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Tuesday, May 17, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
For the love of lemons
By DANIEL NEMAN
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Lemons get a bad rap.
When we buy a car that
doesn’t run, we call it a
lemon. When life gives
you lemons, we say you
should make lemonade, as
if lemons were something
merely to be endured.
It’s not fair.
Lemons are bright and
sunshiny, brisk and invigo-
rating. They add a delicious
splash of life to food, they
sprinkle it with the essence
of spring.
I say, when life gives you
lemons, you should cele-
brate. Yay, lemons!
It’s time we elevate the
humble lemon to the pan-
theon of culinary fl avors.
And so I decided to cook
four dishes that take full
advantage of this most ver-
satile of citrus fruits.
I made dishes that are
sweet and savory, main
courses and a dessert. How
many other ingredients are
equally at home inside a pie
as well as saddling up to a
piece of grilled meat?
I started with shrimp.
Lemon is a natural accom-
paniment to all crusta-
ceans; I don’t think I’ve
ever cooked lobster, crab
or shrimp without using at
least a healthy squeeze or
two of lemon.
In order to highlight and
focus on the taste of the
lemon, I decided to make
the shrimp the easiest way I
know how: I boiled it.
Usually, when I boil
shrimp I use beer or a mix-
ture of beer and water and
a bountiful amount of Old
Bay seasoning. But this
time, I decided to mix
lemon juice with water.
In my fi rst attempt, I used
Old Bay, too. It tasted great,
but it tasted like Old Bay
with just a hint of lemon.
So I tried the water and
lemon juice alone. It was
still good, but not lemony
enough. So I tried water
and more lemon juice. It
was better, but still not
lemony enough.
So I tried a proportion
of nearly equal amounts of
lemon juice and water, and
the result was everything
I could hope for — bright
and lemony, without over-
powering the shrimp.
You can serve the shrimp
hot or cold. I decided to
forego the traditional cock-
tail sauce, because I wanted
to savor the fl avor of lemon.
But if you think shrimp are
indecently naked without
cocktail sauce, by all means
go ahead and serve it.
I next decided to take
advantage of a classic com-
bination of fl avors that is
often overlooked: lamb
with lemon. The tang of
the lemon plays a soaring
counterpoint to what many
people (not me) think of as
the gaminess of lamb.
I used tender and fl a-
vorful lamb chops, and cre-
ated a marinade of things
that go particularly well
with lamb — olive oil,
garlic, shallots, Dijon mus-
tard, thyme (or rosemary)
and lemon juice, plus salt
and pepper. I covered the
meat with the marinade for
one hour before cooking it.
Usually, I grill my lamb,
but not everyone has a grill.
So I decided to cook mine
on the stove. You don’t get
any of the fl avor of the fi re
that way, which is espe-
cially desirable with lamb,
but you do get more car-
amelization across the
surface of the meat as a
trade-off .
It was quicker and easier
than using the grill, and
the results were marvelous.
The lemon was a high note
singing clearly and steadily
over the earthbound meati-
ness of the lamb.
When I thought about
how to make a lemon
chicken, I had a brilliant
idea: Why not use the exact
same marinade that I had
used for the lamb? After
all, olive oil, garlic, shal-
lots, Dijon mustard, thyme
Hillary Levin/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Lemon lamb chops.
(or rosemary), lemon juice
and salt and pepper all
go particularly well with
chicken, too.
Usually I grill my
chicken, but not everyone
has a grill. So I decided to
cook mine in the oven. You
don’t get any of the fl avor
of the fi re that way, which
is especially desirable with
chicken, but it is easier to
cook, and less fussy.
The chicken tasted great,
it was a wonderful roast
chicken. But to be honest,
it wasn’t lemony enough to
be lemon chicken. So I dou-
bled the amount of lemon
juice in the marinade and
tried again.
The result was subtle,
but remarkably pleasant.
Not too lemony at all.
For dessert, I had
thought to make lemon
meringue pie, but I decided
that was too commonplace.
So I made a lemon Shaker
tart.
Reputedly based on a
recipe from the Shakers,
this tart uses every part
of the lemon, skin and all.
Well, not the seeds. But
it uses the whole lemon,
minus the seeds.
I made cookbook author
Alison Roman’s recipe,
which uses a simple short-
bread crust. It’s ridiculously
delicious, a buttery, crisp
base for the lemon custard
to go on top.
The custard is also easy,
but it requires some waiting
time. You slice a lemon
very thin, removing any
seeds, and let the slices sit
in a mixture of lemon juice
and sugar for at least one
hour and up to a full day.
Then you mix in a lot of
egg yolks and whole eggs,
along with a bit of fl our and
a dash of salt, and bake it
until you can’t stand how
good your house smells.
The tart is an absolute
delight, and it is not too
sweet as many lemon des-
serts can be.
Maybe that’s why it’s
called a tart.
1 or 2 tablespoons prepared
horseradish
1 1/2 teaspoons
Worcestershire sauce
Juice from 1 or 2 wedges of lemon
LEMON-
BOILED
SHRIMP
LEMON LAMB
CHOPS
Yield: 3 to 4 servings
Yield: 4 servings
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons
lemon juice
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1 pound shrimp, with or
without shells
For optional cocktail
sauce
3/4 cup chili sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
1. In a large pot, bring lemon
juice and water to a boil. Add
shrimp and boil until shrimp are
pink and curled; the time will
vary depending on the size of the
shrimp. Serve hot or cold.
