VIRGINIA BEACH
When Jennifer Lundgren met her future husband, Matt, at an Aerosmith concert, she thought he was cute and charming, but she was clueless about his extra-special talent:
Dude cooks like a lady.
Now, 24 years after that 1990 show at Scope, Jennifer wants the world to know that her dude not only cooks but he also creates. Matt's specialty is cakes, but not necessarily baking them.
Decorating is his thing.
He uses icing, candy, cookies and even Twinkies, Fruit Roll-Ups and Rice Krispies treats to transform store-bought sheet cakes into edible masterpieces.
"We love everything he makes, from braised balsamic lamb to homemade lumpia to homemade sausage and more," Jennifer wrote in an email, nominating Matt for this month's Everyday Chef. "But our favorite is all the love and creativity he puts into our birthday cakes."
Matt, 46, has turned un-iced supermarket cakes into a ladder-topped fire truck, an overflowing treasure chest and a pair of life-size roller skates.
Most of the cakes have been for daughter Carly, 10, and son Nicholas, 8, but Matt also has designed for other family members and a few close friends, like a retired Navy pal - a cancer survivor who has a goal of running 1,000 road races.
"She's almost halfway there, and he made a giant red, white and blue running-shoe cake to meet her at the finish line of race No. 333," Jennifer said of the creation, large enough to feed 250 people.
While things can get fancy in the Lundgren kitchen these days, Matt's introduction to cooking at age 7 was much simpler. He started by helping out with the weekly "set sequence of food," as he calls it.
Both parents cooked - dad grilled and mom "had her basic meals," Matt said. Crockpot "stuff" such as chop suey and chili, and his favorite, Mom's potato salad, were part of the regular rotation, but every now and then his mother would mix it up with something crazy like beef tongue.
When Matt was around 10, his mom was working nights at Montgomery Ward at Tower Mall, so he learned to make food for himself.
"You were left to either starve, eat junk or learn to cook," he recalled.
Between what he gleaned from watching his parents and what he saw on PBS shows like "Louisiana Cookin' " with Justin Wilson, he mastered many pasta dishes - his mother is Italian - and pork chops.
As the years progressed, Matt's repertoire expanded. His relationship with Jennifer, who isn't a big fan of cooking, inspired him to experiment more.
The two reminisced about the time he made Thanksgiving fare in her dorm room at George Mason University and the Valentine's Day he cooked a pork loin stuffed with blue cheese. Then there's the braised balsamic lamb; the couple loves the dish so much, they gave the recipe to the chef at the Cavalier Hotel and had it served at their wedding reception.
Matt became the "dessert dude" whenever the couple was invited to a gathering. Cheesecake quickly became one of his specialties - English toffee was a fave. Then he moved to truffles - coating them in crushed hazelnuts, pistachios and peppermint candy (at Christmastime) - followed by a short period where pies were his thing.
The move toward cakes started innocently enough. It was Nick's first birthday, and he and Jennifer thought a frog on a lily pad would be cute. So Matt made one.
Then came a Barbie cake for Carly. "How hard can it be?" he thought.
With graph paper, rulers, Google and the right supplies, he made it happen.
"I've always been constructing things from nothing," Matt said. "I've been doing it since I was a little kid."
After the Barbie creation, Matt decided to up the ante by tackling more difficult themes. His repertoire now includes a dragon, Blue Angels jet, flower pot, surfboard, school bus, Hello Kitty, R2D2 and the Girl Scouts emblem.
While the cakes all look different, some elements are consistent. Matt prefers to start with store-bought sheet cakes because they are made in perfectly square pans and are baked correctly every time. Plus, they're a time-saver.
That lets him do the fun stuff.
He's often up late on Thursday and Friday nights to work on the construction so a cake can be ready for a Saturday celebration. He'll put in eight to 24 hours, depending on the project.
And although he thinks fondant "does a wonderful job, it really has that waxy consistency," he said. "I like to make it all edible and tasting good."
Matt said he's never had a major problem but acknowledged he has had to change course a time or two to get things just right, sometimes three-fourths of the way through the process.
