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William Dissen

Chef and Restaurateur

William Dissen is a chef and restaurateur based in Asheville, North Carolina. With over 15 years of experience, he is the founder of four award-winning restaurant concepts: The Market Place, Billy D’s Fried Chicken, Little Gem, and Haymaker. William was an early pioneer of the farm-to-table and ocean sustainability movements in the Southeastern, United States Appalachian region. He is a 2 times James Beard Foundation Award Nominee for Outstanding Restaurant in America and for Outstanding Chef in America. He also is the author of the cookbook Thoughtful Cooking: Recipes Rooted in the New South.

Education

  • English/French Bachelor's Degree, West Virginia University
  • Culinary Arts Degree, Culinary Institute of America
  • Master of International Hospitality & Tourism Management, University of South Carolina

Professional Achievements

  • James Beard Nomination - Outstanding Restaurant in America
  • James Beard Nomination - Outstanding Chef in America
  • Most Sustainable Chef in the World - Gordon Ramsay
  • Nat Geo, Green Chef of the Year - Fortune Magazine
  • White House Champion of Change for Sustainable Seafood

Certifications & Organizations

  • Partner - Le Creuset
  • Partner - Mountain Valley Spring Water
  • Board of Directors - Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project
  • Blue Ribbon Task Force - Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch

Favorite Piece of Advice

If you want to have delicious food, take the time to chase flavor. Get lost in your hometown, talk to your local farmers and artisans. Travel to foreign countries and try new things. Life is full of choices - make them delicious!

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Forum Comments (4)

Tips on how to make ice cream at home?
I think it depends on what you're looking for, but I always recommend an ice cream maker. Typically, you start by making your ice cream base, which is a custard base that you've cooked sugar, eggs, and cream to a consistency that we like to say ‘coats the back of a spoon’. And that means you've cooked the egg yolks to a point they're no longer raw, but you haven't overcooked them into scrambled eggs. At that point, you want to put it into an ice cream maker, and it spins and freezes it.

You could use an old-fashioned ice cream maker with rock salt and sit there and churn it. And that you can make a very quick country-style ice cream that way. You can also pour your custard base into the freezer and freeze it straight up. It's just going to need to be almost scraped to get it to be light and fluffy like ice cream is; otherwise, it's going to be a hard custard rock. So I'd say those are your three main recipes, your easier routes into making ice cream.

There are some vegan options I know that people are making with almond and cashew milk that are egg-free, but I think it's primarily the base. It's about getting the base to a certain kind of custard consistency, whether it's vegan or made with eggs and cream, and then it's spun to give it that light, fluffy texture.
Need an easy way to make fried rice
Fried rice was created as a food waste recipe, where somebody may have cooked too much rice and doesn't want to throw it away. I think fried rice is really one of those catch-all recipes. It could be vegetarian, you could add seafood or shellfish to it, or you could also add chicken, beef, etc.

But if somebody's learning how to make fried rice, I would probably start with just the rice - the already-cooked rice that you've made the day before and has been refrigerated. You get a hot pan with a little bit of oil in it and learn to toast the rice and what flavors you like in it. Make sure that if you don't like too much soy, start adding more as you build up your recipe.

You can saute in a saute pan or wok, the meat and vegetables very quickly, at very high heat, and then add your already cooked rice into it. You want to toast it quickly in the pan. And then it's up to you, flavor-wise. If you want to go with an Asian style, I love adding lots of garlic and ginger, scallions, and peppers. And I like to add a little sesame oil, soy sauce, and also a fried egg into it. I also really like adding fresh herbs like cilantro to finish it.

Personally, I really like a touch of sesame oil, soy sauce, maybe a little bit of rice wine vinegar or mirin, or lime juice to add a little acidity. But other people I've seen make fried rice with oyster sauce or with a hoisin sauce. They really enjoy that as well.
How do you tell if eggs are bad?
You know, a best-by date is a suggested time to use the item by to make sure that it's food safe. I don't really mess around with eggs because there's an opportunity for foodborne illness if something is wrong. So I typically follow the best-by date. If it's a couple of days over, you're going to be okay. But I'd say more than that, I would probably discard them.

I try to have a zero-waste kitchen, and we work to be as sustainable as we can. I hate food waste, but I also think if something does happen to go over, I'd rather throw it away than get somebody sick.
How to soften butter at room temp quickly?
Well, if you have a microwave, you can use a microwave for a couple of seconds. I'd say up to maybe 10 seconds. But that can be difficult – if you take it too far, it ends up melting, and the butter fats and the oils separate, and that's no longer room temperature butter.

Here are a couple of tricks that you can use. You can take the tines of a fork and run them sideways across a stick of butter, and that will help to take really thin strips of butter off. You could use a peeler as well. And that's going to take thin pieces of it, which will help to soften the butter more quickly.

You can also leave it directly on a counter if you have a granite or marble countertop. Those actually help to act as an induction to pull the temperature from the stick of butter. If you wanted to thaw a piece of meat, you could do it that way, too. But again, you don't want anything to sit out for too long. Butter is one of those things that a lot of people wonder about: can you leave it out, or does it need to be refrigerated? For me personally, I may leave butter out for three or four hours, but I usually put it back in the refrigerator after I'm not using it.

Co-authored Articles (8)

5 Signs That Your Corn on the Cob Has Gone Bad

Learn signs of spoilage like sticky, slimy, or moldy cornCorn on the cob is a vegetable that many people associate with summer. Whether it’s simply charred from the grill, shucked into a southwestern pasta salad, or sl...

How to

Make a Soft Boiled Egg

Soft boiled eggs are a great breakfast food. They're quick to cook up, great when served with toast, and contain lots of protein which will stay with you through the day. You can easily cook soft boiled eggs by bringing ...

Has Your Cucumber Gone Bad? Here’s What Signs to Look For

Plus, the best ways to keep cucumbers fresh longerCucumbers are a summertime classic! From crunchy cucumber salad to fresh cucumbers dipped in ranch, there’s nothing better than this vegetable. But how do you know if y...

6 Signs Heavy Cream Has Gone Bad (& How Long It's Good For)

Plus, storage tips to help heavy cream stay fresh for longerHeavy cream (also called heavy whipping cream) is a staple in many delicious desserts, pastries, dishes, and drinks. However, if you haven’t gotten around to ...

How to Tenderize Beef with Baking Soda (And Other Methods)

Three easy ways to add tenderness to a tough cut of meatSome cuts of beef can be very tough, especially if you prefer your meat well done. If you don't want to shell out a lot of money for a more expensive cut of meat, y...

Quick and Easy Ways to Tell if Your Spinach Went Bad

Find out if your leafy greens are still fresh, or ready for the trashSpinach is a nutritious and vibrant vegetable used in a variety of dishes, such as smoothies, pastas, and salads. Rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber...

How to Know if Blueberries Are Bad (And How to Store Them Right)

Plus, learn how long blueberries are good for in the fridge or freezerBlueberries are nature’s candy, jam-packed with sweetness, vitamins, and antioxidants. Whether you prefer them in a yogurt bowl, as jam, or all by t...

30 Different Types of French Fries to Try

A thorough list of French fry shapes, styles, and cutsShoestring, waffle, curly, crinkle-cut…there are so many delicious French fry shapes out there, it’s hard to keep track of them all! Luckily, we’ve compiled a t...