Southern Generations

You know, how many times have y'all heard me say I'm not a chef, I'm a cook

Well, guess what, y'all? I got the real deal in this kitchen with me today

My friend and chef, Virginia Willis, is gonna help me put a French twist on some southern classics, y'all

We're gonna start with a herb-crusted fresh ham. Y'all, it's incredible. Paired with a savory-herbed monkey bread

Then green beans get the French treatment. It smells divine. And Grandma Hires' Carrot Cake

That'll make you say bon appetit, y'all. Virginia and I have worked together on occasion, have we

We have, we have. And she's worked with so many people. Martha Stewart, you've cooked for the Clintons

you've cooked for Julia Child. What a treat for us. Well, it's a treat for me

I get to cook with Paula Deen. Well, I'm predicting that in our future, y'all, the very near future, we're going to have a little fresh pig here

Yes. Is that right, Virginia? Yes, exactly. Virginia is going to make for us an herb-crusted fresh ham

So take it away, girl. So what I have here, we have some rosemary and tarragon and thyme

And I'm basically making a fresh herb de Provence. because it's a dried spice combination

from the region of Provence, southern France. But what I like to do is I like to use the fresh herbs

Okay. And it's a little special treat. Lavender? Lavender. Mmm. That smell incredible

Mmm. Mmm. Can I ask you to please season this with salt with pepper while I chop these herbs

And do you like it pretty heavy? I do, I do. Salt brings out the flavor

It darn sure does, honey. Now that salt doesn't want to... Whoa, look at that girl go

That lavender is kicking butt over here

It smells so good. We just want to use a little bit. If you use too much, it winds up tasting sort of like soap

You need to buy it from a spice market or an online source or something

People don't want to buy it from the florist because it may have been treated with pesticides. So what's meant for potpourri is not meant for fresh ham

Yes, yes. So, Paula, what I have here is a tablespoon of thyme, a teaspoon of rosemary, a teaspoon of tarragon, and a half a teaspoon of the lavender

Sounds wonderful. So this is a fresh herb de Provence. I'm going to sprinkle it over

You want me to kind of pat it in? Yes, ma'am. Please do not say yes, ma'am, to me

How old do you think I am? So what we want to do is let this..

Want to wash off? Yes. So what we want to do is we want to let that sort of marinate at room temperature

Oh, we are? For about 30 minutes. Okie doke. I'm not advocating leaving the pork out for prolonged periods of time at room temperature

But we want this, first of all, we don't want the roast to go in cold into a hot oven because it'll take longer to cook. Right

And the other thing is we want to let the flavor of these herbs penetrate

We got the chef over here. Look what the cook is. Look what the cook is moving around over here

Can biscuits. This is so easy to make. Virginia, what a sport you are

I know you've had monkey bread. Yes. Being a southern girl, being a Georgia girl. So, this is going to be a savory monkey bread, y'all

All right. Okay, come on. There. See, I'm literally that little devil will get you

All right, so over here, y'all, I've got some fresh Parmesan cheese

And I'm going to grate up about a cup of this. This sounds delicious. Biscuits rolled in butter and cheese

You know, it's a simple thing for us, Virginia. Yes, there really is a Santa Claus, Virginia

Then I'll add about two teaspoons of a dried Italian seasoning. So we're just going to take our biscuits

Okay. And we're just going to roll them up in a bowl. Okay. Just like that. I mean, this is really, really good

Well, you can't go wrong with butter and parmesan. Thank you. All right, Virginia, we can do that

We've got a stick of melted butter. Yum. Uh-huh, melted butter. Can't go wrong there

It's a party favor, honey. It's a food group around here, isn't it

Yes, it absolutely is. Okay, so into the butter. Dip into the butter

So, like, moisturizing your hands at the same time. You're such a quick study girl

There you go. So we're just going to mound these up in our bunt pan

This would be a great dish to take to picnics or something like that

Everyone will love it. Yes, just easy, easy, easy. You know what I'm going to do

I have an idea. I'm just going to kind of let that go to waste, are we

You know, waste not, won't not, honey. That's right. So I'm just going to kind of pour that over those biscuits

How simple is that? Very simple. And it going to be wonderful with that little pig you roasting off So if you put that in the oven Virginia 350 375 y for about 30 35 minutes

I'm gonna wash my hands. And then we're gonna get some green beans going

And I call them green beans. I'm sure that Virginia calls them them Heracot Vert things

Erica Vert. See y'all, they're baby green beans. They're just French-style green beans

They're small. What I'm doing with these is we have, I just like to take the stem end off

Me too? I don't like to take that pretty little tail off. I don't either. I just found something awfully pretty and whimsical about the little tips

No, I think so, too. This is an example of what I call refined southern cuisine because it's green beans

but you can't get more southern than that. What I'm going to do, we're going to blanch them, boil in salted water until they're crisp, tender

That shouldn't take but just a minute. Exactly, just a little bit of time. Because these..

