Culinary ‘production’: Theater's chef shares secrets

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Globe/T. Rob Brown Howie Lindeman, chef for Stone's Throw Dinner Theatre in Carthage, slices roasted pork loin for a production of "Oklahoma!"

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September 1, 2010

By Mike Pound Globe Staff Writer The Joplin Globe Wed Sep 01, 2010, 11:38 AM CDT

CARTHAGE, Mo. — In his spare time, Howie Lindeman loves nothing better than to kick back in his yard whipping up some barbecue.

But the “low and slow” technique applied to barbecue doesn’t serve him well in his job as the Stone’s Throw Dinner Theatre executive chef.

Lindeman said rather than taking a slow approach in the Stone’s Throw kitchen he has to tackle his job like Marines storming a beach.

“Otherwise I won’t have a chance at all to have a hot meal ready at 6:30,” he said.

For nearly seven years, Lindeman has been the man behind the dinners that make the long-time Carthage community group theater a true dinner theater.

Born and raised in Carthage, Lindeman cut his teeth in professional kitchens as a teenager working at the Broadview Country Club and at the Carthage Sirloin Stockade. Lindeman later moved to Kansas City where he managed several restaurants before moving on to Dallas, Texas, where he and a partner owned and ran a high-end catering company.

Wanting to move his family out of the city and to a quieter, more relaxed environment Lindeman sold his portion of the company, moved back to Carthage and not long after that agreed to take the part-time job serving up dinners for the five or six Stone’s Throw productions a year.

Last week, Lindeman was halfway through the dinner theater’s 8-run production of the classic American musical “Oklahoma”. The production ended its run on Sunday. On the day of each show Lindeman generally arrives at the small Stones Throw kitchen by 6 a.m. and doesn’t leave until 8 p.m. As executive chef, Lindeman plans the menu, purchases the food, prepares the food and oversees an all-volunteer kitchen staff.

While the meals might not come with the type of pressure that Lindeman once faced in Dallas and Kansas City they aren’t any less challenging. Lindeman’s charge is to prepare an upscale meal with a “home-cooked” feel for more than 80 dinner theater patrons and the entire Stone’s Throw cast and crew. And he must do that on a very tight budget with no professional help.

Dinners are served by volunteers and while some of the volunteers are well-versed in their duties, Lindeman said it’s always a challenge to make sure that the dinners are presented in a professional manner.

“It would be like running a restaurant and having to train a new staff every day,” he said.

If possible, Lindeman likes to tie in the dinner menu with the show being presented, but his main goal is to present a menu that fits into the dinner theater’s budget. For example, Lindeman made the decision to serve pork loin roast for the “Oklahoma” production several months ago when he noticed pork futures trending down.

Because of his tight budget Lindeman said there is little room for waste. His plate proportions are calculated down to the smallest detail. Leftovers, Lindeman said, can throw his budget out of whack. So can mistakes, he said.

“That’s why you’ll see me doing something like counting the numbers of tomatoes that go on a plate,” Lindeman said.

What Lindeman wants to do each night, he said, is to make sure every theater patron is treated like invited company at a family dinner.

When it was suggested that Lindeman wanted the audience members to feel like they had a home-cooked meal, he immediately disagreed.

‘No,” Lindeman said. “I want them to know they had a home-cooked meal.”

Howie Lindeman’s pork loin with rosemary apple glaze

2-pound pork loin

3 tablespoons olive oil

Cracked black pepper and salt to taste

Rosemary leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Rub loin with olive oil, top with salt, pepper and rosemary.

Allow meat to come to room temperature than place on roasting pan and cook until meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees (approximately 40 minutes).

Remove pan from oven, cover with foil and allow meat to rest for about 10 minutes.

Slice thin and top with hot glaze.

Rosemary apple glaze

11/2 cups apple cider

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cold water

2 tablespoons corn starch

Bring cider, sugar, and rosemary to a boil.

In a boil combine water and starch, and then whisk into cider, sugar and rosemary mixture. Return mixture to a boil and serve over sliced pork loin roast.

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