

followed by a popcorn recipe that's really worth its salt. And finally, we're going to find some fine wine to match up with my movie munchies

So pull up a piece of lawn and unroll your blanket, because it's movie night

Have you ever been to Italy

If the answer is no, well, neither have I. But I had a friend share a story with me about an experience that he said was probably one of the most beautiful things that he had ever witnessed

He was in Italy, and that night all the village people came out, hung up a sheet in the streets, and watched a movie, drank wine, and enjoyed their favorite foods

Well, the winemakers here in our country went to Italy to study wine

And when they saw this going on, they decided it was a wonderful idea

and they brought it back to the United States. So a lot of your wineries today have what they call a movie night on the weekends

You come out in the open air, watch the movie, drink your wine, and eat your food

And that's what we're doing today. I'm preparing my favorite picnic snacks to take to a local winery later this afternoon

I'm fixing to learn a little about the wine that I should have with these simple, sensational

movie night snacks. And these bacon cheese sticks are both simple and scrumptious

I don't think I've ever had a cocktail party that I didn't serve these

You just take your piece of bacon and just spiral it around

And I recommend that you use breadsticks that have the sesame seeds because the sesame seeds

give it a rough texture, and that bacon will adhere to it. Another thing I love about this dish

is I prepare these in my microwave a lot of times. I'm not really a big microwave fan

but these do beautifully in the microwave. And I can't remember exactly how long it will take them to cook

but you'll just put them on high for about two minutes, rotate them, and take it from there

When the bacon's brown and crisp and clinging to the breadstick, you'll know they're done

In fact, I have some in the oven right now. Depends on how many I'm serving

I may have to do like three different cookings of these, but I've got a pan that should be about ready

So I'm going to finish up here, and we're going to check behind us and see what we've got

These go so great with wine or even a beer. So let's see what we've got

They're looking good. You can see the breadsticks have even gotten a little bit browner and the bacon is adhering

to the breadsticks. So I'm going to stick these in

And while these are warm, we're going to take just a grated Parmesan cheese and we're going

just doctor it up with a little garlic powder, about a half a teaspoon for that much. We're

going to stir it up and then we're going to take our breadsticks and we're just going

to dredge them in that mixture while they're warm. Because if you wait for them to cool

might not stick quite as well. The beauty of this hors d'oeuvre is that you can make

it a day ahead. And lots of times, usually when I'm making these, I'm making these for

a hundred or two hundred people. And I'll take just an ordinary brown grocery sack and

throw them into the sack and just roll it up and seal them up good and they're just

fine for the next day. So they don't take up cabinet space or bowl space. They really

work with you. And isn't that an interesting and pretty appetizer? Bread, bacon and cheese

I don't know that it gets any better. You'll love them. These are ready to pack up now and when we come back I going to show you how to make a yummy hot baked cheese spread and sugared peanuts

This next dish that I'm working on is called baked cheese spread

It's a slamming dish that you won't believe the end results for just a few minutes time

We're going to grate our cheese and I'm using a sharp cheddar

If you like mild by all means use mild. But in my baking dishes I just love the sharpness

I've actually doubled the recipe for tonight because I know I'm gonna have some folks hungry

and loving it. So, we've got our cheese. We're using just a chopped sweet onion

And my all-time favorite condiment, mayonnaise. I even eat mayonnaise on my french fries

And I've actually heard that's a European thing. I don't know if that's true or not

I thought I had invented it. A little squirt of Worcestershire, just a dash

Little shot of hot sauce. Or maybe a little more dash. We're just going to stir that up

Now you can't get any simpler than this. I was traveling, gosh I think I was in Pennsylvania

and a young woman came up to me and she said, I have your cookbook and I made a recipe out of it

the other night and took it to my literary club meeting. And I said, oh, I hope it was good

She said, yes, it was delicious. It was your baked cheese spread

And at the end of the meeting we vote on the favorite dish that was brought

And she said the baked cheese spread won. So I think you're going to love it

We're just going to put this in a baking dish. Kind of looks like pimento cheese, doesn't it

We're just going to spread it out and throw it in the oven. And when it's hot and bubbly and melted, it'll be time to take it out

