Paula's Birthday Party

Susan Mason is one of the top caterers in Savannah

and she's coming by today, y'all, to talk over some possible recipes for my birthday party

Paula, I want to make your next birthday party just as wonderful as your past

And y'all, while Susan's here, I'll try and get a secret location for my birthday party

Can you give me a hint? Over the river and through the woods

Woods. We'll also taste test a few party appetizers, starting with my tomato tarts

then my creamy shrimp dip with a pepper jelly center, and then we'll make two of Susan's top

sellers, her crab cakes and her Parmesan cheese rounds. Susan, those are so incredible

Well, I want to share with you this recipe that I have found it's easy to do in their tomato tarts

Oh, I love tomato tarts. Yeah. I choose a Roma tomato because I don't have to worry about matching up the size too much because they're all the same size

The same size. And you don't want a tomato bigger than your pastry

Right. So if you would, slice those up for me. Okay, about how thick do you want them

I don't like them too thick. I don't like them too thin. I think that's about right

Yeah, I think that's probably perfect. Now, what have you got there

Well, I've got our puff pastry, and you want to let this sit out at room temperature for about 20 minutes

All right, so I'm going to take just a little flour, I think, Susan

and just hit it with a rolling pin, you know, a little bit

Paula, where did you get this recipe? Oh, my gosh. I think one of my girlfriends might have shared this with us

All right, now I'm just going to brush this with a little olive oil

All right, keep slicing. My pastry. Okay. And when you get our tomatoes sliced, Susan

And if you want to de-stem us a little time, we're going to need that, and then we're going to need some grated cheese

Okay, well, I'll be glad to de-stem this for you. So that's what we need to kind of work on right now

Okay, you want all these tomatoes, right? No, we may not need all of them because right now, today, it's just you and me sampling

Oh, okay, well, then I'll start de-stemming. Yeah, I mean it's... Because that takes a little time

Paul, I believe you made this dish for a very special guest. Yes, I did

And that would be? Miss Oprah and we just had a ball together

And you know what I found out? You know, I thought I knew Oprah fairly well

but I found out during that trip that her favorite food that I had on my table was fried green tomatoes

as she was leaving, she said, Paula, is there any way I can have some fried green tomatoes for the plane

I said, you got it, sister. When you make fried green tomatoes, what do you put with it

Like I do a black-eyed pea vinaigrette. I do a tomato and corn salsa

Yeah. Do you do sides with it? Yes. You can take it a lot of different ways, but at the restaurant

We serve it with a Vidalia onion relish. Now, what kind of batter do you use

Mama used flour. Grandma used meal. Mama's were better. Wow. I like them with flour

So I run them through the buttermilk and then into the flour so they get a nice crust, you know, kind of like our chicken

Yeah. Susan, I'm grating up a quarter of a cup of this cheese

I'm using a white cheddar, Susan. and I'm going to put a little bit of that down

And then we're just going to lay the tomato on top, sprinkle it with a little thyme

And the thing I love about this recipe, Susan, is you can do all this ahead of time

Let's just put our tomatoes on. All right, and then you sprinkle a little thyme

I'm going to sprinkle a little salt, a little pepper, and a little thyme. All right, now, not a whole bunch of salt

Okay. Especially if you've already pre-salted them. Yes, perfect. Is that enough

Yes. And then I'm going to grate some fresh parm cheese and sprinkle on top of that

They're going to go in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes

It is pretty and simple. This is what I love about you and your food

You're Foo-Foo. Foo-Foo. I'm Foo-Foo. You're Foo-Foo. I'm definitely Foo-Foo. Your presentation is always exquisite

Thank you. Always exquisite. But here's the thing about your foo-foo-foo. It is so honest

It is. It's straight up. It's straight up. It's the real deal

And that why I think I appreciate what you do so much You don have to guess at what you eating You try to get all these new ideas but I usually just go back to all the good basics

Absolutely. You know, the kind of food that we prepare, Susan, will never go out of style

It'll never go out of style. So 15 minutes, 375

And Susan, you can, if you feel like you don't have the space, you can pre-bake these

Oh. And, you know, stack them in a container and throw them back in the oven and heat them up at the last minute

Oh, that's great. So, you know, it's just one of those great party foods

Coming up next, Susan shows me how to make some of her delicious appetizers that would be perfect for my party

starting with her signature crab cakes. And we tackle her Parmesan cheese rounds

Those are so incredible. Then I show her how to make one of my party favorites

my creamy shrimp dip. And later, I'm so excited to finally see

where my birthday bash is going to be. So show me something, girl

Okay, these are my world-famous crab cakes. Now, are we going to cook your crab cakes in this skillet right here

Yes, it needs to be a heavy skillet. And I was going to say, I'm going to go ahead and let it be heating up a little

Okay, and put your oil. Yeah, and we want to put the oil about to there

Okay. Now, what kind of oil do you cook yours in? I just use vegetables

Okay. So that's good. Now, why don't you allow me to be your soup

Oh, good. Will you chop those for me? I will chop these for you. You just tell me how much

