Blue ribbon winner balances baking, cooking
Thanks to his mom, Steven Holben learned in high school to make one sweet treat, her chocolate cheesecake.
Asked why he liked to bake then, Steven chuckles when he admits his answer.
"Earlier on, it was a draw to the ladies," he said, adding, "I actually proposed to my wife with a chocolate cheesecake."
It was not only her cheesecake that Steven learned to make. He also proudly acknowledges that every Christmas, just like his mom, he will make her caramels.
"I've gotten her to admit the last two years that mine turned out better," he said. "I've been declaring that they've been better for five, six years because I put more love into them, kinda making a joke with my mom."
While making sweets was his first joy in the kitchen, the Glen Ellyn cook has learned he can do much more in the kitchen.
Recently, Steven has developed a love of canning. First inspired years ago watching his grandmother over the summer in Michigan, he remembers seeing the red and blue ribbons she'd won for her jams and jellies at Michigan state and county fairs.
Picking strawberries, raspberries and blueberries over the spring and summer, much of the bounty now gets used for jams and jellies. One year, he recalls, he made 13 types of jam.
But Steven is not one to leave the fruit alone. He's created flavors including strawberry and balsamic vinegar and a blueberry rhubarb jam. This year, he's experimenting with the Rainier cherries, throwing in vanilla bean, too. His new favorite, he adds, is a strawberry and pinot noir jam he found in the cookbook, "The Preservation Kitchen."
His jam repertoire is not limited to the sweet. After discovering bacon jam at a restaurant in southwest Michigan, he now replicates the salty treat at home. Taking on a syrup consistency mixed with bits of bacon and onion, Steven said it makes the perfect BLT sandwich.
Like his grandma, he became confident enough to enter the competitive arena, too. Most recently, he entered six jams at the DuPage County Fair. His various salsas, canned cherries and bacon jam all earned ribbons.
But when he discovered there was a cookie contest at the fair, Steven decided to enter that as well. Using a bacon maple cookie recipe he found as a starting point, he added some subtle changes to a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe. Using melted butter, baking soda and a mix of light and dark brown sugar, these added complexity. He mixed into the dough a combination of milk chocolate and peanut butter chips. His Salty Bacon Chewy Chip Cookies earned him a blue ribbon and $200 cash prize.
"I've heard of a peanut butter and bacon sandwich, so let's go with it and see how it turns out," he said.
"When they were announcing the winners and announced second place, I thought, 'oh well, there's always next year,'" he said. "But when they announced my name, I said 'Wait! What?' When they called my name, I was shocked."
Steven already plans to showcase another dessert next year at the fair, his pie and his winning pie crust. The special ingredient is vodka.
"It actually works better than water because the vodka moistens the dough but doesn't allow gluten to form," he said. "It makes the crust more tender and flaky. When I made a pumpkin pie, I substituted spiced rum instead of vodka. That little cinnamon spiciness turned out well."
Most of Steven's time spent in the kitchen, he said, is not baking, acknowledging it's not good to enjoy too often. But he also loves to whip up meals for his wife, Mandy, and 3 ½-year-old daughter, Aubrie.
Focusing on easy, quick dishes to make after work, Steven copied many of his mom's recipes that he also tweaked to taste. Wanting his sloppy joes to have heat and sweet, he also added chili powder and brown sugar to the typical cast of characters.
With experiments, there have been mishaps but rarely a dish in the trash. He said one ingredient that he misread led to a painful fail but still an edible batch of freezer enchiladas. He shares the recipe with readers today.
"The recipe says one canned chipotle and I didn't read the canned. I saw can of chipotles. Thankfully I made guacamole to go with it and we had sour cream. It helps. After one enchilada, maybe two, I said I can't eat any more. They were too hot," he said.
Steven said it took three to four years of making dinner regularly to be willing to experiment, but now he's not afraid to play with flavors and make something new his family will enjoy.
"Start with a base recipe, get comfortable with that base recipe and then add one of two things and see if it works. If it does, go with it. That's actually one thing my wife hates when she does cook is I'll give her a recipe. As I'm eating, I'll say, 'this will be good if I add this,'" he said. "She'll say, 'just be happy I made dinner.'
"In my mind, I always think how can I make this better," he said. "You can always improve it somehow."
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