2. If making a cocktail sauce,
combine chili sauce, ketchup,
horseradish, Worcestershire sauce
and lemon juice in a bowl. Serve
with shrimp.
Per serving: 183 calories; 1 g fat;
1 g saturated fat; 183 mg choles-
terol; 24 g protein; 21 g carbohy-
drate; 14 g sugar; 2 g fi ber; 1,072
mg sodium; 91 mg calcium
— Recipe by Daniel Neman
2 pounds lamb chops
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon roughly
chopped shallots
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
or rosemary leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons oil (not olive
oil), if cooking on stove
1. Place lamb chops in a fl at
dish. Put lemon juice, garlic, shal-
lots, mustard, thyme or rosemary,
olive oil and salt and pepper in a
blender and blend until smooth.
Pour marinade over both sides
of lamb and let sit at room tem-
perature for 1 hour, turning once
or twice.
2. Set up grill for direct heat or
place a large, heavy skillet over
high heat and add 2 tablespoons
oil. Cook meat, turning once or
twice, until desired doneness
(about 5 minutes total for medi-
um rare for 3/4-inch chops).
Per serving (based on 4): 413
calories; 25 g fat; 5 g saturated fat;
150 mg cholesterol; 48 g protein;
2 g carbohydrate; 5 g sugar; 2
g fi ber; 217 mg sodium; 28 mg
calcium
— Recipe by Daniel Neman
LEMON
CHICKEN
Yield: 3 to 4 servings
1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) chicken
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon roughly
chopped shallot
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
See, Lemons/Page B6
Remembering the spectacular Sacajawea Hotel
GINNY
MAMMEN
OUT AND ABOUT
I
n the early days of La Grande
more than 30 shops and busi-
nesses were located in Old
Town along C Street between
First and Third. After the rail-
road arrived in 1884 the current
Adams Avenue began to draw
some of those as well as culti-
vate new ones. Buildings began
to appear starting at the Fourth
Street end of Adams and moving
eastward year by year. These
early constructions were origi-
nally wood frame and included
private residences as well as ones
for a variety of businesses.
Looking into the 1400 block
on the south side of Adams on the
1889 Sanborn map, we fi nd a very
sparsely inhabited area. There
were at that time only three build-
ings, most likely wood frame con-
struction, located in the west third
of the block, lots 1-5. Because
these structures were not con-
structed for long-term investments
by their builders, up until 1915
various buildings and a variety of
businesses came and went in this
section of the block.
There was a fairly large home
located on lots 1 and 2 (1402-
1404) Adams in 1889. Between
1889 and 1903 that house was
removed and Baker and Smith
Fred Hill Collection
The Sacajawea Hotel opened in 1928 at the corner of Fir and Adams in downtown La Grande. The building was razed in 1971.
had a Flour & Feed store at that
location on the corner of Adams
and Fir.
By 1903 Baker and Smith
had gone out of business and
a building housing La Grande
Pawnbrokers, run by Sarah
Jacobs, had been constructed on
the corner at 1402. Sarah’s hus-
band, Peter, was a baker by trade
and between the fall of 1904 and
1910 the Jacobses moved to Cali-
fornia where Peter established his
own bakery.
By 1903 the lot next door at
1404 Adams had a fairly large
building housing a store on the
fi rst fl oor with the second fl oor
designated as a “Hall.” There was
a general merchandise store oper-
ated by M. & R. G. Cotrell located
on the south side of Adams near
Fir during that time, and this was
probably the store.
The second house in this sec-
tion of the block, located on lot
4 at 1408 Adams, was identifi ed
in both the 1889 and 1903 San-
born maps as also having a busi-
ness located in the dwelling with
a fairly large stable located at
the rear of the lot. The Sanborn
maps identifi ed it as a painting
business, but the City Direc-
tory, during this time period, had
George Ball and his carpenter
business here. It is possible that
George was both the carpenter
and the painter. By 1912 Pierce
& Johnson had their carpentry
and repair shop in this location.
In 1915 Johnson left the busi-
ness and Pierce remained in busi-
ness there for a while. Sometime
during this 1912-1915 era a Mr.
Moon had his bakery located at
1408 1/2 Adams where he adver-
tised the “Best Bread in Town.”
Lot 5 at 1410 Adams had
a “hay fl our and feed store”
located here in 1903. Bradner’s
Cream Station was in this loca-
tion in 1918.
As said earlier, this part of
Adams was not very stable.
Both buildings and businesses
came and went. But between
1925 and 1927 there were big
plans being made for this corner.
Julius Roesch was involved with
acquiring the property to build a
hotel that would rival a competitor
who was planning to construct a
hotel at the corner of Adams and
Fourth — the La Grande Hotel.
The Sacajawea Hotel, fi rst
called the Sacajawea Inn, was
under construction in 1927 and
opened on Feb. 18, 1928.
See, Mammen/Page B2