Rock It Out

For 30 minutes, I'm gonna rock away

Today, my friend Rose Rock is here to help me make her son Chris Rock's favorite meal

smothered chicken and biscuits. Your biscuits are beautiful. Then, y'all, we're gonna be making two kinds of deviled eggs

a Southwestern and a BLT. Oh, my God, that's good. I know

And finally, we got a knockout dessert. Pa-pow! My Aunt Peggy's Cheesecake with a Braline Topping

Am I bad influence? You are, I'm telling you. But I'm loving every minute of it

Y'all, this is Rose Rock. This is Chris Rock's mama. Now, I had the pleasure of being the guest speaker at the book fair here in Savannah

and it was my lucky day to get to meet this woman

Rose, you totally blew me away. Likewise. You totally blew me away

Rose bought me a copy of her book, Mama Rocks Rules. Ten Lessons for Raising a House Full of Successful Children

I love it. I love it. Thank you. Now, you have mothered how many children

You've given birth to how many? I've given birth to seven. And then we've had 17 foster children

So, Rose, you and I would have made many more deviled eggs than this

Oh, yes, definitely. Feeding all those children. Definitely. But we're going to jazz them up a little bit, Rose. Okay

We're going to do a BLT deviled egg, and then we're going to do a Southwestern deviled egg

And you see, I had a wet paper towel out there for you, Rose. Oh, that makes sense

That keeps those whites steady on the plate. So, we're doing six yokes in one bowl and six yokes in another

You didn't know I was gonna immediately put you at work, did you? I really didn't expect this

I thought I was gonna come and look cute after they did me up and everything

I said, okay. You look great, sister. Thank you. In the meantime, I've got us three strips of bacon that I've cooked up real crisp rows

So I'm gonna chop these up pretty good. And then when you get through cutting our eggs in two

I need for you to de-seed us up a couple of cherry tomatoes

Okay. So that's our B, that's our T. Our L is gonna be parsley

How is parsley L? Because it's green like lettuce. Oh, okay. Just wanted to know

For my BLT eggs, y'all, I'm gonna add a quarter cup of mayonnaise

Were your children big eaters? Oh, my God. You know, I had my mom one day, she said

yeah, Rose Boys come downstairs, and they get a gallon of milk and two boxes of cereal

and they eat it all up, and when she walks down, they say, Mom, what's for breakfast

They do. They eat a meal, and it's kind of like a warm-up for the real meal

That's right. But you are a tough mama, aren't you? I am. You know, I was the mother

I'm not a friend. I'm the mother, and I think that's where we make our mistakes now

Trying to be friends with your children. I think you can do that after they grow up

After they grow up, but what they need when they're young is structure. Yes

And they need you to be the mom and to be in charge. We all know Chris Rock

He is one of the funniest men. I never found him funny

As a matter of fact... Said like a typical mama. Okay, one question

Where do I put the tomatoes? Right in here, baby. Right in there. Right in here

And a little salt, little pepper. I'm going to put our lettuce in it

about a tablespoon of parsley. I understand, Rose, that you're the butt

of a lot of Chris's jokes. Oh, yes. Always. How do you feel about that

Well, it depends. Some of it... What kind of mood you're in? Yeah, it depends on the mood and some of the stuff he says

You know, because he calls me a ghetto snob, and I can't really explain... A ghetto snob

It means that you're really not there yet, but you act like you already are

Now, Rose is going to chop us up one tablespoon of green onions

and I'm going to mix our other yolks with a 30-cup of mayonnaise and a pinch of salt and pepper

Okay, where does this go? In here. In this six yolks. Okay

And these look delicious, don't they? They do. Rose, honey, if you grab that clapper right down there

Okay, and bring it to the end. Yeah, we're going to go down here. Okay, we're going to decorate them now. But we've got to finish these Southwestern eggs up first

Okay. And I'm going to put about a teaspoon of cumin. Smell

That's one of those. Oh, it smells good. Uh-huh. It's one of the main ingredients that goes in chili and Southwestern

