Growing up in Southern California in the 1960’s and ‘70’s I got to enjoy a lot of fun theme restaurants. They were somehow an extension of Hollywood and the era that ushered in Disneyland and many other area theme parks of that day. A few remain, but many have been shuttered over the years to make way for malls, freeways and most importantly housing developments as human encroachment took over the land of my birth. We had sunshine and great weather till the people came, then we had traffic, smog, inflated real estate prices and lots of other problems.
One of the few remaining theme restaurants is Clearman’s Northwood’s Inn in Covina. They also have sites in La Mirada and San Gabriel, but mine was in Covina. Opening in the height of LA fun and fancy in 1958 they still manage to draw crowds.
When you drive up on a hot southern California day, your eyes deceive you, it looks like a snow covered Alaskan log lodge. As you step into a North Woods Inn, you’ll slowly pull open a heavy wooden door and peer into a dimly lit and richly decorated room of rustic log walls, massive taxidermied bears, jewel-toned stained glass, sawdust-strewn floors and eccentric hunting-lodge kitsch. The signs tell you to “Please throw peanut shells on floor.”
You must arrive hungry. Entrees include all you can eat of two salads, recipes below, their famous garlic cheese bread, rice pilaf, a one pound baked potato with cheese, butter, sour cream and mushroom gravy. And then there are the huge steaks!
So over the years I had to recreate the recipes since I moved thousands of miles away from these favorite salads and cheeese bread! Here are my takes on them. Some people mix the buttermilk blue cheese on iceberg with the red cabbage salad, but I like to use the red cabbage as a palate cleanser. The cheese bread is my favorite and I think it is also like the bread at a long gone nearby establishment The Trails.
The Red Cabbage Salad
The Northwoods Inn Red Cabbage Salad
1/2 cup . red wine vinegar 4 T. sugar 3 tsp. kosher salt 2 tsp. seasoned salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 1/4 TBS. grated onion 1/2 cup olive oil
1 head red cabbage, coarsely shredded
Whisk together vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and onion until sugar and salt are completely dissolved. Whisk in oil. Dressing can be made ahead and stored in fridge. Bring to room temp before using. Pour over cabbage, toss well and let sit 10-15 minutes. Toss again and serve.
The Best Cheese Bread Ever
Clearman’S Northwoods Inn – Cheese Spread
In a food proccessor add:
1/2 ts dry mustard 1/2 ts celery salt 2 ts garlic salt & 6 garlic cloves 3 tb plus 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 2 ts tabasco 1 ts paprika 1 lb butter 1 lb cheddar cheese – grated finely 3 oz romano cheese, grated Mix until well blended. Refrigerate
Put onto sourdough bread, place under broiler until lightly toasted.
Keeps 6 weeks in fridge, can be frozen
The Clearman’s Blue Cheese Dressing
They serve this on Iceberg, but I prefer it on butter lettuce
· 1 cup buttermilk · 1 cup sour cream · 3 cloves garlic · 1/8 tsp sugar · 1 tablespoon Hungarian sweet paprika · 1 teaspoon salt · 6 tablespoons blue cheese PREPARATION: In a food processor combine buttermilk, sour cream, garlic, sugar, paprika, and salt. Blend until smooth. Add blue cheese, and pulse quickly once or twice. Do not blend. You want small chunks of blue cheese.
Refrigerate 4 hours or more before serving to let flavors blend.
Yield: About 1-1/3 cups
Another one of Mr Clearman’s fantastic establisments farther West in Cucamonga, now Rancho Cucamonga still stands, The Magic Lamp Inn.
This recipe is adapted from my friends Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbourough’s podcast, Cooking With Bruce and Mark. They are a fabulously talented couple, married for many years. They are endowed with both humor and cooking talent among many other things. Bruce is the chef and Mark is the writer. Together they are a team that has produced many best selling cookbooks and a great podcast. I suggest you subscribe to it. Bruce and Mark adapted the recipe from the book All Under Heaven by Carolyn Phillips.
These wings are perfect for your Superbowl party, or just for a fun diner with a kick. You can adjust the heat by adding more chiles or leaving the seeds in some of the chiles. A wok or large skillet will work for this.
