From A Chef's Perspective .....

My name is Brian. I am an avid hunter, fisherman, outdoorsman & conservationist. I am also a Chef.  I caught the cooking bug early in life, and am passionate about it and passionate about the people that I cater to.  My life is always on the go. Whether it’s pushing out a dinner party of 200 people or stalking the elusive redfish on the flats of North Florida or in the back country of the Florida Keys at ‘safe light’.

I have been fortunate in my career to have mentors that not only push you to do the best and be the best, but also teach you sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses. 

While in Culinary School, I had an Instructor, that pointed out, the first day of class; “Some of you will become chefs, and some of you won’t, you have to realize that when most of the world is partying, celebrating, etc. You are working.” Yes, it’s true. I can’t begin to tally all of the Valentines Days, Easter’s, Mother’s Day & Christmas’s that I have spent with a 10 burner gas range to my front and a never-ending pile of order tickets, and a crazed expeditor barking orders and demands to my back.  People ask, why? My reply, it's passion, it’s the look on happy faces, watching the fruits of my labor and the satisfaction of guests enjoying themselves.  Just to do it again the next shift. 

I have worked in some of the most prestigious establishments in the US.  From Rhode Island to Pennsylvania to Louisiana to where I am proud to now call home, Northwest Florida.  In the past 9 years, I have worked at two great dining establishments in Tallahassee.  These two restaurants, have kept me on my toes and ahead of the status quo. But Tallahassee and its beauty have taught me to "stop and smell the roses" and I can’t think of a better place to live, work, raise a family as well as enjoy myself through fishing, hunting and just being outdoors.

I first was introduced to William Lamb at Cypress Restaurant about 7 years ago.  The owners David and Elizabeth Gwynn rotated the wares of local artists on their walls.  Some of these art pieces were abstract, and some were simple and to the point.  The ones that I really connected with was the art of William Lamb.  His pieces spoke to me.  They were detailed pieces of the species that I like to catch, like the Silver King Tarpon, or chase after the briar busting Bobwhite Quail.  What also spoke to me was the Wm Lamb & Son philosophy, “So take time and enjoy the moment.  Most of us just can’t walk away from the hectic life we live, but there is no reason we can’t take a break from it from time to time.  Let me give your mind a break and recharge your batteries.”

People ask me frequently…"Chef, What do you like to eat?” My reply is simple.  “Other people’s food.”  I don’t mean to sound sarcastic.  I like the comforts of a home cooked meal, whether it is by my beautiful Christine, friends or family.  A meal where, I can enjoy the simple things in life, the conversation and the slow pace.  Not a meal, or shall I say sustenance, that is usually eaten on the go, cold and sometimes over a trashcan, where most of it will end up, because us chefs are pulled in different directions at all times, just something simple. 

I will share a recipe with you.  This is not one of mine out of my playbook, but one that is made for me by my beautiful better half, Christine.  She is a native of Alabama, she likes to cook and entertain just like myself.  She has the southern spirit and a warming heart.  She also has the taste for good food, whether it is out or at our home. So when I need to “take a break & recharge my batteries”…  She prepares one of my favorites:

Grilled Chicken Thighs and White Alabama BBQ Sauce

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
10 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (about 3 lb.)

Preparation

    1. Combine first 7 ingredients until blended. Rinse chicken, and pat dry; rub seasoning mixture over chicken. Place chicken in a zip-top plastic freezer bag. Seal and chill 4 hours.

    2. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Remove chicken from bag, discarding bag.

    3. Grill chicken, covered with grill lid, 8 to 10 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 180°. Serve with White Barbecue Sauce.

White Alabama BBQ Sauce

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon coarse ground pepper
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons horseradish

Preparation

Stir together mayonnaise, vinegar, minced garlic, pepper, mustard, sugar, salt, and horseradish until blended. Cover and chill 2 to 4 hours. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Enjoy and go recharge those batteries .... 

Brian Knepper

Executive Chef of the Governors Club
Contributing Blogger to Wm Lamb & Son

A Southern Man, His Tools & His Gadgets

Guns, Fly Reels, Knives, Tools, Buckles, & Barware: These are just few of my favorite things......

