Chef, caterer happiest when he’s in kitchen | Food

He is labored in factories, delivered pizzas for Domino’s, owned an public sale firm. However the one place he is really completely satisfied is when he is within the kitchen.

So 4 years in the past, he began Joyful Eats Catering in Baldwyn.

“I grew up with meals making everyone completely satisfied, and now I am completely satisfied making meals,” stated Clark, 41. “That is why I named my firm Joyful Eats. It is meals that makes you smile.”

Clark, who makes a speciality of grilling and smoking, primarily caters on the weekends, as a result of 4 months in the past, he began his dream job: working the grill at Cafe 200 at Baptist Memorial Hospital in New Albany.

“I find it irresistible,” he stated. “It is like an enormous household, they usually’re tickled to dying that I am there. I am at my happiest once I’m cooking, whether or not it is for a room full of individuals or simply me and the hearth.”

On the cafe, he has a set menu he goes by, however he additionally affords a particular day-after-day. That could be diced grilled rooster with sauteed onions, bell peppers, tomatoes and mushrooms smothered in melted Provolone cheese, or a mushroom Swiss burger.

“I strive new recipes on a regular basis, however most do not come from cookbooks,” he stated. “Let me put it this fashion. I provide you with them by myself, though I could discover inspiration someplace.”

When Clark acquired critical a couple of culinary profession, he went again to highschool at Northeast Mississippi Neighborhood School and acquired a culinary and hospitality diploma. He and a buddy additionally took some courses on the New Orleans Faculty of Cooking.

“We discovered to make jambalaya, crawfish etouffee,” he stated. “I discovered I had a knack for cooking these form of dishes.”

Though he cooks through the week at Cafe 200, after which caters occasions like small weddings and household reunions on the weekends, he nonetheless loves to return dwelling and prepare dinner within the evenings for his spouse, Michelle, who teaches Spanish at Tupelo Excessive Faculty. Typically his daughter, Aysiah, a pupil at Mississippi State College, will be part of them.

“I prepare dinner three to 5 nights per week,” stated Clark, who was born and raised in Blue Mountain. “I prepare dinner like I am feeding a military. There’s at all times individuals right here. My spouse likes to prepare dinner, too, however she’s form of taken a backseat now. She enjoys not having to do it.”

Clark stated from the time he was born till about 5 years in the past, his whole household gathered on Sunday at his grandmother’s home for dinner.

“It was like Thanksgiving each week,” he stated. “All people introduced dishes. You’d stroll in, and there’d be 20 or extra individuals there. You did not miss until you have been out of city. After my grandmother died, we tried to proceed the custom, nevertheless it simply did not really feel the identical.”

DO YOU KNOW A GOOD COOK? Ship your nominations to Ginna Parsons, Prepare dinner of the Week, P.O. Field 909, Tupelo, MS 38802. Or you’ll be able to name (662) 678-1581 or e mail them to ginna.parsons@journalinc.com.

2 ounces candy yellow onion, sliced

2 ounces child portabella mushrooms, sliced

2 teaspoons chopped recent parsley

2 slices aged Gouda cheese

2 tablespoons salted butter, divided 

In a skillet over medium-high warmth, sauté bacon till crisp. Take away bacon from skillet and drain on paper towels.

Within the bacon drippings, sauté onion for five to six minutes, or till wilted. Add mushrooms, pepper, garlic powder and parsley, and prepare dinner till mushrooms are softened. Drain and put aside; wipe the skillet clear.

Assemble the sandwich: 1 slice of bread, 1 slice of cheese, the sauteed combination, the cooked bacon items, one other slice of cheese and the remaining piece of bread.

Within the clear skillet, warmth 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high warmth. When melted, add the sandwich. Prepare dinner till golden on backside. Add remaining butter to skillet and prepare dinner sandwich on the opposite aspect till golden. Serves 1.

