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B2 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2022
Questionable historic hot dog recipes
By NICK KINDELSPERGER
24 cooked pearl onions
1/2 pound whole button mushrooms (fresh)
2 cups brown gravy
24 small potato balls, browned in deep fat
1. Cut frankfurters into thirds and saute
in butter for about 5 minutes. Remove meat
and add shallots and garlic to fat. Simmer 2
or 3 minutes.
Chicago Tribune.
CHICAGO — Although the
Chicago-style hot dog is arguably
the greatest hot dog in the country,
for most of the 20th century, Tri-
bune reporters and recipe writers
mostly acted deeply embarrassed
about the dish.
“Americans in general and
housewives in particular are der-
elict in their duty to the hot dog,”
starts a July 6, 1961, article by
Thomas Wolfsmith. He then quotes
a German chef, Otto Schuetz, who
explains that Americans “bury” hot
dogs in buns “with no elegance,”
unlike Europeans who serve them
as a delicacy.
Schuetz recommended serving
a dish that combined asparagus,
apples, mushrooms, sliced hot dogs
and French dressing. Wolfsmith
concluded: “Thus does the hot
dog gain a place in ‘haute cuisine,’
instead of merely languishing under
mustard, relish, chopped onion, and
a bun.”
In the mid-20th century, French
food was regularly considered fan-
cier and outright better than what-
ever most Chicago restaurants were
serving. This explains an article
from March 30, 1960, titled “A
Magnifi cent Hot Dog? This One,
Prepared French Style, Is” by Mary
Meade. She wrote that chef John
Bandera from the Sheraton-Black-
stone hotel created a frankfurters
bourguignonne “in honor of a
100-year-old Chicago fi rm whose
founder, David Berg, helped
bring the hot dog to America.”
The recipe, evoking the name of
a French beef stew braised in red
wine, featured eight frankfurters
bathed in a sauce made with butter,
shallots, garlic, brown gravy and 3
cups of red wine.
Tribune writer Mary Meade also
created her own hot dog recipes
over the years, though she almost
always read like she was gritting
her teeth while doing so. An article
on June 25, 1943, by Meade begins:
“Mustard and piccalilli covered
‘red hots’ are fi ne fare for picnics
and ball games, but have you fi g-
ured on the possibilities of frank-
furters in your everyday meals?”
She then goes on to give a recipe
for frankfurters with fried rice and
tomatoes.
More than 20 years later, Meade
didn’t think much of the hot dog.
In an article from June 9, 1966, she
starts with this put-down: “A red
snapper is a delicate and delicious
fi sh. It says ‘gourmet’ to you when
you think about preparing it. That’s
not what a wiener says!” Then you
can fi nd a recipe called Barbecued
Southern Pups, where she recom-
mended covering the sausages in a
chili sauce, wrapping them in corn-
meal pastry and then baking them.
Not to pick on Meade, but she
spent an inordinate amount of time
fi guring out ways not to use hot
dog buns. On June 3, 1958, Meade
suggested making “frankfurters
in tomato rolls.” “The franks are
wrapped in yeast dough — there
are seasonings of onion juice,
cheese, parsley, and tomato juice.
Doesn’t it sound delicious?” On
May 30, 1960, she gave a recipe
for Ring-a-Rosy Hot Dogs made
by “shaping hot dogs like ham-
burgers,” so they could fi t on round
buns. To be fair, the April 2, 1971,
recipe for frankfurter and sauer-
kraut skillet sounds like something
FERTILIZER
Continued from Page B1
Since we are talking about
fertilizer, here’s a brief review
of ratios and label reading. Just
remember that the values given
are always a percentage of 100.
So a label that read N- 7%, P-
3%, K- 5%, it would have 7%
nitrogen, 3% phosphorus, and
HISTORY
Continued from Page B1
Claude was listed in the
1910 Census as a liveryman
who lived at 1426 Adams.
By 1912 he owned three
lots in that area. The 1910
Sanborn map shows his
2. Add wine and simmer to reduce liquid
to 1 cup, which will take about 8 minutes.
Add onions, mushrooms and gravy.
3. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
Chicago Tribune historical photo
Chicago’s Marion Todd, left, and Marge
Kraus were ambassadors during National
Hot Dog Month in July 1957 and toured
the nation to promote the beloved
frankfurter. Here, they posed with a
plate of 60 hot dogs, which at the time
represented what the average American
ate in a year.
4. Add cooked potatoes and frankfurters
and serve over fl uff y wild rice.
I’d enjoy.
(While she certainly had her fair
share of questionable recipes with
hot dogs, there’s an explanation for
her mercurial takes on hot dogs.
Turns out Mary Meade wasn’t a
real name. Instead, the pseudonym
was used by a succession of women
writers, a common newspaper prac-
tice at the time.)
But it’s still hard to imagine
enjoying Meade’s Supper Salad
Bowl from June 25, 1943, which
combined hot dogs with French
dressing, green pepper, cottage
cheese, grated raw turnip, raw
carrot, mayonnaise, lettuce and
coleslaw.