"I build pump stations," said Matt, who works as a project manager for a construction firm. "I make sure they get built the way they're supposed to.
"You figure, if you can build it with brick, you can build it with cake."
Holly Van Auken, hvavb74@gmail.com
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Barbie Cake
Makes: 1 cake
-1 actual Barbie doll (preferably with painted-on upper clothes)
-2 box cake mixes (any flavor) that will each make two 8-inch round cakes
-Icing in various colors
Bake the first box cake according to directions for two 8-inch round cakes. This will form the base of the Barbie.
While the first two cakes are cooling, prepare the second box cake and bake it in a 2-quart glass bowl capable of withstanding oven temperatures, like Pyrex or Pampered Chef. This will form Barbie's skirt.
Stack the two 8-inch cakes and ice this cake with the color icing you want for the base.
After cooling, remove the cake from the batter bowl, and place it onto the iced cake with the small end up to form a dress bottom/skirt. Carefully ice this part in the color of your choice.
tip After the icing has begun to set and is dry enough to touch, take a paper towel and carefully press the surface of the icing to smooth out any rough places. If you do this over the entire surface of the cake, you can form a textured pattern from the quilts on the paper towel.
After icing the skirt portion of the cake, cut a hole into the cake deep enough to place the actual Barbie doll's legs into. Do not try to press Barbie into the cake as this can cause the cake to crack.
After placing the doll in the cake, spread icing around the doll to stabilize her. Then decorate the skirt, using piping or tubes of icing.
Source: Matt Lundgren of Virginia Beach
Roasted Sausage and Garden Vegetables
Makes: 4 to 6 servings
-1 large onion, sliced thin
-1 zucchini, cut in half lengthwise, sliced 1/4-inch thick
-1 yellow squash, cut in half lengthwise, sliced 1/4-inch thick
-2 red or orange peppers (or one of each), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
-6 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
-1 to 2 dozen cherry tomatoes, halved
-1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
-Baby potatoes, carrots, leeks, turnips, broccoli and/or cauliflower, chopped (optional)
-6 garlic cloves, smashed
-2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
-Pinch each of Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil and dried parsley
-1 6-ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
-Noodles or other pasta, for serving (optional)
Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Place onion, zucchini, squash, peppers, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and other fresh veggies in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or roasting pan. Add garlic cloves.
Drizzle with olive oil to coat. Season with salt, pepper, herbs and spices.
Place the artichokes on top of veggies, then lay the sausage links on top. Pour can of diced tomatoes over all.
Bake until vegetables are soft, about 40 minutes. Can be served as is, or with egg noodles or other pasta.
Source: Matt Lundgren of Virginia Beach
Summer Clams
Makes: 4 to 6 servings
-4 dozen Little Neck clams
-1/2 cup white wine
-Juice of 1/2 lemon
-Kosher salt, to taste
Soak clams in cool water for 20 minutes, drain, and then soak twice more for 20 minutes to purge sand. Place clams in a steamer tray in large pot. (You'll likely need to do two batches).
Pour the wine, lemon juice and salt over the clams. Cover and steam until clams have opened.
If you're doing more than one batch, make sure there's always liquid in the bottom of the pot, adding more wine and lemon juice, if needed. Discard any clams that do not open.
Sauce for Clams
-1 shallot, finely chopped (reserve 1 teaspoon)
-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
-3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
-Juice of 1/2 lemon
-1 cup white wine
-Chopped fresh curly parsley
Saute the shallot and garlic in 1 tablespoon of butter until soft and translucent. Deglaze pan with lemon juice.
Add wine and stir, until reduced by half.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter, and stir until melted.
To serve, place the clams in a wide bowl. Pour sauce over the clams, garnishing with reserved shallots and chopped parsley.
Source: Matt Lundgren of Virginia Beach
Do you know an Everyday Chef?
We're looking for home cooks who wow their friends and family with their culinary creations. If you know someone like that, send a note to Holly Van Auken at hvavb74@gmail.com and include why that person deserves to be an Everyday Chef.