Cooking to please

Food Network stars like Paula Dean and Bobby Flay have no impact on Tom Francis.

Inspiration for his cooking, not to mention life, comes from his wife of 15 years, JoAnne.

"She is beautiful inside and out, that's why it is fun to cook for her," says Tom. "When she leaves town on business trips all those nice recipes and creativity lie dormant and I live on frozen pizza and carry out.

"She comes back and I am ready to create new things."

Tom, president of home-based Q2 Resources, serves dinner six or seven nights a week, half of them from the stove, half from the grill, which he fires up outside his Arlington Heights home regardless of the weather.

"I have done turkeys at 10 below zero."

He bakes most of their bread, grows herbs in the backyard that he freezes for the off-season and home-smokes whole sides of salmon on the grill with alderwood chips.

His mother encouraged Tom to cook when his appetite grew to teenage proportions.

"I was eating six meals a day. My mother said, 'I'm making three meals a day; if you want something else, it's up to you.' "

So Tom rolled up his sleeves and grabbed some ingredients, a style he maintains today, at 60.

"I look in the fridge, see what we've got, or just walk the aisles of the grocery store" trolling for ideas, he says. "If something looks good and I don't know what it is, I buy it and try to figure out how to use it at home."

He searches the Internet, gathers a handful of recipes and then pulls together something new.

An engineer accustomed to precision calibrations, Tom breaks loose in the kitchen where he relishes having no set rules.

"I can always experiment."

Recent meals: baked trout with walnut butter sauce, marinated halibut and pork chops marinated in soy sauce, rubbed with roasted garlic and grilled.

Roughly once every three weeks Tom bakes half a dozen loaves of eggy white bread, a mammoth recipe from his mother.

"The first loaf is gone in about 20 minutes between the two of us, then we go for a long walk to remove the guilt."

A couple of loaves go to neighbors, a couple are frozen and the last is eaten during the week.

Roasted garlic and garlic oil are two ingredients he uses constantly. He tosses garlic oil in salads and sautees and mixes roasted cloves with herbs to stuff under the skin of chicken before grilling.

His home-smoked salmon is "a nice party dish because no one else does it." He might prepare it for events at St. Viator High School, where JoAnne is director of student affairs, or in the neighborhood. "I use the leftovers for salmon hash or salmon loaf."

On weekends he takes time to make something special for breakfast, like wild rice pancakes or a leek and onion tart with gruyere cheese.

For today's menu, Tom offers mushroom barley soup without the usual cream and just a little butter.

"I wanted something that gave a good, hearty flavor," says Tom, who adds intense, dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted, to the pot.

Tom prepares homemade dough for his asparagus, shrimp and gruyere pizza, but you can buy prepared dough or a pre-baked crust.

For simple, grilled lamb chops he rubs the meat with lemon balm and dry mustard. Throw some potatoes and green beans on the rack and you have an easy meal.

If you're inspired, serve the chops at a candlelit table, like Tom does several times a week for his favorite muse.

"Meal times are our time together; I like to make it special."

Pizza with Asparagus, Shrimp and Gruyere

½ pound cooked frozen shrimp, thawed, shell and tails removed

½ pound asparagus

3 tablespoons olive oil or roasted garlic oil, divided

½ pound Gruyere cheese grated

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Favorite dough recipe to make a 12-by-16-inch, thin-crust pizza (see note)

Heat oven and baking stone (if you have one) to 450 degrees. Allow at least 1 hour to heat the stone through.

Remove shells and tails from shrimp, chop into ½-inch chunks and squeeze dry with paper towels.

Break thick stems off asparagus, cut the rest diagonally into 1-inch pieces.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in medium saute pan. Add the asparagus, turning frequently until almost tender. Add garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove asparagus and garlic to a plate.

Brush remaining oil on the crust. Sprinkle on shrimp and asparagus. Cover with cheese and cook about 12-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbling and just beginning to brown.

Serves four.

Cook's note: You may use prepared dough or crust; if using already baked crust reduce baking time to about 8 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown.

Nutrition values per serving: 430 calories, 30 g fat (12 g saturated), 10 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 31 g protein, 175 mg cholesterol, 380 mg sodium.

Grilled Lamb Chops Patterson

4 lamb chops, 2-inches thick

1 tablespoon roasted garlic oil or olive oil

1¼ teaspoons kosher salt, divided

1¼ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided

½ pound small Yukon golds or white potatoes (2-inch diameter)

½ pound green beans

4-6 leaves fresh lemon balm or mint, finely chopped

3 tablespoons dry mustard

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Mint jelly

Remove lamb chops from refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to prepping.

In a plastic bag combine the oil, 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Add potatoes and toss to coat. Dump them on a hot grill over direct heat, turning occasionally until they begin to brown on all sides. This may take about 10-15 minutes depending on the fire.

In the meantime, place green beans in same bag; toss to coat and let sit. Turn potatoes occasionally as they cook until slightly brown on each side, move to indirect heat, cover and let bake while you begin the chops.

Dry chops with a paper towel. Rub both sides firmly and thoroughly with lemon balm or mint. Rub both sides again with dry mustard, shaking off any excess.

Put the flour and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper in a small plastic bag. Add chops and toss to coat. Place on wire rack and allow to rest while you check the potatoes.

Remove potatoes to indirect heat and let bake another 20 minutes. Test potato with a fork; it should start to be tender. Put chops on the grill over direct heat and cook 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Move chops to indirect heat and cover, cooking 5-10 minutes or to your liking. (By time the chops are done, potatoes will have cooked about 1 hour). Two or 3 minutes before chops are done, grill green beans over direct heat, turning once. Garnish chops with mint jelly.

Serves two.

Nutrition values per serving: 450 calories, 16 g fat (3.5 g saturated), 40 g carbohydrates, 6 g fiber, 33 g protein, 85 mg cholesterol, 840 mg sodium.

Mushroom Barley Soup

¼ ounce dried porcini mushrooms

3 tablespoons butter, divided

20 ounces fresh crimini or baby bella mushrooms (see note)

1 large sweet onion, chopped

¾ cup carrots, shredded

¾ cup celery, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

4 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

5 cans (14 ounces each) low-sodium chicken broth

3 tablespoons dry white wine

¿ cup barley (uncooked)

Salt and pepper to taste

Sour cream, optional garnish

Cover porcinis with 1 cup hot tap water, cover and swirl to moisten them; let stand 20-30 minutes, swirling occasionally. Lift out mushrooms with a fork; strain liquid through cheese cloth or paper towel and reserve. Chop mushrooms very finely.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a fry pan and sauté the fresh mushrooms, seasoning with salt and pepper. When mushrooms are soft and slightly brown add the rehydrated mushrooms.

While mushrooms sauté melt remaining butter in a 6-quart stock pot. Add the onions, carrots, celery and shallot; saute until softened. Whisk in flour thoroughly, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken stock, wine and liquid from the dried mushrooms and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook, covered, for 30 minutes.

Add the parsley, all the mushrooms and barley and simmer, covered, until barley is tender, about 40 minutes. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Serves 10 (5 quarts).

Cook's note: You may substitute chanterelle, shiitake or oyster mushrooms for half the crimini or baby bellas. Trim off thick portions of stems. Soup can be frozen.

Nutrition values per serving: 150 calories, 5 g fat (0 saturated), 19 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 8 g protein, 30 mg cholesterol, 130 mg sodium.