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Tuesday, January 25, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
It’s time for low-cal, high-flavor cooking
simmering for 2 minutes until thickened.
Return the meat and vegetables to the
pan and stir in the vinegar. Reheat the
stew, if necessary. Serve over rice, if
desired.
Per serving: 293 calories; 11 g fat; 6
g saturated fat; 84 mg cholesterol; 28 g
protein; 17 g carbohydrate; 9 g sugar; 2 g
fiber; 324 mg sodium; 51 mg calcium
— Recipe from “The Gourmet Gazelle
Cookbook” by Ellen Brown
By DANIEL NEMAN
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
And now come the regrets.
Did I really have to have
that second piece of pecan pie?
Couldn’t the mashed pota-
toes have had maybe a little less
butter? Did I truly have to eat all
of those mint chocolates that our
friend brought from Chicago?
Yes. Yes I did. Those things are
great.
But now I’m feeling it: every
Christmas cookie, every potato
pancake, every Frango mint. My
belt is annoyed at me. My scale
groans when it sees me approach.
So in the spirit of resolutions
made for the new year, I decided
to make a bunch of dishes that
will make my belt and scale hap-
pier, and me, too. I went low-cal.
Naturally, I did not want to
give up on flavor and enjoyment.
I determined to make dishes that
both tasted good and were rela-
tively good for me — or at least
good for my waistline.
I began with a riff on an old
favorite, carbonnades a la fla-
mande, the famous Belgian dish
of beef-and-onion stew cooked in
beer.
The difference in the version
I made is that the beer used is
stout, a dark beer such as Guin-
ness that is rich in coffee and
caramel flavors. Despite its full-
bodied flavor, the beer has only a
few more calories than Bud Light.
And its taste is so mellow, it needs
less brown sugar than traditional
carbonnades to smooth out the
stew.
The recipe uses less beef than
the regular carbonnades, which
cuts back on the calories. But you
don’t mind the loss, because it
makes up for it in chunky mush-
rooms, which blend in perfectly
with the other flavors.
It’s a hearty, warming stew
with a robust taste. You don’t even
notice the flavor of the beer, which
melts away into the sauce for an
utterly satisfying meal.
My next dish was equally
intriguing: Lemon Chicken With
Bulgur. Bulgur is one of those
grains that I rarely think to use
when I’m cooking, and I’m always
happy whenever I use it. It has a
nutty taste similar to brown rice,
but a creamier and more luscious
texture.
It also happens to go brilliantly
with chicken — and especially, as
I discovered, with lemon chicken.
The recipe includes a couple
of curveballs that are unexpected
but delicious. Mixed into the other
ingredients (onion, garlic, lemon)
are a half-teaspoon each of car-
damom, coriander and cumin.
LEMON CHICKEN
WITH BULGUR
Yield: 6 servings
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 chicken, about 3 ½ pounds, skinned
and cut into serving pieces
Salt and pepper
3 medium onions, chopped (1 ½ to 2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, minced (2 teaspoons)
1½ cups bulgur, see note
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 cups boiling chicken broth
Note: Bulgur is harder to find than it used
to be. I bought mine at Whole Foods.
Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Lemon Chicken with Bulgur, photographed at Dan Neman’s home on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, is a low-calorie dish worth
considering following the holidays.
The Indian spices are subtle,
but you know they are there.
They act as a quiet sounding
board to amplify the bright citrus
notes of the lemon. They make
what is already a great dish even
better. It is sure to join your rep-
ertoire, as will the Beef Braised
in Stout Beer.
And so, for that matter, will
Turkey Wienerschnitzel.
The flavor of turkey is sim-
ilar enough to veal that it makes
a reasonable substitute; I even
know a chef who used to cook
turkey at his restaurant and jok-
ingly call it “redneck veal.”
Veal is hard to find these days,
and it is expensive when you do
see it, so Turkey Wienerschnitzel
would be a great idea even if it
weren’t so delicious. Based on
the classic Austrian dish, it is a
turkey cutlet, breaded and lightly
fried, served with capers and
slices of lemon. A fried egg on
top tastes great, too.