I like it. I am so glad you like it. And then I'm going to put

Do we need to grate that cheese? Oh, my goodness, yes. Let me start that. Thank you

I don need but like three tablespoons Okay And you see I got you out a grater with a small little grate to it Because we need it fairly fine And this is just a mild cheddar cheese y

I'm going to put a couple of tablespoons of just a store-bought salsa

And look at that. Okay. I'm going to add a little less than a tablespoon of sour cream

Not much, because I don't want our eggs too wet. One. And that gets our Southwestern

Oh, that sounds good. So simple enough, isn't it? Yeah. Now, I'm going to load up our piping bags, Rose, with each of the fillings so we can just fill our egg whites

I like this. You like it? I like it. You know, if we didn't have a pastry bag, Rose, we could take a plastic bag, you know, and just clip the corner of it

Oh, I like you. Because you know how, oh, God. I am from the school of make-do, honey

That's right. Look at me. I'm doing this. All right, I'm going to sprinkle the onions on the Southwestern

and then you sprinkle the bacon on yours. They're beautiful. Oh, a little bacon

You want to taste? Mm. That's it. Mm. Oh, you take a little French

Oh, my God, that's good. I know. Don't you want a real bite

That wasn't a real bite? No. Oh, my God. A real bite is this, Rose

Coming up, Rose and I are making her kids' favorite dish. The chicken is looking great, and it's smelling so good

And we're going to serve it alongside some light and fluffy biscuits, y'all

My stomach's starting to growl, Rose. And later, we're making a scrumptious dessert

It's going to drive you nutty. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't

Welcome back, y'all. I'm here in the kitchen today with Rose Rock

I want to get started on your recipe. It sounds heavenly. It is

Smothered chicken and biscuits, y'all. And you just put me to work

You tell me what you want me to do, honey. Olive oil. Okay, how much

Well, you know what? I don't measure, so just make sure there's enough oil to cover the bottom

Cover the bottom. All right. What I need you to do is to salt and pepper the chicken while I make the dredge for it

So I'm going to add, and this is Paula's seasoning, y'all. This is my house seasoning

This is her seasoning. Which is salt, pepper, and garlic powder. And Rose, you're going to need one tablespoon to add to your two cups of flour

And I'm going to just do this with my hands. Absolutely. To make sure that it's all mixed in good

So there we go. Oh, that looks good. All right, now you're ready, buddy. And I'm going to dredge this in the mixture and put it in the pan and let it brown just a little

Okay. Okay. This is going to be so good. Oh, yeah. It looks like it

And we need to put some butter in the pan and let it start melting to brush the tops of the biscuits

Okay. Can I go ahead and chop up your... Chop up everything. Okay, that's your celery

That's the celery, scallions, and onions. And that helps to make that gravy

Oh, that goes with the biscuits. I love smothered chicken and biscuits

Well, this is Chris's favorite by far. Well, come on down here

We'll start on those biscuits. Okay. While your chicken is cooking. Well, I'm going to do two level cups of self-rising flour. Okay

And you're gonna give me one cup of milk. Okie doke. You know, I like using that self-rising flour rose

Oh, it eliminates a lot of measuring and stuff. Yeah, you don't have to worry about that

Bacon powder or bacon soda. Now I'm gonna level this off. Okay

So now I need to get my shortening in this. How much shortening

Well, this is like a half a cup. Okay. And then I cut the shortening into the flour first before I put the milk in

The chicken is looking great, Rose. Oh, okay. And it's smelling so good

I will add the milk. Okey-doke. And sometimes you don't really need a whole cup of milk

You just need enough to really moisten the flour. You can always add two

True. Your dough looks great. Oh, yes. And now the best part

Okay. We flour the board and your hands because this is the messy part

And now I need the bread. And I'm gonna come down here because our chicken's nice and brown

