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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2018)
Page 4C East Oregonian EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE Saturday, January 13, 2018 Staff photo by E.J. Harris Photo contributed by Steve Mills Guests signed a floor plan for the new Union Club during a luncheon on Wednesday in Hermiston. The Union Club tavern in 1961, located in what is now commonly referred to as the RoeMarks building on Main Street in Hermiston. UNION CLUB: Will be completed sometime this year Continued from 1C the Union Club. The building, along with the one next door, were combined into RoeMark’s Men’s and Western Wear from 1974 to 2012 before Simmons Insurance purchased both properties in 2016. Simmons has since moved its offices into the eastern side and has been looking for someone to lease the corner space that used to be the old Union Club. Justin Doyle, one of the partners in the project, said they want it to become a “second living room” for Hermiston, where people can go to spend time together over coffee, wine or craft beers. “We want to connect more with the heartbeat of Herm- iston,” he said. The Union Club will be completed sometime this year, but Doyle said a time- line hasn’t been nailed down yet. He sees opportunity in working on the remodel at the same time as the city of Hermiston works to turn Second Street into a festival street; plans for the remodel include installing a sliding door on the Second Street side that would lead to patio seating with a view of events taking place there. Joshua Woods, another partner in the project, is working to gather photos of what the old Union Club looked like, as well as memo- rabilia from the building such as the old Coca Cola sign they hung up after finding it in a crawl space. “We’re trying to bring back as much of the original building as we can,” he said. The upstairs area, which for a while was what Meyers euphemistically described as a “kind of a hotel” that rented rooms by the hour, will be turned into meeting spaces that will be available for public use or classes hosted by the Union Club on subjects like Scotch or specialty beers. “We want to foster a drinking culture, with both wines and coffees,” Doyle said. “We want to have a real cozy space where people can come and have drinks.” ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastoregonian. com or 541-564-4536. Staff photo by E.J. Harris A group of Hermiston locals gather to share stories about the old Union Club over lunch Wednesday with new business owners planning to revive it. Coconut milk and curry paste How the cauliflower can morph into movie night snack food take chicken to new heights By MELISSA D’ARABIAN Associated Press By MELISSA D’ARABIAN Associated Press Boneless skinless chicken breasts save the day for so many busy folks who want to get a lean, protein- filled, affordable dinner on the table in a hurry. I always have a package or two in my freezer — I buy them when they are on super-sale (which they are once every 4-6 weeks in my experience) and freeze them, a strategy even more helpful if you seek out the pricier organic or free-range versions. Even if I forget to pop the frozen chicken in the fridge to thaw the night before I need it, I can always do a quick-thaw in a big bowl of cold water, and still get dinner on the table quickly. This ubiquitous cut of meat is chock-full of lean protein — a 4-ounce serving is only 125 calories, and has about 26 grams of protein, plus a smattering of minerals and B vitamins, and only a gram or two of fat. The downside to the boneless skinless chicken breast is that the flavor is a little lackluster. But what some call bland, I call a blank slate! And with so little fat in the meat, you have a little wiggle room to indulge a bit with other ingredients. In my Weeknight Thai Curry Chicken recipe, for instance, I use full-fat coconut milk — a mere half cup for six servings of chicken is enough to create a luxurious mouth-feel without adding more than a few grams of fat per serving. In this quick week- night-friendly recipe, I use fragrant Thai curry paste as a rub right on thin chicken cutlets, infusing them with a ton of flavor, and I serve the sauce as an accompaniment, rather than having the chicken swim in it. A quick saute gives the chicken just the right amount of char (don’t overcook), and the coconut sauce is made flavorful with Years ago, I was attempting to reverse my daughter Valentine’s disdain for cauliflower. She was always my veggie-loving kiddo, so I was stumped by her dislike of one my favorites. Who doesn’t love roasted cauliflower florets, with those crispy caramelized golden edges? She loved artichoke — pulling apart the leaves and scraping them on her teeth. So, why not create a pull-apart version of cauliflower? I roasted it whole on a lower temperature (about 350 F) for nearly an hour, and then pumped up the heat to 400 