SECOND

HELPINGS

SECOND

HELPINGS

by

Johnnie Gabriel

with photography by RON MANVILLE

and food styling by LIBBIE SUMMERS

© 2010 by Johnnie Gabriel

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Photos by Ron Manville

Food styling by Libbie Summers

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010934161

ISBN: 978-1-4016-0001-3

Printed in the United States of America

10 11 12 13 14 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

Foreword by Paula Deen

Introduction

Not My Plan

Appetizers

Friendships Forged in the Kitchen

Soups and Salads

People—Valuable Ingredients in My Life

Entrées

Live to Eat, Eat to Live, Live to Cook

Sides

Men and Whoopie Pies

Desserts

Comfort Zone

This and That

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Glossary

Index

FOREWORD

I’m blowin’ a big kiss to my talented Marietta cousin Johnnie Gabriel for this, her second wonderful cookbook. It doesn’t surprise me one bit that she’s written a second helping of scrumptious recipes from her popular restaurant, Gabriel’s. I know a little about cooking, and Johnnie’s food will keep you coming back for more, just as it keeps her faithful clientele coming back to Gabriel’s day after day.

Those two little words second helpings hold so much meaning. Y’all know what I’m talking about? To a cook, they almost seem like coded messages. Asking for second helpings means that your food is good—real good. Good enough to hold your plate out and ask for more. Good enough for the kids to fight over the last serving. Good enough that there is nothing left on the plates when you take them back to the kitchen—they will surely be licked clean. And best of all, good enough that your family, friends, and guests will ask you for the recipe.

The food included in this cookbook comprises those extra-special recipes. Johnnie has time- and taste-tested each and every one, and they’ve gotten the second-helping approval stamp many times over. She has lovingly collected the compliments to share with you in each of these yummy dishes.

And Johnnie knows Southern tastes, too. You can tell by the ingredients that keep showing up: tomatoes, pecans, sweet potatoes, cornbread, and pork. Here’s a little clue: You’re not eatin’ Southern if there aren’t at least two or three of these on your plate, Honey! Of course, I’m also willing to bet that you’re gonna love Johnnie’s Crown Pork Roast with Maple and Cranberry Rice, Tomato and Mozzarella Pie, and Sweet Potato Bread Pudding even if you’re not from the South.

Now, go ahead and treat yourself to second helpings. You deserve it, Hon!

—PAULA DEEN

INTRODUCTION

Iam so excited and happy to bring you Second Helpings. After writing the first cookbook, Cooking in the South with Johnnie Gabriel, and the comments I heard from folks who love to cook, just as I do, I knew there were more great recipes I should put in print. I heard from folks who came into Gabriel’s for a meal or a dessert: The creamed corn recipe tastes just like my grandmother [or mother or Aunt Ginny] used to make! Others remarked that they liked the recipes because they didn’t call for a long list of unfamiliar ingredients. Most often, the ingredients are items you normally have in your pantry.

As a person who loves to entertain and takes pride in what I serve my guests, I have a large number of recipes that my husband, Ed, and I have prepared at home. Combined with recipes for the desserts and savory dishes that Gabriel’s Desserts prepares daily, I have a cookbook full of recipes. Thus, Cooking in the South was born.

Now here I am with Second Helpings and more delicious dishes to cook. It is full of scrumptious recipes because there are a lot of great Marietta cooks, both men and women, who love to entertain. I was able to include only a few . . . I hardly scratched the surface because all the contributors’ recipe boxes were full of good things I didn’t want to ignore. With every generation there are recipes that should be passed on to the next generation; dishes that we may not necessarily use every week but that provide such great enjoyment for the family when they are prepared. For example, recipes for Red Velvet, Italian Cream, and Hummingbird cakes that Mary Moon shared with me in 1989.

