In the spacious kitchen of a red brick building, two crisply uniformed men speak in soft tones about the angel food cake cooling on the counter.
“Why do you think it fell?” asks the older one, referring to the fact that the cake doesn’t look nearly as good as it smells.
“I think maybe I let it cool too long in the pan,” answers the other. The first man considers this possibility. Passing his hands through the air above the cake, as if this might somehow restore its shape, he nods his head in agreement.
Behind the scenes at a gourmet restaurant? Graduation Day at L’Ecole de Haute Cuisine? Almost, but not quite. Try Chez Wheaton Firehouse No. 1, an intimate, out-of-the-way little dining spot where dinner is served seven days a week to a select group of individuals who live and work and eat together, 24 hours a day, three days a week.
The two men discussing the fallen cake are Lt. Phil Dimenza and firefighter Bob Deno, designated cook at Wheaton Firehouse No. 1. Deno has been preparing firehouse dinners since he joined the department a few years back. He didn’t become a firefighter because of his cooking skills, but it wasn’t long before his co-workers realized their fortune.
“If you’re a cook, then you’re valued, and if you’re fairly decent, then they hang on to you,” said Deno, whose cake was “just a little something extra” he whipped up for the weekend meal, along with parsley potatoes, lemon pepper chicken and corn, corn, corn, “because there’s one guy who only likes corn.”
Most of Deno’s meals use in-house recipes, but he sometimes prepares dishes that have gained fame in other stations, such as Wheaton Firehouse No. 3, where Norval Loomis’ firehouse meatloaf is a not-so-heart-healthy mouth-watering combination of ground beef, cold cuts and cheese.
Joe Grandolfo, veteran firefighter and reputable cook at Addison’s Firehouse No. 3, has been manning the kitchen there for many years. His jambalaya is quite famous among his co-workers. It can lure firefighters off the apparatus floor and send them strolling through the formidable kitchen with its countless cabinets (one devoted to mass quantities of mismatched Tupperware), three shining refrigerators (one for each shift) and counterspace worthy of any TV cooking show.
Grandolfo has seen many changes through the years in the fine art of firehouse dining. “Modern firefighters know how to eat artichokes,” he said. “Twenty years ago, guys wouldn’t have known what an artichoke was.”
Deno and Grandolfo have seen a trend toward more healthy eating, at least during the week. And both acknowledge one of the professional hazards that comes with being a firefighter: fast eating.
“I started eating fast when I was 19,” Grandolfo said, attributing his habit to the ever-present possibility of a fire call.
Deno also suffers from this malady. “I can eat just about any meal in two minutes. We all eat fast, even when we try not to and even if we’re out at a fancy restaurant,” he said, noting that it drives firefighters’ significant others crazy at times.
Dave Zinther of Lisle-Woodridge Firehouse No. 3 presides over meals on his shift. Known alternately as “Z,” “Chef Z,” or “Cookie,” Zinther tries to keep meals on the healthy side by using red meat on weekends only and choosing low-fat or fat-free desserts. For weekday dinners, his main dishes are turkey, pasta, turkey, salads or turkey.
Terry Madden, also on Zinther’s shift, praised Zinther’s cooking skills. “The kitchen is Dave’s domain. He’s always coming up with something new, so don’t try to take a spatula away from him,” Madden cautioned.
Madden once made the mistake of comparing his wife’s cooking to Chef Z’s. She had made spaghetti and salad, but, alas, there was no garlic bread. “Dave always has garlic bread,” he said. Nowadays, when she calls the station, she is told that Terry is busy, eating garlic bread, and that he’ll call her right back.
Zinther emphasizes health-conscious cooking, but he understands the importance of desserts for maintaining good firehouse morale. His specialties include banana splits, pudding in a cloud and the occasional strawberry shortcake.
Herb Kleinwachter, one of the cooks at Naperville Firehouse No. 2, also believes in desserts. A self-described meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, Kleinwachter sees to it that every meal begins with meat and ends with dessert. “You don’t have to have a pretty name on it for it to taste good,” said Kleinwachter, who has fattened up many a firefighter during his 19 years on the force.
A good meal on Kleinwachter’s shift might be a pork roast with sauerkraut, potatoes, dumplings and his famous apple pie. Weekend brunches can include blueberry pancakes, waffles, eggs and sausage or ham.
When asked how he rose to the rank of firehouse cook, Kleinwachter was quick to respond. “Their idea of cooking and my idea of eating was a little different,” he said. Surprisingly lean for his tastes, Kleinwachter acknowledges that his cooking style can add inches to the unsuspecting waistline. “After six or eight months with me, some of the new guys notice a few more pounds on them,” he said.
For the most part, firehouse kitchens run as a democracy, although the cook has the final say on what’s being served. At some stations, non-designated cooks like to putter in the kitchen on occasion. This can pose its own set of problems.