I’m also not sure you could
pay me to try a “frankfurter
skillet supper” (from May 15,
1964), which combines a pound
of hot dogs with green onions,
chopped green pepper, lima beans,
tomato sauce and a whole cup of
sour cream. I also would prob-
ably pass on the “franks in sour
cream sauce,” which can be found
in a July 19, 1957, post by Doris
Schacht.
Male recipe writers didn’t fare
much better. In a recipe column
genuinely called “For Men Only!,”
not to be confused with another one
titled “Wife’s night out,” Morrison
Wood called for making Creole
frankfurters. The designation is
charitably a stretch; I suppose he
got that name because of the dash
of cayenne pepper and Tabasco.
Even readers got in on the ques-
tionable hot dog action. On July 2,
1958, a reader sent in a recipe for
Hot Dog Surprises, which com-
bined 1 pound of “frankfurters,
chopped fi ne” with shredded sharp
cheese, grated hard boiled eggs,
chili sauce, pickle relish, mustard
and garlic salt. This mixture was
spread on a foil-lined baking sheet
and topped with halved buns.
Thankfully, by the 1980s,
writers and readers alike seemed to
fi nally understand that Chicago’s
best hot dog dish was staring them
right in the face the whole time.
Test out the recipes yourself.
1/2 pound frankfurters
1/2 cup French dressing
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup grated raw turnip
1 cup grated raw carrot
Mayonnaise and lettuce
Coleslaw
1. Simmer frankfurters in water for 5
minutes and cool.
FRANKFURTERS
BOURGUIGNONNE
4. Cut wieners lengthwise, almost to the
ends, but not completely through. Place
two wieners diagonally on each cornmeal
square. Place a tablespoon of barbecue
sauce in each. Fold corners of pastry over
the wieners, moistening corners and press-
ing together.
By Mary Meade, March 30, 1960
8 frankfurters
2 tablespoons butter
3 teaspoons chopped shallots,
onions or chives
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
3 cups claret or Bordeaux wine
Makes 4 servings.
SUPPER SALAD
BOWL
By Mary Meade, June 25, 1943
2. Slice frankfurters and cover with
French dressing. Let stand in refrigerator for
half-hour.
3. Combine green pepper and cottage
cheese.
4. Combine grated turnip and carrot;
moisten with mayonnaise.
5. Arrange lettuce in salad bowl. In
separate lettuce cups, arrange frankfurters,
cottage cheese, grated carrot, and turnip,
and coleslaw. Serve with mayonnaise.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
BARBECUED
SOUTHERN PUPS
By Mary Meade, June 9, 1966
10 wieners
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon chopped onion
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chili sauce
Cornmeal pastry
3/4 cup fl our
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lard
1. Make cornmeal pastry fi rst. Sift togeth-
er fl our, cornmeal and salt. Cut in lard and
add just enough water to moisten, about 3
to 4 tablespoons.
2. Turn onto a lightly fl oured surface and
roll out to about inch in thickness. Cut
into fi ve 5-inch squares.
3. Melt butter for sauce and add the
dry mustard, onion, lemon juice, brown
sugar, Worcestershire sauce and chili sauce.
Simmer 15 minutes.
5. Bake on ungreased baking sheet for 12
minutes at 425 degrees.
Makes 5 servings.
5% potassium (“K” is the Latin
abbreviation for Kalium, or
potassium). If you suspect your
garden soil is defi cient, having
a soil test done before you start
adding amendments is the best
way to know what your soil
needs are.
And as always, the Oregon
State University Extension
website has links to everything
you always wanted to know
dwelling beside a very large
feed store at 1424 Adams.
At the time of his mar-
riage, Claude had been
described as a young man
of good character, indus-
trious habits and worthy
enterprises. This followed
him to La Grande where
he ran a livery barn and
about your soil. Our local OSU
Extension offi ce does not provide
soil testing but recommends the
following two links for soil testing
information. The fi rst, https://
catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/
em8677, will take you to a listing
of laboratories that provide soil
testing (and other tests, as well),
with all their contact information
for each lab listed. The second
link — https://cropandsoil.
was active in many other
endeavors. In 1916-17 he
served as fi re chief, later
worked as a postal clerk
and by 1930 was the assis-
tant postmaster. He was
still assistant postmaster
in 1946 when Nora passed
away in April of that year.
Claude died in 1951,
SHRIMP
Continued from Page B1
That’s the part that could
have been heavy cream, but
let’s not be ridiculous. The
half-and-half made the grits
rich and creamy enough, espe-
cially once I stirred in some
sharp cheddar cheese.
The grits were remarkable
on their own, but they are only
half a dish. I wanted the other
half, the shrimp half, to be as
good as the grits.
Naturally, I started with
bacon.
I rendered a couple of slices
of diced, thick-cut bacon and
used the bacon fat to cook
minced onion, celery and
green pepper. Yes, that is a
New Orleans combination of
ingredients, not South Car-
olina, but they know how to
cook shrimp in New Orleans,
too.
