Hot Stove League

JERRY STACKHOUSE'S essential skills--hand-eye coordination, timing, an ability to perform under pressure; we're talking cooking skills here--were honed at Surf & Turf, the soul food joint in Kinston, N.C., where his mother, Minnie, worked long hours as a cook to support her 11 children. When Jerry, the youngest, turned 15, he began working at the restaurant as a dishwasher but was soon promoted to hush-puppy fryer. "Hush puppies are an art form," says Stackhouse of the cornmeal dumplings. "You have to make sure not to overcook them, make sure the dough is just right. I was able to watch everything that went on in that kitchen from the prep station to the grill and then apply it at home."

Today Stackhouse, 31, is the Bobby Flay of the NBA. When his team is not on the road, he does almost all the cooking for his family--his wife, Ramirra, and their kids Alexis, 6, and Antonio, 4. Ramirra, Stackhouse says, "makes a great fried chicken, but she doesn't have an innate love for [cooking] like I do." The 6'6" 218-pounder has enrolled both kids in a once-a-week cooking class in Dallas. Last summer he got behind his charcoal grill and had the team over for a barbecue at which he served beef ribs that he marinated overnight in malt liquor ("for tenderness"). And back in 2002 Stack prepared a fried shrimp dish on the Food Network's NBA Caf� hosted by Flay, who has called Stackhouse one of the best cooks in the league. "I can hold my own with my shrimp," says Stackhouse, who likes to shop for his ingredients himself, "but I have to admit what I am--a professional athlete with a penchant for cooking."

And for eating. Stackhouse, who consumes he-man-sized portions, shared a recipe with SI PLAYERS for one of his signature dishes: It calls for three pounds of shrimp and, he says, serves four. "Deep-fried shrimp used to be my favorite," he says. "But I'm trying to be healthy now."