Mary Moon was the cake lady of Marietta for many years until she decided it was time to retire. Many might think it coincidental that I needed to earn a few extra dollars about the time Mary was retiring and she graciously shared her recipes with me. I, however, know there are no coincidences in my life. God’s hand is working in all good things that come my way, and me sitting in Mary Moon’s kitchen one day writing down the recipes for cakes she had made Mariettans for years, myself included, was no coincidence. Here I am—twenty-one years and thousands of cakes later—with the opportunity to share delicious recipes with you, just as Mary Moon shared with me.

Southerners still enjoy a reputation of being hospitable. As far as I can tell, it might have begun right here in Marietta, Georgia. This great town has been my home now for forty-three years and any reason to get together with friends or family for a meal is seized with great fervor. For many of us looking for a new dish to cook, the recipe boxes come out, we scour magazines and the Internet, or best of all we call a friend for the recipe of a dish we enjoyed at her house. The pursuit of looking for the best new dish never ends, just as shopping for the outfit that will make us look five pounds thinner is ongoing. We all believe that dish or dress is just over the horizon.

After the invitations are issued and the shopping and cooking are done, we sit around the table and spend a few minutes discussing the pros and cons and perhaps how we might prepare the food differently and where we might share it next. I don’t want to insinuate that food is the only topic of conversation around the tables that I frequent, but the topic is held in high esteem. We are just as curious about who is happily getting married and who is sadly getting divorced, who is expecting a baby and who has died, who is looking for a new job and who is retiring, whether high heels or flats are in, what’s the hot new color for the next season and what church is looking for a new preacher. Oftentimes we take the conversation back again to food when we talk excitedly about a new restaurant that is opening.

When a topic consumes that much of your social conversation you’ve got to know that it’s an important subject.

I have had so many fantastic dishes at other cooks’ houses and events that I knew there was a wealth of recipes out there that needed to be chronicled and shared. I approached friends, young and old; professional chefs and want-to-be chefs—anyone interested in good food. I asked for their best recipes and they gladly shared.

Also, I’m not saying that you have to be a great cook to love to entertain, because I have recipes in Second Helpings from talented caterers. Caterers who have earned their living for many years making other folks’ tables look good! What better recipes could there be for me to share with you?

I hope cooking the dishes in Second Helpings and sharing them with your family and friends brings you as much joy as I experienced during the time I spent with others gathering and preparing the recipes to bring to you.

—JOHNNIE GABRIEL

NOT MY PLAN

If you had told me twenty years ago that I would own a restaurant serving 350 to 450 people a day, I would have told you that you didn’t know me very well. I was comfortable in the role of restaurant patron—one being served, not one serving. Funny how things happen.

And that’s not to say my life has always been on a smooth, paved path. I have been a widow, a single mother, and been affected by economic crises. If you are interested in my story in detail, please see Cooking in the South, my first cookbook.

I was perfectly happy as a mom with two daughters working hard in school and heading off to college. I had parented and cajoled them over the years to keep them on the straight and narrow and was about to enjoy the freedom of an empty nester. I had also spent years honing my tennis game, teaching Sunday school, and working with the youth in my church. To add to an already full life, I discovered that I loved gardening as much as playing tennis.

I wasn’t planning on living a totally self-centered life, and my heart turned toward young, single mothers working to support their families and struggling to find affordable, quality day care. I held an organizational meeting for a Christian-based day care center for low-income parents. I believed the community was to partner with neighbors who needed a helping hand.

A recession in the late ’80s, early ’90s, pulled me from the tennis court and the garden to a part-time job . . . followed by a full-time job and baking at night. My youngest daughter, Laura, who had been a free-spirited freshman at the University of Georgia, by the middle of her sophomore year no longer had time or money for her sorority. She worked two part-time jobs along with going to school. Both of us were yanked out of our comfort zones. It felt as if I was in the middle of a nightmare.