I'm gonna take that chicken out, and I'm gonna put in our vegetables, okay? Okay

While you're doing that. Look at that beautiful brown color of that chicken

Oh, that looks good. Okay. Now, here is the part I love

You love kneading the dough. Yeah, you know what? This is like therapeutic

Uh-huh. It feels good. Yeah, it really does. In your hands. It really does

All right, so I'm gonna add the celery. Okay. And I think this was two stomps of celery that you had up here Rose two stonks of celery And you have a couple of spring onions here green onions Yes

And one onion that's already pre-chopped. So we're just gonna let that saute in that olive oil

and the fat that's been rendered off the chicken. Rose rolls out her dough to about a half an inch thick, y'all

and she uses a biscuit cutter to press out the shakes, and then she just spreads them out on a grease pan

Your biscuits are beautiful, girl. All right, now our vegetables are tender, Rose

I'm going to put our chicken back in there, and then we'll add, what, about a half cup of water

Half a cup of water, and we cover and let it simmer until it's finished

And that should take about 25 minutes. This is going to be so good

It looks good already. It looks good already. Now we need to just brush the biscuits

so they can go in the oven. But we'll still put more butter in them later, won't we

That's what makes them good. That's exactly what makes them good. Okay

My stomach's starting to growl, Rose. All right, Rose, what temperature are we going to cook these at, darling

15 minutes, 400. 400. Okay. In the oven they go. Okay. You don't want to miss a thing, y'all

I think Rose's smothered chicken and biscuits is gonna be out of this world

Coming up, y'all, it's time to taste Mama Rose's famous dish. Oh, that looks good

It's delicious. Then we whip up a super simple dessert, and later we top it with something sticky sweet

That looks all decadent. Drizzle down the side a little bit. I'm in here in my kitchen, y'all, with Rose Rock

And she has cooked up one of her children's favorite dishes, chicken and biscuits

Look at that. Rose. Smells good, too. I can't hardly wait. Oh

Oh, you're so nice. Oh. I'm just going to stab mine with a fork

And we've got the butter here. Look what I'm going to do

Oh, you're putting extra butter. Yes. I'm just going to put the butter on top of mine

You know what? I think I want some of the gravy from the pot. Oh, I want that, too

Oh, that looks good. Doesn't that look delish? Oh. Uh-huh. And you're just scraping the pot

I'm scraping that pot because the way Rose cooks her chicken, y'all

Oh, my goodness. Oh. That little bit of liquid just kind of cooks on down and becomes, like, sticky

Not because I cooked it, but it is good. Really. It's delicious

Well, is this it, our chicken and biscuits? No, honey, this is not it

You're full of surprises, I tell you. I want you to help me. I'm going to make my Aunt Peggy's cheesecake with a praline topping

Oh, that sounds delicious. Do you like that? I'm going to leave my plate here

because I'm definitely going to come back and finish it. Rose, that is delicious

I can see why all of the children wanted to be at the Rock House

That is totally delicious. That's my kind of food. Now, where do we start

Help me with this. Do you make a lot of cheesecakes? No, I've never, ever, ever made a cheesecake

You're kidding. I'm not kidding. Now, all I'm going to do is start with two 8-ounce packages of cream cheese

If you would start the crust for me. We're going to use one and a half cups of graham cracker crumbs

You can buy them that way at the grocery store. Already done up, y'all. Over here in this pot, I'm going to start you one stick of butter

I'm going to add one cup of sugar to my cream cheese

And then I'm going to crack three eggs. This is unbelievably easy, Rose

And if you'll just add a tablespoon of sugar to your bowl. Yeah, that tablespoon of sugar is going to sweeten those graham cracker crumbs up

Okay. Now I'm going to add about a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring. And I'm just going to cream these ingredients together

See how simple that is? Oh, that is. And you want to make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature

Otherwise, it'll be really hard for you to beat up. That's looking mighty good

All right, your butter. Is it ready? Your butter's ready, Rose. Okay

So I'm going to give this to you. I'm just going to reach across you

Okay, can you just pour it in for me? Yeah, I'm just going to pour into that graham cracker