There's your pan. I need this whole pepper. Okay. And then I need two of these, including the green

Just two. Meantime, I will be measuring up half a cup of mayonnaise

That's a great start. My husband, Michael, adores your crab cakes. Hopefully, he'll come in

He's on a ship somewhere. Well, he's got a beautiful day to be on the water

Yes, he does. Gotta have two eggs. All right, so does this look to suit you

Oh, you look so good at chopping. That looks great. Thank you. What I'm doing is getting the egg yolks

because we're only going to use yolks. Oh, okay. Okay, and then I need some Worcestershire

Okay. I'm going to dash. Whew, it's a dash. Susan, I'll get started on the red pepper

Okay, then some Dijon mustard. So I want it a little bit smaller

That's the seafood. Susan, I do love that crab boil seasoning. Yes

I'm just going to put a pinch of cayenne. Okay. So everything's in there except the red pepper and the crab. Okay

I just want to mince this up better because you don't pre-cook this, do you? No

I like to add all of my ingredients first and get them all mixed up so that when the crab goes in, you can caress it

Okay, I need my breadcrumbs. Okay. So, Susan... I'm going to start making the patties

You know, every year, my family kind of throws me a little birthday party that you're well aware of

But, you know, they never tell me where it's going to be

And last year, it was at Jim Williams' home. So, do you know where it is this year

Give me a hint. Well, it's... Is it in Savannah? Over the river and through the woods

To Grandma's house we go. We going to Granny's. No, no, no

I think I should tell you that when I make these crab cakes

Oh, I thought you were talking about the party. Oh. All right, so that's enough oil to suture right there, Susan

That's enough oil. But the thing that I want to tell you, Paula, about these crab cakes is that we make them a day ahead

That is a great tip. Right. Make them a day ahead. I've never thought about that

It gives them the opportunity to dry out a little bit. I'm going to check on our tarts

Okay. If you don't prick the pastry, the tomato could come off

So now I'm just going to prick them right now. Do you remember what all we had at your last birthday party at the Marissa house

I was so busy, but I heard Brandon and Jamie Cribbs talking about an onion tart

Those are my Parmesan cheese rounds. Parmesan cheese rounds. Well, I did not get one of those

Well, I have a surprise for you. We're going to make some today. Are you kidding me

They're my most successful hors d'oeuvres. Now look at these. Don't they look yummy

Those are wonderful. Would you like one? I'd love one. Same as mine

Well, I'm so sorry that you're in a position. I'm in a bad position

What do you can eat Just give me a bite What are friends for Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm So Susan these look wonderful

All right, you've got to get your grease really hot. Yes. And I'm fixing to drop them in

Is that hot enough? I think it is. Okay, well it's on high. You just kind of keep, you know, looking at them and seeing if you think they need to be turned

There's nothing in them really to be cooked except for the egg yolk

egg yolk, and so we can flip this one over. Look at that. And we can flip

this. So see, these are almost done. Yes. You want them to be brown. Yes

You know what else surprises me, Susan? That you fry them in

so much oil. They're very close to being deep fried. They're very close to being deep fried

And I like that. Okay. Now when you get ready, Susan, when you think they're

ready. I think these are ready, Paula, and I think your guests will be

so excited to have these at your birthday party at the surprise location

At the surprise location. Where's my other spatula? There it is. Did you make a sauce

for these or are we just going to eat these straight up? I like to use chutney

because I like something sweet with it. Ooh, this mango chutney is going to be the perfect

compliment to these crab cakes. I usually will cut a lemon. Yes

To put on the... A little garnish. A little garnish. Okay. Okay, let's see if they're good as I have advertised them to be

I don't doubt you, girl. See how good that chutney is with them

It's just a good flavor. This is outrageous. Coming up next, we're going to keep this taste test going with Susan's Parmesan cheese rounds

Susan, those are so incredible. Then we use one of Georgia's finest to make my dip

Wild Georgia shrimp. And later, this party is more than anyone can ask for

Now, this is the one that my family keeps talking about. Yes

And what are they called? Parmesan cheese rounds. I actually use just white bread, thin bread. Yeah

Okay. Cut them out. You toast them on one side. Run them under the broiler

Oh, you did broil those rather than bake them. Yeah, you run them under the broiler

What I call a slow broil, which I mean the broiler is kind of in the middle of the oven

The rack is in the middle of the oven instead of on the top. Yes. Then you just turn them over, and I use what I call hot dog mustard

Yes. You just want a thin layer of this. Okay. For the topping, you just use a cup of mayonnaise

Then about a half a cup of Parmesan cheese. You can buy the Parmesan cheese that's already grated

For this recipe, it doesn't matter. Okay, but there's nothing like grating your own Parmesan

There's nothing like grating your own. But when you're making Parmesan cheese rounds for 300 people, we made 700 last night

