Instead, one of her typical meals might include a well-seasoned meat entree, three vegetable dishes, a special bread and dessert.
And they’re all made from scratch in what seems like a few minutes.
“She can throw a meal together in no time,” longtime friend Norma Gilpatrick wrote in her Cook of the Week nomination of Catchings. “I mean a full-meal deal.”
To most of us, putting together such a spread might be labor-intensive. But for Catchings, it’s simply therapeutic.
“When nothing else is going right in the day, you can come home and cook something that will make you feel just right,” the 46-year-old said in a recent interview at her Camilla home.
Catchings’ love of cooking extends beyond therapeutic comfort. It’s actually a passion.
“I have cookbooks under my bed,” the youngest of three girls said, “just like other people have novels under their bed.”
And Catchings isn’t afraid to try her hand at any cuisine.
“I love to cook everything,” the Dublin native said. “Japanese, Italian, Mexican — anything — even collard greens and black-eyed peas.”
That love of all things culinary runs in Catchings’ family. In fact, her grandparents owned and operated their own catering company.
“They had a commercial kitchen in the back of their house,” the Mitchell County High School graduate recalled. “with stainless-steel tables.”
Catchings’ mother also worked in food service as a dietitian at Fort Valley State University.
“She was a perfectionist,” said Catchings, who attended both Morris Brown College and Albany State University.
Throughout her childhood, Catchings spent countless hours in Fort Valley State University’s cafeteria watching her mother’s efforts to bring out the best in dishes. Of course, she had to make herself useful while watching those dishes being created.
“My mother would say, ‘Hand me this,’ or ‘Bring me that,’ ” Catchings recalled.
By the time she was 11 years old, Catchings was so familiar with the school’s kitchen that she was allowed to try her hand at cooking such dishes as scalloped oysters.
“That’s the first thing I ever made by myself,” she said.
These days, Catchings is passing along her family’s culinary skills to her 26-year-old son, Bernard.
“He’s a great helper,” Catchings said.
The best advice she hopes to pass down is her own affection for others.
“I think you have to love the people you cook for,” Catchings said, “and then it will taste good.”
• AGE: 46
• HOMETOWN: Dublin, but longtime Camilla resident
• OCCUPATION: Pre-K parent resource coordinator at Mitchell County Primary School
• BEEN COOKING FOR: 35 years
Q: How often do you cook?
A: Every day.
Q: What’s the first thing you learned to cook?
A: Scalloped oysters.
Q: What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in the kitchen?
A: Burning up something.
When I put something in the oven, I usually cook it on 400. Sometimes I get carried away doing too many other things and something will burn.
Q: What’s your most valued utensil in the kitchen and why?
A: My oven. I love my oven. I have a 40-inch oven
I also love good, heavy pots. They tend not to let things burn.
Q: What’s your favorite dish to cook and why?
A: I love to cook everything. It just depends on who I’m cooking for and the occasion.
Q: Who are your favorite people to cook for?
A: My family. But I adopt everyone. So really, anyone who enjoys eating a good meal.
Q: Given the opportunity to cook a meal for one famous person, who would that be?
A: Patti LaBelle.
— Cathy Higgins
The Cook of the Week is generally nominated by members of the community. If you know of a cook that you think should be profiled, e-mail your nominee, their contact information and reasons the person would make a good Cook of the Week to SouthView at southview@.at.albanyherald.com. Those selected will be asked to submit a favorite recipe.
ROSEMARY ROASTED PORK LOIN WITH APRICOT CHUTNEY
PORK LOIN INGREDIENTS:
4 pounds of pork loin
Garlic wine
Soy sauce
Salt
McCormick Season-All
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Fresh ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Rub all ingredients into pork loin. Then marinade in refrigerator 4 hours. Then bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour, 40 minutes.
Top with Apricot Chutney.
APRICOT CHUTNEY INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup each of red, yellow and orange peppers, finely diced
3 spring onions, chopped fine
3 ounces of honey mustard
13 ounces of Bonne Maman apricot preserves
DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then simmer 10 minutes.
GARLIC REDSKIN SMASHED POTATOES
INGREDIENTS:
3 pounds of redskin potatoes
Salt
Garlic powder
Water, enough to cover potatoes
3 roasted garlic cloves, smashed
Half-and-half milk
1 stick of butter
1 cup of sour cream
Chives for garnish
DIRECTIONS:
In a large pot, place potatoes, water, garlic, garlic powder and salt. Boil until potatoes are tender. Then drain.
Mash in butter, sour cream and half-and-half milk.
PEACH COBBLER
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups of fresh or frozen peaches
2 cups of firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring
1 stick of pure butter
1 ounce of rum or brandy, optional
2 frozen pie crusts
DIRECTIONS:
Mix together peaches, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla flavoring, butter and rum or brandy. Cook mixture in a boiler on medium for 20 minutes.
Lightly brown one pie crust, then place in round cooking dish and cover with peach mixture.
Cover with second crust, and sprinkle with brown sugar and shavings of butter.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.