Reinventing Southern Faves

Y'all, this pretty little angel needs no introduction

but I'm going to tell you her name anyway. Kimberly Schlappman is in my kitchen today

Not only is she one of the members of the award-winning group Little Big Town

but she also has her own cooking show. Today, these two Georgia girls are going to reinvent some classic southern dishes

I can't believe I'm picking chicken with Paula Deen. I'm going to make my chicken pot pie even better by adding a cheese straw crust

That is amazing. Kimberly's fixing her fried green tomato salad. Yum. And we'll wash everything down with a refreshing strawberry basil lemonade

I can't wait. Yum

This is Kimberly Schlappman. Ha! Not only is she pretty, y'all, she can cook

You got your own cooking show. What's the name of it? It's called Kimberly Simply Southern

You better get out of my lane, girl. I learned everything I know from you

That's the truth. Well, you and my mama. You know what? You ain't got no tricks

Oh, well, yes, ma'am. You are a Southern girl. You're not from Jersey trying to pull off being a Southern girl

No, ma'am, I'm a Georgia girl. You are the real deal. Now, today, I think that you and I are going to do kind of new twists to old southern traditional recipes

Yes, ma'am. Well, I'm going to make my favorite chicken pot pie in the whole world, y'all

This is the epitome of an old country chicken pot pie. The only thing is, Kimberly, I don't put no feet in mine

That's good. Now, if it was really, really country, it would have the feet, wouldn't it

No feet. So listen, would you do me a favor? Yeah. If you would just like quarter that and chunk that and chunk that, it doesn't have to be pretty

Okay, good. And I'm just going to split our chicken. You know, I think that'll just help it cook a little bit faster

Yeah. But I kind of like to leave my chicken as big as I can

Yeah? Because it seems to stay on the bone a little bit better

but I do want what those bones have to offer us, and that's flavor

Flavor. So I'm just gonna cover this with water, and you can just throw the things in

Of all things, I can't believe I'm cooking chicken pot pie with Paula Deen

Holy cow! Kimberly, can you throw a bay leaf in that pot, please, darling

So I'm gonna just put this back here. All righty. How long are you going to cook that for, Miss Paula

About 45 minutes. And if you would grab that salt and pepper

Yes, ma'am. I'm going to come down here and wash my hands. So, Kimberly, being a southern girl, I know you've made cheese straws before

Yeah, since I was this big. Oh, my gosh. Well, then you make them. No, no, no

I'm making them. No. It's been a while. You tell me. I've got you a stick of butter

Okay. At room temperature. I'll finish grating this cheese. Righty. And we're going to need two cups of grated sharp cheese, y'all

A cheese straw in the South is like, it's a staple. It is

You know, if you go to a party, if you go to a wedding. If you go to a shower

There is going to be cheese straws. We'll cream that. Get some of that cheese off of it

Yeah, there you go. Sling it out. It'll get soft in a second

I'm going to add a teaspoon of salt. Yep. And I'm going to add a fourth of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Oh, I love cayenne pepper. Because we know that our cheese straws have to have a little bit of bite, don't they

So y'all stay on the road a lot. Yeah, we're on the road a whole lot

We probably did a little over a hundred shows this year. And you're married

I'm married, yes. And you've got a precious little five-year-old girl. Daisy

Does she look like her? Daisy! Oh, my gosh. Does she look like her mama

She does. Kimberly, I'm going to add a cup and a half of our flour

and we'll just finish mixing this up. Our dough looks very, very good

This is going to be our top crust for our chicken pot pie. But I'm also going to make you the old-timey crust like I make. Okay

I'm going to need three cups of all-purpose flour. Okay. So I'm going to put a teaspoon of salt in with that flour

And we will fluff that up. A fourth of a teaspoon of baking powder

So we're not putting a lot of leavening in it. Because this is for the bottom

I'm going to put this throughout the pie. Oh, wow. And we are, yes

And we're going to use three quarters of a cup of solid shortening

You want me to keep mashing? Yeah, keep mashing until this kind of looks like a cornmeal