Ingredients:
24 chicken wings, divided by cutting the drumette from the winglets and discarding the “flipper”
1/2 cup of cornstarch
4 cups of peanut oil
8 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
3 scallions finely sliced (green and white parts)
2″ of ginger, peeled and finely chopped.
20 (or more) Japones dried chiles, stemmed and seeded
3/4 cup plain rice vinegar
7 TBS sugar (I used Indian Jaggery, grated)
3 TBS “regular” soy sauce. If you are buying it in an Asian grocery this is called “light” soy as opposed to the darker, thicker soy.
2 tsp crushed Szechuan peppercorns, lightly toasted and crushed in a mortar and pestle
Method:
In a zip lock bag, toss the chicken wings in the corn starch and place on a rack to go into the refrigerator over night or for 12 hours. This sufficiently dries out the chicken and makes it crisp up perfectly.
When ready to assemble, heat the oil in a wok to 375 and fry the wings in small batches so that you are not over crowding. You can use a fat thermometer to assure even heat.
Remove the wings to a rack to drain.
Pour and strain the oil into another container.
In the wok, add aromatics: ginger, garlic and chiles. Stir fry briefly.
Add the soy, rice vinegar and sugar, stirring while cooking
When fully incorporated add the wings and stir to coat
Ever since I saw Craig Deihl’s post on Facebook, showing his house made mortadella at Artisian Meat Share, I have been looking forward to trying it. I am inspired by Chef Ken Vedrinski’s (Tratoria Lucca) Ricotta Gnudi with Mortadella Polpetti (little meatballs). Tratoria Lucca is one of my favorite Charleston restaurants and the reason is Ken Vedrinkski. He is a hands on chef owner who absorbs himself in his cuisine in a way that most chefs simply do not hold a candle to. He sources many Italian delicacies on his frequent trips across the Atlantic, finding the most special olive oils, wines and cheeses to bring back to Charleston. He also has special relationships with fishermen, ranchers and farmers who bring their goods to the back door of his restaurant.
Gnudi are gnocchi-like dumplings made with ricotta cheese instead of potato, with very little or no flour. The result is often a lighter, “pillowy” dish, unlike the often denser, more chewy gnocchi.
There are three elements to this meal, they come together in a perfect symphony of flavor and texture.
Tomato Sugo Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1 generous pinch crushed red pepper
8 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and crushed
10-12 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup of butter
Salt to taste
Method:
Place olive oil in a pot over medium heat.
Add garlic and chili flakes
Saute 2-3 minutes
Add tomatoes and butter, blend well and add salt to taste
Reduce heat, cover and simmer about 30 minutes. Remove from heat.
Mortadella Polpetti Ingredients:
4 slices of day-old ciabatta, crust removed
2 cups milk
5 ounces ground pork
5 ounces ground mortadella (if you cannot find it, then use good quality bologna and finely chopped pistachios along with some black pepper)
1/4 cup porcini powder
1 large egg
1 cup ground Parmesan
3 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
Method:
Soak cubes in milk for 5 minutes,then squeeze dry.
In a large bowl add remaining ingredients until well combined. Cover bowl, then refrigerate 1 hour.
Form Polpeti into 1 inch balls.
45 minutes before serving time, add the polpetti to the sauce and put on a simmer burner at very low temp.
Gnudi Ingredients:
16 ounces good quality fresh ricotta
5 ounces microplaned Locatelli Pecorino Cheese
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2/3 cup 00 flour (available at Italian specialty stores or online), plus more for dusting.
Gnudi Method:
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl till a dough forms. Be gentle when mixing. cover bowl and chill for 1 hour
Dust the bottom of a sheet pan with flour.
Place dough on a floured work surface and roll into a 1 1/4 inch diameter log. cut on the bias into one inch pieces.Place on the floured surface
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil
Shake extra flour from gnudi. gently place in the pot cooked till cooked through. Put in a bowl and toss with the sauce.