Eric Overe. Eric Overe's are very tiny, and they should be very tender

The next step, what we're going to do is saute them in a skillet with garlic and halamata olives and tomato and a little bit of vinegar

I promise you it's good. I'll eat anything, girl, that don't eat me first

We're going to be adding the final touches to our green beans

It's very good, very fresh tasting. And Virginia whips up an incredible sauce to go with our fresh ham

I can't wait to see how you do this. And I'm going to be sharing one of my family's favorite recipes

Hey, y'all, welcome back. I'm in here in the kitchen with Virginia Willis

She is a fabulous Georgia chef. Her cookbook is named Bon Appetit, y'all

because Virginia studied in France. And the next thing I'm looking forward to her doing

is putting this pig in the oven. Let's get this started. She is doing an herb-crusted fresh pork ham, y'all

with some delicious green beans. What are you thinking about your cooking time on that

It's basically 25 minutes per pound. I'm going to take it to 150. Then we're going to take it out and let the meat rest

and the juices are going to redistribute. And the temperature, of course, as you know, will continue to rise to about 160, 165

and that's going to be perfectly cooked. So these look bright green. These look really good

These look bright green and pretty. Do those suit you? Yes, ma'am

So what I want to do is drain these. Okey-doke. So let's see

Don't burn yourself. I'm not, I promise. All right, so this is a trick that I love to do

Put them in the column or in the ice bath so you're not fishing your green beans out of the ice. Yes

That sounds great. So now, this is the Provence part. Oh, okay

So we have some more herbs. We've got some garlic. May I ask you to chop the tomato

Absolutely. What size do you want these done in? Just a dice

All right, so I've got the tomato. You want me to put a little olive oil in your pan

Yes, please. About a tablespoon or so. Not too much. Here I have a clove, and I'm just going to tap, and that'll let this peel come off

Okay. We think about Atlanta traffic. Will you grab a pinch full of salt for me, please

Yes. That girl is so fast with a knife, y'all. I wouldn't cross her in a dark alley for nothing

So just sprinkle a pinch of salt on it, and what's going to happen is that's going to act as an abrasive. Uh-huh

And that's going to help take that garlic down even further. And then I use my knife like a palette knife

You are making a paste. And we're using a kosher salt, which is grainy

And it did just break down that garlic, didn't it? This is going to be delicious

So let's add the green beans. Okey-doke. And then the garlic. This will put the tomatoes in

Okay. Isn't this beautiful already? It is beautiful. Okay, so you set the Kalamata olives

Uh-huh. And we have them. Okay, because we don't put them. And seed it

Exactly. So the last bit we're going to do, let's have some basil

Okay. I think basil and tomatoes go really well together. Do you want salt and pepper or anything in this, Virginia

We're just going to let this. I think black pepper would be good. Just a little bit of salt because the olives are so salty

Okie doke. So I'm going to add some basil. I'll just roll the basil leaves up into a cigar

And I love this, and you know what? I actually use this technique with collard greens

That's how I, too, cut my collard greens. So we'll add the basil

It smells so great. The smell is just like really nice. It's nice

It's fresh. It lets the flavors of the green beans and the tomatoes shine through. The last little bit which is kind of a surprise is I just gonna splash a little bit bit of red wine vinegar And that acid really makes the flavors pop Oh I bet it does Okay

That's it. And I think we have a serving dish. Just that simple

Oh, it smells divine. You want to taste? Mm-hmm. They really are good

I'm tasting a little bit of the red wine vinegar now. And I'm getting a little taste of that basil

Exactly. And it really is good. It's simple. It is. It's simple and it's different

And, you know, it's very, very healthy. So we eat like this so we can also eat the fresh ham

Yeah. So we can eat the fresh ham. And my grandmother hires his carrot cake. Yum

My little grandmother was like 4 feet 10, never reached 5 feet except in her 3-inch heels

and she could make some fabulous cakes. So I'm just going to start working on this cream cheese icing

So confectioner, sugar, and cream cheese. Yeah, just a 16-ounce package. I tell you what, since you've got those fabulous chopping skills

if you would chop me up some pecans. That's room temperature, right

Room temperature, so it'll beat up well. I've got a stick of butter at room temperature

I'm going to drop that down in there. I'm going to put a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract

And then I'm just going to beat this up a little bit. And then I'm going to add the rest of our confectionate sugar

Do you use salted or unsalted butter? You know, I'm so glad that you asked me that

I use unsalted because you can always add salt, but you can't take it out. And I use salty because I love the taste of salted butter

I love a salty sweet. Are these pecans fun enough for you

Them pecans are perfect, girl. And you did that quicker than I could beat up that cream juice

So that ham is starting to smell good. It is starting to smell really good

And what we're going to do is we'll take it out. We're going to add some chicken stock and make almost like a jus

Oh, gosh, I love a little jus. I know what you is

I'm just going to kind of sling that off. Just dump them in here

Here we go. Mmm. I love that. I can't wait to make the cake that goes underneath that

There you go. It's going to be all good, y'all. Virginia and I are going to mix up my grandma who hires this carrot cake

