Help for Wichita non-cooks stuck at home with lots of groceries, no clue what to do
A week ago, just as Wichita restaurants started shutting down en-masse and grocery store shelves were being stripped bare, local chef Bill Crites had a thought.
So he did what people do with deep thoughts in 2020. He shared it on social media.
“My heart is breaking for restaurant owners and employees across the country and world, but this may be the most exciting time for home cooking that our country has seen in several generations, so at least there’s that?” he posted on Facebook.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed everything for everyone over the past week, and it’s also interrupted dining routines. People are now trapped at home with few restaurant options, a house-full of hungry people and a refrigerator stuffed with food they stocked up on during frenzied trips to the grocery store.
“I’ve gone to the grocery store a handful of times in last nine or 10 days, and each time I’m there I keep noticing — as recently as yesterday — that there’s no fresh chicken, no fresh beef other than a couple of packs of ground beef, no pork, no steak, no whole eggs, no bread and almost no produce whatsoever except kale and spinach,” Crites said. “From what I can tell, everyone is buying up real, whole food, presumably to take it home and cook it.”
For home cooks with know-how, the situation is finally offering the free-time they crave to whip up new recipes or dig out family favorites. But for those who cook rarely or not at all, dinner time can be the scariest time of the day.
Crites, the executive chef at Kingman’s Hooray Ranch and the father of two small boys, is one of many chefs and talented home cooks who have taken to social media to offer help. Shortly after sharing his deep thought about home cooking, he posted a notice.
“If you’re stuck at home and you don’t know how to cook food, I would be happy to help via text,” he said, sharing his phone number. “Feel free to text me anonymously,”
And people took him up on the offer, Crites said. He’s already texted one friend through the process of making scrambled eggs and warned another not to grill those short ribs he dug out of the freezer but to braise them instead.
Well-known local chef Jeremiah Harvey, who was temporarily laid off on Wednesday from his job cooking at the Candle Club, had the same idea.
About the same time Crites posted his offer to help, Harvey did, too.
“If anyone has any questions about preparing food, food preservation or any advice on cooking please feel free to get a hold of me,” he posted, also sharing his phone number.
Harvey also was instantly overwhelmed with calls and messages. People wanted to know how to cook a roast, what to do with avocados other than make guacamole, how to break down chicken. The most frequent questions he got were about baking bread from scratch..
He was most surprised, Harvey said, to witness so many people realizing how much money they could save cooking at home.
“I wish it was something that people already knew,” said Harvey, who also regularly cooks for his wife and kids at home. “Food is a necessity, and it’s unfortunate that it took something like this to open a lot of people’s eyes. I really hope they carry on cooking at home after this.”
When your stove won’t stop staring
Non-cooks who are now being stared down by their stoves and their hungry families needn’t panic, the Wichita chefs said.
The cooking public is generally enthusiastic to share its knowledge, especially in times like these. And getting good at cooking at home just takes practice and some basic preparation.
Harvey said the best thing aspiring cooks can do is stock their pantries with versatile essentials — things like rice, beans, bouillon cubes, dry pasta, even condensed “cream of” soups.
When he cooks for his family, Harvey said, he likes to do “big batch” meals — things like tuna noodle casserole and lasagna that can be eaten then portioned and frozen for later.
Soup is good, too.
“We’re a big soup family,” Harvey said. “I always make a gallon of soup at the top of the week for everyone to munch on. It’s a great, cheap thing that can be super tasty and super gourmet.”
Crites said aspiring cooks should start by getting comfortable with their knives. Much can be accomplished once a cook knows how to slice and dice.
He also recommends learning how to cook tender cuts of meat like steak and chicken, how to blanch green vegetables and how to make vinaigrette, a skill that will result not only in tasty homemade salad dressings but also sauces for chicken and fish.
“You can go nuts once you learn the basic way to combine three parts oil and one part acid,” he said.
“There’s a real joy to knowing how to prepare a meal for yourself or your family,” he said. “As bad as all this is, if there’s any bright spot at all it’s that this may be the most exciting time for home cooking in America in several generations.”
Need cooking help? Ask our Wichita experts
Do you have a question about cooking? Do you have a good recipe to share with cooks and beginning cooks who are stuck at home?
We’ve started a new post that we’ll pin to the top of Dining with Denise on Facebook. Share recipes there or submit cooking questions, which Chefs Harvey and Crites have agreed to help answer. Wichita Eagle food columnist Adriene Rathbun also has agreed to pitch in.
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 4:02 PM.
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