A Well-Deserved Lunch at The Lunch Box.

With a to-do list of eight items, Roy and I were at work at 9am.  At work at our home that is.  The sky was dark, the wind steadily rising, and weather reports foretold rain and 40 F will be a nightly thing.  Also, seems that this year, our first snow will supposedly hit on October 1^st.  So, time to get off our butts, make minor repairs, and winterize.

By 2pm, we had almost all of the list ticked off; two plumbing issues need additional parts and honestly, we did not want to deal with it anymore this weekend.  I had promised Roy that, if we got 80 percent of the list done, we’d splurge and have lunch out.  Mission accomplished, and we headed out to Dove Creek.

Once again, The Lunch Box is a friendly, welcoming restaurant and what we appreciate most is that we are remembered, and our business is just as appreciated as we are personally.  I can count, on one hand, the number of restaurants that treat us like this also, and they will assuredly get our business time after time.

 

So, what was lunch this time?  I had the DC Club Sandwich which had roasted turkey and ham (real turkey and ham, not any of that cold cut crap from plastic packages), tomatoes, red onions, lettuce, Hatch green chile mayo (just a little heat on the tip of the tongue, and went very well with the other ingredients), and grilled sourdough bread.  When this monster was served, I almost fainted…how was I going to eat this!  The sandwich width was 3 and ½-inches thick.  I measured how wide I could open my mouth, and no matter how much I stretched, it was only 2-inches wide.  Pressing the sandwich down a bit, had to be careful that the innards wouldn’t come shooting out the sides of the bread.  This sandwich was amazing in size, taste and overall enjoyment; only could eat one half, so the rest was a leftover for dinner time.

As a side, I ordered the sweet potato fries; crispy on the outside, so very moist and fluffy on the inside. 

 

Roy ordered the Chili Cheese Burger with shoestring fries; house made chili using the pinto beans they purchase locally in Dove Creek.  The burger was smothered in the chili, chopped tomatoes and shredded cheese.  I tasted a sample and this would be perfect on a cold, snowy day to help warm up the body; heck, just having a bowl of that chili will do that too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Facebook, Joshua, the owner, had posted a photo of the house made biscuits, and I asked him to save me a couple.  Besides them, I ordered a cup of the Pork Green Chili to pair with the biscuits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

See, Saturday is also our weekly “date night”.  We put on a movie, dating anywhere from the 1930s to the 1980s.  To go with the movie, I usually cook up a pizza, or buffalo wings with hand-cut fries.  Sometimes we order take-out to give me a break from cooking.  Well tonight we’ll be enjoying the other half of the DC Club Sandwich, biscuits and Pork Green Chili.

Mary Cokenour

Recreating Mormon Sweets from Yesteryear.

The inspiration to go through various cookbooks, dedicated to Utah, was once again due to autumn knocking at the door. Typically, we wait to see if woolly caterpillars will give us any hints as to what kind of winter will be around the corner.  If a few, not too much snow; if an abundance, better make sure the pantry is filled with all our necessities.  This year though, no woolly caterpillars have made an appearance, and that was definitely a first for us.

However, we have noticed something new; those pesky paper wasps have been trying to build hives inside our sheds suddenly.  Then there is the outdoor clowder of cats, and they too have been doing a new behavior; hoarding dry food inside corners of their kitty condos.  Gut instinct is telling us to watch and learn from this, and we believe it is going to be a very snowy winter.

So, back to the pantry and an inventory of what we have, what we are low on, or anything new we wanted to add for more variety.  There was the local farmers’ market to pick up freshly made jams and jellies; and a variety of vegetables for drying and freezing.  For apples, I had already processed several pounds worth into pie filling or dehydrated slices for snacking, or rehydrating for other uses.  Applesauce and apple butter though I purchased as I do have my limitations.

Then the idea struck me, “What did those pioneers from the 1800s do to prep for winter?”  Oh, I have a couple of books for that information, but I wanted to know even more.  So, to the internet I went and found another book I had not seen before.  It was written by Winnifred C. Jardine, and when it came to writing about food, she and I had a little bit in common.  I say little bit as I began writing this food column, for the San Juan Record, in January 2015, so for nine years and nine months.  Time does fly when having fun, and it has been a thrill ride of learning about Pioneer, Native American and Mexican recipes.  I have also enjoyed introducing readers to cooking styles throughout the United States, and cuisines from around the world.

