Chesapeake worker loves to cook, make his family feel good

By Theresa Curry

Correspondent

He became a home chef for all the best reasons, said Sherrie Lindsey of her husband, Wayne: He loves to cook good food and watch his family enjoy it.

"Now all men can throw a steak on the grill," she said, "but my guy whips up some beautiful vegetable soups with different stocks."

She described her husband as a big, hardworking man who doesn't always get the appreciation he deserves when he spends hours on a special meal but enjoys doing it anyway.

"He loves to cook, but most of all, he loves to make his little family feel good," Sherrie said.

It's true. Wayne Lindsey can't think of anything better than fixing something delicious for Sherrie and their daughters, Maegan, 20, and Noel, 16; and son Donnie, 12.

There's another reason why Wayne, who works in wall construction for Tesoro Corp. in Chesapeake, decided to turn his creative talents to meals even when he was on his own.

"I got tired of eating crummy food," he said. "That's what I felt I was getting in restaurants - and paying a lot of money for it, too."

Wayne remembers his parents taking a lot of care with the family meals. His father, "Booster Tex" Lindsey, caught bluefish and striped bass and roasted them whole, and his mother, Ollie Victoria, made pot roast and other family staples during his childhood in Portsmouth.

"I didn't realize then how much there was to it," he said. "It never dawned on me that it could actually be fun."

Lindsey set out to improve his daily meals and get pleasure from it as well. As he began to learn more and more about cooking, he discovered he had a knack for tasting mediocre food and figuring out how to improve it. Some of this came naturally, and some of it he picked up from television cooking shows. He discovered the use of aromatic vegetables, the "trinity" of onions, peppers and celery or onions, carrots and celery.

"I try out new things. Some fail, and some go well."

Actually, there haven't been that many failures. He could only think of one - some puffs that rose and looked great in the oven but turned flat and doughy when they cooled. Other projects have been big hits with his Chesapeake family.

"Now, I'm not saying the kids like everything I make," Lindsey said. Some of their favorite s are his spaghetti and his vegetable beef soup - and anything he prepares on the grill. He also makes a chicken and rice soup, a warming dish for winter. Once in a while he'll attempt something sweet and whip up a treat for the family's dessert. Some recent examples of his flair with pastry and fruit are a pecan pie and banana pudding. Usually, though, he likes to keep his meals healthy and on the lean side.

"I can have a couple of bowls of soup, and that's enough," he said. "I prefer that to having something big and heavy."

Wayne is always open to all possibilities. Currently, to go with his soup, he's looking for the perfect dumpling - a light, fluffy cornmeal dumpling that won't get too soggy in the broth.

"I know I'll come across just the right recipe," he said.

This year, he said, he has an especially abundant crop of cherry tomatoes and has been researching ways to preserve the overflow for winter use.

When he wanted to learn how to make pan cit, the Filipino meal-in-a-dish featuring chicken or shrimp, rice stick noodles and aromatic vegetables, he got everything peeled, chopped, sautéed and seasoned just right. He had trouble with the noodles, though. He wanted to reduce the length of the transparent rice noodles so the dish would be easier to eat, but it was easier contemplated than done.

"Those noodles are tough," he said.

On a huge construction job, he happened to meet an Asian cook, a Navy chef.

"He told me to cook the noodles first, then cut them," he said. "That worked fine."

Lindsey's mixture of hoisin sauce and soy sauce provides a sweet-salty balanced blend that improves on versions using only one or the other.

This reminds Lindsey of his third reason for cooking with enthusiasm and enjoyment.

"It's similar to anything else that needs a little imagination as well as hard work," he said. "When I'm in the kitchen, I feel like I am being creative."

Theresa Curry, flavor@pilotonline.com