Okay And I slowly going to add ice water And it important y that water be good and cold Remember you can always add two but you can take out

That's right. So, see, it's starting to come together. Yeah, my mama made biscuits

Oh, every day she made biscuits, and I would just stand by and watch her

and she would let me add milk, you know, like you're adding the water. Uh-huh, uh-huh. This girl can cook

See the way she just jumped right in there? I think that's good. Yeah

I mean, it's nice and sticky, so what we're going to need to do now is unstick that

All righty. By just kneading it in that flour. This dough is kind of tough, and that's what we want

Yeah. We want a tough dough. Tough as you and me, sister

We have some tough lemon, right? That's right. So you're going to put that all the way through the pie, not just on the bottom

Right. I can't wait for this. I'm telling you. And you're going to pull that broth over it

And the flour from our dough is going to make that broth thicken

Yes. That's how my mama makes dumplings. Yes, exactly. And you see, I divided our dough

Yeah. Because it's just easier to manhandle. So this is going to take me a couple of minutes

So why don't y'all get up, fix your cup of coffee. And Kimberly and I are going to keep rolling

Coming up, Kimberly and I put together the cheesiest pot pie you'll ever eat

Yum! Then, another southern favorite gets a brand new twist. Boy, Heidi, is that good, y'all

And later, we take lemonade to a whole new fruity level. Beautiful

It's beautiful. Hey, y'all

Thanks for coming back. I'm in here with my precious little friend. And Kimberly and I today are doing kind of updates on real traditional southern recipes

Yes. So we're in the middle of making a chicken pot pie, y'all. Our top crust is going to be cheese straw dough

And that's how we're making this one different today. I'm going to just pull our chicken out of here

I'm going to try to manhandle him. Oh, yeah, he's looking mighty fine

Oh, I still got another piece of chicken in there. I thought that thing was big

I don't know what I was thinking. I know a chicken's got two legs

All right, so yeah, flour that up good. You know how to do that

Kimberly's rolling out our cheese straw dough. This is a good, good, rich broth

Mm. Now I'm going to show you a little trick that I used to reaching up my broth

and that's just adding a little stick of butter to it. And I'm going to taste this, Kimberly

Mm-mm. And make sure we got it salty enough. Oh, my gosh, it looks good

And those little thyme leaves, you know. Ooh, yummy. Does it taste good

It tastes delicious. How thin. I'm getting excited. How thin should I go here

All right, let's see. Good or thinner? Put a little bit more flour

There we go. All right, let's see. Do you mind if I touch it a little bit

Please. Because what we've got to think about is how long our strips are going to be. Okay

Because see, there's our pan. Oh, yeah, okay. And there's our dough, so I think that's going to work good

Perfect. Now, all I put in my chicken pot pie in the way of veggies is peas and carrots

Okay. So I'm just using the frozen peas, which are basically already cooked

and I had pre-cooked some fresh carrots. So we're going to take our dish

You making strips? I'm making strips, honey. And I always start by putting just a little dough in the bottom of our pan

Layer it up, huh? Yeah, if you do the peas, I'll be the carrots

All righty. Just a little bit for color. And now it's time to put our chicken

Okay. And this may be the tedious part. Picking chicken. Because we got a hot chick on our hands

We sure do. That thing's still steaming. Grab us a couple of forks out of that drawer, Kimberly, and a couple of knives

And we'll just help this sucker along. Being cooks, you get tough hands, don't you

Tough fingers, yes. When I was a little kid, my grandmother had the toughest

because you can just have scalded water on them. And now I understand

I know. You just want to shred it up? Yeah, I kind of just do it kind of just like that

Okay, chunky. Yeah, just chunky. I can't believe I'm picking chicken with Paula Deen

