Bobby Deen, (
)
Bobby Deen might have the only mother on the planet who thinks that his versions of her recipes are better than hers.
And he’s the first one to admit that she has much thicker skin.
“I take it very, very personally. In fact, I wear the stuff,” he admits, when asked about how he’s weathered the criticism of his mother Paula Deen’s controversial diabetes revelation and subsequent drug endorsement deal last winter.
By contrast, he says Paula is showing her usual resilience and optimism. He envies her ability not to take herself too seriously all of the time.
In what’s been a tumultuous year for America’s first family of food, the second season of “Not My Mama’s Meals” begins next Wednesday night at 9 on the Cooking Channel.
Bobby’s own health was actually the impetus for the show’s premise: “Son Bobby takes megastar mom Paula Deen’s calorie-laden Southern recipes and makes them healthier.”
Concerned that his grandfather (Paula’s dad) had died of a heart condition in his early 40s, Bobby, 42, has also hit the gym.
He was aware of Paula’s diagnosis before and during production of the first season.
While the Bastianich Bunch sometimes look like they’ve taking one for the team while appearing on mother Lydia’s PBS show, the entire Deen family took to TV immediately.
Brother Jamie has his own show on Food Network and even their father Jimmy (Paula’s ex) made a poignant appearance on one of her shows.
Bobby has also become accustomed to a “certain level of weirdness” that strangers seem to know everything about the extended family — and feel free to comment in-person about whether he’s gained or lost weight.
He wasn’t the least bit intimidated by the cameras or his mother’s success.
“If you can run the front of a house of a busy restaurant, you can host a TV show,” says Deen, who did crowd control at the family’s hugely successful Savannah restaurants before Paula hit it big on TV.
While the show is filmed in locations all over downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn, he still lives in Savannah.
His role at the restaurant has changed and diminished over the years, and he mostly goes in to rally the staff and sign autographs for the mob of Deen TV fans.
Bobby is amused that the most common misperception about him seems to be that he’s gay.
Named one of People’s 50 Most Eligible Bachelors in 2006, he now spends much of his time commuting from to LA to visit his girlfriend, Katy Mixon, the 31-year-old actress who plays Victoria on “Mike and Molly.”
Bobby’s AFTER burger
Ingredients
4 portobello mushrooms caps
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 large slices whole-grain peasant bread, each cut in half
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 cup baby arugula
1 large tomato, cut into 8 slices
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup roasted red pepper
Directions
Place mushrooms in baking dish. Whisk together vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Brush mushrooms with vinegar mixture.
Place mushrooms, rounded side down, on grill rack and grill until tender. Place bread slices on grill rack and grill until lightly browned.
Combine mayonnaise and rosemary in a small bowl until blended. Brush bread slices with the mayonnaise mixture. Layer half the slices with mushrooms, arugula, tomatoes, onion and red pepper strips. Top with remaining bread slices. Serve immediately.–thedeenbros.com
Paula’s BEFORE burger
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
3 tablespoons parsley leaves
2 tablespoons grated onion
House Seasoning (salt, pepper and garlic powder)
2 tablespoons butter
3 eggs
6 slices bacon, cooked
6 glazed donuts
Directions
Mix ground beef, chopped parsley and grated onion together in a large mixing bowl. Season liberally with House Seasoning. Form 3 hamburger patties.
Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Add burgers and cook until desired temperature.
Fry bacon in a hot pan until crisp.
While burgers are cooking, heat a nonstick pan, over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons butter. Crack 3 eggs into pan.
Place burger patties on glazed donuts, as the buns. Top each burger with 2 pieces of bacon and a fried egg.–foodnetwork.com