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Tuesday, December 28, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
At your holiday dinner, don’t neglect the side dishes
Salt
¾ cup whole milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick)
unsalted butter
Pepper
By DANIEL NEMAN
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The turkey is golden
and steaming. The ham is
in the oven. The prime rib
is resting on the counter.
The goose, so to speak, is
cooked.
At your holiday dinner, it
is the entrée that is the star
attraction. It is what gets the
attention and garners all of
the obviously well-deserved
praise.
But something seems
unfair about that. Undemo-
cratic. The mashed potatoes
and green bean casseroles
do the heavy lifting, yet it
is those elitist beef welling-
tons that bask in the glory.
We say it is time to stand
up to this abuse. Time for
vegetables of all shapes and
varieties to come together
in peas and harmony, and
demand the recognition
they deserve.
Side dishes of the world,
unite!
With this stirring
thought ringing through
the clear skies, we set about
to make side dishes for the
holidays that are worthy of
the occasion. Side dishes
that are good enough that
they can hold their own
against the ceaseless bul-
lying of a salt-crusted leg
of lamb.
But because the entrées
are still the star of the show,
no matter what we say, and
they demand most of the
cook’s attention, I made
side dishes that were not
too difficult or time-con-
suming. Which is to say I
did not make Delmonico
potatoes.
Delmonico potatoes,
named for the legendary
New York restaurant that
invented them, are potatoes
au gratin that are served
inside the hollowed-out
skin of a baked potato. You
can imagine how good they
are, and how much effort
they are to produce.
Instead, I made mashed
potatoes — but not just
ordinary mashed potatoes. I
made the best mashed pota-
toes I’ve ever made. They
are silky smooth and delir-
iously rich without being
too, too caloric. Which is to
say they have a lot of butter,
but no cream.
Hillary Levin/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Roasted Beet Goat Cheese Salad.
Hillary Levin/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Silky Mashed Potatoes.
A couple of tricks go into
making them so smooth and
satisfying. One is that they
must never, at any time, be
allowed to go cold. Another
is that instead of smashing
the potatoes with a crude
masher, you push them
through a ricer or a food
mill, for a much finer result.
And the final trick seems to
be to that instead of melting
the butter and pouring the
milk directly into the pota-
toes, you melt the butter
into the milk and pour the
mixture into the potatoes
like that.
They are the epitome of
mashed potatoes, every-
thing a mashed potato
should be. Who needs Del-
monico potatoes?
On the lighter side, I
made a delightful — and
delightfully colorful —
salad: Roasted beet goat
cheese salad.
It’s a classic, and worth
bringing out for the holi-
days. It begins with a base
of bright and peppery aru-
gula, which is topped
with gemlike diced beets,
creamy dots of goat cheese,
slices of rich avocado and
crunchy bits of toasted
walnut.
That is a delicate balance
of flavors, and it needs the
perfect dressing to make it
even better and bring the
most out of each ingredient.
But that’s easy: the recipe
includes a simple vinai-
grette that is lightly sweet-
ened with balsamic vinegar
and a touch of maple syrup.
Actually, you’ll want to
serve it when it isn’t the hol-
idays, too.
Roasted winter vege-
tables came next: Brus-
sels sprouts and carrots,
cooked with balsamic vin-
egar, olive oil, rosemary
and thyme. You could use
other winter vegetables if
you like, but the Brussels
sprouts and carrots strike
me as a nice and festive mix
for Christmas.
You could just serve the
vegetables like that, and
everyone would enjoy them.
But for the holidays, I made
them extra special. I sprin-
kled them with toasted
pecans and dried cranber-
ries. It’s just the right touch
to put everyone in the right
spirit.
My final side dish of
the season was another
salad, and this time it’s all
about the dressing. Kale,
Ginger and Peanuts Salad
is pretty straightforward: It
is shredded kale tossed in
a dressing of peanut butter,
ginger and lime juice. A bit
of sugar cuts the bitterness,
a single shallot adds depth
and water thins out the
mixture until it is a proper
dressing.
All it needs is something
unexpected, a special treat
to add flavor and crunch.
All it needs are roasted pea-
nuts scattered across the
top.
It’s light and surprisingly
flavorful. It’s just the sort of
side dish that can stand up
to an entrée, no matter how
haughty it may be.
SILKY
MASHED
POTATOES
Yield: 4 servings
2 pounds Yukon Gold
potatoes, peeled and
cut into large chunks
1 garlic clove
1 bay leaf
1. In a medium saucepan,
combine the potatoes, garlic,
bay leaf and a large pinch of salt.
Add enough water to cover the
potatoes by an inch or so, bring
to a simmer, and cook until the
potatoes are just tender, about
15 minutes.
2. Drain the potatoes, discard
the garlic and bay leaf, and
toss the potatoes in the pan for
about 1 minute to dry them out.
Remove from the heat.
3. In a small saucepan, com-
bine the milk and butter, and
heat over medium heat until the
butter is melted.
4. Meanwhile, transfer the
potatoes to a ricer or food mill
and process them back into the
warm saucepan. Gently stir in the
hot milk mixture, mix well and
season with salt and pepper.
