Smokin’ Skillet Founder and Head Skillet Slayer, Changa Mwando Cooper, brings the kitchen alive with supreme flavor and simplicity. With his new cookbook, The Smokin’ Skillet: Good Food Made Simple, he invites us into the familial joy of cooking, while enticing us with bold, exotic flavors with busy families in mind. The Smokin’ Skillet is an online brand that specializes in delicious, fresh-baked gourmet cookies delivered straight to your door along with live cooking demos, recipes and weekly meal planning. Changa, along with his wife Nicole, are well on their way to making The Smokin’ Skillet a household culinary brand.
FMM: Chef Cooper, I’m so excited about this interview. Please introduce yourself to our readers.
CMC: My name is Changa Mwando Cooper, I’m not a chef by trade, but I’m a man that loves and knows his way around the kitchen. I am the Founder and Lead Personality for The Smokin’ Skillet, which is our online brand designed to show people how Good Food can be made Simple!
We specialize in Gourmet Cookies. We recently launched The Smokin’ Skillet Cookbook, and we’re also launching The Smokin’ Skillet Co-Cooking Classes, where we do live demonstrations on how to prepare delicious meals in a simple way that anyone can do it!
FMM: Have you always had a passion for food?
CMC: Yes. Growing up, I watched my Dad cook food for us, as well as all the men in my family. They were good cooks who weren’t afraid to throw down in the kitchen. Our family congregated over food, we celebrated over food, and we found joy and laughter with food as a staple.
I was also influenced heavily by my Mother-in-Law’s Belizean roots, and her famous Caribbean dishes. When I first began dating my wife, and visited Los Angeles for the first time, her mom and I bonded over food and cooking meals in the kitchen.
She showed me how to mix up seasonings and sauté veggies to make any meal taste like heaven. It was in those moments where I was inspired and found a passion for cooking good food!
FMM: When it comes to your cookbook, The Smokin’ Skillet: Good Food Made Simple, how did you decide what recipes to include?
CMC: My main goal was to provide meals that were able to be made under 30 minutes. Knowing the culture of most families, coming home from work, trying to get kids settled, get homework done, attend activities, while making sure they get a warm meal before bed, I had the busy mom or dad in mind when it came to creating this cookbook.
That was my story. I was always trying to find something nourishing for my family but was quick to make. My family also had input on their favorite meals that they recommended I shared.
FMM: What is your favorite food related memory?
CMC: My favorite food related memory is family gatherings during Christmas Holidays. It has been a tradition in our family that everyone comes home for Christmas. We had a potluck style breakfast that was hosted on Christmas Day, and it is some of the most beautiful memories that I have with many of my family members, some who have passed on to be with the Lord.
Food is a staple for our family gatherings (probably like most people), but it reminds me of good times, laughter, joy and connecting with the ones you love!
FMM: The Smokin’ Skillet provides multiple services including fresh-baked cookies delivered to your door. What was your inspiration behind this awesome idea?
CMC: Honestly, it was a random occurrence that turned out to be a hit. I was experimenting with different cookie recipes and my wife wanted to take a picture of me holding a rack of fresh baked cookies that I had made. We were already working on the cookbook and The Smokin’ Skillet brand, but cookies weren’t really a part of the plan.
My wife, who is a Digital Marketing Consultant and somewhat of a social media influencer, made a Facebook post, sharing that I had a Cookbook coming out, along with the logo for The Smokin’ Skillet, and the picture of me holding the cookies. Within 3 hours, we had over 330 comments from people asking, where could they buy them.
The following morning, my wife woke up, built a website, and we were in business by 8 am that following morning. We ended up with about 20 sales within 24 hours and nearly 200 sales within our first 2 weeks. It was so random, but we’re enjoying it and we’re happy that it happened because so many doors are opening, including being in this magazine!
FMM: What is the dish that screams Changa Cooper on a plate?
CMC: Hmmm. So, the meal that most people ask for me to make are my soups and my lamb chops. I love to cook up a good stew. I have two favorites, Black Bean Red Wine Beef Stew and the Creamy Smoked Turkey Leg Soup.
So for the Creamy Smoked Turkey Leg Soup, I take 2-3 Smoked Turkey Legs, boil them until the meat falls off and they’re tender, I then sauté them with veggies and throw them in a broth to cook with potatoes, carrots, onions, rosemary, thyme, parmesan cheese and heavy cream amongst a few other things, and OMG it’s Mmm Mmm good!
That’s just one example! There’s so much more I share in the cookbook!
FMM: If you weren’t in the culinary industry what would you be?
CMC: So, I wouldn’t say that I’m a chef or a professional cook. I honestly pride myself on being a husband and a father who enjoys helping with the domestic roles to support my family. Cooking is one of my contributions to my household.
But my true passion is art. I’m an artisan. I love photography, I love creating, I love film, I even considered acting, and still do. My background is working with inner city youth and that is something I’ve done for over 30 years.
But my real passion is art! Expressing myself in various ways, whether through food, photography or any other way to express things that I see and enjoy!
FMM: How can our readers keep up with you and the events surrounding your restaurant?
CMC: We don’t have a restaurant at this time. We’re building an online brand that will be composed of YouTube, our website and several online workshops. So, I recommend people join our newsletter at www.TheSmokinSkillet.com as well as follow me on social media on Instagram @thesmokinskillet and use that same handle for all other Social Media Platforms.
Photos courtesy of Paul Taylor Studios Memphis and Nicole S. Cooper.
