Note: If you’re having trouble accessing our online store. please call us at 1-866-439-9610 and we will be happy to complete your order or answer any questions or concerns you may have. We are upgrading the site and want to make sure you receive the best service possible.
Steve Collins ,The Home Chef, is passionate about smoking and grilling. In fact, he is passionate about food and cooking in general. A self-taught cook with a natural flair for food, he started doing informal catering for friends, in New York’s Hudson Vally, in the 1980′s. One of his first jobs was grilling a whole baby lamb on a wood-fired rotisserie. He was hooked. After an early retirement in 1996, he and his wife, Billie Frank, moved to Colorado. At a seminar in 2001 he heard the words, “If you’re not doing what you love, leave and follow your passion.” Steve went to work the next day and gave his two-week notice. He knew he wanted to do something that involved cooking, but he was not sure what. An article about a personal chef in the Sunday paper gave Steve the answer. Within a month he was in Arizona at the United States Personal Chef’s Institute learning the basics of his new profession.
After a few years of working in client’s homes, Steve decided he wanted more contact with people. In 2004, he and Billie moved to New Mexico to work at The Hacienda Doña Andrea de Santa Fe, a mountaintop inn and retreat south of Santa Fe on the historic Turquoise Trail. Steve was the executive chef and Billie, the hospitality manager. It was a great experience. He prepared breakfasts, some lunches and occasional dinners. The inn specialized in wedding and Steve and his crew even did a few rehearsal dinners. His day-after wedding brunch featuring the New Mexican classic chilaquiles was a huge successful. Steve and Billie left a year later. He opened his own cafe in Santa Fe and Billie became a hotel conicerge.
Currently, he and Billie are writing a travel blog, Santa Fe Travelers and he’s working on another cookbook. His first cookbook, Grilling and Smoking with The Home Chef, was awarded the 2004 Award of Excellence by the National Barbecue Association for the best book in its category. It offers more than 90 original recipes for the smoker and the grill. The book also contains a section of helpful tips on such things as starting a charcoal fire and choosing a grill or a smoker. This book is an excellent resource for the backyard cook. Steve also has written, Not Your Usual Tailgating Cookbook. Both are available as a downloadable e-book.
Steve was honored in early 2005; one of his recipes, Smoked Trout with Smoked Poblano Salsa and Chipotle Crema, was chosen as a favorite of the year (2004) by chef2chef.net co-founder, David Nelson, who said he chose it because, “As soon as I read Steve’s trout recipe, I knew it was something I would order if I sat down in his restaurant and it was on the menu.” He says that he is a big fan of Southwestern cooking. Steve was a guest chef at the 2005 and 2006 Fiery Foods and Barbecue Show bin Albuquerque, NM.
Steve who has been married for 37 years, is a regular columnist for The National Barbecue News.
If you want to see what we do when we’re not grilling. check out our Santa Fe blog