Jamie Deen - The Deen Bros. take it easy : quick and affordable meals the whole family will love

Copyright 2009 by Deen Brothers Enterprises, LLC
Food photography (excluding the photograph on ) copyright 2009 by Ben Fink Photography

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

B ALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

eISBN: 978-0-345-52967-1

People photographs and the photograph on courtesy of Robert Jacobs Photography

www.ballantinebooks.com

v3.1_r1

also by jamie and bobby deen
and melissa clark

The Deen Bros. Cookbook: Recipes from the Road
The Deen Bros.: Yall Come Eat

This book is dedicated
with love and respect
to our mom and dad.

Paula Hiers, age nine, and Jimmy Deen, age seven

To my wife, Brooke: Thank you for your support and your love that keeps my spirit in the clouds. To our beautiful son, Jack: Thank you for your big hugs, wet kisses, and for your I love you, too, Daddy. I love you both down to the ground and up to the sky.

To Bobby, my best friend since I was three years old: Thanks for doing everything a little brother should do. You made me a big brother.

A mighty and heartfelt thanks goes out: To all of our staff, guests, and friends at The Lady & Sons Restaurant and at Paula Deen Enterprises, who have helped shape, grow, and sustain our little business that could. To Melissa Clark, who, while very pregnant, got it done. Again. To Barry Weiner and our literary agent, Janis Donnaud, for your hard work, gentle guidance, and the spot-on restaurant recommendations when we visit New York. To our editor, Pamela Cannon; publisher Libby McGuire; and the entire Ballantine team, thank yall for helping make our dreams come true. To Robert Jacobs and Ben Fink for adding the art of their beautiful photography.

And, for their unlimited love and support, thanks goes out to: Uncle Bubba Hiers, Aunt Peggy Ort, Fred and Linda Terry, Michael Groover, Therlus Deen, Steven Farmer and all the folks at the University of Georgia, Gordon Elliot, Kate Neumann, Mary Jane Crouch, and our tireless assistant, Michael Peay.

Id like to thank the staff at The Lady & Sons. Without all of your hard work, this book wouldnt be possible. Thanks to my brother, Jamie, my business partner and friend. I admire and love you. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for teaching me what is really important in life. To my friend and coach Sam Carter, thank you for helping me be a better man. And to my friends Michael, Matt, Cindy, and Ashley, thank you for eating all of my cooking!

Sometimes I just have to take a breath and marvel at the way time flies. It really does seem like yesterday that I had my two darling babies underfoot, peeking into the pots and pans bubbling away on the stove top, trying to figure out what I was fixing for dinnerand trying to steal themselves a taste. But here those two mischievous little boys have grown into two fine men, each with a heart as good as goldand each just as interested as ever in whats in store for them at the dinner table. Well, I guess its true that the apples dont fall far from the treeyou can sure believe that dinner is a favorite preoccupation of their mamas, too.

Mealtimes are still family time for us Deens, and its gotten even more special now that Jamie and Brooke have brought our precious grandbaby, Jack, into the mix. Thats what a baby can do to a family: take a heart thats already full up with love and make it even bigger to hold more love than you ever thought was possible. But having a baby did more than change our hearts; he changed the way we cook, too (though for the Deens, our hearts and our cooking are truly one and the same). Becoming a daddy has really turned Jamies kitchen techniques around. When I pop in on them for dinner, I see Jamie and Brooke doing things on the quick, because they just cant afford to spend hours over the stoveand who would want to anyway? Especially when the weathers fine and theyve got that little boy to take for a walk to the park (or, knowing my son, more likely to teach Jack how to throw a football).

And its no different over at Bobbys house. Let me tell you a secret about my younger son: He is a marshmallow. He may not look like one, but thats exactly what he is. Hes a sweet ol softie when it comes to helping out a pal, whether that means extra practices with his softball team, a night out with his buddies, or setting up fund-raisers for charity (he even auctioned himself off as a date to benefit our local food bank). Because of his giving nature, his schedule is so jam-packed that he has had to teach himself how to make his meals on the double, without sacrificing one bit of that good old-fashioned Southern home-cooked taste he grew up on. You know, just because you have half the time does not mean you have half the appetite.

I couldnt be more gratified that in this book, Jamie and Bobby are sharing their quick and creative meals with busy families everywhere. I tell you, I wish I had had a cookbook like this back in the days when I had a young family to feed. Once again, I find myself amazed at what these two little boys (and no matter how much time passes, they will always be their mamas little boys) have accomplished.

And I know you and your family will enjoy every single delicious recipe my boys have to offer. Even if youve got time to kill (lucky you!), youll still love the brilliant, easy dishes theyve gathered for yall right here. I just cant wait to dig in!