Per serving: 409 calories; 25
g fat; 15 g saturated fat; 66 mg
cholesterol; 7 g protein; 42 g car-
bohydrate; 4 g sugar; 5 g fiber; 37
mg sodium; 90 mg calcium
— Recipe from “The Grammer-
cy Tavern Cookbook” by Michael
Anthony
ROASTED BEET
GOAT CHEESE
SALAD
Yield: 4 servings
For salad
6 medium beets, scrubbed
6 cups arugula
1 avocado, sliced
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
½ cup chopped toasted walnuts
For dressing
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Wrap each beet in foil and place
on a baking sheet. Roast until ten-
der (you can insert a fork or knife
through the foil to test), about 1
hour. Let sit until cool enough to
handle, then peel and cut into
wedges.
See, Sides/Page B2
Exploring the Huntington Block
GINNY
MAMMEN
OUT AND ABOUT
T
he next building for some
reason reminds me of a
rhyme from my child-
hood. It went like this: “Late
last night upon the stair I saw a
man who wasn’t there. He wasn’t
there again today. I wish that man
would go away.”
This building is currently
housing the Grande Ronde Karate
School between the West-Ja-
cobson Building and the Wells-
Fargo parking lot. In earlier days
I remember it as the location of
the Chuckwagon Restaurant. At
this time, I don’t know anything
else about it except that it was not
destroyed in the February 1959
fire located in the 1300 block of
Adams Avenue. For the time it
will have to remain a mystery
waiting to be solved.
We will instead turn our atten-
tion to what was known as the
Huntington Block in the middle
of the block covering 1308-1312
Adams. Due to fires and demoli-
tions over the years, little infor-
mation remains about this bus-
tling shopping center. Currently, it
is the site of the Wells Fargo Bank
parking lot.
Albert Clark Huntington was
born in Maine in 1831 to William
Huntington, a farmer, and his
wife, Mary. He remained at home
working on the farm until 1854
when he started west, the hard
way, by sailing to California via
New York and then the Isthmus
of Panama. When he arrived, the
gold rush was well underway.
For a while he was a miner and
in 1860 was living in Pine Grove,
California, the crossroads of the
mining activity. At some time he
traveled farther south and pur-
chased land in the area of pres-
ent-day Los Angeles, but, unfor-
tunately, sold it too soon to make
his fortune. He joined with a
party of prospectors and came
up into the Walla Walla area and
finally worked his way down into
Oregon.
He settled in Old Town in the
fall of 1863, when he started a
furniture factory, making furni-
ture and made-to-order caskets. It
was reported by W. R. Gekeler in
one of his “Do You Remember?”
columns that “when people came
from a distance they waited in
town while the casket of the
required size was put together.”
When A.C. opened his furni-
ture store in Old Town it was the
first furniture store in the Grande
Ronde Valley.
In 1864, he married his sweet-
heart, Helen Elizabeth Baker, the
younger sister of M. Baker, a pio-
neer attorney of Old Town. In
1866, he purchased the first La
Grande schoolhouse, which had
been used only two years, to use
as an expansion for his furniture
factory.
In the 1870s and 1880s he
was shown as a cabinet maker
in the census records. But A.C.
was more than that. He was an
entrepreneur. He was a cornet
player and music was in his soul.
According to Bob Bull, A.C. left
the furniture building around
1880 and “traveled over the
country selling pianos and organs
and was thus connected with the
music trade until 1894 at which
time he retired.”
In 1886, he constructed the
Huntington Building, known also
as the Huntington Block, and
opened the first music store in La
Grande. In 1888, the building pro-
vided space for the music store,
office, store room and dwelling.
By 1893 some of the Hun-
tington Block businesses were
J.C. Henry & Burke Furniture
and Samuel Haworth, Mason and
Contractor. They were joined by
C.W. Harris Watchmaker and
Jeweler and others. Bohnen-
kamp’s first store opened here in
December 1896. By March 1898,
Huntington was excavating for his
brick building adjoining the orig-
inal building and stone was being
hauled in three months later.
After completion new businesses
quickly moved in.
The store most remembered
from early times in the Hun-
tington Block was the Golden
Rule Store. According to Bob
Bull in his “A Little Bit of This &
A Little Bit of That: La Grande
and Union County Trivia” we
learn there were two businessmen
located in the Huntington Block
around 1903, Mac Wood at 1308
and John Collier at 1312.
Both were selling similar
department store-type items and
Contributed Photo
The store most remembered from early times in the Huntington Block was the Gold-
en Rule Store.
decided to join forces and create
the largest store in La Grande.
They contacted E. Andross, of
E. Andross and Company, the
store located between them. They
offered to buy out his furniture
and undertaking business and he
agreed. As a result, Mac Wood’s
original Golden Rule tripled in
size and was in business until
sometime between 1917-1920.
Over the years, the Huntington
Block served many businesses. In
February 1959, the entire building
was destroyed by fire. There were
four businesses located there at
the time. The fire seems to have
started in Schoen’s Bakery at
1312, then onto The Photo Album,
Fitzgerald Flowers and finally into
The Town House Music and Gift
Store. The structure remaining
was torn down and the businesses
were relocated.
The mystery building to the
west housing Coleman Hard-
ware at 1306½ at the time was
said to have extensive water and
smoke damage but the owner
had removed much of his mer-
chandise when it seemed the fire
might reach his place of business.
However, it was determined that
the fire wall between the build-
ings probably kept this from
happening.
Albert Clark Huntington
was an active member of the La
Grande community throughout
his life. He served as a member of
the city council and was active in
his church and Odd Fellows. A.C.
Huntington passed away in La
Grande in May 1921 at the age of
89 years, 8 months and 7 days.
Keep looking up! Enjoy!
———
Ginny Mammen has lived in
La Grande for more than 50 years
and enjoys sharing her interest in
the history of people, places and
buildings.