Albany chef Buck O’Neal finds creativity in cooking

ALBANY — Buck O’Neal may be the coolest guy in Albany.

Yields about 2 1/2 cups

• 2 cups ketchup
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 4 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup white grape juice
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix well and let sit for a day or two for best results.

A self-taught chef — and true son of the South — who started work at his family’s restaurant when he was 14 and now utilizes his culinary skills at a local plantation, O’Neal more than knows his way around barbecue. More than a few people (full disclosure, myself among them) say they would put O’Neal’s pulled pork up against anybody else’s who’s ever cooked over a grill if there was money on the line.

“I love to cook. It kicked in when I was about 15 or 16 and realized cooking is an opportunity to be creative,” O’Neal said. “I don’t think there’s anything I can’t cook if I see the dish, taste it and know the region it came from. But barbecue is my favorite. I prefer a hole-in-the-wall dive with good barbecue over a five-star establishment with a plate of food that’s more about presentation.

“I’d much rather eat real food.”

With the Fourth of July upon us, O’Neal said simplicity is the key for a great holiday meal.

“Everybody can do ribs,” he said. “You can pick up a good rub at the supermarket and go from there. One thing I do that I think makes my meat taste better is I use hardwood charcoal. It’s more natural, burns hotter and longer, has less ash and no chemicals, and it gives the meat a better flavor.

“The sauce is easy, but it also gives you an opportunity to be creative. You can basically start with ketchup, add some brown sugar, cumin, chili powder, onion, garlic. It’s up to you. Since I did a lot of my cooking in a restaurant that had a bar, a lot of my sauces have liquor in them. I have one with root beer and bourbon that’s one of my most unique. I also have a lemonade-watermelon sauce.”

O’Neal said he typically makes his mayonnaise-less cole slaw with lemon juice instead of vinegar, but if he uses mayonnaise he adds grilled pineapple. His “foolproof” baked beans are made with either bacon or ground beef, salsa (his personal preference: Newman’s Own peach salsa) and brown sugar. Add grilled corn — also wrapped in bacon and offset grilled away from the heat — with Parmesan cheese and garlic, and you have an easy Independence Day feast.

“A lot of people see the word ‘chef,’ and they think it’s some difficult thing like Emeril (Lagasse) or Wolfgang Puck or ‘Hell’s Kitchen,’” O’Neal said. “It doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to do the things they do. You can experiment with your own ingredients.”

O’Neal grew up in Albany and started working at Henry’s Fine Edibles on Dawson Road when he was 14. He was a natural fit at the eatery, owned then by his aunt and uncle, having started cooking at around age 10. He worked there for almost 15 years, through two separate ownership changes, but started working a couple of years ago at a local plantation.

O’Neal had a unique job interview that led to his current gig.

“The owners of the plantation flew me up to their summer home in New York where I prepared meals for them,” he said. “They liked what I did and hired me to work on the plantation. During the hunting season — generally from November to February — I cook for the hunters. It can get stressful; I generally work about 80 hours a week during the hunting season.”

O’Neal will go back to New York soon, where he will again cook for the plantation owners at their summer home. He will be there for a month and will split his time between New York and Maine.

“I’ll be pretty much on-call from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” he said.

The young chef finds his latest gig interesting as well as challenging, but he says his dream job would be owning his own restaurant.

“When I was younger, my goal was to own my own place by this point in my life,” he said. “But I soon realized that it’s really tougher than it seems. Realistically now, I’d like to either have independent financial backing or own a restaurant with a partner who could handle the business side of things. I cook. I’m aware that I’m better off letting someone else handle the business and finances.”

Noting his reputation as one of Albany’s most eligible bachelors — a role he no longer claims since his courtship and engagement to Megan Barr — O’Neal is asked if maybe the old saying is wrong, if perhaps the way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach.

“Oh, definitely,” he grins. “I cooked Megan a private dinner, and that did the trick. I’m really pretty shy, but I found out that she and I had been in first grade together. She was dating a friend of mine when we were 14 or 15, but when we met up at a friend’s birthday party, things just took off.

“I cooked her the dinner, and she tells everyone that my baklava is what landed her. It is true: Chicks dig the chef.”

Who’s cooler than that?