As I look back down the road we have traveled, I wonder what I would be doing had I continued on the course I had plotted out for myself. I wouldn’t have a clue about remaining competitive with the restaurant down the street and at the same time maintaining a profit. (Profitable enough to provide jobs for thirty to forty people.) I would know nothing about hiring the mentally challenged and how hard many of them work to overcome their disabilities. I now understand what it adds to the self-esteem of an individual when someone hands him or her a check at the end of the week and says, Thanks! Job well done! And it truly gives me a sense of accomplishment to serve someone a steaming plate of country fried steak and vegetables, then bus the table, thank the customer, and wipe down the table for the next customer.

It probably sounds as though I had never worked a day in my life before owning a restaurant or that I had never intended to work—but I did. I worked during high school, and after I was married I worked during the day and attended night classes. All with one goal in mind—to set our family up for me to be a stay-at-home mom, as my mother was never able to be. Here I am, forty years later, and the Lord has organized my life to experience the best of both worlds. His planning is so much better than mine!

Nothing makes me happier than spending time with Stephanie (left) and Laura (right)!

Tom and Libbie working diligently to get the perfect shot for us. See the result.

APPETIZERS

CHEDDAR HAM CUPS

This recipe is from Dot Downing, a Sunday school class member. When Dot makes these we can count on our bodies and souls being fed on Sunday morning. You might want to make a double batch, because they disappear quickly.

1 tube (10.2 ounces) large refrigerated flaky biscuits

2 cups (8 ounces) finely shredded cheddar cheese

2 packages (2½ ounces each) thinly sliced deli ham, chopped

¾ cup mayonnaise

3 cup real bacon bits

2 to 3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Horizontally split the biscuits into thirds, peeling the layers apart. Press one layer into the bottom and up the side of each ungreased miniature muffin cup and set aside while you prepare the filling.

In a medium bowl combine the cheddar cheese, deli ham, mayonnaise, bacon bits, and Dijon mustard. Fill each biscuit with about 1 tablespoon of cheese mixture.

Bake at 450 degrees for 9 to 11 minutes, or until golden brown and the cheese is melted. Let stand for 2 minutes before removing from the pans. Serve warm.

Makes 2½ dozen.

CARAMELIZED ONION AND MUSHROOM ROLLS

Adapted from Come on In recipes from the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi cookbook. My Sunday school class loved these when I made them. They are often guinea pigs for my recipe testing.

2 packages crescent dinner rolls

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cup sweet onion, chopped

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature

1 (4-ounce) can mushrooms, stems and pieces, drained and chopped

½ teaspoon seasoned salt

½ teaspoon tarragon

1 egg, beaten

poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lay out the crescent roll dough and press the perforations to seal.

In a small sauté pan heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onions. Sauté until caramelized and golden in color (about 15 minutes). Drain the onions on a paper towel to absorb the oil. Cool.

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the cream cheese, mushrooms, onions, salt, and tarragon. Spread over the dough all the way to the edges.

From the long side of the pastry, roll up jelly roll-style. If the dough has become too warm to hold its shape, refrigerate it for 30 minutes prior to slicing with a serrated knife into ¾- to 1-inch pieces. Reshape the dough into a circle if necessary after cutting, and place on a cookie sheet 1- to 1½-inches apart. Brush the top and sides with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with poppy seeds.

The rolls may be prepared ahead to this point and frozen or covered with plastic wrap and held in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before baking. Overnight refrigeration inhibits the rising of the dough when baked.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve hot.

Makes 24 rolls.

CHICKEN, GOAT CHEESE, AND CRANBERRY WRAP

I served these at Taste of Atlanta, where they were a huge hit! Serve these at your next party, ladies luncheon, or tailgating event. They’d also make a great after-school snack.

1 (11-ounce) package goat cheese

¼ cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted

2 tablespoons honey

3 cup Craisins, chopped

2 tablespoons whole berry cranberry sauce

1 (14-ounce) package lavash flat bread *

12 ounces sliced deli maple glazed chicken or roasted chicken

½ cup spinach leaves or arugula

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Lay the goat cheese out for about 15 minutes prior to mixing