Road House Eats

Hey, y'all. You're in for a rocking good time because my friend, American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks is stopping by

Taylor Hicks is the cutest boy I had ever seen. And he's all about Roadhouse tunes

And Roadhouse food. So I'm going to be making him a ham and cheese turnover, a loaded cheeseburger pizza

and Taylor is frying up his restaurant's signature crawfish rolls. And what's more roadhouse than a little poker game

I'm so going to try to take that little sucker's money. So I'm inviting my friends over for some five-card draw, y'all

She's not me, she's Miss Paula Deere. Come in

Hey, Paula! Taylor! I hear you're having a party. How are you doing

I hear you're having a party. I am having a party. Am I invited

You're so invited. I met Taylor in Birmingham, Alabama. I was there to bring food to the food bank, and Taylor was one of the guests

So I had the opportunity at that point to directly say, Taylor, would you come be on my show with me

You brought your guitar. I brought my guitar. I brought some harmonicas. We're going to have fun

Well, why don't we go into the kitchen and start making music with our food

Because I've got so much to talk to you about. When he first came on American Idol, oh, my goodness, I just pray that he would dance

I didn't miss a show just to watch Taylor. All right. What you making

Let's make something. I'm going to make this just a quick little appetizer, a little ham and cheese turnovers

And if you would, I need about a third of a cup of onions, and we're going to saute them in a little butter

Okay. So if you don't mind doing that for me. Okay. I'm going to come down here and I'm going to cut the cheese

Okay. I just want to see if you was awake. No, I'm going to grate the cheese

All right, let's do that. And I'm going to take out some refrigerated pie crust right here

I've got Gruyere cheese and I've got mozzarella. All of these ham and cheese turnovers

I'm so excited to be here. Oh, what? Because, you know, there's not a lot of times when you're on a tour bus and you're out on the road

Yes. You don't get that same kind of love as you do when you're in a kitchen

Yes. And, you know, you put a lot of love into it. And I like to do that with my music

I'm so glad. And let me tell you something. It showed, honey

Well, I appreciate that. Okay, if you throw those in the pan with a tablespoon of butter

And so my confession to you is, Michael and I got hooked on American Idol

So I told Michael, we have got to vote for Taylor. People said, well, you know, I voted for you

and I look at him, and I say, you never know. You could have been my one swing vote

You know? Because it was close. American Idol is what you see is what you get, right

It made me have to really work hard at singing and performing

Right. What did you say that was again? This is just a refrigerated pie crust

You know, if you don't have time to make your pie crust. Yeah, what do you think about those

It's always good, tender, yet flaky. Because you know my grandmother tried to make pie crust for Thanksgiving and Christmas and stuff

and we'd have to just break the news to her that sometimes her pie crust just didn't turn out right

It wasn't all that great. I don't feel guilty at all using this

I think they're delicious. Now, I'm going to take these two. I'm going to make a double crust

You know, before I do that, I've got us a little ham, and I'm just using a deli

Deli ham. I'm going to chop that. So, Taylor, how were you when you started singing and performing

Three or four started singing. Yes. who was your audience at that age? Probably grandparents

and family. Then it started in school talent shows and then it became

bars and clubs. I played pretty good blues harmonica back then. I got it

It's a handy I tell you, this instrument, you can take it How many chicks has that picked you up, baby

Just beat me up an egg Right in there baby All right now we going to put half the cheese there A little ham So these are like little pigs in blankets but with pie crust

Kind of. They're more like ham and cheese biscuits. There you go

Whatever it is, I'm going to eat it. Oh, I promise you'll like it

And just a few onions. All right, now what we're going to do with that egg

is we're going to come around here just like that. We're going to make a seal so it will stick

so none of our goodness will come out of it. And, you know, just like everything else I do

I overstuff it. That's all right. We're just going to poke it back in there

And then what I'd like for you to do is take the tine of this fork

stick it in your flour, and just come around just like that

When we went to Birmingham, you were just starting to tell me

you looked at me with those beautiful eyes, and you said, Paula, I want to be in the restaurant business

The place that I opened is called Ore. Ore? Drink and Dime

O-R-E, like iron ore. Oh, okay. Because the city, Birmingham, where I'm from, was founded upon iron ore

And a lot of the steel industry was in Birmingham, Alabama. So I used to play in this little place in a little strip mall

There in Birmingham. In Birmingham, Alabama. And I just thought to myself, one day if I make it

I'm going to own this little restaurant, and then I'm going to make some great food, and I'm going to serve some great drinks, and look what happened