Many people have heard of Husk. It is a terrific restaurant here in Charleston. Chef Sean Brock is at the helm. Last year they also opened a Husk Nashville location. Sean has a passion for all things southern and everything at Husk is made from southern ingredients. At a lunch there I tasted their signature Kentuckyaki Chicken Wings. They utilize a sauce made by Bourbon Barrell Foods called Kentuckyaki Sauce. The sauce is basically a kicked up teriyaki sauce made with southern ingredients (except for maybe the ginger). Since I did not have the sauce on hand and I wanted to try these wings for Superbowl… I checked the ingredients for the sauce on the Bourbon Barrell website and deduced that I have access to all of the ingredients to the sauce … so I did a dump and taste version of the sauce and here are the ending results:
Sauce Ingredients:
2 Cups Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Sorghum
1/2 cup local honey
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
8 cloves Fresh Garlic very finely grated
a 2″ piece of Fresh Ginger very finely grated
1 cup of Kentucky Bourbon divided in 1/2 cup portions
Add all ingredients except the final 1/2 cup of bourbon and simmer on medium low heat for 30 minutes. Add the second 1/2 cup of bourbon and simmer for five minutes. Allow to cool completely. This the basic sauce, which is quite thin and can be used if you want to make more of a glaze, you can add a cornstarch slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons of water. Add to the sauce and simmer further till thickened.
Prepping the wings:
Brine:
Make a gallon of sweet tea using mint just as you would for drinking (1 cup of sugar to 4 qts. water and 2 ounces of loose leaf tea). I add several sprigs of mint in mine too. I also added some juniper berries and about 1/3 cup of sea salt. Put the wings in a heavy duty ziplock bag or plastic container and refrigerate overnight, or up to 24 hours.
Smoke:
Remove the wings from the brine and dry off with paper towels. Put them in a smoker for 3 hours on very low heat. You only want a small amount of smoke and you want the wings to retain moisture.
Fry:
Fry the wings in peanut oil (350 degrees) and drain. It is best to do this in small batches so that the oil maintains temperature. It should not go below 225 degrees. Drain the wings on a rack and then keep warm in the oven as you are frying.
Presentation:
Toss the wings in the sauce and place on a platter. Scatter sesame seeds and chopped chives on the wings. Enjoy!
These also go great with my North Carolina style coleslaw!
Bon Appetit hailed it as the Best New Restaurant in the US…. accolades have been streaming ever since. It is not all hype, the food is amazing, creative and interesting. Husk is the love child of James Beard Award-winning Chef Sean Brock of McCrady’s and the Neighborhood Dining Group. Since opening Husk in Charleston he opened another outpost of Southern ingredients in Nashville. He recently opened Minero, a taqueria in the high rent district of downtown Charleston. There is word that he is also taking that concept to Atlanta where the Neighborhood Dining Group is headquartered. He transforms the essence of Southern food over and over again. Solid… delicious… promising. Sean is dedicated to bringing back old Southern grains, beans, greens and other treasures that were all but lost. He is the champion of the old non-gmo crops that were grown 200 years ago in the south. His food reflects that without being obvious. It is just delicious food, and then you learn its history and all of the work that went into bringing it to the table.
Led by Brock and Chef de Cuisine Travis Grimes, a Lowcountry native, the kitchen reinterprets the bounty of the surrounding area, exploring an ingredient-driven cuisine that begins in the rediscovery of heirloom products and redefines what it means to cook and eat in Charleston.
Starting with a larder of ingredients indigenous to the South, and set within a building complex dating to the late 19th century, Brock crafts menus throughout the day, responding to what local purveyors are supplying the kitchen at any given moment. The entrance beckons with a rustic wall of firewood to fuel the wood-fired oven and a large chalkboard listing artisanal products currently provisioning the kitchen, but like the décor that inhabits the historic building, the food is modern in style and interpretation.
At Husk there are some rules about what can go on the plate. “If it doesn’t come from the South, it’s not coming through the door,” says Brock, who has even stricken olive oil from the kitchen. As he explains, the resulting cuisine “is not about rediscovering Southern cooking, but exploring the reality of Southern food.” This modern approach results in playful dishes such as Deviled Eggs with Pickled Okra and Trout Roe, and new classics like South Carolina Shrimp and Choppee Okra Stew with Carolina Gold Rice and Flowering Basil.
Seed-saving, heirloom husbandry, and in-house pickling and charcuterie efforts by the culinary team are the basis of the cuisine at Husk. The restaurant is as casual as it is chic, evoking a way of life centered on seasonality and the grand traditions of Charleston life—one lived at a slower pace, preferably with a cocktail and a wide porch in the late afternoon. It is a neighborhood gathering place for friends, and a destination dining spot for travelers, with a little bite of the South for everyone’s palates.
