You might call Brandon Shepard a folktale hero come to life—one who worked hard; fell in love with DAOU; transformed his career from kinesiology to wine; and now passionately saves the day, every day, as the National Director for DAOU’s Soul of a Lion.

A Southern Californian reared by a motivated mother and grandmother with strong Southern roots, Brandon says he enjoyed a lot of Creole cooking and comfort food when he was growing up.

“For the DAOU holiday dinner series, I had to choose my ‘go-to’ dish, something special that my mom and grandmother taught me how to make before I went off to college,” Brandon says. “Shepard Jambalaya is a hearty dish with ingredients that can be adjusted depending on what’s in season and where your mood takes you.”

Brandon likes to begin with a foundation of rice, a bit of shrimp, organic chicken and local sausage from Cal Poly. Next, he adds green bell peppers, white onion, and any other seasonal vegetables at hand. He follows up with “secret” spices that remain, well, a secret. He also highly recommends homemade cornbread as a side dish.

“With food like this, it’s about what you feel,” Brandon says. “Whatever’s local and in season, and then you can just be free with it and have some fun.”

Brandon pairs his jambalaya with DAOU’s Pessimist Red Blend. He says that the wine’s small amount of residual sugar smooths out the slight spice in the dish. “I don’t want one singing over the other,” he says. “I believe that these two are the perfect pair-- I would say it’s a pot of love, and a glass of love, for sure.”

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