Next, I tossed some shrimp
in my own mixture of celery
salt, paprika, cayenne pepper
and black pepper, and sautéed
them with the bacon-scented
vegetables.
I sprinkled it all with a
couple of tablespoons of fl our,
and stirred it to make a quick
roux. All it needed then was
more chicken stock to create
a thick and ridiculously deli-
cious sauce.
But don’t just take my
word for it. I gave some to
my shrimp-and-grits-loving
editor. She tasted it and, with
a big smile on her face, said,
“It’s perfect.”
SHRIMP AND
GRITS
Yield: 4 servings
2 1/2 cups plus 3/4 cup
chicken stock, divided
2 1/2 cups half-and-half
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/8 teaspoons black pepper, divided
1 cup grits, preferably stone-ground
3/4 cup shredded sharp
cheddar cheese
BERRIES
Continued from Page B1
Hybrids, or blackberry
crosses, produce berries with
slightly diff erent fl avors, some
more sweet or tart, most are
improvements on the original
blackberry.
• Olallieberry — a cross of
loganberry and young berry.
• Youngberry — a cross of
native Pacifi c blackberry and
dewberry.
• Loganberry — a cross
of dewberry (R. Ursinus) and
raspberry (R. idaeus). Logan-
berry is named after American
horticulturist James Harvey
Logan.
• Chehalem blackberry —
has native blackberry, Logan,
and raspberry in its genetic
makeup.
• Marionberry — cross of
Chehalem blackberry and olal-
lieberry. Developed in 1945 at
Oregon State University, the
marionberry was named after
Marion County, Oregon, and
was fi rst brought to market in
1956.
oregonstate.edu/cal/testing-your-
soil — has a video that shows soil
collection techniques as well as
other information for farmers and
gardeners. Both links allow you
to view online or download the
information. These links can be
copied into your browser for quick
access.
So Grandma is going outside
now to go play in her garden. I
hope you
but his building on Adams
Avenue stands as a tribute
to his contributions to La
Grande.
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.
2 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
1/3 cup green pepper, diced small
1/3 cup onion, diced small
1/2 cup celery, diced small
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
pepper, or to taste
1 pound shrimp, shelled
and deveined
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose fl our
1. In a large saucepan over
high heat, combine 2 1/2 cups of
the chicken stock and the half-
and-half. Add butter, salt and 1
teaspoon pepper, and bring to a
boil. Stir in grits and return to a
boil. Lower heat to a gentle simmer
and cook 40 to 50 minutes until
done, stirring frequently. Scrape
bottom of pot when stirring to
keep grits from sticking. Grits are
done when bubbles turn big, like
volcanic magma or hot mud pools,
or when they have the texture of
wet mashed potatoes. Remove
from heat. Add cheese and stir
until thoroughly combined. Cover
to keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over
medium-high heat, cook bacon until
crispy. Remove bacon pieces with
a spoon and reserve, leaving bacon
grease in pan. Add green pepper,
onion and celery to the pan and
sauté until onion is translucent, about
3 minutes.
3. Combine celery salt, paprika,
cayenne and remaining 1/8 teaspoon
black pepper in a small bowl, and
sprinkle over shrimp; toss until evenly
coated. Add shrimp and vegetable
oil to pan and sauté until shrimp is
nearly pink and curled. Sprinkle with
fl our and cook, stirring constantly, for
2 minutes. Add remaining 3/4 cup
chicken stock and cook, stirring, until
liquid thickens.
4. To serve, spoon shrimp and
sauce over grits, and top with re-
served crispy bacon.
Per serving: 774 calories; 42 g fat;
24 g saturated fat; 290 g cholesterol;
44 g protein; 55 g carbohydrate; 11
g sugar; 3 g fi ber; 1,355 mg sodium;
433 mg calcium
— Recipe by Daniel Neman
• Boysenberry — nearly
identical to Marionberries,
but are composed of larger
drupelettes that are big on
fl avor. They are sweet at fi rst,
but have a distinctive earthy
undertone which distinguishes
them from other blackberry
varieties.
• Tayberry — takes its
name from the river Tay in
Scotland.
Garden Chores for June-
July
• Trees and shrubs can still
be fertilized before July.
• Apply organic mulches as
soil warms. This will retain
moisture.
• Check soil moisture daily
in hot weather.
• Mow lawns frequently
enough to remove no more
than 1/3 the total height per
mowing.
• Water turf grass as needed
to prevent drought stress.
Enjoy the warm weather
and happy gardening! Thanks
for reading.
█
Wendy Schmidt is a longtime gardener.
She lives in La Grande.
like playing in your dirt as much
as I like mine. Enjoy our warm
weather!
█
Jennie Hagen is a native Oregonian who
has spent 40 years gardening east of the
Cascades. She is a member of the Garden
Writers Association and has previously
written for the Home & Garden section
of The Oregonian, and for the La Grande
Observer, the Baker City Herald, and the
Burns Times Herald.
M ICHAEL
541-786-8463
M. Curtiss PN-7077A CCB# 183649
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