Interview with Executive Chef Ryan Jackson, Blackhawk Grille
Recipe for Celery Root & Apple Soup with Vanilla Oil

Growing up in Reedly, California, a small farm town outside of Fresno, Executive Chef Ryan Jackson never expressed a real interest in cooking.  "I didn"t cook much growing up, I was too busy playing sports.  I ate a lot!  But that was about it.  I cooked my first meal at 14. It was a 5 course meal for my friend & our girlfriends before winter formal.  We couldn't drive and I didn't want my parents driving us to a restaurant, so I cooked.  I was inspired by my dad's new barbeque."

How did the meal turn out? "Great! It was really good and it impressed the girls," he said with a grin. Sitting at the outdoor patio at Danville's Blackhawk Grille, Jackson looks relaxed and confident. Jackson started his professional culinary career after taking a break from Nursing School.  He started the nursing program because he wanted to help people.  Then, he took a job making sandwiches at The Apple Cellar, a small restaurant in Ashland Oregon.  "I really loved the energy in the restaurant, and I realized that food makes people happy", said Jackson.  "After that, I moved pretty quickly up the ranks to Sous Chef.  I think partly because the pool of talent around me wasn't great."

Soon, he had moved on to a French restaurant and began learning classic French techniques.  He then realized that he had a passion for cooking and needed to widen his skills. He dropped out of the Nursing program and enrolled in the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. "I didn't think culinary school was that difficult, I thought I knew it all since I'd been working in restaurants and cooking for a while. But I quickly realized that it's much harder in the real world," laughs Jackson. 

After a few years cooking in Napa Valley, including a position of Executive Chef at Brix, Jackson started a position at Blackhawk Grill 2 months ago. "I love it here. I really enjoy being able to bring all of my experience in cooking in Napa Valley to the small community here in Danville."

Coming from a farming community, it is important for Chef Ryan to buy and support local farms. "As much as a can I buy local.  I tell my buyer that I just want small farmers.  I can sometimes buy from my family farm or friends farms.  I live in Fairfield now, and there is a great opportunity to pick fruit directly from farms. I take my son out and we pick fruit off the tree and just eat it right there in the orchards. It really brings me back to my childhood," said Jackson.

Chef Ryan agreed to answer a few more questions for this month's Chef's Corner

What's your favorite ingredient?

"Salt, because without it, food would suck!  But really, it does so much, we wouldn't achieve the flavors we're achieving without salt.

What's your favorite kitchen item?

"My knives!  They're a Japanese brand, Kikutchi.  And they are not cheap!"

What advice would you give the home cook?

"Definitely learn the basics.  If you learn them, you can expand from there. And don't be afraid. Most people lack confidence. Food is pretty simple, you learn a few techniques and you use high quality ingredients and let them do the work for you. That's what I do!"

When you are at home, what do you like to eat?

"Pizza! I order it from the same place every time, so they know my order as soon as I tell them my phone number. Pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, jalepenos with ranch on the side.

So, you don't cook at home?

"No, I cook, when I get a chance. And I make pretty much the same stuff everyone makes at home, just a little fancier I guess. It takes me two hours to prep to make hamburgers for friends coming over for dinner. I'm half Lebanese, so I do like to make Lebanese food at home since that's something that I can't make at work."

What's your favorite dish on your menu right now?

"Well, you can't go wrong w/ the New York Strip Steak.  But the one I really like is the Braised Duck Pasta.  It's got so many flavors that really go well together."

What inspired the Celery Root & Fuji Apple Soup?

"I was tired of the butternut squash soup in the fall. I was enjoying a celery root & apple salad and decided that it would make a great soup. I had some vanilla oil so I added that as a garnish and it was really delicious."

Celery Root & Apple Soup with Vanilla Oil

YIELD 1/2 GAllon
Serves 8

For the Soup:

1/4 LB.      BUTTER
2 CUPS    YELLOW ONION, DICED
½ CUP     CELERY, SLICED
1 CUP     GRANNY SMITH APPLE, SEEDED, DICED
4 CUPS   CELERY ROOT, PEELED AND DICED
4 CUPS   VEGETABLE STOCK
½ CUP    HEAVY CREAM

Procedure:

IN A LARGE POT MELT THE BUTTER.  ADD THE ONIONS, CELERY, APPLE, GARLIC AND CELERY ROOT AND COOK OVER MEDIUM HEAT UNTIL THE CELERY ROOT IS TENDER.

ADD THE VEGETABLE STOCK AND BRING TO A BOIL.  SIMMER FOR 15 MINUTES.  ADD THE CREAM AND TURN OFF THE SOUP.

PUREE THE SOUP IN A BLENDER UNTIL SMOOTH.  PASS THROUGH A FINE STRAINER. 

Vanilla Oil:

¼ CUP    OLIVE OIL
1 EA.     VANILLA BEAN

Procedure:

PLACE THE OLIVE OIL IN A SMALL POT.  SPLIT THE VANILLA BEAN LENGTHWISE AND SCRAPE OUT THE INSIDE WITH A KNIFE.

PLACE THE VANILLA IN THE POT OF OIL AND GENTLY HEAT.  TURN OF HEAT AND SET ASIDE TO COOL.