“One of our guys makes a fantastic chili,” Grandolfo said, “but no one wants him to make it. There’s usually a one-inch crust on the bottom of the pan. The guys have to use the rescue tools to clean it up.”
Although the designated cook has the same responsibilities as the other firefighters, they help each other out, said Lt. Wayne Sherman, a fan of Grandolfo’s cooking. “We do the other stuff till the cook’s done cooking,” he added.
All firefighters pay for their meals, which average between $4 and $6 a day. In addition to daily meal costs, stations have a monthly collection for staples and other necessary items, which are purchased in bulk. You won’t find any of those small containers of spice in a firehouse cabinet. Even if they were there, they’d be lost among the foot-high unopened containers of mayonnaise and ketchup or behind the five-pound jug of peanut butter.
Sometime early in the shift, the cook will ask what everyone feels like eating. Once a consensus is reached, it’s time to grab a co-worker, hop in the old fire truck and dash off to the store. Because the cook is on active duty, a call can come at anytime. If the call comes while he’s unloading the cart in the checkout lane, then it’s quick apologies, but he’s got to run, really. As he hurries back to the truck, one of the store employees will see to it that the groceries are refrigerated until his return, one or two or three hours later.
Obviously, calls also can come on holidays, when families come to share a holiday meal and the table is decorated with what the firefighters jokingly call corporate placemats (paper towels). That’s what happened last Thanksgiving in Wheaton. In less than a minute, the firefighters were out the door as their family members scurried to cover the dishes with aluminum foil. The call? Nothing serious, just someone’s turkey on fire in the oven.
During extra-alarm fires that require the attention of the entire shift, a firefighter from a different station will go to the empty station until the shift returns. If this occurs just when dinner is being served, it can happen that the returning firefighters notice the table looks a little different than it did when they left. Wasn’t that a whole pie? Whose plate is that in the sink?
No formal action is taken against the culprit, but there is an unstated understanding that one day he, too, will come back to find someone has been eating his porridge, or Yorkshire pudding, or firehouse meatloaf.
With so much expertise in the kitchen, firehouse cooks have a wide repertoire of meals ranging from basic appetizers to exotic main dishes. There’s even a cookbook called “Cooking With Fire,” compiled by the Illinois Fire Chiefs Secretaries Association. This storehouse of wisdom is available for purchase (call your local fire department at its non-emergency number or contact Carol Dunn at 847-223-8960). Proceeds from sales benefit the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance Burn Camp.
In addition to Gov. Jim Edgar’s very own recipe for his favorite brownies, as well as a couple dozen ways to cook chili, the cookbook contains a wide variety of dishes that are sure to draw comments from guests.
A word of caution though: You might want to consider changing some of the recipe names to protect your less adventuresome guests. But if your crowd is hardy and fearless, consider serving some of the more interesting dishes, like belly bombers, beef logs, strawberry pretzel salad, Scottie’s gut bomb German apple pancakes, Lt. Porky’s country ribs and everybody’s favorite: tomato soup . . . cake.
NORVAL LOOMIS–WHEATON
FIREHOUSE MEATLOAF
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours
Yield: 6 to 8 hungry firefighters or 12 to 14 regular appetites
4 1/2 to 5 pounds lean ground round
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
4 large eggs
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons each: seasoned salt, freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound Swiss cheese (2/3 shredded, 1/3 sliced)
1 pound boiled ham, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 cup barbecue sauce
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ground round, bread crumbs, eggs, one-half of the green pepper, onion, salt and pepper in large bowl; mix well. Shape into a loaf and place into a 13-by-9-inch baking pan.
2. Make a crease lengthwise down the center of loaf. Layer one-half of the shredded cheese down the crease; top with all the ham. Top ham with remaining shredded cheese. Mold ground round mixture over ham and cheese to seal shut. Sprinkle remaining green pepper over top of loaf; press into loaf. Pour barbecue sauce over top.
3. Bake 1 hour 50 minutes. Remove pan from oven; top with cheese slices. Return to oven and bake until cheese melts, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 15 minutes before slicing.
HERB KLEINWACHTER–NAPERVILLE
APPLE PIE
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Baking time: 1 hour
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
1 9-inch single-crust homemade or prepared pie crust
Filling:
8 to 9 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon each: ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, ground ginger
5 teaspoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
Topping:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out pastry crust on lightly floured surface; fit into 9-inch pie plate. Crimp crust as desired; set aside.
2. Combine all filling ingredients except butter in large bowl; mix well. Spoon apple mixture into prepared pie crust; dot with butter pieces.
3. Combine all topping ingredients in medium bowl. Cut in butter using pastry blender or two knives until a coarse crumb forms. Sprinkle over apple filling.
4. Place pie on baking sheet to catch any drippings. Bake for 45 minutes. Increase temperature to 400 degrees and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly before cutting.