Woo! I could die and go to heaven. No, baby, uh-uh. You mean too much no, ma'am

I believe we have, um... Uh-uh, don't tell me. We haven't picked the chicken

Is there any more chicken here? I'm sure I can find a piece of meat

No, girl, you've done good. Have I? You listen to Mama good Oh yeah Now all we going to do at this point is just take our chicken keep doing the same thing I have never had a chicken pie that all layered up with crust

Really? No! Well, you know, to me, it's just not the same if you don't have that wonderful pastry through it

It's gonna be mighty fine. Here we go. Now, our cheese straw dough

It's going to be pretty. This is a little bit more fragile than regular dough

Yeah. Yum! All right, now let me tell you what we're going to do now

I'm going to bring this pot up here. That broth. Yes. And all we're going to do is just cover our pie

Wow. With that rich broth. Mmm. That broth tastes so good. And I bring that broth because, you know, we got that pastry down in there

So it's going to soak up our... Soak it right up. Yes. Mmm. So we're going to bring that broth all the way to the tippy top

Wow. And then I got one more little surprise for it. And more

More something else? Yeah. Now I'm just going to dot... Oh, yeah

...this with just a little bit of butter. See, not a whole bunch

No, just a little Just a little A little of I want to

Just because I think it'd be pretty With the cheese, I want to just

Put a little pepper Okay, and the devil made me do that one

That devil He keeps coming back around We're going to put this in the oven

350 and we're going to bake it probably for about 45 minutes. This is like gold, y'all

If we don't need this anymore, we will freeze it for the next pie

All right, come on in, dumpling. And I mean that in the truest sense of the word

Coming up, Kimberly makes her fried green tomato salad. These just look fabulous, girl

They look great. And later, we mix up a batch of my strawberry basil lemonade

Yummy. Mmm. I'm so happy to turn this kitchen over to you, girl

I'm about, I'm, I'm the clumped. Tell me what to do and I'll do it

All right. So, um, I like to do this little salad with fresh peaches

You know, we're Georgia girls. Yes. We're Georgia peaches. Yes. And fried green tomatoes

Sounds yummy. Because we love our peaches and we love our fried green tomatoes

And it's got the tart. I say I've never eaten them together, though. I think you're right. So I can't wait

I know I will. The tart of the tomatoes and the sweet of the peaches. Uh-huh. It's good

You want me to slice your... Yes, please. Chop them? No, I didn't mean chop

Slice. Okay. Slice those tomatoes, and... And, boy, I just got one more question

You salt them to pull the water out of them. Should I? Yes, ma'am. Okay

Well, let's salt them to pull the water out of them. Okay. So I got a cup and a half of cornmeal here

Uh-huh. And in the cornmeal, I'm going to put a teaspoon of paprika, a half teaspoon of cayenne

Ooh. Because I like it spicy. Yes. About a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon or so of pepper

And I'll mix that up really good. Three eggs. I like to make a little assembly line

Scramble these eggs up right quick. Does that look like enough, baby, right here

Oh, yeah. That's good. I'm just going to reach over you and get the salt

Okay. All right. Now, just a cup of flour. Look at there

See? I didn't know this. Yeah. See, there's so much water. And then I'll put mine on a paper towel

Okay. You know, and let them absorb the cloth. Then you don't have to soggy. And just like 15 or 20 minutes

That's right. It keeps them from being soggy. Okay. All right. So I'm just going to transfer these on over to you

All righty. So I'm going to do flour first. Uh-huh. And then egg

Yummy. And then the cornmeal. And you know what I like to cook these in

Coconut oil. We've just started cooking a lot of things we fry in coconut oil

My mama even makes biscuits with coconut oil. You're kidding. Well, I will have to try that

Ooh, look at that peach. Oh, yeah. Oh, I love peaches. I do, too

These are beautiful. Now, how many of these peaches do you want sliced

Just a couple, please, ma'am. Okey-doke. Get these in there. Oh, yeah

Yep. There we go. All right. Oh, my gosh. Get those going

This is going to be good. Yum. Yes. And I just cook them about three minutes a side