As for Winnifred C. Jardine, she joined the Deseret News in 1948 to help with a "Pioneer Recipes" contest and cookbook as part of the News' centennial celebration. When the food editor position came open the next year, she agreed to do it if she could work from home (gee, just like I do).  She ended up being the food editor of the Deseret News for 36 years.  Besides being the food editor, she wrote three cookbooks, “A Melting Pot of Pioneer Recipes,” for The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (1972), “Mormon Country Cooking” (1980), and “Managing Your Meals” (1987).

Luckily, I could find a reprint of many of the recipes from “A Melting Pot of Pioneer Recipes”, and two seemed to fit the theme of using food items that were prepped for use later on.  While the first pioneers to reach Utah, in 1847, had only what they could carry in carts; they knew that it was very important to begin gardening, gathering, harvesting and storing.  As the months passed, many others came to Utah bringing supplies, but not prepared for a harsh winter.

Quote: “While the first few companies of pioneers were comprised mostly of New Englanders, other states were sparsely represented, as were Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, Scandinavia, Germany, and even Spain and Australia. Within the next five years thousands more from other European countries poured into Zion. And with them came their favorite national recipes.”

Swedish Jam Cake and Apple Candy were two recipes I chose from the reprinted selection.  Now, the thing with older recipes is, trying to make sense of the ingredient list and the preparation instructions.  What the author might have just copied without thinking about it, or took for granted that anyone would make sense of it, is just not so.  For example, while the ingredient list does state “3 eggs, separated”, the instruction to beat the egg whites is not in there.  Oh, a last-minute instruction is “Fold in beaten egg whites”, but how much beaten?  Just till clear and foamy, or until stiff peaks form?  Since the method to add them was “folding”, my experience told me stiff peaks, but a beginner might not know that.

This cake, after baking, is similar to a spice cake, and has a hint of strawberry with each bite.  The cake is also extremely moist, so while the first piece was eaten with a dollop of whipped cream; afterwards, it just was a hindrance to the flavor of the cake.  By the way, if you do not want to purchase buttermilk, simply add one tablespoon of white vinegar to one cup of milk; wait 15 minutes and you have perfect soured and tangy milk for the cake.

The Apple Candy was a huge surprise as it is basically apple flavored Turkish Delight.  To make Turkish Delight, water and cornstarch are boiled with the sugar, while the apple candy uses unflavored gelatin (Yes, they still make Knox gelatin).  The only issue I had was the pan size, it is not stated; a 10” x 6” loaf pan makes the mixture too thick, but an 8” x 8” square pan is just right.  After placing the boiled mixture, overnight, in the refrigerator, the next day was cutting into 8 strips across, 8 strips down for a total of 64 pieces.  Yes, if you would like larger sized squares, cut a lesser number of equal strips.

I let Roy try the first square and he exclaimed, “You made Turkish Delight!”; so, I tried a piece and he was so right.

 

Swedish Jam Cake

 Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs, separated (beat egg whites to stiff peaks)

Pinch salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

2 and 1/2 cups sifted flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. allspice

1 cup strawberry jam

Cream butter and sugar; add beaten egg yolks and salt. Dissolve soda in buttermilk. Sift together flour and spices and add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, adding flour last. Beat well and add jam. Fold in beaten egg whites. Bake in greased and floured 8x8-inch pan at 375° F. for 30 to 35 minutes.

 

Apple Candy

 Ingredients:

2 tablespoons gelatin (2 (.25 oz.) packets)

1 and 1/4 cups cold applesauce

2 cups sugar

1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, pistachios or combo are best)

1 Tbsp. vanilla

Soak gelatin in 1/2 cup cold applesauce for 10 minutes. Combine remaining applesauce and sugar and boil 10 minutes. Add gelatin and applesauce mixture and boil 15 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add nuts and vanilla, and pour into slightly greased pan (8” x 8”). Let set overnight in refrigerator. Then cut in squares and roll in powdered sugar.