All right, thank you. You are so welcome, dear. See what that butter did

Yeah. It just made it all sticky. Okay, now. This looks so good Okay You want to compress it really good so that it will come apart when we cut it

Okay. And as soon as you get that pressed down, I've got our cheesecake filling

Ready to go. Yes, I've got it ready to go. We've got our oven up to 350 degrees, y'all

and we're going to bake this off for about 35 to 45 minutes

This is one of the easiest cheesecake recipes. And what's going to make this so damn good, Rose

is that praline topping we're going to put on it. Oh, that sounds good

You picking up what I'm putting down? Oh, yes. I'm going to go home converted

Converted to what? I'm going to be in the kitchen more. I'm going to be experimenting

Cut our pieces. You're ready. That sounds great, Rose. All right, so I'm just going to make sure I get every drop of that wonderful cream cheese filling

I'm not going to miss a thing. All righty. If you'll get that in the oven for me, Rose, I'm going to move on down here

I'm going to wash my hands. Okay. Coming up, y'all. Here's the sinful part, Rose

Our cheesecake gets covered with a ooey-gooey treat. All right, you want to pass me my plate, Miss Rose

Oh, I do. I forgot about you. I forgot about you. I've had so much fun with you here in the kitchen

I'm telling you, this has been great. Now, I'm going to take our same pot that I melted our butter in

Okay. And I'm going to measure out two tablespoons of light brown sugar

Okay. If you'd be measuring me up, Rose, one cup of dark syrup

And I want to show you a little trick. You know how you feel like you can't ever get syrup out of..

Oh, yeah. All right, if you'll spray it... Oh, smart people. That grease will help it just roll

It will come right out. Yeah, it'll come right out. Who knew

I'm going to add two tablespoons of cornstarch, y'all, to our light brown sugar

That's perfect, Rose. Now, if you just want to pour it in here..

Okay. And look how easy that comes out of that cup since we sprayed it

Oh, I tell you. All right, now, if you would measure out a half a cup of those pecans

Okay. And I'm just going to stir this until it thickens, until that cornstarch dissolves in my cup. Okay

All right, I'm going to throw in my pecans. Okay. You know what, Rose

Yes. I like a lot of nuts. Well, then put some more in

Yes, so I'm going to put just nuts. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't

I'm adding a teaspoon of vanilla. Oh, that smells good, too. Yum, yum

All right, Rose. Is it ready? I think we are in business

Look at that. Here's the sinful part, Rose. Am I bad influence

You are, I'm telling you. You definitely are. But I'm loving every minute of it

Oh, I'm going to let that kind of drizzle down. Oh, let it just drizzle all over

That looks all decorative. Drizzle down the side a little bit. I say, perfect

You ready to taste? Oh, yes. Oh, my God

To our new friendship. Oh, yes. And what better way to toast a friendship

All right, you want to pass me my plate, Ms. Rose? Oh, I forgot. I forgot about you

I forgot about you. I mean, come on. I'm the guest. I know

We're such good friends. And look how quickly she forgot about her friend

All right, pull you up the stool, honey. Oh, boy. Oh, this is wonderful

Here. Oh, boy. Let me just decorate your plate a little bit

You know, I always like to serve vegetables. Okay. A little mint

A little mint never hurt anybody. Now you dig in, honey, like you never ate before

Oh, my goodness. So you like it, Rose? A tad. A tad

It is fantastic. It is really good. Here, let me do something healthy to it

Let's be patting. Doesn't that make it feel just a tad healthier

I just love these nuts. Whoa! Pow, pow! Well, the moment I met her

I knew she was my kind of woman. Likewise. I so admire you, Rose

Likewise. And you know what else? Your biscuits ain't bad neither. Well, I look forward to your next visit

And until then, y'all, best dishes and love. From our kitchens to yours

Bye-bye. Tiki and Rosie