Kim, would you like for me to watch your tomatoes while you put together your dressing

Please, ma'am. Okey-doke. We just going to do this to Let me just quickly just give that a squirt Those look good don they Yes they do do We just do a simple little balsamic vinaigrette here Couple of tablespoons of balsamic

Oh, look, Kimberly. Are they looking good? Yes. And I like to salt them when I turn them so that the salt seeps in there really good

Oh, okay. You know, because they're all hot. That's a good, firm green tomato

Yeah. You know, sometimes you get them in there almost a little soggy because they're trying to ripen on you

All right, now you've got balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard. And some honey

And you're putting some of our wonderful Savannah honey in there. Look at this fancy honey bottle

A little salt and pepper and about a quarter cup of olive oil. Okay

Yum! Yum! You ready? Yes. Well, here, let me take them up and you get started on your sandwich

Okay. All we have is just some mixed greens and about a quarter cup of slivered almonds

and a little bit of feta cheese, which I think is right here in the fridge. Oh, okay

So then we'll layer it with the peaches. Uh-huh. They look awesome. Let's put this balsamic on here. Okay

All right. Here we go. Oh, gosh. Toss this up a little bit, and we'll just plate it up

That looks so good. Put a tomato right on top. Let's taste

Okay, here you go. Thank you. Ooh, hot. I know. Good. Boy, Heidi, is that good, y'all

Good. I can't wait to try this on that. On that. And then we're gonna have that

And then we're gonna have some strawberry lemonade to soothe our burnt tongues

Coming up, our reinvented dishes are complete I think we did it

Woo, it's gorgeous Y'all look at this pot pie And what I smell is the cheese

Me too, it smells like you're cooking cheese straws in here It does. It smells just like we have baked some cheese straws

And it is so hot, Kimberly. It's bubbly. We're going to have to have something to wash this down with

So why don't we get together and make our strawberry lemonade. We have got a simple syrup here in our pot that we cooked with fresh strawberries and some fresh basil

So what we're going to do is just strain that. And look at it

It looks beautiful. Yes. Yummy. We've got our two cups of lemon juice

And just for looks. Yeah, that'll be so pretty. Yes, we've got to have a few lemon slices

My little Daisy loves pink lemonade. Does she? Mm-hmm. I've got to make this with her

I was going to say, you'll have to make this for Daisy. Give it a little stir. Yes, give it a stir

Wow. Wow, there is nothing like sitting on the front porch, y'all, and having a little glass of homemade lemonade

Mm, mm, mm. I've been saving up for this all day. Oh, my goodness, look. Woo

It's beautiful. Thank you. Wow, kabow. Now, I have to tell y'all, it doesn't get any more southern

That's the truth. It's an old country chicken pot pie. All right

Oh, yum. There you go, Miss Paula Deen. All right. I'm not eating without you, girl

Oh, I don't know what to try first. It's going to have to be the pie. You think. Oh, yeah

Just don't burn your mouth. Okay. Because you have got a voice that sounds like a little angel

Aw. And we don't want you messing that up. Okay. Look at that

It looks like dumplings in there. Uh-huh. Going in. Mm. Mm. Oh, wow

That's right fitting. Cheese straw. Yay! That is amazing. Woo! Yum. Mm. Mm

Look at this salad. Mm, mm. Good? Mm, mm, mm, mm. Mm, mm

Delicious. Mm, mm. Have you had fun with me today? This has been a dream come true

I have watched you. I have learned a lot of stuff from you

And here I am. I can't believe it. That makes me so happy

I just want to ask you one thing. What's that? Will you come back

Are you kidding me? Can I just stay? You can stay. Oh, I will come back anytime

Y'all, I have enjoyed my time spent with you today and with Kimberly

And these two Southern girls always send y'all love and best dishes

Amen. Thank you, darling