by Steven Doyle
Ever wish to cook at home like one of your favorite chefs in Dallas or Fort Worth? There are certainly many opportunities to take classes from a whole host of chefs including Stephan Pyles, Kent Rathbun and so many more. Each week special classes are taught at the Milestone, Sur la Table, Central Market giving the avid home cook a chance to brush up their culinary skills while enjoying a the meal prepared by the chefs.
There are also many local chefs who have written cookbooks such as The Cheese Lover’s Cookbook and Guide by Paula Lambert, Big Ranch, Big City Cookbook by Louis Lambert with June Naylor, A Cowboy in the Kitchen by Grady Spears and Matt Martinez Culinary Frontier. There are plenty of cookbooks by our favorite chefs.
But what if we need a bit of spice, or a touch of sauce, or even a prepared soup? Some of our local guys have stepped up to assist with those chores as well. Here are a few examples of local products offered that you might want to explore with your cooking at home.
Jon Bonnell: This chef-owner of Bonnell’s in Fort Worth has stepped up in a big way offering his own line of knives, rubs and sauces. You can even find his brand of soup in the supermarkets. Bonnell’s Roasted Red Pepper & Grilled Corn Chowder is stuff of legend and you can find the recipe online easily, but how much easier is it to pop open a jar on a cool Texas evening and simmer away.
Dean Fearing: Fearing is fearless when it comes to branding, offering his famous tortilla soup by the jar, as well as many other products such as cowboy boots, books, rubs, soups and sauces. His BBQ Thousand Island Dressing was the inspiration for this article. Fearing also throws down a mean axe and you can find his band’s CD’s available most anywhere you buy music online and features Fearing with chef Robert Del Grande (one of the original Gang of Five that started the Southwest movement back in the 80’s) along with Johnny Reno in their band called the The Barbwires . Fearing host a store at his website listed above.
Jim Seversen: As one of the winners of the annual Caesar Salad competition in Dallas, Sevy bottled the liquid gold and offers that along with several other products such as Sweet Ancho Chile Relish and his One Pot Braising Sauce. You can find Dean’s and Sevy’s goods here. Sevy is a rockstar in his own right.
Kent Rathbun: Chef Rathbun is the ultimate marketer. He has a full line of sauces, rubs and other products available, and we fully expect for him to cut an album like Fearing sometime soon (please, Kent?). We have tested this Iron Chef slayer’s offerings and enjoyed many of them, especially his Steak and Chop Salt which we use on pretty much everything at home. He also has a full line of dressings and sauces, along with his favorite knives and a specialty salt called Falk Salt which is a seasoned (or not) natural flake salt from Sweden that will blow your mind. You can find Rathbun’s goods at his website or at Central Market.