Growing up in the Free State of Jones County in Mississippi, I have always had a love for various tools and widgets that I found in my father's workshop.  Our family is in the metal business and has been since 1911, so the sheer amount of REAL tools at my father's work benches were mind boggling as a child.  Hammers, wrenches, blacksmith tools that had been passed on to him and that were at least 3 generations old before I got my hands on them, these are the epitome of heritage.  We are talking about tools that were made by hand at the turn of the century. You can see the various forge marks on these handmade tools.  Somebody actually made these things.  Blood, Sweat, and Tears went into this stuff and someone way back then gave a serious damn about what they were creating.

I think (or know) that this is why I have this crazy urge to discover new metal contraptions & tools.  Gadgets that can stand the test of time and can be handed down from generation to generation; this is what I  am enthralled with.  While a lot of folks define a gadget as some small tool or appliance that has sense of novelty to it, I see them in a bit broader spectrum. Hunting, Fishing, Cooking, Drinking:  all of these have their gadgets & tools.  Here are just some of my favorites (wifey, if you are reading this, any of these would make a great Christmas Present!)

Have you seen what Caesar Guerini is doing with their O/U shot guns? Look at their Evo line. My gracious, this thing just drips craftsmanship.

Or what about the made in the USA fly reels from Hatch? I'll Take a 7wt on a Sage One 9'6" rod and the Reds & Specks will have no hope.

Or this Damascus kitchen knife, done by Chris Williams, yes, please.

Even simple items, like taking an old railroad spike and doing a little blacksmithing to make it into a bottle opener.

While the original ones are very hard to find, Garrett-Wade has very nice reproductions of the famed H.D. Smith Perfect Handle drivers. These were standard issue to all of the tank crews in WWII.

 

And, I have got to at least point out one of my favorites of late, The Tarpon Scale Buckle, done by none other than Mr. Lamb himself.

If it's metal and both craftsmanship and design come into play, then it is definitely going to peak my interest. 

During Thanksgiving this year, we traveled to Blowing Rock, NC for Turkey Day with my wife's family.  My seven year old son and I escaped one morning to go do a little fly fishing. Being 7, he is just starting to figure out the art of fly casting (of course, at 41, I  am still trying to figure out the art of slinging a bug). As we were talking & fishing, the discussion of course went to all of the gadgets that one has to carry for fly fishing.  My son was enthralled by each and every one of these items draped on my vest.  I marveled at how a 7 year old could think a simple pair of Abel line nippers were such a cool thing, but then I remembered back to my dad's shop and how cool those Blacksmith hammers were.  Some things don't change......

 

YSR,

Trent Mulloy
Laurel, Mississippi
www.LMFco.com
Ironmonger * Sewanee Alumni * GSP owner

The Southern Gentlemen

 

Much has been made in the past 20 years on Southern culture and life.  I got news for Foxworthy and the rest.  We are not rednecks.

The true Southern Gentlemen is as follows:
A devout man of faith. First and foremost our people (either Jewish, Catholic, or Protestant) are religious people. He prays often for his family, his employees or his boss even, and his community. He regularly attends church. He may not be a theologian but he knows what he believes and it effects his life and his practices. He’s involved and he cares about those in his church.

Full of love. He loves his wife and children. He cares deeply for them. Is involved with them and shows his affection thru his interactions with them. He goes to his girl's dance rehearsals etc. The boys baseball and football games. All the various activities children have in their lives he does his best to be at and to show his support. He stands by and cherishes his wife. He is faithful and loving. Kind and caring. He helps in any way he can.

He’s an outdoors man. Now not all fall into this category but most of us Southerners have a deep connection to the land. We love it. We love to be outside. We fish and hunt. Garden. Walk. Hike. We love nature. Most of us dream of one day owning our own version of Tara. Land to love and nurture and that will provide for our family. We hunt because we love the sound of the woods in the early morning. Gobblers on the roost in the spring and deer walking thru the leaves in November. Hunting is passed down thru the generations. Father to child, grandfather to grandchild, uncles and best friends. The hunter/gatherer lifestyle is a way to connect to our forefathers. To the grand idea of the early South.