Now while that's baking, I'm going to work on a snack that the little children really love

And these are sugared peanuts. You just start with a nice, heavy skillet

And I've had this on, but I'm going to turn it up a little bit more. Just sugar and water

And we're going to just stir that until that sugar begins to dissolve, just like this

This recipe actually calls for a raw peanut, nut, but today I'm using a roasted unsalted nut and we're going to see if it will work

as well and I really think it will. And you see some of them have the shell still on them, or not the shell but their skin and

I love seeing the skin on them. It gives them a different color and a different texture

So we're just going to stir these and cook them until they begin to crystallize

In the south, we would go to our local produce stands to get our raw peanuts and possibly

up north you could go to your health food store. So you can see they're starting to caramelize and get real, real hard

I think this roasted peanut's gonna work. All we're gonna do is pour them on our cookie sheet and just separate them with our spoon

just like that. We're going to drop these in the oven now for about five minutes and just let them finish

drying out for us. And it looks like our baked cheese spread is ready

How delicious does that look? Oh my goodness, I got so into smelling and looking at that

I bet our peanuts are ready, so I better check. Thank goodness

Thank goodness for roasted unsalted peanuts. They've worked beautifully. You can hear the crispiness of them hitting the sides of the pan

They look like they've worked, so let's taste. They're perfectly delicious. When we come back, I'm going to make you my Grandma Paul's chocolate popcorn balls

So see you in a minute There all different kinds of popcorns that you can buy out there You can buy it already bagged up pre but I just love doing it the old way This really brings back

some nice memories. I'm going to put just enough oil to slightly, slightly cover our

pan, and then I'm gonna put a single layer of popcorn in the pot

And you can see when I shake it up, that makes like a single layer

We don't want to overfill our pot because when it starts popping, we could have a big mess

Naturally, I had the pot already hot when I poured in the oil

You can hear the popcorn sizzling in that oil. This is dangerous because we don't know when one of those kernels are going to come flying up

Oh, there it went. I remember that my mother had a popcorn pot that she used on top of the stove

and it had a clear lid so we could watch it as it popped

But I don't even think they make those anymore. But maybe I could find one at a junk shop

I can't eat it fast enough. Don't do that at home, kitties

I'm just having fun. And you can hear it. You can hear it popping

And we're just going to shake that pan, because if I just left that pan sitting there

there's a good chance that the popcorn might burn, and we don't want that

There's all different pop coins now that you can use instead of popping your own

All different brands, but I would recommend an unsalted popcorn for this recipe

Okay, the pot is quiet, so I think all the kernels have popped

Let's take a look. And hopefully there's no burned popcorn on the bottom

not one burned kernel in our pot. Now while our popcorn is cooling, we're going to come

over here and we're going to make our chocolate coating that's going to just make these luscious

chocolate-filled popcorn balls. And we're going to start with a half a stick of butter

always butter, sugar, cocoa, corn syrup. Doesn't it seem like forever when you're draining corn

syrup out of a bottle? A pinch of salt. We've got all of our ingredients in here now. We're

just going to bring them to a bowl. And that shouldn't take very, very long. You know

I remember my grandmother Paul making these for the young children in our family

I tried not to call on my grandmother very often to keep my children because I felt like she had already done her job with her children

and I hated to pawn her great-grandchildren off on her. But when I had to call on her

she would make sure she had these popcorn balls as a snack for my children

and everything would be all right. She was a wonderful grandmother. In fact, both of my grandmothers were just the best

I had one that I swear that walked around with a halo over her head

And then I had another one that was spicy. And I think sometimes she had little horns coming out of hers

So I had a nice variety. I was most lucky. The feisty grandmother's name was Irene

And she was the one that I spent many, many years in the kitchen with

And the other grandmother was Nellie Lou. And I have fond, fond memories of Irene and little Nellie Lou

This has come to a boil and the sugar's dissolved. So now we're going to add eight cups of popcorn to our pot

A heaping one for good luck. Oh, these are looking so good

And if you wanted to, you know you could even add some chopped peanuts or pecans to it

It'd almost make it like a chocolate Cracker Jack, wouldn't it? I know those two little boys of mine sure did love these