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, softened

1/2 stick butter, softened

1 (1-pound) field confectioners’ sugar

For the cake, mix oil and sugar. Add eggs, one by one, beating properly after every addition. Add vanilla and blend properly.

In a small bowl, sift collectively flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add dry substances to the creamed combination. Fold in nuts and carrots.

Pour batter right into a greased 9×13-inch cake pan, or 2 greased and floured 8-inch spherical or sq. cake pans. Bake at 350 levels till performed.

For the frosting, cream collectively the cream cheese and butter. Add sugar and vanilla and beat till fluffy. Frost cake and refrigerate.

1 teaspoon salt, plus extra for salting water

1 pound linguine or fettuccine

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

Carry a big pot of closely salted water to a boil over excessive warmth. Add the pasta and prepare dinner till al dente, about 1 minute lower than the bundle directions. Drain and return pasta to the pot.

Whereas the pasta is cooking, zest the lemon and set the zest apart. Slice the lemon in 3/4-inch rounds, and discard any seen seeds.

In a big skillet over medium-high warmth, soften the butter. Swirl the skillet to cowl the underside fully.

When the skillet is scorching and the froth has subsided, add the garlic and lemon slices. Prepare dinner for about 5 minutes, stirring sometimes, till flippantly browned and aromatic.

Add the shrimp and prepare dinner for two to three minutes, stirring consistently, simply till agency. Take away the skillet from warmth. Utilizing a slotted spoon or tongs, switch shrimp to a plate. Discard the lemon and garlic, leaving as a lot of the butter and juices within the skillet as potential.

Place the skillet over low warmth. Add the cream and 1 teaspoon salt. Carry to a simmer. Prepare dinner for 4 to six minutes till decreased.

Stir within the cooked shrimp, Parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Scrape the contents of the skillet into the pot with the cooked pasta and stir properly to mix. Serve instantly, seasoned with loads of pepper and topped with further Parmesan, as desired.

1 cup heavy whipping cream

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

5 cups shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1/2 teaspoon floor nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 400 levels with the rack within the center place. Evenly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.

Carry a big pot of closely salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and prepare dinner till al dente, about 1 minute lower than the bundle directions. Drain and put aside.

In a small saucepan over medium warmth, warmth the milk and cream, being cautious to not boil it.

Whereas the milk combination heats, in a big skillet over medium warmth, soften the butter. Sprinkle within the flour and whisk consistently for two to three minutes. Step by step whisk within the warmed milk combination. Prepare dinner for two minutes, whisking continuously, till thickened and clean (alter the warmth to maintain the milk from boiling).

Step by step add 2 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese, whisking till absolutely integrated and clean. Add the bitter cream and whisk till clean. Add black pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg, cayenne and Worcestershire. Season with salt to style.

Add the cooked macaroni to the cheese sauce and stir till mixed. Spoon the combination into the ready baking dish. High evenly with remaining 2 1/2 cups shredded cheese and bake for 25 to half-hour or till golden and bubbly.

3 giant onions, finely chopped

2 inexperienced bell peppers, finely chopped

1 pink bell pepper, finely chopped

3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 kilos recent crawfish tails

1 cup finely chopped inexperienced onions

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

Soften butter in a Dutch oven or different giant heavy pot. Add the onions and bell peppers and sauté over medium-high warmth. Brown properly, being certain to scrape the underside of the pot continuously to loosen any caught particles. This course of will take about 45 minutes.

Cut back warmth to medium low and add the salt, pink and black pepper, crawfish fats and water. Stir properly and let simmer half-hour or extra.

Elevate the warmth to medium, stir within the crawfish and prepare dinner for 10 minutes. Add inexperienced onions and parsley and let prepare dinner one other 5 minutes.

To serve, place beneficiant servings of scorching cooked rice in the midst of giant flat plates and spoon the crawfish round.

In a big bowl, mix apples, sugar and oil and mix properly. Add eggs, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nuts and blend properly.

Pour batter right into a greased 9×13-inch pan and bake at 350 levels for 45 minutes.