Fresh Chef Detroit Makes Personal Cooking Accessible

Mention you have a personal chef, and the first thing people think is that you’re wealthy — part of the jet-set elite, in with the exclusive crowd. They might also assume you have a butler, someone to hand-feed your lap dog, and a garage that holds eight cars and a small plane.

Ferndale resident Kirsten Buys hopes to change these perceptions with her business, Fresh Chef Detroit. For a set fee, she’ll bring the gourmet to you and stock your freezer with food that is healthful, easy to reheat and delicious.

“You don't have to have a lot of money to have a personal chef,” Buys said. “If you add up what you spend on groceries, takeout, restaurants, tips, delivery fees, groceries you end up throwing away, and look at what a personal chef costs, it really is comparable."

Who Hires a Personal Chef?

People might be interested in hiring a personal chef for a variety of reasons. Buys' clients include new parents, elderly people who need more well-rounded meals, busy professionals and people who just don't like to cook.

So what happens when a person is interested in hiring Buys? When potential clients contact Buys, they set up a mutually agreed-upon date to meet, sit down and discuss a detailed, four-page questionnaire about food preferences, eventually deciding on the first date Buys would cook for the client. A few days prior to the first cook day, she emails a suggested menu for the client to review. Buys works with the client until he/she is pleased with the menu.

On cooking day, Buys first goes grocery shopping, then brings her own pots and pans to the client's house, where spends the day cooking. She packages the food for storage in the refrigerator or freezer, labels it with preparation instructions, cleans up and leaves. The client returns home to a packed refrigerator or freezer and eats easily and healthfully for a few weeks.

"If you don't have time or you hate cooking, it's good to know there are people like me out there," Buys said. "You'll know what's in your food, and you'll know where it came from."

Cooking for Different Palates

Buys, a recent graduate of the Culinary Business Academy (CBA) in Decatur, GA, is a vegetarian and regularly documents her adventures in vegetarian cooking and eating on her blog, IEatVeg.net.

“When I became vegetarian, I didn't know where to begin, really," she said. "I made it up as I went along and started documenting it on my blog. That was in 2007, when I still lived in Chicago, and people would ask me for recipes or ideas or what restaurants to go to.”

Although she refrains from eating meat, Buys cooks for all palates and diets, including carnivorous clients, people with gluten allergies or who are lactose intolerant, vegans and those who must follow other special diets.

"I'm fortunate that I have been cooking for a family for two years that doesn't eat like I eat," she said.

She has an arsenal of tried-and-true meat-based recipes that don't require taste-testing during the cooking process. "One of the benefits of going to the CBA is access to a database of proven recipes that other personal chefs have used for years and years," she said. "I can make the recipes, trusting that it will taste good."

Buys shared a recipe for Indian Pot Pie with Ferndale Patch.

“One of the things I love doing is vegetarian comfort food. I think some people think about vegetarianism and think it's all salads and stir-fries all the time, but sometimes you just have to have mashed potatoes and gravy," she said.

"I think that's what the Indian Pot Pie I came up with does for us — it's this saucy, gooey baked thing that is warm and comforting and perfect on a chilly day. And that's kind of what comfort food is all about.”

Fresh Chef Detroit packages start at $275 to $350 plus the cost of groceries, which makes about 15 to 30 meals. One-time intro service start at $175 plus the cost of groceries for two large servings of four entrees plus side dishes (about eight to 10 meals).

Fresh Chef Detroit has also teamed up with local coach Gail Wyckhouse of Holistic Techniques to teach a monthly vegetarian cooking and wellness classes at the Pleasant Ridge Community Center. The first is June 13 at 6 p.m. There are classes on July 11 and Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. as well. The cost is $50, which includes eating what you make. For an additional $20, those in attendance get a take-home-kit to make two servings of everything made in class.

Indian Pot Pie

5-10 redskin potatoes, depending on the size
1 14.5-oz. can coconut milk
Olive oil
½ of one envelope Taste of Thai yellow curry paste (or 4 tsp. any yellow curry paste)
Medium white onion, chopped/diced
Frozen peas
2 pie crusts (store-bought or homemade)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. Dice potatoes. I usually end up using roughly six potatoes — some small, some medium redskins — and cut them pretty small so they will cook faster. Heat oil in a pan and cook with onions until the potatoes are sticking so much it’s annoying (it’s science).
2. Shake can of coconut milk well and add, using it to deglaze the pan (i.e., scrape up the bits of potato that stuck to the bottom).
3. Add curry paste and whisk or stir in until it is well-blended in the coconut milk. If you are using the packet of Taste of Thai curry paste, remove plastic packet and smooth out, laying flat. Cut in half with a knife or kitchen scissors, so you get exactly half. You can always add more or less, but after trying a few different amounts, I’ve found this to be a good, flavorful amount. If you don’t have paste and just have yellow curry powder, you can wing it.
4. Cook this over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes until it cooks down to a consistency that isn’t watery and has just a nice, thick sauce — and not a ton of it! If you don’t cook it down to where it’s thick, the end result can be kind of runny.
5. After it cooks down for a bit, add frozen peas — as much as you want. I imagine I end up putting in 1-2 cups. I just play it by ear, adding the frozen peas until the ratio looks about right (again, it’s science).
6. Take a 8 by 8-inch glass dish and place one crust in it so that it sits pretty evenly. Though I don’t think it’s necessary, I sometimes spray the dish first with nonstick spray to be safe. Spoon or pour filling into pie crust. Somehow, miraculously, it almost always ends up filling the dish up perfectly.
7. Place the second crust on top and press the two together, sealing it as best you can. Poke a few small holes in the top to let steam escape.
8. Bake for about 20 minutes — the inside already is cooked (or should be at this point), so you really just want to bake the crust. Allow to cool for a while because it will be molten inside. Spoon out and enjoy!