Jamie Samford - Corporate Chef - Sales & Marketing Manager - Winn Meat Company

	Classic Steak au Poivre Jamie Samford - Corporate Chef - Sales & Marketing Manager Winn Meat Company
Classic Steak au Poivre Serves 4 Ingredients 4 Each 10 ounce NY Strip Steaks, choice grade or higher 6 Tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil, divided use 4 Tablespoons cracked black pepper, preferably Tellicherry from India Salt to taste 4 Tablespoons of good quality unsalted butter 4 Each garlic cloves, smashed 1 Each shallot, rough chop 5 Each thyme sprigs 1/3 Cup Cognac or brandy plus 1 teaspoon 1 Cup heavy cream Salt to taste Fresh lemon juice to taste 4 Each Italian parsley sprigs Method Rub the steaks with 2 Tablespoons of the oil. Salt both sides of each steak. Rub one side of each steak with 1 Tablespoon of cracked pepper. Leave the meat at room temperature for one hour. Place a large (big enough to hold 4 steaks) cast iron skillet or heavy bottomed sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the remaining olive oil and all the butter. When the butter melts and is bubbling, place the steaks, pepper side down in the oil and butter mixture. Add the garlic, shallot and thyme sprigs to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Use a tablespoon to baste the steaks during this time. You may need to tilt the pan to get enough liquid to baste. Be careful, you do not want the oil in the pan to contact the heat source. Move the pan away from the heat source when basting. Turn the steaks, reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook and baste for 3 to 4 minutes more for medium rare. Remove the steaks from the pan. Reserve the steaks on a plate loosely covered with foil. Pour off excess fat, garlic, shallot and thyme from the steak pan but do not wipe out or clean pan. Off the heat, add 1/3 cup of cognac/brandy to the pan and carefully ignite with a long match or long lighter. Keep the pan at arms length away fro your body or face. Shake the pan gently until the flames recede. Return the pan to medium heat and add the cream. Bring this mixture to a boil and reduce, whisking occasionally, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. About 5 to 6 minutes. Stir any juices from the reserved steaks and the teaspoon of cognac/brandy into the sauce and cook for 30 seconds more. Remove the pan from the heat. Taste the sauce. Add salt if needed and a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Not so much to make the sauce taste like lemon but enough to brighten it up. Start with a teaspoon. Reserve in a warm place. Presentation Place the steak whole, or slice across the grain into 4 to 6 slices, and top with 2 to 3 ounces of the sauce. Garnish with an Italian parsley sprig. Serve with a seasonal vegetable and parmesan whipped potatoes. Enjoy! Jamie Samford Corporate Chef Winn Meat Company
Jamie Samford Corporate Chef Sales & Marketing Manager Winn Meat Company With 20 years’ experience in the food and hospitality industries, Jamie Samford heads Winn Meat Company’s expanded outreach to the continually growing upscale restaurant, country club and hotel business in Texas and neighboring states.  Along with directing the company’s product development kitchen, Samford is responsible for Winn Meat Company’s sales and marketing initiatives.  His vast experience in the fine dining and retail markets in Texas allows many creative approaches to informing and educating current and new clients about the broad range of high-quality products and service solutions available at Winn Meat Company, now a Division of Ben E. Keith Foods.  Chef Samford represents Winn Meat Company in all marketing initiatives, and is a frequent favorite celebrity chef on television programs and at the Southwest’s major food and wine events. Born in Charleston, West Virginia, Samford developed a passion for cooking, eating and community service from his mother.  “She was a fabulous cook and loved to entertain.  On one hand she had lavish table settings that were fit for the President, yet she never missed her opportunity to deliver Meals on Wheels.”  Always in the kitchen, Samford was able to whip up creative meals even when family members complained that there was nothing to eat in the refrigerator. While he didn’t start out in the kitchen when he began working as an adult, his talents kept bringing him back to the culinary arts.  Samford applied for a chef apprenticeship through the culinary program of El Centro College with the Double Tree Lincoln Center in 1988.  Samford’s duties covered all kitchen stations, from banquet and fine dining to Garde Manager and dishwasher.   During his last year of apprenticeship, Samford went to school, worked at the Double Tree and studied as a line cook at the renowned Baby Routh under the tutelage of Stephan Pyles and Kevin Rathbun. He also worked under Dean Fearing at The Mansion on Turtle Creek as a lunch cook after graduation from El Centro. Samford provided his leadership skills to high profile hotel businesses in North Texas, rising quickly to Executive positions for Bristol Hotels & Resorts and the Rosewood Corporation. He soon missed the creativity and inspiration of haute cuisine and the “heat” of the kitchen. He satisfied his desire for originality as an Executive Sous Chef of the Hotel Crescent Court and Chef de Cuisine at Angeluna in Fort Worth. In 2000, Samford was given the opportunity to open Lola, The Restaurant, in Uptown Dallas, which served New American cuisine.  In the two years Samford was the Executive Chef, the establishment received rave reviews.  Lola was recognized as one of the “Top 10 New Restaurants” in Dallas, a four-star restaurant by The Dallas Morning News, Texas Monthly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Dallas Observer. His recipes have been published in Food & Wine, Southern Living, Dallas Morning News and Ft. Worth Star Telegram, among others. Samford came to Winn Meat Company having opened the famous fresh-market concept Central Market’s Dallas location, as Executive Chef, where he led a 80-member culinary team in cooking restaurant-quality food in Café on the Run for the store’s enormous North Texas customer base.  He also helped develop recipes for Central Market and was an expert commentator for television and print news reports.  In the mid-nineties, moved by his mother’s commitment to the less fortunate, Samford grabbed the opportunity to get involved with Dallas’ inaugural training class for Operation Frontline, a program sponsored by Share Our Strength through the North Texas Food Bank that teaches participants how to eat healthy, economically and safely. Chef Samford enjoys giving back to the community and the hospitality industry through his efforts with numerous charities, non-profits and culinary education. Mr Samford’s free time is joyously spent being husband to his beautiful wife Carol, and a father to his children Hannah and Price, as well as his bonus children Cassie and Beau. About Winn Meat Company                                                       Winn Meat Company has been providing food service clients with top-quality meat products and services for over 100 years. The company was originally founded as Bunting’s Wholesale Market in 1902. Robert Winn bought the company in 1974. Today, Mr. Winn’s son Todd and son-in-law Walter Wilkerson continue the family tradition of service excellence that is now the hallmark of Winn Meat Company. The company has operations in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. From specialty cuts to custom orders, Winn Meat Company is dedicated to giving customers not only high-quality products and services, but value. Capabilities range from sourcing unique products to in-house development of products to meet customer specifications. Winn Meat Company is proud of many longstanding relationships built on a commitment to quality and service.  A Division of Ben E. Keith Foods, Winn Meat Company offers a broad range of products, from true dry-aged beef to wild game.  For more background, please visit www.winnmeat.com.