Then she's gonna show me how to make a delicious sauce for a ham

That is delicious, Virginia. And don't miss that monkey bread coming out of the oven

Hey, y'all. I'm in here with Virginia Willis, the fellow Georgian who is a very accomplished chef

The theme today is Southern Generation. We have married two of the finest foods in the whole world together

French and Southern. Her book, Bon Appetit, y'all, kind of says it all

So I'm going to start mixing up my grandmother hires this carrot cake recipe

Now over here in my bowl, I'm going to start with four eggs. I have had so much fun

being in here in the kitchen with you today, Virginia. I've had a blast. So tell everybody

all your accomplishments. I feel so fortunate about what I've got to do

in my career and the people I've gotten to work with. I lived and worked in France

I just think that the respect that the French give the food is just fantastic

Yes, they're very serious about it, aren't they? All right, now in my big bowl

I'm going to measure out two cups of all-purpose flour. Which side would you like for me to grate it on

Well, I kind of like the small side. The real small, yeah, because it almost melts in the pan

Yes, it does. Two cups of sugar, two teaspoons of baking soda

one teaspoon of salt and then I'm going to add two teaspoons of

brown cinnamon oh I can smell that cinnamon doesn't that cinnamon smell good

I'm going to measure out one and a half cups of vegetable oil

which tells you right off the bat this is going to be

a wonderful moist cake very tender But this cake is so easy

You know, you just plop everything in there. Just blend it all up real good

All right. Perfect. Perfect. This should come, y'all, to about three cups of carrots

And that looks just right. Got it. That's perfect. You are so talented

All right. Grandma hires used nuts in her frosting as well as her cake And see I love the double nuts in the other Oh yeah well it like building those layers of flavor that really makes everything taste so good And we going to need about a cup and a half of chopped pecans

Look at the girl go! Go, Virginia, go! Is that fine enough for you

That is perfect. Okay, so if you toss those in there, and I'll fold those in

All right, and I'll get the cake pans. Okey-doke. I've got three cake pans, y'all, that have been floured, greased, and lined with parchment paper

and that's going to assure our cake coming out nice and even

So these are great. I kind of knocked mine on the counter. Oh, okay

To just release those air bubbles. Okay. And in the oven, these go, y'all, at 350 for about 40 minutes

Y'all, look at this. Yum, yum. All right, what I'm going to do is do this

That smells incredible, doesn't it? Y'all, the herbs that Virginia has on this is smelling so delicious

It's just overpowering. I like it. What I can't wait to get a hold of is some of that skin

Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I love it. Oh, and it's hard. Okay

All right, so I'm just going to turn this monkey bread out on this plate

I can't wait honey to dip that down in that jus you think's gonna make

Look at that! Oh my gosh, it's gorgeous. Look at that brown yummy cheesy goodness

Isn't that gorgeous and smell that cheese. And I can't wait to see how you do this

Well, are you gonna leave all that fat and everything? I think I might

And we're making a jus just like the natural juices. I'm just gonna add some chicken stock

In about two cups. Look how nice that is. And the flavor of the herb that crusted the ham

Uh-huh. And then we just want to season this with a little bit of salt

Uh-huh. And a little bit of pepper. Virginia, that is you. Looks fabulous

I'm going to top our carrot cake with our yummy cream cheese frosting

Look how delicious that looks. And our savory monkey bread gets the final touch

touch. You're one hell of a chef. Hey, y'all. These southern generations are about to get our

meal together. My granny's carrot cake has cooled off. We've dumped them out. Now, I'm just going to

spread that cream cheese icing between each of the layers, and you can see because we only had

two cups of flour and two cups of sugar. They don't make real

thick layers. Virginia is buttering up our monkey bread. This smells incredible. And then we're

going to add a little bit of cheese on top. What is enough, Virginia

There's no such thing. What is enough? Okay, well you're done there

Why don't you go ahead and get the ham ready? I'll get started on this crackling

I cannot wait to eat that skin. Oh, this looks delicious

Oh, got you a nice little crack on there on top. Uh-uh

Look how delicious that looks. My darling angel grandma hires. Come and give this a try

Oh, for Jimmy. But, Gina. It's the best of both. Now, I can't eat without

I'm going to fix a plate. Don't you worry. Look at that beautiful plate with y'all

What do you think? How do you like the... The monkey bread is fabulous. Mmm

Incredible. I love you. I love you, too. Any woman that likes pork skin as much as I do

Wow. It's the fresh herb to provance that makes such a difference

and gives all that flavor to the jus. You're one hell of a chef

Oh, look at that. Isn't that pretty? That's so pretty. I'm cutting you carrot cake

Thank you. I'm having meat skins. This is delicious. Mm-hmm. It's moist, and the pecans in both the cake and in the frosting

it's just like carrot cake's supposed to taste. You know, what can I say

I'm in hog heaven, y'all. I want you to come put your feet under my stove or table anytime you want to

Thank you. Thank you for having me. I've had a great time. We send you love and best dishes

Bon Appetit, y'all. Ha, ha, ha, ha