“There’s no way a movie script can come close!” according to a good friend of Tammi Arender regarding our ‘how did this happen?’ friendship. A new-to-Charleston news anchor from Louisiana with a passion for cooking and a show (WOWKitchen) invited me to join her for one of her cooking segments. We made Personal Peach Pies on TV and continued with some more kitchen fun. This was five years ago and I had just published my first cookbook which Tammi was happy to promote. She wasn’t too happy about living in West Virginia and as I tried to win her over, she announced:

GIRL you’re too late. I’m going home!

I think she lived in West Virginia for about a hot minute. I stayed 24 years, true love.

The following Spring, one snowstorm too many and a well timed job offer had me uprooting from West Virginia to sunny South Louisiana. I messaged Tammi, ‘guess who’s moving to Baton Rouge?’ and her reply:

GIRL, get OUT!

We reunited at the LSU v Alabama game and from time to time when she visited from north to south. Then she left last fall to work for the Ag Network in Nashville, reminding me, “I’m a farm girl from Tallulah, Louisiana. These are my roots!” She’s been zigzagging since and as we caught up last week, she was on the road from Dallas to Nashville where she’s lived on and off for 17 years to return to the anchor desk for RFDTV. She will be on the air September 14.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? I don’t really have a Tex-Mex background, but I will put ANYTHING on a quesadilla! As long as I’ve got a tortilla and some cheese, I can turn a quesadilla into a gourmet meal. It just depends on what’s left in the fridge. I like to roast a whole chicken and debone it and store it in little baggies. I’ll put that on there with homemade pesto and my go-to Swiss cheese and a slice of cornmeal candied bacon. Let it get bubbly under the broiler, fold it over and I’m in heaven. I’ll jog from Baton Rouge to Gonzales to eat what I want.

What’s your favorite city? My favorite city that has my heart is Tallulah, Louisiana where I was raised. She’s crying. I was raised on a farm there. That’s HOME! I quit a job, sold a house and a Harley Davidson and moved to Nashville. NOT to become a country singer. I moved there to cover the Country Music Awards. I knew it was the place where I wanted to live and work. It’s the only other place on the planet I felt like could be home aside from Louisiana. It’s the perfect combo of country and city having all the advantages of big city but it still has that country hometown feel. Also, I’m a sports fanatic! If you’re a sports fan, you love Nashville (I confess I’ve never been! “Oh girl, you have GOT to come!”)

What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? Oh wow, well when I go home it’s the Waterfront Grill in Monroe, Louisiana and for so many reasons. The food is phenomenal and the location! It’s on the banks of the Bayou DeSiard across from the University of Louisiana Monroe where I went to school. The dish is called Catfish DeSiard and it is fabulous! I know it’s three and a half hours from Baton Rouge, but you have GOT to go!

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? You can never ever come to my house and I not have it. It’s my Geaux Nuts mixture, a great snack and something I crave. Walnuts, cashews and pecans and I don’t overdo the sugar so it’s not candied. I roast them with a little melted butter and a secret ingredient. Here’s a hint: it’s not cayenne! I’m on an 11 hour trip and made a batch of Geaux Nuts before I left so I’ll arrive in Nashville with this and won’t starve to death before I unpack my kitchen.

Who taught you to cook? Myself! I would say my daddy because he LOVED to cook. I watched him, but I was such a tomboy that I stayed outside on a horse or the Harley. Then one winter when I was living in Baton Rouge I decided to make handmade bread rolls like the bread at the Little Village restaurant. I thought I’m gonna try to make that bread and that’s what got me addicted to cooking 20 years ago. My mother collected cookbooks and I started reading them like John Grisham novels. It became an obsession with cooking and baking!

What’s your go-to dish for company? It would have to be my shrimp and grits.

What’s on your cooking playlist? I’m a country music fan first of all. Tim McGraw! And I love Michael W. Smith, old school Christian music. And Danny Gokey! I absolutely adore him and Steve Wariner, too. My playlist is the strangest combo of Christian and country music that you have ever heard.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? COFFEE!! Don’t even mention the others. I love CC’s dark roast. I used to have it shipped to me three bags at a time in Nashville. Now I can get it in the store there.

Date night--at home? or out? Skip date night, let’s not go there!

Most stained cookbook? Louisiana Festivals by Enola Prudhomme. She signed it! When I was with WBRZ she and Paul would cook for our show. Actually Paul would come to us and we had to go to Enola in Lafayette. That cookbook has stayed with me for the last 25 years. I move around a lot!

Surf? or Turf? I’m gonna have to say a combo. A well-cooked steak is hard to beat. As a Louisiana girl I can’t say no to shrimp or crawfish.

Indispensable kitchen tool? I’m a good knife girl. I didn’t realize how special a good sharp knife is! Such a valuable tool in the kitchen no matter how much it costs. I’m a sweet potato freak! They are hard to cut. You’ve got to have a good knife.

Staple childhood comfort food? My dad was the cook in the family, but my mom! The one thing she made that I can’t replicate and neither can my sister is my mom’s banana pudding. When I need to feel comfortable I look for something close. That’s my goal in life is to crack the code of Gloria Arender’s banana pudding.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? Is it too cliche to say Jesus? I would have loved in his day and time to just have a normal conversion about life! Here’s a food related question to Jesus. Why on earth was an apple the fall of mankind?

Ideal grilled cheese? I am the ultimate grilled cheese girl. I want it done in a skillet, four cheeses and one of them has to be that processed cheese in the little wrappers, plus Swiss, cheddar and parmesan. If I have all those in my fridge, it’s going on there. I’ll cook it in the Iron skillet and put one on top for a 1920’s panini.

Favorite pizza topping? I’m an Italian sausage girl.

Where would you want to take a cooking class? In Paris, France. I’ve conquered southern home cooking and frou frou cooking has never been my deal. If I ever have the money I’ll go spend six months at Le Cordon Bleu.

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Don’t skip good quality ingredients. My tastebuds rule my world. Use real butter. Use good bacon. Use high quality vanilla. Food is our connection to people. Skip the mani-pedi’s, skip the jewelry and fancy clothing. Don’t skimp on food.

Three things next to your stove? I infuse my own olive oil with garlic and lemon, so it’s there. The Louisiana Festival Cookbook stays on the counter. I leave the butter out on my grandmother’s butter dish.

Favorite Sports Team? I lived in Nashville when the city bought the Houston Oilers and turned them into the Tennessee Titans. I became a Titans fan because I was so invested. There was never a time in my life when I wasn’t rooting for the Saints!

From oven to plate in minutes! Pesto, cheese, white beans and sausage melted inside a tortilla. Instant fiesta!

Quickie Quesadilla—A gourmet meal inside a tortilla

Tammi says “I will put ANYTHING in a quesadilla” and her go-to is with fridge staples pesto, Swiss cheese, chicken and cornmeal candied bacon. I went with what I had on hand: pesto, Jack cheese, white beans and sausage crumbles from Iverstine’s.

HEAT your broiler to low or high (your oven, your call) with the rack placed a few inches below. BRUSH a large tortilla with olive oil and place it on a baking sheet. Quick toast it under the broiler just until it gets blistered. Remove from the oven and flip the tortilla over. Top with a good smear of pesto or other sauce of your choosing, a good handful of grated cheese (please DIY) and some cooked veggies or meat (again your call). COOK this creation under the broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove your open face quesadilla to a plate, fold it in half and serve with salsa or more pesto if you like.