wellness for the gravy, so they ate white gravy with the meal that night. Still, she remembers, it was good. “By the time I left there, I could cook a four-course meal for 12 people,” she says. At the age of 12, Learlean went to visit two of her sisters in St. Louis and ended up staying. She grew up and got married there, eventually opening her own soul food restaurant where the meat smoker was fashioned from a recycled kerosene tank. Learlean served up full meals of greens, black-eyed peas, corn bread, fried chicken, fish, potato salad and ribs. Her cafe survived for about six years until crime overtook the area. “They closed up the red-light district, and the ‘ladies of leisure’ moved over into North Saint Louis where I was. Those women could break into a car and rip out a stereo system as fast as any man.”
“By the time I left there [Galveston, Texas], I could cook a four-course meal for 12 people.” – Learlean Hooks-Glover Learlean began nursing at the Veteran Administration hospital and for a family in St. Louis. When the family moved to Lawrence, Learlean came too. She still works for the family part time, and though she calls herself “semi-retired,” Learlean remains a cooking force. She keeps a portable kitchen in a trailer that she takes to several area events, including Homecoming, an annual all-town reunion in celebration of the emancipation of blacks in Nicodemus. She also cooks at the annual Juneteenth Celebration in Lawrence to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club, as well as serving up her soul food at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia. Her mobile kitchen is known as Captain Hooks’ Rare Choice Grill Lovers Barbecue & Soul Food. (“Grill Lovers” serves as a description of her customers and a play on the family name Glover.) In addition to the annual events, Learlean has fired up Captain Hooks’ grill to raise money for a string of churches and community charitable organizations in Lawrence, from the NAACP to the women’s shelter. While Learlean is always ready to lend a hand to help raise money for the charities that are close to her heart, she’s also no stranger to tragedy. She lost her husband, Charles Glover Sr., and four of her grandchildren in an East Lawrence house fire in 2006. Suddenly, she found herself the recipient of a community outpouring of support, but even in the midst of her own heartbreak, she found a way to help others. After her husband’s death, she had his collection of suits cleaned and donated them to a local youth. “The community was there for me, and he was part of the community,” she explains. m
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Lawrence Magazine
/ fall 2011 / sunflowerpub.com
Learlean’s Steak and Greens … Braised Steak
¼ teaspoon canola oil 1 tablespoon butter Flat iron steak Seasoned salt, to taste White pepper, to taste
Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add oil and butter. When butter melts, add steak. Let steak braise on one side until well browned, 3 to 5 minutes, then turn and brown the other side. As steak browns, sprinkle it with seasoned salt and white pepper to taste. Continue to turn and brown steak until done to your satisfaction.
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Greens
Ham shank or pack of salt pork (ham shank will have less fat than salt pork) ½ bushel of greens (may include any mixture of mustard, turnip, collard greens and/or spinach) Small Vidalia onion, diced Bay leaf Garlic clove, diced 1 teaspoon white pepper 1½ jalapeno peppers, diced (optional)
In a large pot, cover ham shank or salt pork with water and boil. Wash greens thoroughly and trim stems. Add greens to the pot in bunches, occasionally putting the lid on the pot to make the greens “steam down” so you can add more. Simmer greens on medium heat for an hour before adding onion and seasonings and jalapeno if desired; let the mixture simmer on low heat for an additional hour before serving. Learlean recommends washing the greens three or four times to make sure all dirt, sand and “critters” are removed. And, she says, don’t salt the greens until you taste them. “Usually, I don’t salt the greens because the pork is salty enough.” Learlean also says that when cooking for a crowd, she tends to ease up on the spices and fix her soul food with less grease. But when cooking for close friends and family, she goes full throttle on the bacon fat and seasonings.