So I think tonight while we're watching the movie, there'll be other little children around that'll love them just as much as mine did

So we're going to let this cool for a minute. and then I'm gonna just mold them into their shape

I've got a nice coating on our popcorn. Now I'm just gonna pour down to our cookie sheet

and let it cool for a minute so that I can touch it

because it's still kind of warm. Look at the threads. My granddaddy was aggravating when I was 15 years old

and I ran to her and I said Grandmama he won leave me alone And I remember her walking in and she had a sofa that sat out in the middle that floated And Granddaddy happened to be standing behind the sofa

She walked out there with her hands on her hips. And she said, Johnny, I told you to leave her alone

And he said, I'm not bothering her. Well, she walks out. He aggravates me some more

I run back and get her again. And this time when she comes back into the room, she said

I told you, John Paul, to leave that child alone, and I mean it

And she balled up her left fist, knocked him for a loop

sent him and the sofa flying over. And I walked around the sofa, and I looked down at him and I said

I told you to leave me alone. She was a sport, my grandma

Like I said, I adored both of my grandmothers. They were just so entirely different

And I have people say, oh, you're just like Nellie Lou. And then I'll have people say, oh, my God, you're just like Irene

So, and these are heavenly, even if you think you might be sinning

Because, you know, popcorn, it's a vegetable. How bad can it be for you

Not that bad. It's just air. And we all know air ain't fattening

These are actually fun to do. And after they cool off, the children can help do this

They'd have a ball doing it. And that's it. They're ready for the movie

Well, I've got all of our snacks ready. All I have to do now is get changed, and then we're off to the movie

The food that I prepared today is delicious for either in your house or for an outside

picnic like we're doing tonight before we start the movie. I've got sugar coated peanuts for the young people and I've got my grandmother's chocolate

popcorn balls. yummy for any age. And I've got a hot cheese dip here, a cheese bread that will melt in

your mouth along with a good buttery cracker. But the very favorite thing that I have today

is my bacon wrapped bread sticks right over here. They're so simple to make. It's a microwavable

dish and it goes great with your favorite wine. But before the movie starts, I'm going

to take a quick walk with my friend Sean from Millbrook Winery. He's going to help me pair

some wines with all these delicious snacks that I've prepared for today. One of the issues that we

always have at the restaurant is trying to pair the different wines with the different foods

And of course the food that I serve is a very simple food, fried chicken and macaroni and cheese

So what would you suggest there in the pairing? Well, I think some of your lighter bodied reds

like a Pinot Noir, are great with varieties of foods. The Cabernet Franc as well is another red

variety that does very well. For the kind of foods that you're serving some of your fuller bodied whites are also a good pairing. What will go well with a bacon

wrapped breadstick? A nice oaky Chardonnay because it's got a little smokiness just like the bacon. It's got a nice acidity that'll help cut through

the fat and just cleanse the palate. And how about this one for another upscale

dish, baked cheese spread? You know again you could really go with a Chardonnay, a

nice Pinot Noir, a light bodied red. I know I'm probably pulling out a real

funky menu on you today, but for the younger people in the crowd, chocolate popcorn balls

and I may be stealing them from the children and throwing them at the adults. Got any ideas

A little bit more difficult because it is sweet. However, the Cabernet Franc grape actually goes

very well with chocolate and usually has a nice fruitiness, which will contrast nicely with the

saltiness. So if I had to pick one, I'd probably go with that. As far as picking out good wines

It's just finding a nice little wine shop where it seems like the people are friendly and they know what's going on

And just go and ask them. Tell them your price range. Tell them what you're looking for. Tell them what you're eating, and they'll help you

It's really pretty simple. Experiment by all means. Sean's really shared a few really nice tips with me today

For starters, you should always marry the wine that you're going to drink with the food that you're cooking

So don't be cheap. Make sure you've got a good, good drinking wine going into your dish

Another tip is to put out several different containers of the same food

So as people move around, they have the option of this bowl, this bowl, or this bowl

That way, everybody's not trying to dip into the same bowl at the same time

And for keeping your food warm, it's no trouble traveling with a trivet and little tea candles

So until next time, America, best dishes from my picnic to yours