Mary Cokenour

 

 

 

   

Dove Creek Welcomes Back “The Lunch Box”.

The Lunch Box

330 US – 491

Dove Creek, CO., 81324

Phone: 970-512-0300

Hours of Operation: Mon – Sat, 8am to 8pm; Sun, 11am to 4pm

 

 

Patio Dining Area

1987, a year dedicated to Michael Jackson being “Bad”, Whitney Houston wanting to dance with somebody, “The Lost Boys” being found and staked, and most historically, Ronald Reagan’s visit to West Berlin, and his famous speech, imploring The USSR’s leader, Mikhail Gorbachev to open the Berlin Wall.  Sorry, cannot resist this side note, but I was a university exchange student in 1979, and we had a guided tour of East Berlin, inside the wall area, and a guard in a turret actually turned his machine gun in our direction.  It was a horrible place just to visit, so imagine trying to live in its confines.

Anyway, while the world was experiencing what I have mentioned, and so much more, Paul Davis, of Dove Creek, Colorado, opened up his small diner, called simply “The Lunch Box”.  Little did he know that it would become an iconic part of Dove Creek’s history.  In 1995, Shelly King purchased the diner, and decided expansion was surely needed. At that time, Highway 491 was known as Highway 666, aka The Haunted Highway, so interest in this brought many a visitor inside the, now, full-service restaurant.  Unfortunately, due to illness, Shelly needed to sell his beloved Lunch Box in 2007, which became The Dinner Bell, and eventually DC Rack Haus.

Grandpa Shelly King

 

In 2023, the restaurant was up for sale once again and fate had a hand in this.  Joshua Robinson, Shelly King’s grandson, had moved from California (born and raised, but his family does have deep New York metropolitan roots) to Monticello.  Fate was knocking at his door and Joshua answered quickly, purchasing in October and wanting a grand opening as soon as possible.  He did not anticipate how much work needed to be done, but November 20^th was the grand day.  This was not just taking on, and continuing, the legacy of grandpa Shelly, this was an act of love for family history.  At six years old, Shelly began teaching Joshua the food business by allowing him to flip burgers in Shelly’s food truck.  For 18 years, Joshua worked in the food industry, but wanted a restaurant of his own due to his grandpa’s influence.

I will be adding tidbits of history in the rest of this article, but I must get to the food; the absolutely most delicious menu items we tried out.  There are three menus: breakfast, lunch/dinner and children’s.  There is so much variety, but here are the favorites: Breakfast – Breakfast Burrito, Country Fried Steak with green chili, Hatch Breakfast Sandwich; Lunch/Dinner – Country Fried Steak (choice of creamy country gravy or green chili), Fried Chicken Sandwich, Patty Melt, Cheeseburger, Hatch Cheeseburger, Chef or Greek Salad.  Now this list is only of local favorites, but there is so much more!  Oh, make sure you are very hungry, and want to take home leftovers; the portions are huge and at very reasonable prices.  Shelly always taught, “Good food + Huge portions + Great prices = Customers continue to come back.”

 

Children's Menu

 

Breakfast Menu

 

 

Lunch-Dinner Menu, Page 2

Lunch-Dinner Menu, Page 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting The Lunch Box gave me a day off from cooking, so we purchased four dishes to feed us throughout lunch and dinner.  First is Roy’s favorite sandwich, the patty melt, but this was no ordinary patty melt, it was a double (yes, you can order a single).  Two all-beef patties, smothered in a rich and tangy Swiss and white American cheese blend, grilled onions between toasted marble rye bread.  A comfort food addict’s dream sandwich.

 

 

 

The country fried steak was so amazing, I actually woke up during the night craving another platter of it.  This is Angus beef, fresh not frozen, trimmed and cut down on premises.  The coating is so crunchy good, any bits that fall off are quickly picked up and devoured.  Several times it was, slap Roy’s hand, and “this is mine, get your own!”.  It comes with a serving of crispy outside, fluffy inside shoestring fries and green beans.  Oh, but not our average, just picked out of the garden beans.  No, these are Haricots Verts, a French style green bean which contains more vitamins of the B group, vitamins C and K and minerals such as magnesium, iron and manganese.  The country gravy is creamy, smooth with a hint of cracked black pepper, so as to not overwhelm.

