A man has to have a gift, and a good knife, to find the comedy in a head of lettuce. Two years ago, in between the contortionists and lip-synching drag queens of Annoyance Theatre’s “Skatt!” variety show, Frankie Janisch sliced, diced and served up a comedic feast based on, well, salad. Especially vinaigrette. He also offered helpful hints, like chopping bell peppers on all four sides rather than employing the messy method of coring them and scraping away those Velcro-like seeds.
His segment struck a chord with the Annoyance’s Lisa Lewis, who created “Taint!,” a dinner-theater spoof highlighting Janisch’s ethnic-themed meals and wild sense of humor.
Some of the more irreverent titles included “Apocalypse Chow” (Asian cuisine), “Last Frango in Paris” (French) and “To Grill a Mockingbird” (Southern). A Halloween segment, “The Linda Blair Witch Project,” took its culinary cues from “The Exorcist” and served up split-pea soup.
OK, so they’re on the tasteless side. But Janisch, whose main goal is to encourage people not to be afraid of cooking, believes that comedy is a sure-fire way to allay those fears.
“Anyone can learn to cook if they allow themselves to,” said Janisch, 34. “The kitchen is really a very friendly place. People sometimes take a macro view of cooking. But if they understand the application of formulas and methods of preparation, it’s so much easier.”
Last year he joined the Food Network’s “Cooking Live Prime-Time,” taking on quirky challenges like preparing Salisbury steak and whipped potatoes for 1,500 recruits at the Great Lakes Naval Academy. Janisch also was a regular on the Food Network’s “Ready…. Set…Cook!”
Now Janisch plans to pursue his dreams of becoming a TV chef while opening his own Chicago restaurant. Since 1995, he has been chief financial officer and director of theater operations for the ImprovOlympic in Wrigleyville.
“Frank’s tripled my business,” said Charna Halpern, the ImprovOlympic’s producer/artistic director. “In anything he takes on, failure is not an option.”
So now that Janisch aims to expand his horizons, he’s taking his comedy associates along with him. He is teaming up with Halpern and business partner-musician Mike Click to establish a homestyle restaurant called Frankie J’s. The eatery would be attached to a relocated ImprovOlympic and include a cabaret featuring the work of up-and-coming artists. The three are looking at spaces in Wrigleyville for an opening in 2001.
Meanwhile, Janisch is getting feedback on his menu ideas. During a tasting at his boyhood Rogers Park home, he did a stand-up routine while serving wood-grilled wild mushrooms in herb-cream sauce over puff pastry; grilled fresh sea scallops in a maitre d’ butter sauce; and grilled fillet of beef with a roasted shallot compound.
While stirring golden raisins into orange juice-flavored white rice, he was interrupted by the whir of a chainsaw in the basement, which he and some friends are remodeling.
“Don’t worry,” he joked, “it’s just the cow we’re cutting.”
Janisch’s black Labrador, Minnie, sat near the stove with jaws poised for catching an errant onion bulb or asparagus stalk.
“She’s named Minnie,” he quipped, “because she’s a mini disposal.”
Janisch was drawn to cooking at a young age. “My father was a fireman on the West Side for 32 years,” he said. “And he worked two other jobs to put six boys through school. My mom started working when I was in grade school. I’d come home and get excited about cooking dinner. Plus I had a huge captive audience willing to try out my food.”
As a teenager, Janisch worked as a grill cook at the now-closed Laura’s in the Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie. A grilling stint followed at Ravinia Festival. He entered the Culinary Institute of America in 1984, graduating two years later.
While receiving his degree in hospitality management at Florida International University, he prepared 1,200 breakfasts daily at Miami’s Fountainbleu Hilton. After moving back to Chicago in 1989, Janisch worked as a sous chef at Burhop’s and Catch 35.
He was bitten by the acting bug after appearing in a restaurant commercial. From there, Janisch hooked up with Halpern and the ImprovOlympic.
Next on the agenda, besides the restaurant-comedy complex, is a network TV pilot, tentatively titled “Frankie’s Place,” which Janisch penned with a team of local comedy writers.
“It would be like the cooking-school version of `Cheers,'” Janisch said.
FRANKIE’S QUICK SALMON
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
3 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons shallots, minced
2 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped
2 skinless, boneless salmon fillets (about 5 ounces each)
Salt, white pepper 1 cup dry white wine
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Rub butter on bottom and sides of oven-proof skillet. Sprinkle shallots and dill across bottom of pan. Season salmon with salt and white pepper. Place salmon on top of shallots and dill. Pour wine in pan. Heat to boil over high heat.
2. Cover; bake in oven 6 minutes. Remove pan from oven; place salmon on 2 plates. Place skillet over medium-high heat; reduce liquid by half. Pour over salmon; serve.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ……… 410 Fat ………… 27 g Saturated fat .. 12 g
% cal. from fat … 65 Cholesterol .. 130 mg Sodium ……. 255 mg
Carbohydrates .. 2.1 g Protein …….. 31 g Fiber ……… 0.3 g
CHUCK STEAK JARDINIERE
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours
Yield: 6 servings
“I’ve replaced the complicated demi-glace with canned brown gravy as a tasty shortcut for busy home cooks,” Frankie Janisch says. “It’s perfect for a snowy winter night.”
1/4 cup olive oil plus 2 tablespoons
6 small (6 ounces each) chuck steaks or round steaks
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 onion, minced
1 whole head garlic, peeled, crushed, minced
1 cup pinot noir or other red wine
4 cans (5 3/4 ounces each) canned brown gravy
1 can (14.5 ounces) canned diced tomatoes, drained
4 each, thinly sliced: carrots, celery
1 leek with greens, thinly sliced
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in heavy oven-proof pan. Season steaks with salt and pepper; brown about 2 minutes each side. Remove; set aside.
2. Cook onions and garlic over medium-high heat until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add wine; reduce by half, about 5 minutes. Add gravy and tomatoes; return steaks to pan. Heat to boil. Cover; cook in oven until meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Place meat and gravy on serving platter.
3. Heat remaining olive oil in clean skillet. Add carrots, celery and leeks; cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Top steak with vegetables.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ……… 450 Fat ………… 21 g Saturated fat .. 4.5 g
% cal. from fat … 43 Cholesterol .. 110 mg Sodium …….. 860 mg
Carbohydrates … 20 g Protein …….. 44 g Fiber ………. 3.2 g