F for some browning. I then seasoned the whole head of cauliflower with a little lemon butter or cheese. The idea worked: all four of my kids had fun pulling apart the cauliflower, eating little florets like finger food. Over the years, cauliflower morphed from dinner table favorite to movie night snack food, right alongside popcorn. The recipe has changed a little: I’ve found that steaming the cauliflower a few minutes first cuts the cook-time in half and the florets are easier to pull apart. And, I’ve upped my seasoning, for example slathering on a garlicky cheese mixture spiked with just a touch of hot sauce to remind me of the buffalo wings of my college days, when I thought nothing of downing a half-dozen fried wings, skin and all. With today’s recipe for Cheesy Pull-Apart Whole Cauliflower, the high-cal buttery and cheesy coating packs a garlic punch, even though each serving has relatively little of it, so healthy eating goals stay on track. And while we’re enjoying movie-time or game-time nibbles, it’s nice to know that we’re Melissa d’Arabian via AP Thai chicken coconut curry. WEEKNIGHT THAI CHICKEN CURRY Servings: 6 Start to finish: 20 minutes • 6 chicken breast cutlets, about 4 ounces each • 2 tablespoons red Thai curry paste • 1 teaspoon neutral oil Sauce: • ½ cup coconut milk (canned) • ½ cup chicken broth • ⅔ cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed • 3 cloves garlic, chopped • 3 green onions, chopped • ½ teaspoon salt • 3 cups of cooked brown rice, for serving Lightly pound or press the chicken breasts so that they are no thicker than 3/4 of an inch. Coat each cutlet with a teaspoon of the curry paste. Heat the oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat, brush the oil to coat the whole pan. Place the chicken cutlets in the pan, smooth side of the cutlet down. Turn the heat slightly down to medium, and cover the pan. Cook for 5 minutes, uncover, and flip the chicken using a spatula. (If the chicken is stuck to the pan, let it cook for another minute or two and then flip.) Let the chicken cook on the second side, uncovered, for another 5 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 160 F. Remove from heat and set on cooked brown rice on plate or platter to serve. Meanwhile, place all the sauce ingredients in a blender and pulse just enough to mix, leaving some of the basil in flecks. Pour the sauce into a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Spoon a few tablespoons of sauce over the chicken and rice. Chef’s Note: I used full fat coconut milk for unctuous texture since the quantity is relatively low, but you may substitute low-fat version. Nutrition information per serving: 310 calories; 79 calories from fat; 9 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 86 mg cholesterol; 602 mg sodium; 26 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 30 g protein. fresh basil, green onion, and garlic and quick — just a few pulses in a blender and a few minutes stovetop. Dinner in about 20 minutes will prove that weeknight cooking need never be boring. Melissa d’Arabian via AP Cheesy pull-apart whole roasted cauliflower. CHEESY PULL-APART CAULIFLOWER Servings: 8 Start to finish: 30 minutes • 1 medium head of cauliflower (about 1 ½ pounds), trimmed of leaves • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise • ¼ cup grated parmesan • 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced • 1 tablespoon hot sauce or buffalo sauce Preheat the oven to 400 F. Turn the cauliflower upside down and gently cut out the bulk of the core, leaving a triangle-shaped indentation at the bottom of the cauliflower. Add an inch of salted water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Place the cauliflower right side up in the pot and cover the pot to steam the cauliflower until tender, but still firm (not mushy), about 7-10 minutes, depending on the size and age of the cauliflower. Test with a slim sharp knife. Once the cauliflower is done, remove it from the pot and place on paper towels to cool. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the butter, mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, garlic and hot sauce. Blot the cooled cauliflower with paper towels. Coat the outside of the cauliflower with the cheesy mixture, using your hands to coat the whole head. Place the cauliflower on a baking tray lined with foil or parchment. Bake until the cauliflower is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before serving. Serve with forks or as finger food. Nutrition information per serving: 67 calories; 42 calories from fat; 5 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 7 mg cholesterol; 136 mg sodium; 4 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 2 g protein. actually getting a little nutrition in our bodies, too. ——— Food Network star Melissa d’Arabian is an expert on healthy eating on a budget. She is the author of the cookbook, “Supermarket Healthy.”