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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2020)
B Monday, January 27, 2020 The Observer & Baker City Herald Approximating Late-Night Favorites BETWEEN THE ROWS WENDY SCHMIDT Waiting for spring, or for seeds, heightens the joy of final arrival Long ago you got a catalog in the mail and you sent an order off, also by return mail. Then we advanced to being able to call in an order on an 800 number. Now we can order online and they ship it out right away or at least the next day. I think all this is a product of our demand for instant gratifi ca- tion. Whatever happened to the joy of anticipation? It was a pain to wait forever until Christmas when I was in grade school, but that is also what made Christmas to much better. It was better because of the pain of anticipation. The sweetness of spring is made sweeter because of the coldness and darkness of winter. Also, without winter we would not have time to look at all the seed cata- logs and decide which variety of beans or cucumbers to order for the garden of 2020. In Northeast Oregon we tend to have a shorter growing season. Some varieties of summer vegetables must be started indoors ahead of time to compensate for our season’s brevity. Seed starting is not diffi cult and can be done on any windowsill. March is plenty early to start seeds in our area. Garden chores • Limbs damaged by ice or snow should be pruned off promptly to pre- vent bark from tearing. • Begin pruning deciduous plants. • Swap seed and plant information with your gardening friends. If you have garden questions or com- ments, please write to greengardencol- umn@yahoo.com. Thanks for reading! Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune-TNS By breaking down the seasoning ingredients in Doritos, you can create a popover the approximates the taste of that craveable snack. C RAVINGS C RUSHED out that some of the reasons that certain foods are painted with the “munchies” brush There is a certain air of public dismis- is because they are easily sourced and af- siveness around the types of foods that fordable, but mostly because they have the seem to always be associated with “the kinds of exciting fl avor profi les that can munchies.” Movies and television promote cut through any fog. Which not only makes images of teenagers face-planted in bags them ideal for those indulgent moments, of chips, bros stuffi ng whole tacos blindly but also, surprisingly inspiring for amping into their mouths between fi ts of uncontrol- up the fl avors of some other dishes that can lable laughter, or a stoner spouting deeply be enjoyed with or without any medicinal incoherent philosophical ramblings punctu- assistance. ated with consuming sweets like a strange Carbs are always a natural with munchies Socratic Cookie Monster. food. Whether sweet or savory, it seems to be The easy joke is not only that most con- the fi rst place we turn. So, one of my favorite trol is lost, but also that the food sought in things to do is to take some basic plain these times of enjoyment or impairment is household favorite, like popovers, scones or automatically on the lowest end of the qual- pancakes, and use them as a blank canvas, ity scale. Cheech and Chong never went in getting inspired with new fl avor combina- search of an organic, locavore acai smoothie tions. Because a lot of our most beloved bowl. snack foods have complex fl avor profi les, it While I suppose there is a whiff of truth is fun to experiment to see if you can make in this, and many a Cheeto and Oreo have something new, and maybe a bit elevated, disappeared in some lost hour of a late but still have it hit that sweet spot of deli- night or early morning, I would like to point cious nostalgia. By Stacey Ballis Chicago Tribune Doritos are one of the superior snacks, needing no dip or extra anointing to be at their salty, cheesy best. By breaking down the fl avors of Doritos seasoning into its composite parts — cheese, tomato and spice — and combining it with my favorite popover recipe, you get a light popover with all the punch of a bag of Original Doritos, the perfect thing to serve alongside a steak or roast chicken. And a Cool Ranch version is just a packet of Hidden Valley away. Speaking of chicken, fried chicken is one of the most craveworthy foods of any snack at- tack, whether it is a crispy nugget or tender, a basket of wings, a sold-out sandwich, or a bucket of pieces with all the sides. Scones are one of the easiest and fastest things to bake, and this version takes all of the fl avors of great fried chicken, not to mention some bonus crispy skin bits, and makes a bake that hits your fi nger-licking fried chicken button, with pinkies-up high-tea elegance. See Cravings/Page 2B MAKING MULLIGATAWNY SOUP A tangy taste of traditional India By Linda Gassenheimer Tribune News Service need for tonight’s Dinner in Minutes. To buy: ½ pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, 1 medium golden delicious apple, 1 lemon, 1 small package cilantro, 1 small piece fresh ginger or ground ginger, 1 container curry powder, 1 package microwave- able brown rice, 1 container fat-free, unsalted chicken broth and 1 can lite coconut milk. Staples: onion, carrot, canola oil, fl our, butter, salt and black pepper- corns. Mulligatawny is a traditional curry soup with Indian origins. It’s a fragrant blend of tangy curry pow- der, ginger and coconut milk. Golden delicious apples add a sweet crunchy touch and chicken cubes complete this one dish dinner. A note about curry powder: authentic curry powder is a blend of freshly ground spices and herbs such as cardamom, chilies, cinnamon, cloves, coriander and cumin and is made fresh every day. For this quick MULLIGATAWNY SOUP meal, commercial curry powder Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer works well. It comes in two forms, standard and Madras, the hotter 1 tablespoon butter one. Helpful Hints • Curry powder can be found in the spice section of the supermarket. It loses its freshness after 2 to 3 months. Countdown • Start soup. • While soup simmers, make rice. • Complete soup and serve with rice. Shopping List Here are the ingredients you’ll 1 cup sliced onion ½ cup sliced carrot ½ pound boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into ½- to 1-inch pieces ½ tablespoon curry powder 1 tablespoon fl our 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger or 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 ½ cups fat-free, unsalted chicken broth 1 cup water ½ cup lite coconut milk Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 cup ½-inch cubes golden delicious apple Linda Gassenheimer/TNS Mulligatawny soup 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional) 4 lemon wedges Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and chicken and saute 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the curry powder, fl our and ginger and saute about 30 seconds. Stir in chicken broth, water and coconut milk. Simmer 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. To serve, spoon rice into 2 large soup bowls and ladle soup on top. Sprinkle with apple cubes and cilantro. Place lemon wedges on side. Yield 2 servings. Per serving: 337 calories (34% from fat), 12.7 g fat (7.4 g saturated, 2.6 g monounsaturated), 100 mg cholesterol, 32 g protein, 25.9 g carbohydrates, 4.4 g fi ber, 200 mg sodium. MICROWAVEABLE BROWN RICE Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer 1 package microwave brown rice (1½ cups cooked) 2 teaspoons canola oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper Microwave rice according to pack- age instructions. Measure 1 ½ cups rice and reserve remaining rice for another time. Add oil and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well. Yield 2 servings. Per serving: 226 calories (24% from fat), 6 g fat (0.7 g saturated, 3.4 g monounsaturated), no cholesterol, 4.2 g protein, 38.8 g carbohydrates, 2.4 g fi ber, 6 mg sodium.
