Carpenter takes 'build to suit' approach to recipes

Mark Vilchis owns a 50-inch, flat-screen TV, but on weekends you'll find him standing in the kitchen in front of a 15-incher watching football while staging an all-day cooking and eating marathon.

It's a family joke enjoyed by his three kids and wife, Debra.

"I've got stuff on the stove," he protests. "I'm leaning on the counter instead of sitting in a reclining chair. I don't really understand it, but I live in my little kitchen."

During the week the Wheeling resident and owner of Fair & Square Carpentry Inc., who cooks dinner nightly, too, ponders what he'll prepare for game day. He might start with a big breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, biscuits and gravy or the Cream Cheese Poached Eggs we're running today.

After breakfast he fires up the stock pot on a back burner for hearty chili, stew or soups like cheesy broccoli, yellow split pea or his Chicago-style 15-Bean With Sausage.

Once that's under way, he might start marinating chicken for the grill or assemble a pan of lasagna.

"As a carpenter, I consider a recipe like 'build to suit,'" he says. "I never make a dish exactly the way it's printed. I'm hovering over the pot, tasting with a spoon."

It began at a grade school book sale - yes, they do make an impact - where the 7- or 8-year-old Mark bought a cookbook because it had a recipe for hot dogs on hamburger buns. The trick: cutting slits in the hot dogs so they curl into a circle when boiled and fit on the round bun.

"That was pretty cool," he recalls, though his sisters poked fun at his efforts.

No matter, Mark was hooked, especially because his parents let him handle a knife.

"I think I missed my calling," he says. "I would have loved to own a restaurant."

If he did he might serve his signature "Mark Burgers," a recipe that started as a prank.

"I was living in Chicago with four other guys," says Mark. "We made a huge burger for one of our friends and stuffed a big slice of onion in the middle. He loved it."

Now the burger is smaller, made with a delicate slice of onion, "and clean hands," he promises.

His newest challenge, cooking for two recently avowed vegetarians, his wife and 12-year-old daughter, Marlee, plus a "completely picky" 7-year-old son, Charlie. Only he and Cassidy, 13, will eat "pretty much everything."

"It threw me into chaos, literally," says Mark of the vegetarian conversions. "Basically I'll make three different meals," using a mix of convenience foods and homemade items.

Aside from sorting that out, Mark wants to learn more about cooking seafood, especially shrimp.

"I'll go on the Internet and find some good grilling methods," he says. "I'd like to make some chowders, too."

In cooking, like carpentry, Mark enjoys hand crafting something that people enjoy, though until now he hadn't drawn the comparison.

"It's all in the preparation," he says. "When you're done, you've got a nice prize."

Cream Cheese Poached Eggs

1 cup American cheese, crumbled

8 ounces cream cheese, cut into chunks

1 cup milk

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 eggs

2 English muffins, split and toasted

In medium saucepan combine cheese, cream cheese, milk and pepper; cook on medium heat, stirring frequently until well blended. Remove from heat.

In a separate, deep-fry pan bring 3 cups water to a simmer. Crack 1 egg into a custard cup or teacup and gently slip into simmering water. Repeat with remaining eggs. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes; remove with slotted spoon. Place on muffins, spoon cheese sauce over. Serve with fruit.

Serves four.

Chicago-style 15 Bean Soup with Sausage

1 bag (20 ounces) 15-bean soup mix

1 large white onion, chopped

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 tablespoon garlic salt

1 can (141/2 ounces) diced tomatoes

1 pound smoked sausage, diced

1 teaspoon pepper

1 lemon, juiced

Soak beans overnight in large pot; drain and rinse.

Bring 10 cups water to boil in same pot, add beans; reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook 45 minutes (see note). Skim off any foam as needed.

Stir in onions, chili powder, garlic salt, tomatoes, sausage and pepper. Squeeze lemon juice into pot and stir. Simmer for 1 to 11/2 hours uncovered.

Serves eight to 10.

Cook's note: If you don't have time to soak beans overnight, rinse beans, put in a large pot filled with water and cook over medium heat 1 hour. Drain and proceed as directed.

Mark's Grilled Burgers

11/2 pounds ground beef,

3 tablespoons bread crumbs or two piece white bread torn into very small pieces

1 teaspoon garlic salt

4 very thin slices of onion from a medium, white onion

1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Prepare hot coals on one side of your grill.

In large bowl combine ground beef and bread crumbs, using your hands. Add garlic salt and Worcestershire sauce, mix well.

Divid into 8 thin patties, large enough to hold an onion slice, leaving about 1/2 inch of patty around the edge. Place 1 onion slice on each of four patties, top with another patty and pinch edges together.

To cook: Place burgers on grill away from coals; cover and cook 8-12 minutes or until juice start to flow. Move burgers over coals and cook 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium well.

Serves four.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=14&type=video&item=36">Clip of Mark Vilchis making poached eggs </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>