Many great chefs first learn to cook by watching their mothers in the kitchen. Ted Zmroczek learned to cook because his mother wasn't even in the kitchen.

When Zmroczek's mother got a part-time job as a supermarket clerk that kept her away from home at dinner time, she left out simple things for him to prepare for himself, his father, and his younger brother—ground meat with seasonings, for instance. Soon he learned the basics of dishes like baked chicken.

"By the time I was 13, I had a real healthy interest in cooking," he says.

Today, Zmroczek's friends count "a Ted meal" among life's great adventures. In the rather conventional kitchen of his home in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains, the 47-year-old builder recently showed why he has gained a reputation as one of Albuquerque's best home cooks.

S UC A S AR E C I P E
This recipe is for six people and uses many fresh ingredients that are available during "high barbecue season." If you use a charcoal grill you may need to replenish the coals periodically to achieve a high heat. All dishes are calculated with high-heat grilling.

Appetizer: Barbecue Oysters
(3 oysters per serving)

• 18 oysters, opened, left on half-shell
• 12 ounces soft, unsalted butter
• 3 shallots, minced
• 3 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dry fennel
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 1 lemon, lightly juiced
• 3 ounces smoked ham, diced
• 1 large bunch spinach, thoroughly cleaned and drained, stems discarded
• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• splash of dry white wine
• salt and white pepper to taste
• lemon wedges for garnish

Scrub and open the oysters leaving them on the half-shell. Place on a baking sheet spread with rock salt to stabilize them. Refrigerate. In a bowl combine the softened butter, shallots, parsley, fennel, thyme, and lemon to make a compound butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside, do not refrigerate. Boil 4 quarts water, no salt added, plunge spinach leaves for 1 minute, drain and squeeze dry, chop when cool and dry. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium high heat, add ham, stir 1 to 2 minutes until sizzling, add splash of white wine, add chopped spinach, stir additional 2 minutes until moisture is gone from the pan, remove to side.

Prepare a hot grill, and while it is firing, soak some mesquite chips in shelf brandy. Top each oyster with a forkful of the spinach mixture and a generous tablespoon of the compound butter. Place the oysters on hot grill, and draining the mesquite chips between your fingers, toss the chips into the grill. Quickly cover the grill and cook the oysters for about 3 or 4 minutes, until the compound butter starts bubbling off the sides of the shells. Garnish with a lemon wedge.

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Copyright 2001
Hacienda Press