Home Cooks
Novice? Not Necessarily
“I gotta eat, right?” Necessity is by far the number one reason people cook at home. Sure, it’s convenient to pop out to your favorite eating joint and watering hole (and we appreciate those businesses that enable us to do that) but sometimes because of budgeting, corralling the kids, and wait times, it is just easier to knock something out at home.
Great home cooks do not have to be trained chefs, but most chefs started their training in the kitchens they grew up in. Whether it was watching their grandmothers and mothers cook Sunday dinner or observing their fathers and uncles grill outdoors on the weekend, chefs from around the world understand the almost sanctuary-like quality a home kitchen contains.
With the popularity of cooking shows and celebrity chefs on television, more people are learning the ins and outs of kitchen readiness, technique, methods, and most importantly, gaining the desire to learn new dishes and experiment with ingredients and flavors. There is also something to be said for the food bloggers and social media posts that so many home cooks are using to further their in-home “experiments” and to further their own cooking journeys.
For our Home Cook’s issue, we bring you four outstanding people with some pretty outstanding kitchen skills. By day they are a meteorologist, a medical doctor, a financial advisor, and a project manager. But when they get into their kitchens at home, it’s “Kiss The Chef” time and they become excellent home cooks.
RISA YOUNG
The empty nester mother of three boys, project manager Risa Young never really enjoyed cooking while her children were young. She let their father do a lot of the cooking. But after some life changes, the opportunities for cooking at home became more exciting!
“I just went through a divorce and started dating people, and was introduced to amazing new restaurants and food that I had not had the opportunity to [try] before. I had duck and found that to be wonderful, different seafood, or having different herbs and spices in dishes that I had never tried before. Then I would come back home and wonder ‘how can I make that dish for myself?’”
As a project manager for an energy company, Risa found herself traveling, a lot. Last year, she was sometimes traveling every two weeks for long periods of time. Those that travel a lot for work understand the desire to get home and to eat “real food.”
“So when I would come home I just wanted to sleep in my own bed and cook my own food. That helped with all the cooking inspiration too. Cooking for one person was a challenge, but it can be fun trying new dishes.”
Finding inspiration for new dishes not only comes from eating at different restaurants and wanting to recreate recipes at home, it also comes from following different food blogs, websites, and published recipes. For Risa, finding a great recipe is the first step.
“If I find a recipe that looks good and that I want to try, I will cook it the first time as written. The next time is when the fun starts and I start adding ingredients.”
And the fun is evident with Risa’s blogging and social media pages. Beautiful recipes and photos of food are presented, including Thyme and White Bean Pot Pie, Chickpea Curry, and a beautiful creamy salmon and pasta dish that we share here.
“I’m slowly re-incorporating meat back into my diet. I still love a good steak, but just wanted to try the no meat thing. This salmon pasta dish is one of the things I like to make, and I actually got the inspiration from having brunch at Packard’s downtown. I loved their cold smoked salmon and capers dish and decided to turn it into a pasta dish!”
Now, Risa says you could use smoked salmon in this pasta dish, but it seems it could be a bit too much for some palates. So to get just a hint of the smoky flavor, Risa grinds in the Whisky Barrel Smoked Peppercorns from Savory Spice Shop on Western Ave. Great chef tip!
For more on Risa and her home-cooking, follow her on Instagram. @ItsRisaDarling_Food
EMILY SUTTON
Emily Sutton lives life on one of those non-traditional daily schedules that some of us are used to, especially when it comes to meal time. This Oklahoma City meteorologist explains, “I have a weird schedule, so my dinner time is probably a late lunch or Happy Hour for some.”
A Certified Broadcast Meteorologist for Oklahoma City’s KFOR Channel 4 as well as the only meteorologist in Oklahoma with seals from both the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association, Emily is a powerhouse when it comes to weather. She’s also not too shabby when it comes to being a powerhouse in the kitchen, especially when it comes to her vegetable cookery.
“My days, during the week, start wayyy before the crack of dawn,” Emily laughs. “I’m at the station by 4 for the early morning broadcast and then Rise & Shine [on sister station KAUT 43] for the morning show. By the time I get home, I’m famished so I want something quick and easy!”
Something fast and easy to prepare for some people means opening a box and popping it into the microwave, but for Emily, it’s most important to be conscious of what you are actually eating, and that boils down to the ingredients that you are using. Purchasing fresh ingredients from grocery stores that specialize in “organic” and “local” is always a great option when one can. Supporting our local farmers and producers at Farmer’s Markets is another option that Emily and a lot of the home cooks we spoke to happily support.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love meat and I love carbs, but during the week I try to stay on the lighter, mostly vegetable side of my meals. Plus, when cooking at home I know exactly what is going into my meals. There’s nothing better than picking up homegrown tomatoes, potatoes, and melons at farmers’ markets or those road-side stands. I love that and you can really taste a difference!”
And that’s a top three reason a lot of people prefer cooking at home. Knowing every ingredient that is going into their dishes and being able to control portion size sometimes outweighs the option of breaking open a box and loading the microwave. Plus, it is a chance to catch up with those you love, either the two or four-legged kind.
