Page 4C
EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
East Oregonian
Saturday, January 6, 2018
Versace’s former mansion now a luxury hotel
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) —
Viewers intrigued by the Gianni
Versace murder case featured in the
new season of “American Crime
Story” can retrace the fashion
designer’s steps at his former
mansion in South Beach.
Tourists stop on its stone front
steps every day to pose for pictures
where Versace was fatally shot
by serial killer Andrew Cunanan
in 1997. There’s more to the
Mediterranean-style mansion than
Versace’s death, however.
Now a boutique hotel, The Villa
Casa Casuarina, Versace’s former
home still reflects his glamorous
designs and opulent lifestyle.
Visitors can swim in the pool he
lined with 24-karat gold tiles, sleep
on double-king-sized beds so large
they require custom-made sheets,
gaze at the ocean from his rooftop
observatory and dine in a gourmet
restaurant established in his former
dining room.
A resident artist maintains the
mosaics and frescos that Versace
had made for the property,
including designs showcasing his
signature snake-haired Medusa
head, said Chauncey Copeland, the
hotel’s general manager.
“We actually have preserved
what Versace created here and just
augmented it with some modern
touches for the convenience of
our hotel guests and restaurant
patrons,” Copeland said.
Versace spent $33 million
renovating the three-story building
he purchased in 1992. It was orig-
inally an apartment complex built
in 1930 by Standard Oil heir Alden
Freeman. After Versace’s death,
his family sold the property. The
Villa Casa Casuarina now is part
of the Victor Hotels group, which
acquired the mansion at a 2013
auction for $41.5 million.
The opportunity to sleep in
Versace’s former bedroom stands
out among other luxury hotel expe-
riences, even in glitzy South Beach,
said Joey Cargill, of Manila, the
Philippines, a hotel guest relaxing
in the pool just after Christmas.
“It’s just the history, and
Versace was an artist, and I kind
of consider myself a little bit of
an artist. Maybe I can grasp a little
bit of that, in a different fashion,”
Cargill said.
To live like Versace is to live
large, transforming the most
ordinary things into outrageous
memories. “I can’t even hit all
sides of the bed, it’s so big. I just
take a corner of it,” Cargill said.
“The Assassination of Gianni
Versace: American Crime Story”
premieres Jan. 17 on FX.
AP Photo/Jennifer Kay
In this Dec. 26 photo, Joey Cargill of Manila, from the Philippines, left, and David Tamuty of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., lounge in the
swimming pool lined with 24-karat gold tiles at The Villa Casa Casuarina in Miami Beach, Fla., as seen from the hotel’s rooftop deck. The
new season of “American Crime Story” features the murder of Versace, who was fatally shot on his front steps in 1997.
AP Photo/Jennifer Kay
AP Photo/Jennifer Kay
In this Dec. 26 photo, tourists pose for photographs and read a
restaurant menu in front of The Villa Casa Casuarina, a boutique
hotel that once was the home of fashion designer Gianni Versace
in Miami Beach, Fla.
In this Dec. 26 photo, mosaics that fashion designer Gianni
Versace created for his dining room in his South Beach mansion
are now the backdrop for the gourmet restaurant inside The Villa
Casa Casuarina in Miami Beach, Fla.
RIPE BANANA PANCAKES
Servings: 18 medium pancakes
Start to finish: 25 minutes
AP Photo/Elizabeth Karmel
Ripe banana pancakes.
A tasty solution to over-ripe bananas
By ELIZABETH KARMEL
Associated Press
I hate to throw over-ripe
bananas away. It is such a
wasted opportunity for fresh
fragrant banana bread. But,
there is only so much banana
bread that one can eat. That
is why I asked myself, what
else can I make with over-ripe
bananas?
And, since it was Sunday,
banana pancakes popped
into my head. I had never
made banana pancakes with
over-ripe bananas. I usually
make them with slices of
firm, slightly green bananas
because that is how I like to
eat fresh bananas. As it turned
out, the over-ripe bananas are
way better for pancakes.
I also wanted to try a
pancake technique that a
friend of mine swears by. You
separate the egg and blend
the yolk and the white into
the batter at different times.