This version, which was created
by Steven Raichlen in his pre-bar-
becue days, saves some calories by
dipping the turkey in egg whites
instead of whole eggs, and it the-
oretically requires only two table-
spoons of oil to fry four cutlets.
To be perfectly honest, it took
me three tablespoons of oil to fry
the four cutlets. But that isn’t too
bad, and the Wienerschnitzel was
exceptional.
My last low-cal, high-flavor
dish takes potatoes to a new level.
Bombay-Style Potatoes are a type
of spiced potatoes that, despite the
name, appears to have originated
in England.
Curry and potatoes have long
been a popular combination, and
the Bombay style usually adds
tomatoes to the mix. But the ver-
sion I made uses Granny Smith
apples instead to add just the right
amount of sweet tartness to the
spicy curry.
I cheated when I made mine.
Instead of putting together a
homemade blend of spices for the
curry, I just used curry powder
out of a jar. It was awfully good
the way it was, and I can only
imagine how much better it would
have been if I had only taken the
extra few minutes to make my
own.
Whether you mix together your
own curry or use the store-bought
variety, be sure to use Yukon
Gold potatoes with this dish.
Their texture is almost butter,
their taste almost creamy, which
absolutely brings the recipe to life.
BEEF BRAISED
IN STOUT BEER
Yield: 6 servings
1½ pounds boneless lean beef, such
as round, trimmed of all visible
fat and cut into 2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups diced onion
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 pound fresh mushrooms, washed,
trimmed and halved if large
2 cups Guinness stout beer (do
not use extra-stout)
1 ½ cups beef stock
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme,
or ¼ teaspoon dried
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt (omit if using
salted canned stock)
2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with
2 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1. Wash the meat and pat dry with
paper towels. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven
over medium-high heat. Brown the beef
cubes on all sides and remove them with a
slotted spoon; this will have to be done in
a few batches.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and add
the onions, garlic and mushrooms. Sauté
for 5 minutes, stirring often. Return the
meat to the pan and add the remaining
ingredients except cornstarch and vinegar.
Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the
heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for
1½ to 2 hours or until the meat is tender.
3. Remove the meat and vegetables
from the pan, discarding the bay leaf, and
reduce the gravy by one-third, stirring
frequently. Stir in the cornstarch mixture,
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large skillet, heat the butter and
the oil, add the chicken and brown the
pieces on all sides. Season the chicken
with salt and pepper, and remove it to a
large casserole or pot.
3. Add the onions and garlic to the
skillet, and cook, stirring frequently, until
the onions are translucent, about 3 to 5
minutes.
4. Add the bulgur, stirring to coat it and
brown it lightly.
5. Add the cardamom, coriander,
cumin, lemon zest and lemon juice to the
bulgur mixture, mixing the ingredients
well. Spoon the bulgur on top of the
reserved chicken.
6. Pour the boiling broth over the
chicken and bulgur. Cover the casserole
or pot and cook in the oven for 1 hour or
until the chicken is tender. If preparing
in advance and you plan to reheat in the
oven, instead of a microwave, reduce the
baking time to 45 minutes so it does not
get overheated and dry when reheated.
Per serving: 500 calories; 11 g fat; 4 g
saturated fat; 200 mg cholesterol; 66 g
protein; 34 g carbohydrate; 3 g sugar; 5 g
fiber; 1,037 mg sodium; 50 mg calcium
— Adapted from “Jane Brody’s Good
Food Book” by Jane Brody
TURKEY
WIENERSCHNITZEL
Yield: 4 servings
1 ½ pounds turkey cutlets
or chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
See, Flavor/Page B2
Examining the mysterious history of 1316 Adams
GINNY
MAMMEN
OUT AND ABOUT
T
he attractive one-story
building once located at
1316 Adams Ave. in down-
town La Grande has provided us
with several mysteries. Time of
construction is one. It was built
sometime between 1893 and the
early 1900s. However, we don’t
know who constructed it. Perhaps
as time goes on there may be a
clue that has been missed.
