Olathe 11-year-old is a budding chef who cooks, and donates marrow, for his family

Eleven-year-old Zach Hofen wears a pristine white chef’s coat, an emblem of just how seriously he takes the self-appointed job of making dinner for his family. Brows knitted, he keeps an eye on the panko-breaded chicken breasts while drizzling pinkish-hued juice from the pickled onions over the arugula.

Zach’s mother, Deliece Hofen, serves as sous chef, quietly pushing the dinner plates in front of him. He positions each chicken breast on its plate, mimicking the precise accuracy of a jeweler setting a stone.

Zach is in many ways a typical preteen, defined by activities, hobbies and kid-like pursuits. A sixth-grader at Aubry Bend Middle School in Olathe, he is a worshipper of sushi, orange Fanta sodas, cheeseburgers and the Z-Man sandwich from Joe’s Kansas City.

But unlike his peers, Zach is also the bone marrow donor for 10-year-old brother Braden.

Braden’s seven-year fight against neuroblastoma — a rare type of childhood cancer with a 30 percent chance of survival over five years — and Deliece’s subsequent battle with breast cancer, could easily have overshadowed Zach. But Deliece, a former Blue Valley principal, and her husband, Brian, an electrical engineer, have carefully nurtured both of their sons’ talents and strengths over the years, casting cancer aside whenever possible to focus on life’s joys.

“TAKE THAT cANCER!” is our signature family mantra,” says Deliece, explaining why she always types the phrase in capital letters — with the exception of the initial letter “c” in cancer — when communicating with her social media community, which includes more than 20,000 across Facebook, Twitter @Bradenshope and her blog deliecehofen@blogspot.com.

“It symbolizes our determination to have hope, always,” she says. “We celebrate victories in this household.”

The Hofens, of Olathe, are hypersensitive to the reality that the spotlight is often on Braden, so when Zach was 8 years old and became glued to Food Network shows such as Alton Brown’s “Good Eats” and the chef competition-style “Chopped,” they encouraged his budding culinary interests.

Zach and Deliece signed up for a cooking class at the Culinary Center of Kansas City, which offers kid-friendly, chef-instructed sessions. Occasionally Deliece even stages her own version of “Chopped” in the Hofen kitchen, following the show’s formula of compiling mystery baskets filled with typical ingredients and one ringer.

“Zach figures out a dish to make from what I provide,” Deliece says.

One of Zach’s memorable creations was a cookie cake he concocted from vanilla pudding mix, milk and bananas. “I thought he would make a banana pudding, but Zach had other ideas,” Deliece recalls.

Zach pauses from ferrying plates of piping-hot chicken Milanese, a recipe created by his favorite Food Network chef Anne Burrell. With his mom’s help, he tweeted Burrell the first time he made it. “I decided to do the cake and then topped it with a puree I made from the pudding and bananas,” he says. “Thumbs up, right, Mom?”

“I like cooking and it’s something I’m relatively good at,” says Zach matter-of-factly the next morning while dipping bread into a French toast batter.

Zach returns his concentration to the sizzling-hot griddle Deliece has readied. “If you’re timid of the things you love and afraid to try them, then your only problem is your inner demons.”

Deliece, hovering behind Zach as he approaches the griddle with the first piece of bread, laughs. “That is what we call a Zach-ism in this house. We have no idea where he comes up with these notions, but they make sense, don’t they?”

“The French call this dish pain perdu,” Zach continues, flipping the browning pieces of eggy toast on the griddle and stirring a fresh blackberry compote, which will replace syrup, that simmers on the stove.

Following a practice run with Deliece earlier in the week, Zach decided to tweak the French toast batter by adding a pinch of dry ginger. “Hopefully, I will rock it,” he says.

Brian joins Deliece and Zach for breakfast this morning; Braden sits at the table but doesn’t partake of his brother’s French toast. “Braden is a very, very picky eater,” Deliece says. “I can count on both hands what he likes.”

But, according to Zach, it’s OK that his brother doesn’t like the food he prepares. “It doesn’t bother me,” says Zach, who makes a simple meal for the family several times a month — dishes such as tostadas and meat-filled wontons.

“Zach would cook every night if he could,” Deliece says, pointing to a pile of cookbooks and food magazines on a nearby shelf. “And Zach picks up tips and files details in his head from the cooking shows. He has an uncanny ability to remember all sorts of things.”

Brian agrees that Zach’s interest in cooking helps set him apart from his brother and his friends. “It’s really nice to have something for Zach to do where he’s not competing and just creating and having fun,” he says.

Zach announces his verdict on the revised French toast recipe. “Yep,” he says, “I think the ginger was a good choice. Don’t you, Mom?”

Deliece flashes the thumbs-up sign to her oldest son, wiping powdered sugar away from the corners of her mouth.

Braden was initially diagnosed in 2007, and the cancer came back in 2009. Devastating news, especially when Deliece and Brian heard three words no parent wants to hear: “No known cure.”

The family began fighting what seemed to be insurmountable odds. Braden started treatments with a team specializing in relapsing neuroblastoma. In January 2011, Braden was declared to be in a second remission.

“Miraculous,” says Deliece, who has become a self-professed “momcologist.” “My new job was as a vigilant advocate. Braden’s Army was born, which today includes thousands across the country, some of whom have children with cancer.”

But in July 2013, Braden’s cancer returned; a secondary cancer caused by the strength of the treatments previously used to save his life. New plans were made, and the bone marrow transplant option was discussed. Zach underwent a battery of tests and was a match.

Last March, the Hofen family boarded a plane for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “I was extremely scared and when I woke up from the surgery the pain was bad,” Zach recalls of the three-week hospital stay.

Although Zach spent a restless day in a wheelchair to regain his strength, his love of food rebounded quickly. “I craved a slice of cheese pizza and a couple of hours later, Dad brought me a piece,” he says. “Nothing says post-surgery like cheese pizza.”

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has a renowned food service program, including a rotating chef’s restaurant in its food court. Celebrity chef and Food Network Iron Chef Jose Garces had a pop-up eatery at the hospital during Zach’s stay.

Garces, whose mother is a cancer survivor, is involved in Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a pediatric cancer charity started in Connecticut in 2000 by a young cancer patient who died in 2004.

Garces believes food transcends both joyful and sad events in people’s lives. “It’s touching to know we are able to impact youngsters going through a tough time like Zach,” Garces said in a recent phone interview. “And to have someone his age appreciate the food we serve is incredible. Food brings people together on so many levels.”

While Braden was still recovering, Zach had a few food adventures.

“We went to the Franklin Fountain, where I ate half of the Mount Vesuvius, which was on Food Network’s ‘Man vs. Food,’” Zach says. “It was an enormous sundae, with brownies, ice cream and chocolate sauce that ran down the side like lava.”

He and Deliece visited Philadelphia’s White Dog Café, where the server declared Zach’s palate as “very flavorful for someone so young.”

“That was cool,” Zach says.

Since the surgery, Braden has had more victories than setbacks, and Zach continues to hone his culinary skills.

“Who knows what I will make next,” Zach says. “But it’ll be an adventure.”

To which Deliece, always in the background, flashes a big thumbs-up.

This story was originally published February 3, 2015 at 6:00 AM.