Son of a Southern Chef: Cook With Soul

 A wildly inventive soul food bible from a two-time Chopped winner and the host of Snapchat’s first-ever cooking show.
 
Thousands of fans know Lazarus Lynch for his bold artistic sensibility, exciting take on soul food, and knockout fashion sense. Laz has always had Southern and Caribbean food on his mind and running through his veins; his mother is Guyanese, while his father was from Alabama and ran a popular soul food restaurant in Queens known for its Southern comfort favorites. He created “Son of a Southern Chef” on Instagram as a love letter to the family recipes and love of cooking he inherited.

In his debut cookbook, Laz offers up more than 100 recipe hits with new takes on classic dishes like Brown Butter Candy Yam Mash with Goat Cheese Brülée, Shrimp and Crazy Creamy Cheddar Grits, and Dulce de Leche Banana Pudding. Packed with splashy color photography that pops off the page, this cookbook blends fashion, food, and storytelling to get readers into the kitchen. It’s a Southern cookbook like you’ve never seen before.

Praise for Son of a Southern Chef

“Son of a Southern Chef is a visually stunning exploration of what soul food really is, which is food made with love and with loved ones. Lazarus’ personality shines through delicious recipes and dynamic pictures. This is definitely a book you will want to visit time and time again.”—Marcus Samuelsson, award-winning chef, restaurateur, and co-owner of Red Rooster Harlem

“Imagine if Prince wrote a cookbook while channeling the spirit of 7,000 West African, Caribbean, and Southern grandmothers with photography by David LaChapelle and art direction by Tyler the Creator.  Enter Lazarus Lynch.  Son of a Southern Chef is a magical cookbook filled with all the contradictions you’d expect from a culinary (and musical) virtuoso—it’s avant-garde yet grounded in tradition, hood yet haute, mischievous yet earnest in its intent to push the boundaries of how we imagine Black food.  This cookbook is dripping with all the swag and creativity that fans have loved since Lynch came on the scene in 2014, and he truly is the Rockstar Chef we’ve all been waiting for.”—Bryant Terry, James Beard award-winning author of Afro-Vegan

 

About the Author

Two-time Chopped Champion winner, and host of Snapchat’s first-ever cooking Show, Chopped U, and Food Network Digital’s Comfort Nation, Lazarus Lynch is an entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, chef, author, and the face of the brand, Son of a Southern Chef.  New York City born and raised, Lazarus stepped into the kitchen at an early age under the tutelage of his father, Johnny Ray Lynch, a southern chef from Bessemer, Alabama. Together, they created a special bond in the kitchen that would soon launch into a successful media enterprise. 

In 2014, Lazarus created Son of a Southern Chef, dedicated to his father’s southern cooking, and building the next generation of soulful cooks in the world. His fun, charismatic, and down-to-earth approach to food and cooking connects him with thousands across the globe daily. In 2015, he was a co-host on the ABC Network digital series, Tastemade Get Cookin’. He was also a featured host on the Webby awarded mobile site and app, Tastemade, and appeared regularly on the Tastemade Snapchat Discover Channel. 

Food Network host, Ingrid Hoffmann, named Lazarus “the next big food star.” He is a two-time Chopped Champion winner, and has been a guest on several shows including the Emmy-nominated, The Kitchen, and The Kitchen Sink, The Today Show, and judges for Chopped Junior, and Beat Bobby Flay. He was also a season seven co-host on Cooking Channel’s, Unique Sweets. He has appeared as a guest on several radio shows including NPR’s Science Friday, WPR’s Food Friday, and Heritage Radio Network’s ​Feast Yr Ears. He has an active YouTube channel with nearly 11,000 subscribers where he shares both original and sponsored content. He created popular series on YouTube including My College Kitchen, Laz’s Comfort Kitchen, and Soul Food Talks. He has worked with a range of industry leading brands including Kelloggs, Hidden Valley, Wells Fargo, 4-H, AT&T, Honda and more. 

Lazarus holds a Bachelors of Science degree from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. He is a proud 4-H Luminary alum and served as a trustee on the National 4-H Council. He is a World Food Prize Ambassador and activists for food security, hunger awareness, LGBTQ+, healthy living, and visits schools throughout the year to share his positive message with the next generation. He is the host of Comfort Nation on Food Network and released his first cookbook with the publisher, Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House in June 2019. He lives in New York City.

‘Bama Mud Pie Mousse

Image of "Bama Mud Pie Mousse" on a pink backdrop.

Total Time: 4hours 45 min

Prep Time: 20 min

Serves: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS

Crust:
30 chocolate wafer cookies
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Chocolate Mousse Filling:
12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2 large egg yolks (grade A or AA)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp instant espresso powder (or coffee powder)
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Whipped Topping:

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur (or coffee extract)
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped, for garnish
1/2 cup toffee pieces, roughly chopped, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

  1. For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Pulse the cookies in a food processor until finely ground. Add the melted butter and pulse until well combined. Quickly pulse in the chopped pecans. Press into a 9-inch pie plate and bake until set, about 10 minutes. Place the pie plate on a rack to cool.
  3. For the chocolate mousse filling: In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate and butter and melt for 30 seconds. Stir and melt for an additional 20 seconds until the chocolate has thoroughly melted. Whisk in the egg yolks and set aside.
  4. In a chilled bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk the cream to form soft peaks, about 4 minutes. Add the granulated sugar, espresso powder and vanilla and whisk to form stiff peaks. Fold a third of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly until smooth. Transfer the chocolate to the remaining whipped cream and gently fold in until smooth. Pour the filling into the prepared crust and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
  5. For the whipped topping: In another chilled bowl with an electric mixer, whisk the cream to form soft peaks. Add the powdered sugar and coffee liqueur and whisk to form stiff peaks.
  6. Top the pie with whipped cream, pecans and toffee pieces and serve. Bake with soul. Eat with pleasure!

Recipe Courtesy Lazarus Lynch. Photography by Anisha Sisodia. © 2019 Son of a Southern Chef LLC.