He smells of gun oil, tobacco, and brown liquor. Guns are a part of our daily lives. We think about them, dream on them, have strong family connections to them. We hunt with our Grandfathers rifle. It connects our day to his. Our adventures to those of his youth. Guns have history, place and meaning. A Southern Gentlemen may often smoke a pipe or cigars. In the old days maybe Bull Durham roll your own cigarettes. The scent clinging to his clothes and in his study. He occasionally enjoys a nip or two from a good bottle of bourbon or whiskey. Nothing is finer than a bourbon on the porch on a sunny Sunday afternoon. He might even have a little shine laying around somewhere… It’s good for the soul you know.

He is well dressed. This does not mean the most expensive clothes or accessories. This means he dresses appropriately for where he is. A Southern Gentlemen does not go out to dinner in a sleeveless t-shirt or cutoffs. He isn’t at church in ragged jeans and beat up clothes. Even if poor he wears a sport coat over his overalls to church. He sees his attire as his way of being respectful to those he comes in contact with. He carries with him a handkerchief and a pocket knife (maybe one his grandfather or dad gave him long ago). He is usually known to wear one particular item. For instance I knew a man when I was young who if you went to see him at his house in the middle of the day unexpected he had on an ascot… For me it’s a bow tie. For some it’s a fedora or a panama hat. It’s part of his attire and he wears it well. It is his signature. We are eclectic and eccentric people.

He has a sense of history and place. He may not live in the town of his birth anymore but he identifies strongly with it. He is proudly from there. Social Circle for me was a great place to grow up. Again I find myself living in a small southern town. Someplace where the lady at the post office knows my name and helps with my mail. We connect strongly to our home states and the history they contain. There is no need to re-invent the South as some have done. We are proud of the people we come from no matter what. The soldiers, the statesmen, the lawyers, the preachers, and the crooks and moonshiners. The bible salesman and the fortune teller in my case… They make up who we are today. The stories, the places they lived and died. Fought and loved. Tamed and wandered. We love where we are from.

The Southern Gentlemen is becoming a thing of the past. Kept alive by only a few. You can find them on Sunday’s in the local church. Sitting quietly with their families. Everyone neatly dressed and in line. He’s loved by those who take the time to get to know him. Respected and admired. A pillar of the community.

This to set the record straight as to who we are. This is who I want to be when I grow up. These fine men are the men whom I admire and who I am proud to be from.

James Pressley
Eatonton, Georgia
Father, Husband and Southern Gentleman
Contributing Blogger

A Harvest for the Soul

I'm not sure there is a better time of year throughout the South, than late November through mid December.  This time of year around my stomping grounds, the Ducks start getting thick, the Pheasant are starting to poke around, the Geese are flying overhead, and you just know that soon they'll be landing out in that stand of winter-wheat you've been working on.

All year long we've been prepping for this time of year and once it hits, it hits hard and it hits fast.  There is a ton of fun to be had out in the field this time of year, but most importantly to me there is a lot of time to be spent with friends and family.

Leading up to these hunting seasons, the work has been hard.  The daily grind has been all-consuming, and honestly, you haven't had that much to time to share with anyone else besides your immediate family.   When you reach this time of year though, things start to make a change for the better.  Old traditions begin to renew all over again.   Plans are made, gear is checked and rigs are outfitted to get back out there one more time.  Whether it's in a duck blind by your favorite hole, or walking a beautifully managed stand of Plains Bluestem, this is the time of year when you realize what is important .... when you realize again, just how good this time of year is for your heart and for your soul.

I truly believe that the Good Lord has graciously provided all of this for us .... a harvest of unlimited facets.  A harvest of game.  A harvest of time spent with the ones you love.  A harvest of knowledge.  A harvest of memories .... and most importantly, a harvest of blessings.

Get out there.... it's time to bring 'em in.

Ryon Atwood
Panhandle Prep
www.panhandleprep.com
Contributing Blogger