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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2019)
B Monday, October 21, 2019 The Observer & Baker City Herald BOB’S THOUGHTS Lower-Salt Recipes BOB BAUM Why I’m so glad to be back home The story begins in June of 1969 with a call from The Observer offering a one-month internship. I was 17, pushing a broom and bagging groceries in Union. Of course I said yes. It was the beginning of a half-century in journalism — mostly in sports — a journey that would take this small-town kid around the world — to 10 Olympics, four world track championships, three Super Bowls, one great World Series, a handful of Final Fours and college football champion- ships. And a front-row seat one summer for the odd saga of Tonya Harding. I was born at St. Joseph’s Hospital — now the Union County Courthouse — and grew up in Union, Most of my youth my dad drove a truck, winding up gravel roads to pick up cream from farmers, always with a stick of gum for the kids, then return- ing to the old brick creamery in Union, where the cargo was transformed to smooth Darigold butter. My mother was a secretary for my uncle David (Sr.) at Baum Insurance Agency. Her maiden name was Gekeler, a pioneer family in these parts. The Observer gave me a scholarship and I stayed and attended then- Eastern Oregon College for two years, abandoning my original plan to pursue a law degree (thereby depriving the world of yet another lawyer named Baum). I did a little bit of everything for the paper, which then published six afternoons a week, and learned so much. I became sports editor at 18. Since I was young and dumb in so many ways, I would get into rodeo are- nas to shoot photos of bull riding. Then there was that day during bull riding at the old Blue Mountain Rodeo. The clown asked me to shake my knees like I’m nervous, then he would goose me with a broom handle and everyone would laugh. I did, he did and they certainly did. What followed was ominous advice. He told me I could get even closer to the bulls, that they never faked one way and went the other. They just go whatever direction they’re going out of the chute. So I crept closer. The chute opened. The cowboy was bucked off immedi- ately. And — I swear on a Bible — the bull faked one way and took aim at me. So I ran. The arena was encircled with billboards so there was no easy place to climb. I fi nally just leaped to the top and slid head-fi rst down the other side, my legs slowly disappearing from view. The crowd roared. Then there was my fi rst aircraft ride. Interstate 84 was bypassing La Grande and The Observer rented a helicopter to take a photo. It was one of those “Whirlybirds’’ type helicopters, small with no doors. As we hovered above the freeway, the pilot asked if I wanted a better angle, then tilted the thing side- ways. Facing the abyss, so thankful for the security of my seat belt, I managed to get the good photo of that momen- tous day in La Grande’s history. I transferred to the University of Ore- gon, working part-time at The Register- Guard and covered track and fi eld for the school paper. Dan Fouts and Steve Prefontaine were classmates. After graduation came two years at The Bulletin in Bend, covering fi rst county government, then the U.S. For- est Service. I was with Forest Service honchos on an overnight hike through a new section of the Pacifi c Crest Trail and, when I returned, I learned I’d been offered a job with The Associated Press in Portland. Less than two years later, I covered the Trail Blazers’ 1977 run to the NBA title. See Home/Page 2B Hillary Levin/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS Pork chops with gastrique C UT THE S ALT , D ON ’ T S ACRIFICE THE F LAVOR do hearty herbs and the sharper-tasting spices. I used these ideas to create three entrees This is actually true: If you go to the Food without using any salt at all, and each was bet- Network website and look for low-sodium ter than the last. recipes, you will fi nd one for Instant Pot Corned OK, the salmon actually could use a little salt Beef and Cabbage. on it, and that’s fi ne. Everyone needs sodium to Corned beef? Low sodium? The word “corn” survive, even people on low-sodium diets. The in corned beef actually refers to the salt that is sauce on the salmon is fl avorful enough that used to cure it. it only needs a minimal amount of added salt. The dish that Food Network promotes as be- You’ll be fi ne. ing low in sodium contains 2,172 mg of sodium. It occurred to me that the best way to perk That’s almost as much as the recommended up a pork chop without using salt would be to amount of sodium for an adult in an entire serve it with a gastrique. In all modesty, I’d have day (2,300 mg). Someone on a low-sodium diet to say that was brilliant. should aim for more like 1,500 mg for a whole A gastrique is a reduction of vinegar and day. sugar or honey that turns into a sweet-and- There are plenty of reasons to adopt a low- sour syrup. You can pump it up with fruit if you sodium diet if you need it: It’s better for your want, but I made an exquisitely simple version: heart, it’s better for your blood pressure and it nothing more than honey and cider vinegar lessens the chance of a stroke. that, when reduced, brings out the apple fl avor There is only one reason to not adopt it: Food of the cider vinegar. just doesn’t taste as good. I also cooked the pork chops simply, with In my mind, those two considerations are butter, slices of apple (to play off the tart apple of equal importance. So I set out to cook a few taste of the gastrique) and onion. I used bone-in dishes that are low in sodium but still taste pork chops because they taste better and cooked great. Corned beef did not play a part in any of them for only a few minutes on each side in them. the mixture of apples and onion. I wanted the The trick to cooking with little sodium is to gastrique to be the star in this dish, and it was. use strong fl avors that aren’t salt to excite and It absolutely was. stimulate your taste buds. Acids work particu- Next up was lemon chicken, a dish I often larly well, such as lemon juice or vinegar, and so make using salt. Typically, I marinate the chick- By Daniel Neman St. Louis Post-Dispatch en for an hour or so in a lemon-based marinade and then I grill it. Less frequently, I bake it. But I wanted to make my salt-free chicken on the stove top, so I decided to braise it. It’s one of my favorite ways to cook chicken. All you have to do is sear the chicken on both sides in olive oil or butter infused with garlic and thyme or rosemary. I usually pour off the fat, which can be considerable, and then add enough liquid to come up about 1 inch in the pan. Usually, I use chicken stock, but that has salt in it. So I added water, along with the juice of two lemons. Then I covered the pan, simmered it until it was done and used a cornstarch slurry to turn the braising liquid into a zippy, salt-free gravy. That brought me to the salmon. I decided to poach it as a way of imbuing it with plenty of low-sodium fl avor. My poaching liquid was full of goodness: carrot, onion, celery, the juice of a lemon and that lemon’s peel. The fi sh only took a few minutes to cook. What made the salmon such a low-sodium treat was the sauce I served it with, a kind of simplifi ed tzatziki. I started with plain Greek yogurt (less sodium than regular yogurt) and stirred in some lemon juice, chopped cucumber and salmon’s favorite herb, dill. See Less Salt/Page 2B
