For Immediate Release
Contact: Maria V. Goldberg, Director of Marketing, Public Relations and Special Events
maria@jacksonsrestaurant.com (850) 217-2347

Cooking Demonstrations and Cocktails with Chef Irv Miller

at Jackson's Steakhouse, January - June 2012

Join Chef Irv Miller of Jackson’s Steakhouse as he leads another series of cooking classes each month, January through June 2012. Classes cover everything from shopping to preparation to presentation. Two classes are scheduled for each month. The first class begins promptly at 5:00 p.m. and ends at 6:30 p.m. The second class begins at 7:30 p.m. and concludes at 9:00 p.m. Each class costs $45 per person, which covers the cooking demonstration, tastings of the prepared dishes, wine pairings, and a take-home recipe booklet so you can try your hand at Miller’s recipes in the comfort of your own home. Reservations are required, so be sure to make yours by calling Maria Goldberg, Marketing, Public Relations and Special Events at 850-217-2347 or the restaurant at 850-469-9898.

Wednesday, January 18: Trattoria Cooking

“Trattoria” indicates a no-nonsense, Italian style of cooking. Trattorias are generally small, family-owned establishments, each with a personal flair, found in cities, small towns and countrysides throughout Italy. Unlike restaurants, they offer no menu — you eat whatever has been prepared for the day. For the cooking class, Chef Miller will create and offer great local comfort foods with no frills, just like they do in Italy, prepared from only the best ingredients. Inspired by trattoria cooking, the recipes are perfectly suited for small dinner parties and family dinners. It has been said that miracles have been wrought with nothing more than a recipe for spaghetti. Trattoria cooking aspires to bring out the best of local ingredients with no frills and with a familiar, friendly manner — the trattoria spirit, if you will.

Wednesday, February 8: Gulf to Table

Chef Miller will share tips for keeping it local and simple when preparing and cooking fresh seafood and shellfish. With a bit of planning, a trip to a local seafood market will inspire you to use the freshest seafood available by purchasing over-the-counter seafood fresh off the boat. Next time you are on your way home from work or just enjoying a day off, stop by and see what’s freshest. Whether its speckled trout, flounder, or mullet from inland waterways — or swordfish, triggerfish, scamp, red snapper, mahi mahi, wahoo or cobia offshore, Chef Irv recommends that you grab a few pounds of what’s in season and prepare a quick feast!

Wednesday, March 21: Taste of Hawaii

Chef Irv will create dishes — some of his favorite Polynesian-inspired recipes — using ingredients from our local markets. From the mid-1800s, as each wave of new immigrants came to work in the sugar cane fields, they introduced flavors and ingredients from their homelands: Chinese five-spice, tofu, soybeans and rice; Japanese sashimi, wasabi, soy and ginger; Portuguese sausage, Filipino fish sauce, island melons, fruits and jicama, to name a few items. As little as 20 years ago, international gourmands would never have believed that island fish such as ahi tuna, opah, mahi mahi and other seafood, as well as pig, shoyu, somen, dim sum and daikon could blend in Hawaii’s melting pot to produce a regional cuisine as distinctive and delicious as the Creole or Southwestern styles found on the mainland.

Wednesday, April 18: Flavors of Spring

Most everyone loves the bountiful flavors — local, fresh and fruitful — that spring in the South brings! Food preparations become lighter as we prepare for warm-weather months. Whether it is Silver Queen corn, a great watermelon from Escambia County or a cantaloupe from Alabama, we wave our “keep it local” flag; we are proud that we support the growing and use of some of this area’s finest produce. Many believe that Chilton County, Alabama, peaches rival the best in the world! Chef Irv will prepare his regional specialty dishes and will discuss the food from Northwest Florida and vicinity — only fresh ingredients go into his robust, exciting cuisine.

Wednesday, May 16: Taste of India

The cuisine of India consists of regional foods that go back thousands of years. These dishes are characterized by an extensive use of various Indian spices, herbs, vegetables and fruit. Indian cuisine is also known for the widespread practice of vegetarianism in Indian society. Seafood plays a major role in the cuisine of the Andaman Islands that were, and still are, inhabited by the indigenous Andamanese. Each family of Indian cuisine includes a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. As a consequence, it varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics of the ethnically diverse subcontinent. Chef will assemble and incorporate some of his favorite easy-to-prepare Indian ingredients into approachable home-style dishes complemented by the flavors of Indian cuisine. Dishes will include spicy foods, including chili peppers and curries, as well as rice and legumes.

Wednesday, June 20: Tapas

Pensacola, connected by Spain and America’s extensive history, along with a variety of similar native ingredients, has influenced not only Florida cooking, but also worldwide cooking, and has led to an array of unique recipes, celebrating the culinary harvest of this sun-drenched cuisine. The quest for bold Spanish flavors in the United States began some 25 years ago. Chefs and home cooks alike toot their own horn by creating their own signature recipes. Tapas (pronounced tap-as), a Spanish word meaning “a little sampling of food,” remain trendy and are frequently found on appetizer menus. Most tapas-style food is uncomplicated and is created by using ingredients available locally, or the crops are grown in different geographical areas and reflect the particular regional culture and climate. Chef Irv will share some exciting tastings and encourage you to replicate the tapas for entertaining.

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