As a kid, Connor Underwood says his grandmother always asked him to light the grill before his dad got home from work. This small but consistent ritual begot a lifetime of love for the culinary arts, as Underwood would often be found eating seasonal fruits over his deck railing or helping his dad and grandma at the grill, creating delicious, memorable meals.
“I fell in love with the feeling of feeding others – the smile it put on their face and the heat of the grill,” he says.
Becoming a professional chef, however, was not Underwood’s plan. In college, he studied communications, but participated in an exchange program in his penultimate semester at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
“To pay for rent, I worked at a local restaurant and fell in love with the produce,” he says. “For my final spring semester, I settled into a condo … at the base of the Keystone resort, where I worked during the day as a burger cook and at night in a beautiful French kitchen. This is where I found my place.”
After getting his bachelor’s, Underwood enrolled in culinary school at the Kapiolani Community College, apprenticing under chef Alan Wong. From there, he traveled abroad to hone his craft – even spending a year in Italy mastering the art of hand-rolled pasta.
“My time traveling and working has opened doors I never thought possible,” he says. “It created challenges with both language and cooking styles, and pushed me to a place where I was truly challenged, both inside and outside of the kitchen. Now, I have found my home in Oklahoma, near my family, and with a great set of co-workers.”
That home is, in part, at OKC’s The Jones Assembly, one of the city’s most popular entertainment and dining venues. He took the helm late last year and has aimed to elevate the dining options – but keep things approachable, too.
Jones’ updated menu, Underwood describes, is “an eclectic collaboration of both myself and my team. With the help of my chef de cuisine, Patrick Hart, we have added various pastas, fish and, most importantly, technique to the menu,” he says. “We keep it centered on local ingredients and will always have our staples like wood fired pizzas and plays on Oklahoma favorites.”
Running all the culinary operations for a 20,000 square-foot space that also hosts a bevy of musical acts and other entertainment options is, for Underwood, a new and thrilling experience.
“The Jones is by far the most unique setting I have ever cooked in, even in comparison to luxury hotels, resorts, Michelin restaurants – the Jones continues to surprise me,” he says. “The only way to juggle an operation like this is with the support of my co-workers and my culinary team.”
For many chefs, the last thing they prefer to do after clocking out is to keep cooking. For Underwood, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I love to cook for my family and friends,” he says. “My backyard has been converted to a live-fire set-up, where my friends and I often play around with various food and game meats.”
Time in his backyard today is perhaps reminiscent of time spent at the grill with his grandma, Laria, whom he describes as “an amazing cook, who would often throw little things in the mix and whisper to me not to tell anyone,” he says. “It was the ‘magic of cooking,’ she would say.”
Online Exclusive: Peanut Butter Fudge by Laria Underwood
Chef Underwood: “For a recipe from me, let’s use a recipe from my grandmother, Laria Underwood, since she is the reason I started cooking. A childhood favorite recipe of mine is my grandmother’s fudge, one of my personal favorites and something I have never shared. She used to make it every year for birthdays, holidays, and anytime I would see her. I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does.“
Yield: Approximately 2 lbs
Total time: Approximately 20 min
Cooking time: Approximately 14-18 min
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup whole milk
1 cup creamy peanut butter
7 oz. marshmallow cream, Jet-Puffed brand
1 tsp. Madagascar vanilla extract, but anything will work!
Instructions:
1: In a 2 qt. sauce pan on low heat, bring the milk to 190 degrees Fahrenheit and dissolve the sugar using a whisk.
2: Increase the heat to medium, making sure the flame does not exceed the diameter of the 2 qt. pan. Cook continuously, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 236 degrees Fahrenheit – the soft ball stage on a candy thermometer. Approximately 10-14 min.
3: Remove the mixture from the heat, and using a wooden spoon, beat in the peanut butter, marshmallow cream, and vanilla until thoroughly incorporated.
4: Pour the mixture into a well-greased 8″ square baking pan. As my grandmother would whisper to me, you can use any fat, but bacon fat from breakfast is always the best!
5: Cool the mixture in the fridge near the top shelf if there is a fan; if not, an open window is a great option if the weather is nice – another one of her tricks to keep the house cool and the wonderful smells to remind us of what was to come.
6: Once completely cool, cut into squares and set into an airtight container for up to two weeks.