I got blessed with the opportunity to go back in there and open a restaurant

So you do not mean it. You have opened a restaurant where you played as a kid

Yep, where I used to play for years. So I think we've got enough turnovers

I don't think we'll... Did you just... Are you eating that wrong? Great time of day. I got to get this boy fed

All right, let's put those in the oven, please, honey. We're going to put them in a 375 oven for about 12 to 15 minutes

Coming up next, I'm fixing Taylor my loaded cheeseburger pizza. And then he's sharing his signature crawfish rolls

Just perfect for a hand of poker. We're going to have some crawfish rolls

All right, bring your cute little tater patch over here and get out our little turnovers

Now, let me ask you something. Yes. What do you consider a potato patch

Tater patch. Tater patch. It's just like your whole body. Mm-hmm. Your whole body

Tater patch, it can be your honey, too. That's what I was thinking. you were saying. You thought I was calling

your honey. So I'm gonna give you a plate and let you be munching on

these. Whoa, not hot. I'm hungry. I'm gonna let them cool a little

bit. We got a pie crust in the oven over there. I've cooked it at 450 for five

minutes. I'm gonna cut on our heat. And right over there, baby, I put it in the big oven

All right, so I'm going to slice us some onions. Because I'm making us a cheeseburger pizza

All right, if you would take a red bell pepper and a green bell pepper, just give me rings, please

Whoa! Excuse me, Taylor. Taylor. All right, come on, you fess up to me

I'm not the great guy. No, you look me in the eye. How much cooking do you really do

None. So give me, how do you cut a ring? Well, we're just going to cut those tips off. Okay

And get it deep enough where we can get that ring. Can Taylor Hicks cook

Sorry, Taylor. You cook in other ways, baby. So we're just going to saute our vegetables

All right, so how long have you had the restaurant now? Well, Orr's been open for about a year or so. Uh-huh

And, you know, I've enjoyed creating the menu, too. All right, that's what I want to hear about

I want to hear about your menu. Well, we have a southern eclectic menu

Okay. Where we do fresh seafood from the Gulf. Do you ever perform there

I do. I do. I show up with a guitar, and I set up and play in the corner

No. And that's, you know, something that I can do. That thrills people out of their gourd, right

They do. Yeah, they enjoy that surprise aspect. All right, so Taylor, we're going to take these out of our skillet

If you would grate us some cheese, please. I going to put you to work All right here we go So while you grating the mozzarella I going to crumble up the ground beef

Now, Taylor, we're doing a cheeseburger pizza. How much cheese do I..

Well, I like a lot of cheese on my pizza. How about you, Dumplin'. Okay. Now look at that nice mustard base on that pizza

All right, look over here. Now, I'm not going to cook this totally done

because this will finish cooking on that pizza in the oven. Taylor, look

I haven't even made the dipping sauce, and we're down to four. We're going to make it down to zero in a little bit

Say, if I don't quit talking in hurry. If you don't quit talking and cooking, I'm going to eat all this way

All right, Taylor, I'm going to lay down a layer of provolone cheese

and a layer of our sauteed veggies. Come on over here. Just help me put these rings out

I want to evenly distribute the colors, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yes, ma'am

I am hungry, by the way. I kind of noticed that, too

Let's put that in the oven

The big oven, 450 for about 10 minutes. I get nervous in this kitchen

Coming up next, Taylor serenades me with a signature recipe from his restaurant, crawfish rolls

Put that in a bowl and cool it But can he make it

What have you done? You want to get the pizza out of the oven? Yep

Because I know you're starving. Yes, ma'am. I know that you're starving

Where are we going to put it? Put it. Put it. You're going to put it right here

What do you think? Put it right there, Taylor. You want to try it

Yeah, I would love to. Looks good. Here you go. Come on up here, and I'll get my light so I can see it

Okay, yeah. Help me, baby. Help me. Why did I bother getting a plate out

You knew I was going to get it. Why did I bother with the plate

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mmm. Isn't that yummy? Mm-hmm

Yeah, yeah. Why do you think the mustard? I think it ties everything together

Mm-hmm. Makes it taste like a cheeseburger, doesn't it? Mm-hmm. All right, now, I've been waiting

This is one of those signature items at your restaurant, Ower. Handmade, fresh daily crawfish rolls

I cannot wait to taste. I see you got a pepper up here

Pepper. I see you got a scallion. I see you got some garlic. Start chopping

Okay. You are going to put me to work. Well, cooking for Paula Deen is going to be very tough