“If I’m lucky I get to do this all with my husband [Michael] and dogs [Okie and Winnie] joining me in the kitchen,” Emily smiles at Michael who is helping out in the kitchen sautéing “zoodles” while Okie and Winnie are at her feet, hoping for a scrap or two to fall.
Emily’s individual Eggplant Pizzas and Zoodles with Chicken Sausage are two easy and delicious recipes she cooks regularly at home. The added bonus of “zoodling” and other vegetable cookery is having new and fun cooking tools for the kitchen.
“I love my zoodle maker,” Emily says while cranking whole, fresh zucchini into perfectly cut spaghetti like noodles. “Do you zoodle?” she asks Aaron, our photographer, who responds with a laughing, “No… but it looks fun!” Michael shakes his head at the question and keeps sautéing.
JAKE ROBERTSON
Financial analyst Jake Robertson is serious about two things, if you don’t include his beautiful wife, Ande; his mini-me son, Moss; his business; his other family members and friends; and the wood block table he took from his father’s garage that now sits next to his outdoor grill…
Okay, for our purposes and this topic, Jake is serious about two things: his grill and his protein.
“I grew up in Nichols Hills, so it was a pretty regular thing for my dad and I to go down to Crescent Market, pick out some meat, and go back home to grill on his Hasty- Bake Grill.” Then Jake trails off with the same fondness and intensity that chefs will speak of their favorite knives, “I really love Hasty-Bake Grills.”
While minding his beloved Hasty-Bake which is loaded down with “Spatchcock” chicken (whole bone in chicken split down the center and cooked flat), French-boned pork rib chops, hot links, and the most delectable marrow bones I have seen in some time, Jake explains his love of the grill and for cooking.
“I went to college in Colorado and after that lived in Chicago for ten years, big meat town. So like from twenty-five to thirty-five [years old] you do a lot of growing up. I went from not caring a lot about food and cooking, coming back home to get married and start a family, to realizing although we have a lot of great restaurants in Oklahoma City you can’t go out to eat all the time. You have to cook for yourself. So I got a grill and started playing around.”
But for Jake, it’s not as simple as tossing just any ole steak done any ole way onto the grill. It’s about the quality of meat, the seasonings, the fuel (charcoal and wood), and what he and Ande enjoy.
“Everything we’re grilling today came from Kamp’s on Western Avenue, but I will also go to Rhett’s, La Baguette, and other places for quality meat. I use “Fogo” brand hardwood charcoal and “Shagwood” hickory for fuel, and then seasoning and rubs that I like,” Jake tells us while pointing at his closed grill.
“You know, Ande likes to eat healthy and I like to start fires. All I know is, throw-meat-on-fire, throw-vegetables-on-fire,” laughing at his best caveman impression. “So no carbs and we’re all good. It works out!” Jake laughs.
Grilling at home for family and friends is one of this grill master’s greatest joys. Having the time to himself outdoors and trying out new recipes or ideas always brings a smile to this family man’s face. “Plus I don’t mess up or stink up the house… so there’s that.”
JOSHUA POWELL
Joshua Powell, MD, is one of those rare creatures who will take an interest in any subject, dive in head first, and not come back up for air until he has a full understanding and mastery of that subject. And so it is when it comes to his baking as well.
Full disclosure, Josh and I have been friends for many years. My first experience with his baking was on a group float trip down the Illinois River the summer of 2010 when he brought lemon iced cookies, vanilla bean cupcakes with vodka buttercream icing, and a tasty flavorful savory snack that our group of friends affectionately call “Crack.” We’ll just leave that there. It was not only the fact that this man brought something other than bean dip and chips to an all guys float trip, it’s that he took the time to formulate recipes and bake something creative and delicious for the entire group to share, all while maintaining a successful ophthalmology practice.
When it comes to baking at home, Josh takes a scientific approach.
“I’ve always been drawn to baking because it’s chemistry in the kitchen; it has always appealed to my scientific side. When it comes to baking you get the train going, you set it on the track, and you go. Once it’s in the oven, you have no control. If you’re making a stew or a braise you can correct as you go. When baking you have to have an understanding of the ingredients and method and how they all react together.”
Josh, like professional bakers, weighs out his ingredients and treats “recipes” as “formulas.” This allows for precision and consistency. He also has an understanding of spices and flavorings and is able to think outside of the box. Combining what others might consider “savory” into something sweet is one of Josh’s baking trademarks.
“Like with my Hummingbird Cake,” Josh explains. “I add coriander to the formula because I feel it grounds it and gives the cake an earthiness that blends well with the super sweet.”
And when it comes to Josh’s Hummingbird Cake, as you would expect, there is serious thought behind it as well.
“I love Hummingbird Cake and I always go back to Edna Lewis’ version with Scott Peacock. It calls for cream cheese frosting traditionally, but that’s my bête noire. I prefer my buttercream frosting with a little bit of cream cheese. Oil in the cake instead of butter, like a carrot cake, with traditional pineapple and banana of course.”
The man behind the science, behind the baking, is not always weighing out flour, eggs, and sugar. Josh is well-rounded when it comes to his culinary adventures; he dabbles in classical French, vegetarian, and wine pairings. He’ll also just knock out some good food for family and friends.
“We have been pretty busy lately, but I’m still drawn to a great roast or big pot of beans on the stove. That’s my comfort food.”
