“Some say, I got into cooking before I have any memory of it,” said Nate Meadows, executive chef at Bourbon Prime & Morgantown Event Center in Morgantown.
“There is a particular photo of me standing on a stool in my Mother’s kitchen helping her make Christmas cookies. I couldn’t have even been 3 years old, and have no memory of it. To this day however, making Christmas cookies remains a diehard tradition in her and also my family’s kitchen.”
Those holiday experiences set the foundation for a lifetime of cooking for the award-winning, Morgantown-based chef.
“When I originally started working in kitchens, it was merely to seek employment back in 2005, although one of my childhood dreams was to run my own restaurant. It never occurred to me to follow that path until later in life. Since then, I have seen that dream come to fruition in several kitchens around Morgantown, West Virginia.”
Meadows has worked in a number of local eateries preparing everything from charcuterie to pizza before landing the executive chef role at one of the city’s premier restaurants.
“The menu we have built [at Bourbon Prime], currently contains recipes you might find from South America all the way to Japan. The dishes we prepare at Bourbon Prime are done in a way that are not intimidating but also exciting … You can currently get anything from Braised Short Rib Pot Roast, to Seared Ahi Tuna with Furikake, to Nashville Chicken Mac n’ Cheese,” he said.
His years of learning and laboring are not in an effort to earn recognition or accolades. Instead, his efforts are an attempt to provide for his community and provide opportunities for folks to spend time together.
“My passion for food lies more in the emotions and experiences that food allows to blossom. Meals kindle events, become memories during life changing days in your life, remind of you of the good ol’ days, become staples during holidays, and bring people together,” he said.
“A ripe tomato from the garden and some good salt might remind you of your grandfather in the garden, and the ever-traditional thanksgiving dinner hopefully brings the whole family together for a meal and a nap. A fresh oyster might take you to your honeymoon in the Caribbean, and a good hotdog might remind you of you first baseball game. These are the things that drive me to push and sometimes reel back. Making people smile and sometimes melt in their chair, is what it’s all about to me.”
RECIPE: Pizza Dough
“An old Chef of mine once looked and pointed to me one day when asked who was going to create the pizza recipes for our restaurant concept. Ever since then, I have taken pizza seriously, unreasonably so at times. I have taught, shared, and made pizza with more people than I can even count. If there’s one meal I can always count on, it’s fresh pizza. Flour, salt, and water with a little patience, practice and love can take you a long way,” Meadows said.
“The very first pizza I made from scratch was at a small wine bar that served little more than charcuterie and pizza before I arrived. Almost 10 years ago now, I remember struggling with the dough, the peel, the stone, temperatures, times, cutting, toppings, until one day… it clicked. The crew and myself never looked back and served some amazing pizza to hundreds a week. Flash forward to my time in college dining halls, we served the same scratch version of this pizza to over 10,000 students a week. Someone I admire once said, ‘Nothing can stop Pizza.’ And I couldn’t agree more.”
INGREDIENTS:
- 5 ¼ cups 00 Flour
- 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons Dry Active Yeast
- 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons White Sugar
- 2 ¼ cups water; water must be between 80-90 degrees F or yeast will not activate properly
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Portion at 8 oz per dough ball
- Mix flour, salt and sugar in stand mixer
- Using your 80 degree water add your active yeast and mix with whisk thoroughly
- This mixture must sit for 5 minutes in order for the yeast to activate
- After the yeast has activated add it to the flour mixture in the stand mixer on stir/low with the dough hook attachment
- Add EVOO in early stages of mixing after water
- Once this mixture has been combined remove dough from hook and let it sit for no more than 10 minutes (arresting)
- Mix one last time until dough is no longer sticking to the side of the mixing bowl while being mixed.
- Remove the dough from the bowl to a floured surface and form in to fist size balls and let proof approximately one hour
- Once proofed press the dough from the center to the outside on a floured surface until you for a 9 to 10 inch circle
- Top with your favorite sauce and toppings but remember LESS IS MORE!
- I recommend cooking these at 500 degrees, and using a preheated oven stone and pizza peel is highly recommended.