These photos are from my lunch there with Nathalie Dupree and Holly Herrick, two Charleston based friends of mine than rank in the upper echelons of Food Writers. And so we were treated to many things that we did not order. On of the most amazing things that day was totally unexpected, the fried chicken skin with honey and hot sauce. It is a dish I have reconstructed at home a few times. I also reconstructed Husk’s Sweet Tea Brined Kentuckyaki Chicken Wings and you can get the recipe here.
These are one of my favorite fall/winter breakfast dishes…. each bite bursts with flavor and they are full of antioxidants too. As soon as my pomegranates are ripe I start making things from them and this is just one of many things I like to do with them. I sometimes make them with sourdough starter, but you can also use buttermilk and flour as I give instructions for here. I use good Vermont Maple Syrup on the side. You can change out the fruit, but I really think this is an amazing combination. Bacon on the side is a perfect compliment. Bring on the Mimosas!
Ingredients:
2 cups self rising flour (White Lily preferred)
2/3 to 1 cup of buttermilk
pinch of salt
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1 cup of blueberries
1 cup of pomegranate
Method:
Using a stand mixer blend together all but the fruit. You want a fairly thin consistency, but not as thin as crepe batter. Add more buttermilk or flour as needed. Make a plain test pancake first, it should be about 1/3 of an inch thick.
Preheat a griddle and wipe a used butter wrapper on the griddle
Test heat by dropping a drop of water on it, it should immediately bounce.
Pour two pancakes at a time unless you have a double size griddle.
As soon as you have poured them on to the griddle, generously drop berries and pomegranate all over the top of the pancakes.
When the pancakes start to have air bubbles, it is time to flip.
Continue cooking till the bottom of the pancake is golden. You can lift the edge to check. This should take 1-2 minutes.
There is nothing like a Banh Mi Sandwich! There are so many flavors and textures going on between the baguette. There are many ways to make this sandwich, in fact, my friend Andrea Nguyen has written an entire book on the subject!
For each sandwich:
1 petite baguette roll or part of a longer baguette
Mayonnaise (I use Duke’s)
Maggi Sauce (available at Hispanic and Asian groceries)
Char Su (this is Asian style pork belly) or BBQ chicken, pate’ or slices of rare steak
3 or 4 thin seeded cucumber strips, pickling or English variety preferred
2 or 3 cilantro sprigs, roughly chopped
3 or 4 thin jalapeño pepper slices
Bean sprouts
Daikon and Carrot Pickle (Do Chua)
Slit the bread lengthwise, and then use a fork to pull out some of the bread, making a trough in both halves. Place the bread halves under the broiler on LOW, but watch carefully!
Generously spread the inside with mayonnaise. Drizzle in some Maggi Seasoning sauce or soy sauce. layer the remaining ingredients. I like to start and end with some herbs.
Daikon and Carrot Pickle (Do Cha)
Makes about 3 cups
Ingredients:
1 large carrot, peeled
1 pound daikons, peeled
teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons and 1/2 cup sugar in the raw or grated jaggery
1 1/4 cups distilled white vinegar
1 cup lukewarm water
Method:
Either cut the carrot and daikon into julienne or use a spiral cutter to cut them. Place the carrot and daikons in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt and 2 teaspoons of the sugar. Use your hands to knead the vegetables for about 3 minutes, expelling the water from them. They will soften and liquid will pool at the bottom of the bowl.
Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water, then press gently. Return the carrot and daikon to the bowl.
To make the brine, in a bowl, combine the 1/2 cup sugar, the vinegar, and the water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Pour over the carrot and daikon. The brine should cover the vegetables. Let the vegetables marinate in the brine for at least 1 hour before eating. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. It is not traditional, but I like to add some dried red chile flakes too.
As Fall starts bringing us cooler weather, I start thinking of these hearty dishes from my youth (a very long time ago). My mother made Beef Stroganoff with Cream of Mushroom soup, dried reconstituted onions and anything else processed she could get her hands on. It was the age of processed foods, I really don’t blame her. My great grandmother (who was my true inspiration for cooking and gardening) on the other hand was a “scratch cook,” nothing processed and everything full fat and delicious. She was raised on an Indiana farm and spent her first 60 years there. Then they sold the farm and moved to Glendora, California where I spent almost every weekend with her till I was 14. I never saw her use a recipe and Beef Stroganoff was probably her most exotic meal. I added a few of my personal touches to this, she never used smoked paprika and I don’t think she ever used buffalo or sherry. She made her noodles from scratch and we would roll them out with the same old rolling pin I use today. This is an easy recipe and you can take out some of the fat by using milk where I used cream and if you really want to you can use low fat sour cream or yogurt…. but I suggest that you try it this way first. It is a “splurge meal.”
