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Tuesday, September 14, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Goodbye, grill
Bidding farewell
to summer with
a last barbecue
By DANIEL NEMAN
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
It can’t be the end of summer.
I’m not ready for summer to end.
So I did what any normal
American male does when con-
fronted with the sudden reali-
zation that his favorite season is
about to end: I pouted.
But only for a short time. Then
I bought a bag of charcoal and
fired up the grill. There is nothing
like grilling a lump of meat or
a hearty vegetable to extend the
pleasures of the summer and keep
at bay the dying chill of autumn.
Grilling is primal, it is ele-
mentary. Thousands of years ago,
our ancestors were grilling fatted
calves and roasting whole lambs
over a fire. They were not pre-
paring a demiglace with cham-
pagne vinegar and shallots to use
as a sauce.
So I decided to keep my end-
of-summer grilling simple and
basic, or at least simple.
Also, a reader asked for easy
recipes. I may be distraught
that the dog days of August are
reaching their tail end, but at least
I’m accommodating.
I started with a cheeseburger.
Yes, everybody knows how to
make a cheeseburger, but I have a
trick (because I read it in a book)
for making it even better: You
grate the cheese directly into the
ground beef, along with salt and
pepper.
The advantage to this method
is in the timing, which is directly
related to the temperature.
Ordinarily, in order to get the
cheese properly melted on top
of the burger, you have to put it
on when the meat is still slightly
undercooked. That way, the
cheese finishes semi-melting just
when the meat is perfectly done.
It isn’t easy to get right. But
with the cheese already mixed
into the burger, it melts into the
meat, which you can cook to
the exact temperature that you
like. When you eat it, you get a
delightful pop of cheese flavor in
nearly every bite.
I next made one of my favorite
ways to make steak. It’s called
Mustard Lime Steak because the
steak is coated with a crust made
from dry mustard, lime juice and
Worcestershire sauce — and yes,
I know that sounds awful.
But it isn’t. It really isn’t.
The sharpness of the mustard
is softened by the umami earthi-
ness of the Worcestershire sauce,
with bright notes provided by the
lime. It’s actually kind of genius,
and is as delicious as it is unex-
pected. And because you slice the
meat thin to serve it, you can use
it on almost any kind of steak.
For a vegetable dish, I went
with Grilled Asparagus With
Olive Oil and Parmesan, an
extraordinary dish from the
restaurant Chez Panisse. That’s
the Berkeley, California, estab-
lishment that basically started the
food revolution in this country
and is still cherished as one of the
best in the land.
Many of its recipes are diffi-
cult, but this one is simple. Just
coat asparagus spears in olive oil
and season them with salt and
pepper. Grill them until they are
done, sprinkle with lemon juice
and then top them with crispy
pancetta and chopped egg.
Leave it to Chez Panisse to
come up with a perfect balance of
Colter Peterson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Grilled Asparagus With Olive Oil and Parmesan.
to prepare, but only a little — and
it was all done the night before.
Tandoori Chicken is one of
the most popular dishes in Indian
restaurants in this country. It is
difficult to make at home, because
doing it right requires a tandoor
oven, a clay oven that cooks at
about 900 degrees.
You probably don’t have one,
though they are available. None-
theless, you can create your own
less-hot version of Tandoori
Chicken in your own grill —
using indirect heat.
I cobbled together a recipe,
using ideas from two different
sources and a few of my own.
The chicken is marinated for sev-
plus lemon juice, the yogurt and
the chicken, and you are likely
to have them all only if you cook
Indian food fairly often. If you
like, you could use garam masala
— most stores carry it — to
replace any of the ingredients you
don’t have. The result will be dif-
ferent, but who knows? Maybe it
will be better.
That said, the chicken I made
was fairly amazing. Tandoori
Chicken should not be a very
spicy dish, but I put a little heat
in mine for good luck. You can
reduce or eliminate the cayenne
pepper (or Indian chili powder) if
you want it more mild.
It was just a remarkable dish
for the end of summer. I’m sure
I’ll be making it in the fall, winter
and spring, too.
TANDOORI
CHICKEN
Yield: 3 to 4 servings
Colter Peterson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
A cheeseburger with a side of potato salad.
the dissimilar flavors. Thin shav-
ings of salty Parmesan cheese on
top thrillingly bring the dish to
life.
My last dish took a little work
eral hours, preferably overnight,
in yogurt mixed with a blend
of spices. The mix that I used
worked particularly well.
It does require eight spices,
3/4 cup plain yogurt
4 quarter-sized slices of ginger
(peeling is not necessary)
4 large garlic cloves
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or Indian
chili powder, optional, see note
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken, cut
into serving pieces
Note: Indian chili powder, which is
often spelled chilli, is available at interna-
tional markets
1. In a blender or food processor, mix
together yogurt, ginger, garlic, lemon
juice, cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt,
optional cayenne or Indian chili powder
and cinnamon until smooth. Cut 2 or 3
slashes at least 1-inch deep into each
chicken piece except wings. Coat chicken
with marinade mixture in a bowl, cover
and refrigerate 4 to 24 hours.
3. Prepare a grill with a lid for indirect
heat.
4. When grill is hot (425 degrees, if us-
ing a kamado grill) put chicken on grate,
skin-side up. Cover and cook 50 minutes
without opening grill. Remove wings,
close grill and cook 10 minutes more.
