I try not to play favorites with the chefs who visit for the Southern Chefs Series. I really do. But when Chris Hastings, chef/owner of Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, shows up at my doorstep, I get really, really happy.

And even though he was supposed to arrive at 10 a.m. on Sunday and didn’t arrive until 1 p.m. for his cookbook signing—after which we raced to set up for his class—I was still thrilled to have him back at Serenbe filling my world with good food.

One of my favorite things Chris does is go through each recipe with all the attendees first thing. Before he heats the first pot, he hands everyone the recipes and they talk through them so everyone understands the process before they’re in the middle of it. And I love the way he invites us all to hold hands and bless the food before we eat.

Not that he’s ever off his game, but Chris was so on and so vibrant during his visit that the entire class organized a trip to see him in Birmingham. In five years of doing this series, no class has ever done that. He’s going to make us a special menu and we’ll sit at the chef’s table and eat and talk and laugh until everyone else in the restaurant goes home.

Here are just a few things he made: a composed tomato salad with grilled eggplant and goat cheese; bouillabaisse with whitefish, mussels and clams; goat cheese mousse with reduced muscadine jelly, muscadine sorbet and a candied pecan cookie; “swamp cabbage pasta” made of hearts of palm with fresh crab and butter; and goat cheese semifreddo with candied figs and berry jus.

It was a big goat cheese weekend.

He also did a winter vegetable and farmer’s cheese salad—oh yes, we made the cheese—with more steps that we should get into here. But the preserved lemon vinaigrette on top was absolutely to die for, and you can do it at home without an insanely talented chef standing nearby.

 

Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette

• Makes about 3 ½ cups
• 2 preserved lemons (store bought)
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 ½ teaspoons fresh chives, chopped
• 1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 ½ teaspoons minced shallots

Peel the preserved lemons and discard the inside pulp. Remove the white pith from the lemon peel and discard. Finely dice the lemon rind and place in a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients to the bowl and whisk well to combine. Set aside until ready to use, making sure to stir well again before using.

Next up in the Southern Chefs Series: Joe Truex, executive chef of Watershed on Peachtree, November 16-17. For more information, visit serenbeinn.com.