Ingredients:
About 1 pound of beef, you can use sliced sirloin, ground beef or ground buffalo like I did.
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 # of crimini mushrooms (baby bella) sliced. Wild mushrooms would be great in this!
3 shallots or 1 sweet onion diced
1/4 cup glace (reduced beef stock (you can make this or buy it. Make it by reducing down 4 cups of beef stock to 1/4 cup)
5 cloves of garlic finely minced
1 Tablespoon Smoked Sweet Paprika
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of flour
2 cups cream or milk (I used cream)
1/4 cup sherry
1/2 of a nutmeg grated (about a teaspoon)
1 cup sour cream
Egg noodles cooked and buttered with 2 tablespoons of butter and 3 TBS fresh minced parsley
Method:
In a large saute pan or wok add beef and olive oil and start to brown
When the meat starts to brown add the onions & mushrooms till slightly golden
Clear a hot spot in the pan and add garlic, stir in
Add the glace and paprika then put on a very low simmer.
Make the cream sauce:
In a 4 qt sauce pan, melt the butter and then stir in the flour with a whisk
Add the cream/milk and heat as it thickens
Add the Sherry & Nutmeg and stir again.
We are ready for STROGANOFF! Pour the cream sauce into the pan with the beef and mushrooms. Heat till almost bubbling, then add the sour cream and stir till the sauce is all one color. Remove from heat. Serve over the noodles with chopped fresh herbs. Parsley, chervil or thyme all go well with this. I served it with roasted Brussels sprouts and Vidalia onions. This serves 4 we had leftovers for two nights.
This is one of the most delicious recipes and the meat can be used in so many ways after the original meal. You can make pulled pork and porcini gravy over grits/polenta, pulled pork sandwiches with BBQ sauce, tacos, as a topping for fresh pasta, empanadas, tostados and tamales among other things. The spices in the porchetta filling are distinctly Latin and permeate the meat along with the smoke. Keep in mind that “Latin” includes Italy as well as Latin America. If you do not have a smoker, you can get the flavor by Braising the butt with liquid smoke and beer in a slow cooker or oven before you add the bourbon and do the second braise.
I have not posted in several weeks. I had a knee injury that kept me from doing a lot of cooking. It is getting better or at least the cortisone injection is making it feel that way. It is good to be able to stand for more than a few minutes again. Meanwhile the Low Country is in it’s early summer glory after we suffered through an unusual plant killing winter. It is so great to see green and blooms again.
Smoked Butt Porchetta Style
Ingredients:
A large, well marbled pork butt (shoulder) with the fat on one side. Bone in is fine.
1 large bunch of flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup cumin seeds
1/2 cup fennel seeds
1/2 cup corriander seeds
12 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
1 Cup of Bourbon for braising
Method:
Put the seeds in a dry non stick pan and toast till you start to hear them pop. Remove and allow to cool
In a food processor place the parsley, garlic, cooled seeds and a drizzle of olive oil. Pulse till a thick paste is developed. You may need to add more oil to make a paste.
Place one inch deep and wide slits all around the meat about 1″ apart.
Fill each slit with the paste. If there is any paste left, rub it all over the meat.
Place the butt fat side up in the smoker on lowest temperature. I used apple wood this time, but I often use maple or cherry.
Smoke for 8 hours do not let the heat get higher than 250.
Remove to a dutch oven or slow cooker pour the bourbon over the meat and cover. Bake on lowest temperature the oven will go to for another 8 hours or if using a crock pot, leave the lid slightly ajar. Cook on low for 10 hours.
I made a gravy using porcini mushrooms the drippings from the meat (removed fat by chilling) and some cornstarch. For the first meal I served it with polenta/grits and it was delicious. Then on the next day we had pulled pork sandwiches and a few days later, we are having pulled pork tacos!
The Sassy Spoon: Fun Food! 