You made 700 of these last night? Well, because everybody will eat at least two

Like for your party. Yes. I'll have probably three each since your staff has talked so much about it

I was going to say, if you just have three each, Susan, that one more time, that will mean I won't get any

Well, we're going to save you some in the kitchen. Please. I'll hide you some

Now get that mustard spread all the way to the end. Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry

All right, you just put your Parmesan cheese in there and mix it up. I'm serious about that mustard, ain't you, girl

Yeah, I'm serious about it. I'm a little picky about some things. Okay, I've got to slice these onions

They've already been peeled. Okay. And you've got to slice them really thin

Okay. To make it work. Now, why do you use the pearls

Well, I use, actually, I usually use the boiler. Yeah. Because they're bigger

So you're just putting the raw onion right there on top. I'm just putting it right there on top

All right, now, after I do the onion on there, then I'm going to put just what I call a dollop of this man

Okay, now what did you say that was? A cup of mayonnaise? And a half a cup of parmesan

Okay. So we just use a teaspoon. So you have really created a simple, wonderful recipe

It's very easy. It's very easy. All right, you want me to be cutting while you're doing that

That'd be great. You want me to cut some more onions. That'd be great. All right, now we're going to put them in the oven, and we're going to have to watch them

I've got it on full brawl, Susan. Is this one? Yeah, see, I mean, it's on full brawl

Okay. That's all we want. Now, I always brawl with my oven cracked

Do you? Well, you know, the only time I have to crack it is after the broil has been on for a while

It goes off. But if you crack it it come back on Yeah The fire will come back on But I have to tell you this is the hottest broiler you see I mean it is going to town I usually put a radicchio on the tray to decorate

And you've got to be very patient, which I'm not, but to kind of pull the leaves back

Oh, you're just kind of curling back. Yeah. Yes. You've got to be real patient

Yes. Because you need to pull them back one by one. Yeah, I'll help you do that

There you go. Beautiful. Beautiful. Oh, beautiful. All right. Susan, these look done

Well, I think they look positively beautiful. Okay. Let me just grab a tray and a radicchio flower

Now, look how pretty that is. Looks like a beautiful flower. Now, they are hot

Yes. So you have to wait a minute. They could pull the skin off the roof of your mouth

They're just beautiful, Susan. So, Paul, are you excited about having another birthday? I always get excited when I have a wedding

Every birthday I'm excited about. Me too, and I like my birthday

I'm like you, I always want to party. I just try not to think about the number, you know

Oh, yeah. But all about the celebration with friends. Okay, there we go

There, one bite. This is, you stick the whole thing in your mouth? The whole thing in your mouth

Susan, those are so incredible. Coming up next, y'all, we finally get to dig into my shrimp dip

Then, it's finally time to celebrate with my friends and family. I see the only thing left is a shrimp spread

Of course, if you're having a party in Savannah, you have to have shrimp. You've got to have shrimp, honey

So I'm going to start with a little cream cheese. Do you want me to chop that onion for you

Please, if you just rough chop it. Okay. Because I'm actually going to cream this up pretty good

If you do some chives, we'll sprinkle that on the top. I'm going to put me some mayonnaise in here with my cream cheese

Susan, can you also chop me a stalk of celery? Now, I'm just gonna pulsate that

and just incorporate that cream cheese and mayonnaise together. Salary. And you know what

Now I think I'm gonna add just a wee bit of sour cream, like a heaping tablespoon

I'm gonna go ahead and do up my eggs. Maybe four eggs

Four eggs. How many pounds of shrimp you can use? A pound, a pound and a half

All right, I'm going to put in our veggies. This is going to give us some nice little color

Now, in come our beautiful, beautiful wild Georgia shrimp. Then I'll add a few of these sliced pearl onions that we had left over

They should not be left out of the party. They should not be left out of the party

This is already looking so good. Please, shrimp gods

That's good. That's good. If we put this in the refrigerator overnight, it would probably be even easier for us to work with

I'm just going to kind of mound this up. I'm going to try to just do this like I would a cake

So how's that? All right, that is beautiful. All right, I'm going to spoon this in here

Everybody loves their pepper jelly. And then I've got our toast points here

Okay. That I'm going to just put around it. Now, look how gorgeous that is

Now, that is so pretty. It is just beautiful. Well, Susan, let's taste our new recipe

Oh, it is so beautiful. It is beautiful. Look at there. Mmm

Yum. Yum. That is delicious. Well, we're going to make sure that this year your birthday is really special

because Brandon and I have come up with the location. The gambling casino

Oh, you're warm, you're warm. So this year, I know there's a party, but I don't know where it is

They're going to load me up on a bus, and then I'm going off to the secret location

Y'all this year they have really outdone themselves. They've surprised me with a party at the Delta Plantation

a beautiful historic property in South Carolina. And I don't have to tell you that Susan's food was phenomenal

But the most beautiful sight of all was seeing my friends and family celebrating my birthday

Happy birthday to you