Brian Leigh of The Nice American Recipe offers meals demonstration
6 min read
“When have I ended cooking? That’s the actual query,” Brian Leigh, a contestant on PBS’ “The Nice American Recipe” mentioned at the beginning of his cooking demonstration Wednesday on the Stark County Instructional Service Heart at Stark State Faculty.
The free hourlong occasion, attended by about 35 folks, featured a cooking demonstration and meals tasting of two of Leigh’s signature household dishes.
Leigh, an Ohio native, began with a easy recipe: spiced crackers. With a prepare dinner time of 4 minutes and minimal components, he talked about how straightforward these crackers are for vacation events.
The recipe requires a mixture of a impartial oil, canola on this case, plus mini saltine crackers and Leigh’s One thing to Beef About spice mix. As soon as blended collectively and baked within the oven for 4 minutes at 400 levels, this recipe produces a “lovely, crunchy cracker,” in keeping with Leigh.
When the crackers got here out of the oven, they had been handed round for company to attempt. I couldn’t consider one thing so tasty could possibly be really easy to make. I took word, and I’m planning to retailer this recipe away for future events.
Prepare dinner Brian Leigh makes macaroni and cheese
Friends nibbled away on the crackers as Leigh moved on to his subsequent demonstration, which was a flavorful macaroni and cheese. Earlier than he began, he shared the story of how he and his spouse Jenny made this dish and served it at their shock marriage ceremony, which their company thought was a cookout.
Whereas cooking the cavatappi and making the cheese roux, Leigh took questions from the viewers.
Leigh fielded the primary query about how he acquired into cooking and recipe-making with a nod to his household.
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“I grew up on a farm in Auburn, Ohio. … My grandmother would make every little thing underneath the solar. It was a small leap for me to get into doing my very own factor. I at all times cooked. I used to be at all times the one which took over any kitchen I acquired into,” Leigh mentioned.
As he continued cooking, he instructed a narrative of how the children in his household slept in till 10 a.m. on a Christmas morning, and he was outraged by this. He ended up displaying up the subsequent 12 months at 4 a.m. and “began cooking bacon and made some espresso whereas bumping Frank Sinatra, and so they acquired up.” The custom continued, and now the children stand up earlier than he does.
‘It’s nonetheless edible — except it’s not.’
The timer interrupted his story, and he added the cavatappi to the roux. He blended up the order of his components however didn’t fret.
“It’s not a day within the kitchen except there’s an journey. It’s nonetheless edible — except it’s not,” Leigh laughed.
As soon as included, he put the gooey combination of noodles, cheese and greens right into a pan, and into the convection oven it went.
Extra questions adopted about his favourite meals to prepare dinner — eggs for one thing straightforward and pork stomach when time isn’t an element — and about his enterprise, B.T. Leigh’s Sauces & Rubs.
When the timer rang for the macaroni and cheese, the viewers was excited and rightfully so. This was the perfect macaroni and cheese I’ve ever tasted. With sharp white cheddar, delicate cheddar, parmesan, smoked gouda, ricotta and edam, a Dutch cheese I had by no means heard of, this was a cheese-lover’s dream. It additionally had corn, roasted cauliflower and pickled jalapeños. With a tiny kick and plenty of taste, many company had seconds — and thirds.
Leigh shared recommendation with the viewers after his misstep with the macaroni and cheese: “Don’t be afraid to fail within the kitchen.”
Following the demonstrations and tastings was a BBQ basket drawing with two winners.
Brian Leigh’s expertise on ‘The Nice American Recipe’
“I’m so honored to be competing as a result of I like to encourage and share the culinary traditions that kind the premise of my household,” Leigh mentioned in a clip preview for The Nice American Recipe.
The Nice American Recipe is an eight-part uplifting cooking competitors, highlighting the multiculturalism in American meals. The collection premiered June 24 and provides cooks from across the nation the chance to showcase their signature dishes and compete to win the nationwide seek for “The Nice American Recipe.”
“We knew every little thing going into it,” Leigh mentioned of the present, which means the contestants knew the themes of the episodes and what dishes they might be getting ready.
His expertise to get on the present was a wild one. He was first approached in 2019 by e-mail, which he thought was spam. He replied anyway and despatched an “egotistical selfie video” together with his software. He lastly heard again in 2021, and by then, he had forgotten all about making use of.
Filming happened in September in Virginia, and he wrote 37 recipes for the present. He confirmed that when the present ends, there shall be a cookbook with the winner on the quilt with recipes from the entire contestants.
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The present is hosted by Alejandra Ramos, and the judges are Leah Cohen, Tiffany Derry and Graham Elliot. You may see Leigh and the opposite 9 contestants compete to win “The Nice American Recipe” at 9 p.m. Fridays on PBS Western Reserve. The primary episode aired June 24. View previous full episodes on pbs.org.
Wish to make Leigh’s recipe from the primary episode? He shared it on his web site, btleighs.com, the place he additionally sells sauces and rubs.
Leigh’s love for barbecue blossomed right into a enterprise
The official begin date of B.T. Leigh’s Sauces & Rubs was Cinco de Mayo of 2018, however its unofficial begin was lengthy earlier than that.
In 2012, Leigh’s then-girlfriend Jenny needed a grill. They purchased one, and inside two hours of setting it up, he had turned it right into a smoker. That first day, he made a brisket, and it rekindled his want to be within the kitchen.
He then cooked for mates, utilizing sauces he’d create. Quickly, they had been wanting to purchase his sauces. Then their households needed to purchase them, and earlier than he knew it, Leigh was catering commencement events.
He then married Jenny, and so they gave away little sauce jars at their marriage ceremony. He referred to this because the official launch of B.T. Leigh’s Sauces & Rubs.
“As you possibly can think about, it was poor selection of phrases,” states his web site.
The couple moved from Ohio to Kentucky and offered at their first farmers’ market on Might 5, 2018.
“We’ve branched out past conventional BBQ flavors into sauces and spice blends that defy classes, and have been honored by a few of the highest awards within the trade,” states his website.
His Clevelander sauce has one many awards, and his Magical Mop sauce is shortly turning into a bestseller.
B.T. Leigh’s could be present in shops in 34 states in addition to in the UK and Honduras. Wholesale orders are welcome.
The location states that new taste mixtures are at all times within the works, and there are plans to develop into different avenues. The location additionally affords loads of recipes to attempt utilizing the sauces and rubs.
Be taught extra about his sauces and get them organized on-line at btleighs.com.