According to an advertisement
in The Observer dated September
1902, Jack Childs, also known as
the Harness Man, opened a store
selling his hand-stitched saddles
and other leather goods and sup-
plies for the horse owner at this
location. Was it this building or
was it a small wood one?
It is known that as far back as
1893, John (Jack) Henry Childs
had his harness-making business
on the corner of that block and that
he was a hard worker and entre-
preneur, so it is possible that he
was the one who constructed the
building to use for his business.
Then there is the name of W.K.
Davis on the front of the building
with the words Organs and Pianos
on the windows. Nowhere could
be found a connection for the two.
So perhaps W.K. Davis, an entre-
Contributed Photo
There are many mysteries in the history of the building at 1316 Adams Ave. It was
demolished in 1973.
preneur, connected with the Cres-
cent Knitting Mills Co. and Idaho
Life Insurance, invested in the
building.
The building at 1316 had a
rocky start and early occupants
have been difficult to track. At
times the commercial space
appeared to have one occupant
and at other times the building
was divided and two occupants
were sharing the space. And busi-
nesses changed frequently.
It is known that by 1911 there
was a new grocery store in La
Grande at this location operated
by Clarence Cummings and J. P.
Price. This partnership ended in
less than a year when Price sold
out to T. E. French and the store
became Cummings and French.
This partnership also didn’t last
because by December of 1912
C. J. Black bought out French. But
it doesn’t end here.
In December of 1914 Black
bought out Cummings and within
the next year moved his store to
another location. It appears that
some of the previous owners were
more investors that actual grocery
men at heart. The Christiansen
Barber Shop was there as early as
1912.
By September of 1915 the New
Broadway Cleaners and Pressers
were sharing the commercial
space with Christiansen Barber
Shop. But it wasn’t long before
New Broadway moved to the
Foley Building.
In April of 1916, Mr. and Mrs.
George W. Hull opened a pastry
shop called Hall’s Dutch Bakery.
They offered, along with their pies
and cookies, comfort foods such
as specially baked pork and beans,
and spaghetti with tomato sauce.
This was not meant to be, for
by September of 1916 there was
nothing to be found about either
the Hulls or the Dutch Bakery.
Then around 1917 things began
to change, or at least stabilize a
bit. Oxner’s Paint Store moved
in and operated until 1926 when
it became Noah’s Paint Store.
Noah’s operated until February
1944 when La Grande Paint Store
took over for about seven years,
until 1951, when the Coast to
Coast store moved in. By 1960
Coast to Coast was ready to relo-
cate to a new location and once
again 1316 was vacant and Blue
Mountain Heating Service moved
in followed by Eastern Oregon
Television, Stan’s TV Repair and
Cablevision Radio and TV.
Cablevision was probably the
last occupant because by 1973
the building, as well as the other
buildings east of it on that block,
were demolished in prepara-
tion for the new First Interstate
Bank building. This is currently
the location of Wells Fargo Bank
parking lot.
The individuals connected with
the building at 1316 Adams didn’t
seem to stay around La Grande
for long periods of time and nei-
ther they nor their spouses espe-
cially engaged in city activities.
Also it was difficult to find where
they did go once they left town.
Clarence George Cummings,
who was involved in the grocery
business, was the only one who
seemed to leave any tracks. Clar-
ence, age 34, was living in La
Grande with his wife Clara and
their young son and daughter in
1910 and had his own real estate
office. During the period of 1911-
1914 he was involved with the
grocery store and it is not cer-
tain if that was his full time job or
whether he was also working in
his real estate business.
However, by 1917 Clarence and
Cora had moved to Portland and
he was working for J. Simon, a
plumbing and roofing contractor.
By 1930 he was the proprietor of
a Portland grocery. Sometime in
the next 10 years he became the
owner/operator of a filling station.
Clarence was a man who seemed
to be always searching for that
fulfilling occupation.
C.G. Cummings died in 1943
at the age of 67.
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.