Per serving (based on 4): 596 calories;
30 g fat; 8 g saturated fat; 670 mg choles-
terol; 73 g protein; 5 g carbohydrate; 1 g
sugar; 1 g fiber; 846 mg sodium; 71 mg
calcium
— Recipe by Daniel Neman
CHEESEBURGERS
Yield: 4 servings
1 1/2 pounds 80% lean ground chuck
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 ounces grated cheese (cheddar,
Swiss, Jack, blue or other)
1. Prepare a grill for direct heat.
2. Break up the chuck to increase
the surface area for the seasoning and
cheese. Sprinkle the salt, pepper and
cheese over the meat; toss lightly with
your hands to distribute evenly.
See, Grill/Page B2
Shoe shines and cigars: the history of 1212 Adams
By GINNY MAMMEN
The next building going
east on Adams Avenue in
downtown La Grande is
1212 Adams, currently the
home of Country Financial.
According to the National
Register of Historic Places
it was constructed around
1892, but the name of the
builder was unknown.
However, upon further
research I found that the
owners, and very probably
the ones who constructed
the building, were Gustaves
Beugelsdorff and Joseph
B. Whiteman. This was a
two-story brick structure
with the lower floor being
divided into two commer-
cial spaces and apartments
on the upper floor.
Although there were
only two commercial
spaces on the first floor,
there were many businesses
over the years that shared
one side or the other,
making it nearly impossible
to create an exact chroni-
cled list of occupants. For a
number of them it served as
a business incubator.
The first occupant I
could identify, at 1212 1/2,
was the Singer Sewing
Machine Company with
William Baldridge as the
agent. This was in 1893 and
the company was still there
in 1903, but the agent was
A.H. Stone.
Fred Hill Collection
View of downtown La Grande includes the historic building at 1212 Adams Ave.
The City Directory for
1908-1912 showed the
business at 1212 Adams
as a men’s clothing store
owned by A.V. Andrews.
For 1908-09, 1212 1/2
housed James R. Smith,
jeweler, and in 1912 Emily
Wellman was offering mil-
linery, toys and notions for
sale.
Another early occu-
pant of 1212 1/2 was
Harry T. Love, a jeweler
who advertised his shop
in 1911 replacing James
R. Smith who had moved
to California. Harry was
born in Pennsylvania and
later moved to La Grande
where he lived with his
wife, Harriett, and step-
daughter, Iva. When the
family moved to Salem,
G. S. Birnie, who had
been working for William
Siegrist as a watchmaker,
purchased Love’s business
and stayed in this location
until sometime between
1936 and 1939 according
to Robert Bull in “Volume
III of Little Bit of This & a
Little Bit of That.”
In the late teens through
the 1920s the O.K. Barber
Shop at 1212 was a busy
place. For many of those
years the space was shared
by other businesses — in
1923 it was Joe Kelly’s
cigar and tobacco stand, in
1926-27 Reyneud’s Beauty
Shop and 1928 Ruth Reed
had her beauty shop at this
location.
Other occupants over
the years at 1212 included
various shoe repair/shine
shops including the City
Shoe Shop owned by John
Burlew alongside Har-
ry’s, where one could
have shoes shined or hats
blocked. But the most
remembered shoeshine
shop was that of Lafayette
(Lucky) Trice who bought
out Burlew in 1947 and
established Lucky’s Shine
Parlor, which was still in
operation in 1961.
Probably the two most
interesting individuals
involved with 1212 Adams
were Joseph B. Whiteman
and Lafayette Trice.
Joseph was born in
1854 in Indiana to Abe
F. Whiteman, a farmer,
and his wife. It appears
that Joseph’s mother had
died during childbirth, or
shortly after, when her son
Charles was born in 1859,
leaving Abe with nine
children to raise. Oppor-
tunities in Indiana were
not abundant for Joseph,
so like many others he
headed west. Before
leaving Indiana he took
young Susan Parks to be
his bride. In 1880 they
were living in Kansas
where Joseph was working
as a saloon keeper. By
1900 they were living in
La Grande and he was
working as a plumber.
Living with Joseph
and Susan as a lodger
was a single man by the
name of Gus Bingdeloff,
a shoemaker from Ger-
many. It appears that Gus-
taves Beugelsdorff had
tried to Americanize his
name for practical pur-
poses like Census records.
Joseph still wasn’t settled
in his work and by 1910
he was working as an auto
repairman. Then by 1920
he was a tinsmith at the
railroad shop and by 1930,
at the age of 76, he was
a mail carrier. This is all
we know about these two
men except that Gus pur-
chased Lot 6 in Block 106
of Chaplin’s Addition and
he and Joseph had 1212
Adams constructed there
around 1892.
Lafayette (Lucky)
Trice was born in 1904
in Arkansas to Arthur
and Ella Trice. According
to his daughter, Gwen,
Lucky’s dad worked in
logging and in 1923 Lucky,
at the age of 19, his father,
grandfather and brother
arrived by boxcar in
Oregon and went to work
at Maxville, a town cre-
ated by the Bowman Hicks
Lumber Company. It was
there he earned the nick-
name Lucky because of his
skill at playing cards.
In 1933, when Maxville
shut down, Trice moved to
La Grande. He purchased
his shoe shop in 1947 and
became a businessman.
Later on he started a fur-
nace cleaning business.
Lucky was involved in
many community activi-
ties and was a friend to all.
Lafayette (Lucky) Trice
died in September 1985.
To learn more about
Lucky, see the story at
www.oregonhumanities.
org/this-land/stories/
reaching-back-for-truth/.
Keep looking up!
Enjoy!