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.”