It is supposed to make the
pancakes lighter. I am not
sure that it made that much
difference but it is easy to do,
doesn’t take any extra time
like beating egg whites, and
the resulting pancakes were
light and fluffy and toothsome
all at once.
The recipe is pretty basic
with both sour milk and
cream used as the liquid. I had
cream on hand, but you could
use half and half. I opted
for cream because my milk
was 2 percent and not whole
milk. If I had had whole milk
in the fridge, I would have
used whole milk and half and
half. I also soured my milk
with white vinegar, but you
could substitute buttermilk
for the milk and vinegar
combination.
A touch of nutmeg
accented the ripe banana. I
mashed the bananas as if I
was making banana bread
and added it to the batter
right before I made the
pancakes. The result was
incredible — almost like
banana bread pancakes. I love
how the essence of banana
was evident through the entire
pancake but there were no
discernible chunks of fruit.
Most pancake recipes
instruct you to heat oil or
melt butter in a skillet and
“fry” the pancake. I prefer to
cook them on a dry non-stick
skillet so that they brown and
bubble without any extra fat.
If you do a side-by-side taste
test, you can really see the
difference. One looks like the
top of a grilled quesadilla and
the other resembles a baked
good. The non-fried version
is softer and more delicate
in texture. The fried has a
slightly crunchy top and is
a bit greasy. Neither is right
or wrong, it’s all a matter of
preference.
It’s important to serve
the pancakes with a good
salted butter to bring out the
banana flavor — I like Kate’s
Homemade Butter or Kerry-
gold — and real maple syrup.
Other good additions are
mini chocolate chips, dried
coconut, toasted walnuts and
pecans. These pancakes are
good for breakfast, but even
better served as “Breakfast
for Dinner” with a side of
crispy bacon.
———
Elizabeth Karmel is a
barbecue and Southern
foods expert. She is the chef
and pit master at online
retailer CarolinaCueToGo.
com and the author of three
books, including “Taming the
Flame.”
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ½ plus ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 large egg, separated
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• ¼ cup cream or half and half
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 ripe banana, mashed with a fork
• Salted butter and real maple syrup for serving
Heat the oven to 250 F and set a sheet pan with a
rack. Set aside
Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking
soda, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Combine
the milk and the vinegar in a 2-cup glass measuring
cup and let sit 1-2 minutes. Add the egg yolk, and
cream or half and half and mix well. Add the melted
butter to the milk and egg yolk mixture and blend with
a fork until well combined.
Pour the yolk and milk mixture into the flour
mixture and stir with a blending fork until barely
combined. Mix the egg white in a small bowl until
slightly foamy and add the egg white to the batter.
Stir just until a thick batter is formed. Set aside for 5
minutes.
Meanwhile, mash a ripe banana in a separate bowl.
Just before cooking, combine the mashed banana and
the pancake batter.
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When
hot, use a spoon or a ladle to drop batter in heaping
spoonfuls to the pan, allowing room for the batter to
spread out. Unlike most recipes, I prefer not to “fry” the
pancakes in oil or butter. I like a drier non-oily finish. If
your skillet is non-stick, this will not be a problem.
Cook for about 1-2 minutes, depending on size.
When the pancake begins to bubble, use a thin off-set
spatula to gently flip to the other side. The pancake
should be golden brown, if the heat is too high, the
pancake will burn on the outside and be uncooked
on the inside. Cook on the other side for another 2
minutes, or until the bottom of the pancake is golden
brown.
Remove from the skillet to the baking sheet and
place the sheet in the oven while you cook all the
batter. Scrape any stray crumbs or scraps out of the
skillet as you make the pancakes or the fresh pancakes
will pick up the burned bits as they cook. Serve as soon
as possible, with salted butter and maple syrup.
Chef’s Note: If cooking for a crowd, this recipe can
be easily doubled and extra pancakes can be frozen and
re-heated with very little difference in taste.
Nutrition information per pancake: 99 calories; 47
calories from fat; 5 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats);
26 mg cholesterol; 145 mg sodium; 11 g carbohydrate;
1 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 2 g protein.