FIREFIGHTERS COOKIN' UP HOT RECIPES

Firefighter Todd Soong added garlic to the soy sauce for his pork spareribs in black bean sauce.

Frying porkchops.

Firefighter Todd Soong, right, served the finished dish of pork spareribs in black-bean sauce to Capt. Fred Vincel, left, and firefighter Kris Stoffegen.

Pork spareribs in black-bean sauce.

Firefighters are trained to look for a building's nooks and crannies. For reasons also associated with their work, many firefighters know their way around a kitchen.

Working 24-hour shifts, some firefighters may at least occasionally see more of their co-workers than their families. Some say sharing one or two meals together on workdays helps break up long hours and offers a bit of home-away-from-home comfort.

"It perhaps gives them a feeling of camaraderie when they cook and have meals together," observed Cape Girardeau Fire Chief Daniel White. "They are like an extended family."

The native Texan remembers learning to cook gravy as a young firefighter. Cooking duties were shared, he said. "One thing you do learn to do, you learn how to cook in larger quantities," White chuckled.

"It helps that we get to sit down and eat together," agreed Dean Lynn, master firefighter based at Fire Station 1. "It's just more pleasurable eating when you're sitting down, talking," said Lynn who hails from a large family.

Lynn, who took an interest in cooking as a teen-ager, applies that interest regularly. He is one of the many in the department who enjoys cooking.

"There are a lot of good cooks on this department, more than what you would probably see in a lot of other occupations," Lynn said. Again, the nature of the work has likely made that so.

The Jackson Fire Department is in line with those trends. Capt. Ken Koehler noted of rookie firefighters: "You may not know how to cook when you get there, but you've got to learn or you're gonna go hungry."

In conjunction with his firefighting career, Koehler runs a catering business called Fireside Catering based in Jackson.

For several crews who work out of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department's four fire stations, sharing cooking duties is part of the workday routine.

Firefighters in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson departments are responsible for supplying their own meals. In Cape Girardeau, each of the department's four stations are equipped with kitchens, as is the Jackson fire station.

"Some crews just cook together on weekends when there's more time, some crews try to cook everyday, some crews might not cook together at all," said Capt. Scott Altenthal, at Cape Girardeau Fire Station 1.

Altenthal chuckled that fortunately the crews he has worked with during most of his some 25 years on the force have tended to like to cook.

Either way, "the majority of the crews will sit down about the same time and eat, even if they don't cook together," said firefighter Mark Starnes who is among several firefighters at Station 2 who enjoy cooking.

Pasta and chicken dishes are favorites of at least one of the crews at Station 2, along with "anything to do with wild game meat," Starnes explained. "There's no telling what we'll make out of that, anything from meatloaf to stew, whatever the imagination can conjure up."

"We're potato eaters," said Lynn of the crew he works with. "We eat lots of mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, baked chicken. We'll make up meatloaf or chops. Sometimes we'll make kettle beef."

Lynn said the crew he works with usually cooks for lunch and supper. "The day before, we might plan. We don't get real elaborate, sometimes we make bigger meals than others."

Like many of those who enjoy cooking, Lynn and Starnes seldom use recipes.

Echoing the demands on time that families often face, firefighters, too, have to keep an eye on the clock, but especially an ear for the alarm.

Cooking at the fire stations doesn't detract from any other duties the firefighters have, White said, noting, however, that young firefighters learn quickly that the meal could easily be put on hold in a hurry.

Somehow that alarm generally rings "right as you set down and your mouth starts watering. We kind of deal with that also," said Todd Soong, firefighter/paramedic at Station 2.

Starnes estimated that most menus he deals with can be prepared in about 30 minutes. But time limitations need not limit variety, quantity nor quality.

A recipe passed on to Soong from his popo, or grandmother, who lives in Hawaii is a favorite with his co-workers. It's called pork ribs with black bean sauce and is served with white rice.

"They're usually after me to make some good oriental or Polynesian food," Soong said. The black bean sauce can be incorporated as a stir-fry base and combined with shrimp, crab legs or oysters. "You can make almost anything good with that," Soong said.

The department is not untouched by the health consciousness that has swept the country in recent years. "We still like grease and gravy and fried foods, but we try to trim the fat on stuff, and we use the fat-free alternatives on things we can," Soong noted.

"We watch our fat intake," Lynn agreed, paused then added, "but it's a good thing we get to exercise everyday."

FIRE STATION FAVORITES

Pork Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce

-- Contributed by Todd Soong, firefighter/paramedic

3.5 lbs. riblets in 1/2-to-3/4-inch strips, then chopped bite size

3 cups soy sauce

2 teaspoons whiskey

2 teaspoons corn starch

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

6-8 cloves garlic, minced

4 Tablespoons of salted black beans

4 green onions

In a large bowl, combine riblets, soy sauce, sugar, corn starch, oil and whiskey. Allow to marinate for 10-30 minutes.

In a separate dish place beans, mashed into a paste using about 1/4 cup of water and 1/4 teaspoon sugar, then add garlic.

Prepare steamer.

Add bean sauce to the ribs (marinade included). Place in a steamer and steam on high for 45 to 60 minutes or until tender. Garnish with chopped green onion. Serve over white steamed rice.

Soong said this recipe will serve four hungry firefighters and likely 12 regular people. He steams the dish in a large stock pot using a metal colander.

To incorporate shrimp or lobster into this recipe, first stir-fry the seafood then add marinade.

Wheat's Adjustable Chili

-- Contributed by Dennis Ainsworth, firefighter/EMT.

Brown 4 lbs. ground chuck.

Add 1 package of Williams Seasoning Mix. Add 6 cans of Brooks hot chili beans and sauce. Then fold in one 303-size-can and 606-size-can of stewed tomatoes, quartered. Add one small can of tomato paste and one small can of tomato sauce. Season with salt and cayenne pepper.

"Here's the adjustable part," Ainsworth explains. Final ingredient: a large jar of Pace Picante Sauce, either mild, medium or hot. Jalapenos are optional.

Bring mixture to a slow boil, let simmer 25-30 minutes.

BBQ chili

-- Contributed by Capt. Ken Koehler, Jackson Fire Department

Shred a cooked roast beef, marinate the meat at least 24-hours in your favorite barbecue sauce (refrigerated). Then, add your favorite chili ingredients, such as chili beans and chili seasoning.

Dumplings

-- Contributed by Dean Lynn, master firefighter

This recipe will feed a large group.

Boil two chickens for an hour and a half to two hours. Add chicken bouillon and a stick of margarine to the broth. Let boil until tender. Remove and let cool, debone the chickens.

A portion of the broth will be used to make the dumplings.

Combine about three cups of flour with a half of a cup to a cup of broth, 3 eggs, salt and pepper. Mix to desired consistency. Roll dough very thin then cut in strips. Add deboned chicken to broth. Add dumpling strips to boiling broth.

Keep at a slow boil for about 30 minutes. Shut off the heat, add lid and let set for one and a half to two hours before eating.