Story by Dave Eckert
Let’s face it, not everybody’s a great cook. Some people don’t have the inclination.
Others don’t have the time, or, I hate to say it, are just plain bad at it. Here, I hope to give some tips to help folks step up their home cooking game regardless of what category you fall into. To do that, I’ve turned to three area residents, all of them friends, and all of them excellent cooks.
I’m not sure exactly when I met Stephanie Wilson, but I’m sure it was somewhere along the barbecue trail. Wilson is the pitmaster and co-founder of The Slabs competition barbecue team. She’s won dozens of awards through the years, including the Legends category at last year’s American Royal. Wilson is a master of smoke, a bug that she caught 30 years ago while working at the Kansas City Barbecue Society.
There have been many highs along Wilson’s culinary journey, including being selected to compete on the Food Network show, Chopped. “Chopped was SLABTASTIC!!!! Some folks who had been on prior Food Network shows were asked by the producers for recommendations. I was told more than a few suggested me. I was SURPRISED!!” Wilson recalled. So surprised, in fact, that she hung up the phone the first time they called her, thinking it was a prank. Eventually, they connected. Wilson competed and won the episode filmed in Kansas City!
As for tips for others trying to climb the home cook culinary ladder, Wilson says prep and keep it simple. “Here’s one for you – Sous vide! Prep on Sundays. Chicken. Steak. Pork. Start everything at the same time using the lowest temp first. After two hours, take out the lowest temp item, bump up the temp for the next highest, etc. When your item has been thoroughly cooked, quick sear in a skillet, cool it down, then package it up. You don’t have to stand over it, which allows you get everything else ready for the week ahead,” Wilson shared.
Michael Crane is another self-taught home cook. His specialty is authentic Jewish cuisine passed down to Crane by his grandmother. “She lived with us when I was growing up and was an amazing cook and baker. Her traditional Jewish recipes and passion for cooking made a lasting impression on me,” Crane remembered. “As I grew older, I naturally took on the responsibility of preparing meals for Jewish holidays. It became a tradition that I cherished, allowing me to honor my grandmother’s memory and keep her recipes alive.”
Crane’s next big step came when he retired from the beer business after undergoing neck surgery in 2022. “That gave me more time to dedicate to pursuits that truly bring me joy. Not long after, a fellow board member from Slow Food Kansas City discovered that I was Jewish and that I loved making my grandmother’s recipes. She suggested I teach a class on Jewish foods. That first class ignited a new chapter in my life,” Crane told me. So, what does this master of the matzo ball recommend to other home cooks? “Invest in a Gram Scale. One of the simplest and most impactful upgrades you can make is to replace your measuring cups with a good gram scale. Many quality recipes provide ingredient measurements by weight, which is far more accurate, faster, and easier than using a variety of measuring cups. A gram scale also simplifies scaling recipes up or down based on the number of servings you need,” Crane suggested.
Want to get up close and personal with Crane? Check out Slow Food happenings at Slow Food Kansas City Events, and learn more about the Olive Tree here at Olive Tree KC.
Lastly, some thoughts from butcher, turned restauranteur, turned restaurant consultant, and now, back to butcher, Chad Tillman. Tillman says he knew early on food would play a major role in his life. “I found myself watching PBS food segments on Saturday while my brother and cousins were watching cartoons,” Tillman shared. That interest led Tillman into butchery. “I got into butchery as a summer job coming out of high school. I discovered it was a decent paying job relating directly to food.” That summer job soon became a 20-year career at Hen House. “That’s where I used interest in cooking to offer my customers tips and hints on how to prepare the center of the plate item that they just chose at my meat department,” Tillman recalled.
Tillman left Hen House five years ago, consulting and opening restaurants, though now, he finds himself back behind the counter. “I took a full-time role with a butcher shop at Athena Lake of the Ozarks called High Steaks Smokehouse and Butcher Shop that integrates my strengths as a chef and butcher through cooking and butchery classes, smoking lessons, and more!” Tillman told me.
Tillman offered these words of advice for other home cooks. “Watch the Food Network! Travel! Step outside your comfort zone. I did that in my late 20’s by trying different cuisines for the first time. I learned so much about cooking techniques and ingredients that has shaped my own cooking style,” Tillman smiled.
