He thrives on cooking on all burners for family get-togethers

Steve Burak thrives on the hustle of cooking on all burners, including his backyard grill, for big family get-togethers.

For a recent celebration, he operated like a chef in a fancy restaurant, taking orders from everyone: crab legs for this one, lobster for another, filet mignon for someone else, all with baked potatoes and asparagus.

Then he set to work, running back and forth between the grill and the stove, timing it all so everyone could sit down at the same time.

"I give everyone what they like," says Steve, an Algonquin retiree. "I'm proud of the fact that I can do this, and they love it."

Truth is, Steve loves cooking just about any meal. He's the man in charge of weekday dinners for himself and wife Janet. He's behind the counter for every holiday and family birthday and sometimes invites his two sons and their families over for Sunday dinner.

"Yesterday I made pasta with garlic, scallops and broccoli," he said recently. "I made too much, so I took the rest to my daughter-in-law and 3-year-old twin granddaughters."

His specialty is Italian food, but he'll try anything.

"I'm just now working with Chinese food to get authentic taste," he says. "I go on the Internet to find recipes after I eat in a Chinese restaurant."

Stuffing meats is another favorite technique. He tucks garlic into chicken breasts and mushrooms into filet mignon.

"It makes the product a little juicier and tender," he says.

Today he tells us three other tricks with stuffing. In one we fill a pork roast with Italian sausage, vegetables, feta cheese and spinach. For salmon we "stuff" two fillets, one on top of the other, with cilantro salsa. For yet another dish, he mounds sausage and bread stuffing on top of pork chops.

Steve started cooking when he was 6 or 7 because his mother worked.

"She used to leave me a note about putting on the pork roast or peeling potatoes," he says. On weekends he learned by watching his mother and grandfather at the stove.

Money was tight, so the family grew and canned vegetables from a half-acre lot. His parents bought all their meat on the hoof, so to speak, from a local farmer and had the whole pigs, cows and chickens butchered to store in a huge freezer.

To contribute to the larder, Steve fished in Lake Michigan from the time he was in kindergarten.

"I brought home buckets of perch and smelt," he says. "If we didn't grow it or kill it, we didn't have it. I was born and raised in the city, but I'm part farmer."

Eating food that fresh left a lasting impression.

"You understand the best ingredients make the best dish," he says, "and you see the beauty in the land when you raise the product."

Stuffed Pork Roast

4-pound rolled pork roast

1 pound Italian sausage, bulk or removed from links

1 green pepper, sliced

1 onion, sliced

1 cup feta cheese

1 cup spinach, whole

10 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1/4 cup olive oil

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Untie roast and separate into halves. Spread sausage on one half of roast. Layer on green pepper, onion, feta and spinach. Retie roast. Roll in garlic, fennel and olive oil. Place on rack in shallow roasting pan. Roast until internal temperature is about 170 degrees, about 2 to 21/4 hours. Serves 10 to 12.

Stuffed Pork Chops

4 pork chops, bone-in or boneless

2 tablespoons canola oil

Salt and pepper to taste

20 ounces pork sausage

2 teaspoons butter

1/2 cup celery, diced

1/2 cup onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

10 ounces stuffing mix

1/2 loaf bread, torn in small pieces

2-3 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Brown pork chops on both sides in hot canola oil over medium heat, about 4 minutes per side. Set aside.

In same pan, fry pork sausage until cooked through, remove from pan and reserve 2 tablespoons drippings. To the drippings add butter, melt and saute celery, onions and garlic until onions are transparent. Chop pork sausage and return to pan. Pour in 1 cup chicken broth.

In a bowl combine sausage mixture with stuffing mix and bread. Stir gently, adding more bread or broth as needed. Coat shallow baking dish with cooking spray, place pork chops in pan and top each with dressing. Bake 1 hour.

Serves four.

Salmong with Cilantro Salsa

2 large salmon filets, about 2 pounds each

3/4 cup lime juice, divided

11/2 cups cilantro leaves, loosely packed

2/3 cup green onions, chopped

1 green chile pepper, chopped

1/3 cup olive oil

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Lay salmon skin side down in 9- by 13-inch baking dish. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the lime juice over salmon. Set aside.

In food processor combine remaining lime juice, green onions, chile pepper and oil; pulse until evenly chopped. Spread salsa over one filet, reserving some to pass. Place second filet, skin side up, on top of first. Bake uncovered until fish flakes, 35-45 minutes. Remove skin; serve with extra salsa.

Serves six.