I mean, that's a very scary thing to do. So I'm pretty nervous about it

but I think hopefully she'll like the spring roll I'm cooking. Oh, my goodness, he's going to use the butter, y'all

You know, if I'm here at Paula Deen's house... Hallelujah. I'm going to do some butter

Hallelujah. Now I'm going to cut that eye down because you're going to get hot quicker

and I can get chopped. I tell you what, I know you got to have that egg

so why don't you crack that and kind of beat that. People eat these things up at Orr

Paula, I'm going to get you to chop some of these crawfish. Okay, all right, I'm about to get caught up

So all I need to do is dice up your shallot, and I'll have that ready in a second

I got a couple of cloves of garlic. So there's your garlic

Some chopped garlic. Do you know I almost like crawfish equally as well as I like shrimp, almost a little better

they've got such a hard-hitting flavor. You know? Once you start getting this

going, obviously you want to have some Oh yeah, about a tablespoon

of that crab boil seasoning. Oh my god. Put that in a bowl

and cool it. You got it baby. What do I do

What do I do next Don forget the black beans that are in the sink I got them I got them I got them Oh the roasted corn

I'm going to put the corn in the black beans Because I'm mean

She's not mean, she's Miss Paula Deen Yay! All right, now Spinach

You forgot to sing me into my spinach. I've been looking at that spinach for about 30 minutes

Go, girl. Go, girl. She got the spinach in the bowl. She gonna cook it up

We gonna have some crawfish roll. You know it. To have this pretty young man in my kitchen singing me the recipe while I put it together

does it get any better? No. All right, now you showed me the chicken raw

You want to show me that you can roll? Rock and roll is my middle name, baby

Oh, my God, you sounded like Elvis when you said that. All right, now, I kind of packed mine in good, Taylor

Now, this is going to be funny. Oh, it is? Yeah. Real funny

You know what? I might be creative and make my own. Well, good

You do whatever makes you feel good. I packed mine down, and now I'm going to take my eggs

That does keep everything. And now I'm going to... Yes. And we're going to use our little rolls, our little Asian..

We're going to use our little spring rolls here. Spring rolls. All right

Do yours look anything like that at the restaurant? They do. All right

Come on. Let me see this, honey. Let me think about this here. What have you done

Look. It's beautiful. Now we're gonna let them cook for about five to six minutes

You know what I got planned for us? What's that? A little poker game. Okay

While you sing to me, Taylor, please tell me you're gonna dance for me

You're cheating hard. I ain't cheating on you, baby. Coming up next, we finish up Taylor's delicious crawfish rolls

and then the gang arrives for a little roadhouse poker. Trips win

All right, tell me what you think of these. That's perfect. I mean, that's dark enough to suit you

Yes, sir. That looks just like... Yeah, don't call me sir. No, ma'am

All right. It looks just like an Asian egg roll. Taylor, honey, I hope you're ready for some poker

So I had a reason for selecting the dishes that we were going to prepare

because I had made plans for us to all sit down and play poker

Y'all, we're going to play five-card draw. So like a pair of deuces is good

An ace-king is good. That's a deuce. Okay, a deuce is a two

I didn't know a deuce was either. That's why we did things that you could eat with one hand

because I needed to spread my cards with the other. Carrie bets five

$10 to you, Jamie Cribbs. I'm gonna bet and then raise one

I will take the raise and then raise it 10. So 20 to you, baby

I'm gonna fold and eat one of those ham and cheese turnovers. I never doubted that

They're so flaky. I still have those ham and cheese turnovers. You like those the best

Hey, easy. Don't eat those. What are you doing? Yum. Those are good

What'd y'all have? I had two twos, a five, a six, and an eight

And a queen. Well, I'm just ace high. She's got three of a couple

Almost just straight. Way to go, Garn. Trips win. Woo! Give me the money

Show me the money. Get it, get it, Garn. Yum. Yes. I am having so much fun

Maybe in Colorado. I'm having so much fun, but Taylor. Oh, my God, I've got to hear him sing

Please dance for me. Well, sometimes I get lonely And that's a hard thing to say, yeah

Until I wound up in the wrong side of Mississippi A little more than a getaway

Taylor Hicks can sing like you wouldn't believe. I hope someone is there to care about me

I'm gonna tear this old place down and I'll be on my way

Please dance! Yes, come on, do it, Taylor, do it! Get over there and do that dance

Oh, you like that, baby? Oh, my God, I love it! Drive me crazy

Oh, Lord