Sharing meals stirs up a friendship between neighbors
A remodeling project 15 years ago added more than a big family room and kitchen to Ken and Joanne Kovich's home in Lisle.
It broke ground for a weekly tradition of sharing meals with their next door neighbors, Richard and Kathy Costa.
While the Koviches coped without a kitchen for several months, grilling simple meals outside, the Costas invited them over for dinner on weekends. Once the project was finished, Ken and Joanne returned the favor and they have been alternating turns every since.
Entertaining friends and family was the ultimate goal of the remodeling project for Ken, a salesman for a printing company who loves people above all and feeding them home-cooked meals.
"There's nothing better than going into a room, meeting someone new and a few hours later walking away with a new best friend," he contends.
Cooking is far more relaxing than work.
"The job I'm in, it's always very hectic," he says. "Cooking you can't rush; it's done when it's done."
Ken picked up the basics from his mother, then "plugged along until I figured it out" during college, when he cooked for roommates "who couldn't boil water."
Though he's not Italian - his grandparents were born close to the border in the former Yugoslavia
Ken dishes up plenty of Italian favorites like chicken parmesan, chicken cacciatore and fettuccine Alfredo, all made with from-scratch sauce.
But he also hankers for American comfort foods like pot roast, barbecued baby back ribs and steaks and can't pass up fluffy mashed potatoes with gravy.
His neighbor Richard, another Italian cook, calls Ken "the best; I'm nothing compared to him. Certain people have a knack for it, and he does."
The families have remained good friends, following their kids through youth sports, dating, college and soon, two weddings. They still swap hosting dinner once or twice a month.
Recently Richard invited the Koviches over for dinner after Ken already had prepared a meal at home.
No problem, let's just eat it all, they decided.
"We had pot roast and potatoes, Italian sausage, bratwurst and burgers from the grill," says Ken.
I like the way they think.
Spanish Rice
8 slices bacon
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup green pepper, chopped
28 ounces whole, peeled, canned tomatoes
3½ cups cooked rice
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square pan. Fry bacon until crisp; crumble and set aside. Saute onion and green pepper in as much of the bacon drippings as desired until tender. Add tomatoes, rice, salt and pepper and bacon. Place in to prepared dish and bake for 30 minutes.
Fish in alluminium foil
6 ounce fish filet (your favorite)
Salt and pepper
1¾ cup julienned vegetables, such as yellow squash, zucchini, carrots and mushrooms
1 tablespoon butter
1 ounce white wine or apple juice
Heat oven to 350 degrees or prepare a grill.
Season fish with salt and pepper; place on a sheet of aluminum foil. Cover with vegetables and butter. Fold aluminum foil to form a bag but before sealing completely pour wine or apple juice over fish. Crimp or fold tightly.
Cook in oven or on grill for 20 minutes. Serve over rice.
Serves one.
4 tablespoons shortening
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cups ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1 cup hot water
2 teaspoons salt
teaspoon red pepper
teaspoon black pepper
1 slab baby back ribs
Heat shortening in deep saute pan and cook onion about 5 minutes. Add vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, Worcestershire, dried mustard, celery and water; cook at low simmer in a covered saucepan for about 30 minutes.
During last 5 minutes, season with salt, red pepper and black pepper. If sauce becomes too thick, add more stock or water toward the end of the cooking time.
Heat oven to 275 degrees. Cut the slab of ribs into 3 to 4 sections. Place in a small roasting dish and pour sauce over. If the sauce doesn't completely cover the ribs, add water or prepare another half recipe of sauce. Cook, covered, for 2-3 hours or until a fork inserted between the rib bones meets no resistance and the meat comes off the bone easily. Check every 15 minutes after 2 hours and increase the temperature if desired to finish in a shorter time.
Once the ribs are fork-tender, transfer to a cookie sheet, increase oven to 350 degrees. Smother ribs with your favorite sauce and bake until sauce is heated through.
Serves one to two.
Cook's note: One recipe of sauce covers 1 slab baby back ribs.
Barbecue ribs
4 tablespoons shortening
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cups ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1 cup hot water
2 teaspoons salt
teaspoon red pepper
teaspoon black pepper
1 slab baby back ribs
Heat shortening in deep saute pan and cook onion about 5 minutes. Add vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, Worcestershire, dried mustard, celery and water; cook at low simmer in a covered saucepan for about 30 minutes.
During last 5 minutes, season with salt, red pepper and black pepper. If sauce becomes too thick, add more stock or water toward the end of the cooking time.
Heat oven to 275 degrees. Cut the slab of ribs into 3 to 4 sections. Place in a small roasting dish and pour sauce over. If the sauce doesn't completely cover the ribs, add water or prepare another half recipe of sauce. Cook, covered, for 2-3 hours or until a fork inserted between the rib bones meets no resistance and the meat comes off the bone easily. Check every 15 minutes after 2 hours and increase the temperature if desired to finish in a shorter time.
Once the ribs are fork-tender, transfer to a cookie sheet, increase oven to 350 degrees. Smother ribs with your favorite sauce and bake until sauce is heated through.
Serves one to two.
Cook's note: One recipe of sauce covers 1 slab baby back ribs.