Cooking With My Father

If I could travel to any destination in the world right now, I would choose Thailand.  The levels of patience and tolerance in the culture impress  me. There way of life  is simplistic, moderate, resourceful.  Typically in Thai cuisine they blend sweet, spice, sour, bitter and salt.  This is a powerful blend of flavors that  I always try to embrace on a personal level because of the beliefs and culture my father gave me, bringing me up in the Florida Keys

So today I'm blending my love for seafood, and bold Thai flavors, deep rooted and instilled with my father's style of life. I'm using shrimp with a mixture of seasonal and year round ingredients to influence and create a dish based on pieces of my heart.

I start by pre steaming some brown rice, than let it cool while I sauté my vegetables. Then I add my shrimp and cooled rice and continue to sauté, finally adding some farm fresh eggs and my lemon,orange, honey firecracker sauce, until the eggs are cooked through.   I personally love the depth of this dish it has its own flare and style but has the essence of Thailand layered in every bite.

Live Free Eat Free
Chef Jacob Lyons

More Rustic Passion From Chef Jacob

10/3/2012 

If you look up the word rustic in the dictionary, it is related to or suitable for the country (farmland).  I spoke on this before and I feel we should get back to growing and purchasing local.  And continue to cook brilliantly with what we get and maintain from the earth.  Stylistically speaking, every region and country has it's own soul and technique in regard to their rustic beginnings and on a plate it is pure beauty anywhere.  It's been heavy on my brain for days so I took some time to create a rustic dish using some of my favorite earthy ingredients.

I started by breading my boneless chicken breast, then marinated in a roasted garlic and buttermilk mixture, coated with Panko and flower, flash fried and then finished baking in the oven.  While they were resting I blanched the asparagus, let it cool in an ice bath and wrapped it in bacon ind into the oven it went.  I steamed the potatoes at the same time, pulled them out of the pot and sauteed them with smoked ham, shallots, mushrooms, arulula, yellow pepper and tomatoes, creating a hash.  I started plating, letting the chicken rest.  I made my spinach pesto to finish the dish.

 I wanted the south rusticness to show and still be creative art.  This is at the forfront of the culture and movement I love.  I hold it dear to my heart.  I'm going to continue my mission to profile the earthiniss in bite form to keep us as close to balance as possible.  Live free, eat free, Bon Appetite!

Chef Jacob

Heavenly Sandwich

  9/4/2012  
      I love the culture: I don't know when it actually hit me hard that I love everything about the Asian culture and cuisine. It was probably around the time my father introduced me to Buddhism. So it was no surprise to me yesterday as I stood in the kitchen, talking with my pops about my canned pickles, that I went deep into thought of childhood flashbacks of stir-fry with my father, my first time using chopsticks  the essence of pureness he instilled in me.  My brain was in rotation of building ingredients to the medley of Chinese flavors that we all love: In sandwich form! 
     I started with  chopped cabbage and julian yellow peppers and started my sauté with a little butter.  As they both started to Caramelize I added my sweet and sour sauce till it was a slow simmer and removed the mixture from the heat.  To my next pan a little ginger with thin sliced pork loin beginning the stir fry process till almost cooked through and added my teriyaki glaze and stir fried till done. Now I started to assemble my sandwich. I took my thick pieces of sourdough bread, placed provolone on them, added my pork and scallion mixture and topped that with my sweet and sour cabbage, then finished it with my house pickles.  Grilled till done, this dish hit on all cylinders!  With bold flavors in every bite, it was a Chinese filled feast. 
     I appreciate my father for all the inspiration he has and will continue to give me. There is something to be said about the cultur,e the way of life, the simplistic beauty we all could learn from no future nor past.  We should  just be.... Thank you for the read stay tuned for more Bon Appetite!  

 "To the ruler, the people are heaven; to the people, food is heaven."

(ancient Chinese proverb)

Chef Jacob

Lunch with my sister in law:

I have been reading about the resurgence of the "whole beast," head to tail cooking.  Some say it's dead but I personally don't think so.  Pigs feet is something I've wanted to experiment with for some time. So all week I've been telling my sister-in-law  "It's pigs feet ravioli for lunch one day!"  That day was today.  

I started the braising process yesterday, light seasoning and low and slow cooking. Pulled and diced it up mixing it with blue cheese crumbles.  Then I rolled out my pasta dough, cut out circles and filled them with the mixture, folded them over  and pinched them shut while I brought my lightly salted water to a boil.  I cooked them off for roughly 5-7 minutes than drained them well.  I then started my sauté and sauce with spinach,mushrooms, diced onions as tomatoes. I added some merlot and a knob of butter and slow simmered and cooked out and melded the flavors.  I added the ravioli to the pan and sautéed till well mixed.  Garnished with some fresh shredded fontina. 

 Most of you are probably thinking he must hate his sister-in-law , but it's the complete opposite.  She is an adventurous eater like myself. It's just me sharing my passion to the people I love.  Good eats world, and stay tuned for more blogs, updates and events! Food is love, buy local, eat local, an don't be afraid to use the whole animal! 

Chef Jacob 

End Of Summer Soup

Well the kids are back to school, which means for me the summer is over. So today I decided to say farewell with my ode to the dog days! I went into my cooler and thought refreshing. I grabbed fresh berries (Strawberries, Blueberries, And Raspberries) and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. I washed the berries thoroughly, added to my pot with the Sauvignon Blanc  and a few drizzles of honey and grated ginger and let them meld together over a slow simmer. Then removed the pot from the heat and emulsified until smooth. You can feel free to add a cup of plain or vanilla yogurt to add a different texture in the last step. I plated it in a bowl with fresh berries and zest for garnish, though playing with plating using a shot glass or goblet could work just as well! I'm gonna miss the summer air, and the cool/chilled dishes as the one I made today.
But the fall brings a different variety of dishes that I can't wait to unleash for your viewing pleasure! Stay tuned for more dishes and blogs this week as well as video. Subscribe at jjacecatering on YouTube  and Bon appetite!

RUSTIC SENSIBILITY

I personally love the rustic aspects of a dish, more than that, the down home feeling and nostalgic sense of perfect clarity.  For me it's the earthiness, solidity of flavors. The beauty in the holistic approach of food taking from the earth and creating a life in meal proportions playing creator is a heavenly bliss so to speak. It adds layers and layers of complexity. I admire the depth of Greek cuisine and there usage of flavors. It inspired me to make a roasted eggplant, asparagus , and mushroom risotto finished with a pan seared cod fillet with a caper and tomato tapenade. Absorbing that rustic sense, getting down the ingredients so close to the earth is purity of love in the simplistic form. Respect the ingredient and the culinary Gods will respect you!

Chef Jacob

Nowadays mixologists are the buzz, creating fun ways to pair booze with cuisine.  They are inseparable; adding alcohol with cooking is a technique to utilize natural and added flavors. This is true whether it be sauces, marinades, braising liquids, down to the saute' methods. I personally love the pairing in the dessert course for numerous reasons.  It's a wake up of refreshments after a meal adding flare to the composition.

Layers of complexity, the smoothness, the desire of the food, it's the perfect balance of sweet and savory aspects! So today I wanted to make banana fritters with a whiskey sauce. I wanted to be playful and use great bold flavors as my inner mixologist comes out of the darkness to create a refreshing dessert with my new mantra, alcohol=flavor. Everyday I enjoy the creation and melding of flavors. It's education at its finest and I encourage everyone to try it.

So as I leave for the day I say cheers and salutations my friends. Thanks for following.