 

Dirty Fries are loaded nachos, but using shoestring fries instead of standard tortilla chips.  The toppings are green chili, cowboy beans, green onions, cilantro, cheddar cheese and sour cream.  The pinto beans are purchased locally in Dove Creek and cooked up fresh in-house; pork shoulder is used for the green chili as it is more tender after roasting.  Let me tell you that a bowl of that green chili with pork, plus fry bread, would make a complete meal in itself.  However, while grandpa Shelly did make his own fry bread, that is not an option nowadays.  But hey, get some fluffy housemade biscuits instead!

 

 

 

 

Pork Green Chili and Country Gravy.

 

A huge condiment selection at every table.

 

But I digress, the Greek salad came loaded with Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, black olives, roasted chicken, red onions, pepperoncini, feta cheese and the creamiest, smoothest dressing.  Every bite was a new taste sensation due to the ingredient combinations the fork picked up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roy and I are so looking forward to going back and trying out many of the other menu items, like the burgers (1/4 lb. pounders).  One of the waitresses walked by carrying a cheeseburger plate; the burger was actually sitting out the sides of the bun and about an inch thick.  My eyes popped, and you know no one was doing a 1980’s, “Where’s the beef?”, yell.

 

Speaking of the wait staff, the second you walk in, you are greeted with a welcoming and friendly, “Come on in, and sit anywhere you like”.  Joshua opened up the building to make it roomier, airier and the sunlight allowed to brighten up every corner. We sat at the “Grandpa Shelly Memorial Table”, and felt honored, and yet also felt like he was there to make sure we were happy.  The staff are very attentive; depending on experience, they start at the bottom and are trained in every skill needed in a restaurant.  That way, there is always someone to step in when a staff member needs off.

 

So, if you want really good, I mean really good food, welcoming and comfortable atmosphere, a staff who cares about your needs, then you must go to The Lunch Box. If you want to hear more in-depth history, Joshua Robinson will not be shy about pulling up a chair and happily chat with you.

Mary Cokenour

 

 

Saddlebags That Are Meant for Eating.

One of the best decisions we have made, about entertainment, is to get rid of DISH, and switch to using an Amazon Firestick.  Besides Prime, there are a slew of streaming options that are free for watching like Tubi and Plex.  Oh sure, you have to watch some ads, or pay for the privilege of ad-free (we do not), but they are mainly for products sold on Amazon.  Favorites can be added to lists, and watched any day, any time, at our convenience. 

While watching old episodes of “Man vs. Food”, on Prime, Adam Richman was at The Buff Restaurant of Boulder, Colorado. One of their specialty items was a breakfast called "Saddlebag Pancakes". Two giant pancakes, one with sausage, one with bacon; big deal you say? The meat was inside the pancakes, not on the side; every forkful was a mixture of meat and pancake without having to root around on the plate.

Not being able to travel to Boulder to try the place out, it was inevitable that I would try to create this dish.  The first thing was to decide what type of pancake to use, so I let my hubby choose and he wanted honey wheat. While the restaurant braised their eggs, I did a simple over easy which is Roy’s favorite egg style.  Oh, what is braising?  The eggs are roasted and steamed, over low heat, using oil and another liquid, such as broth or a flavored sauce.  Back to eggs over easy. When mixed with maple syrup, the runny egg yolks helped to create this rich, indulgent syrup for the meaty infused pancakes.

Saddlebag Pancakes with Eggs Over Easy.

 

Thick cut bacon was fried up till just crisp; a little remaining fat was needed for when it was cooking up in the pancake batter.  It would also crumble up into small pieces if too crisp, and bite sized pieces were required for this dish.  The sausages, however, were not the typical breakfast links you find in the supermarket.  Instead, I used an all pork, fresh sausage without the additional seasonings you would find in breakfast sausage.  We love this type as it cooks up in the pan bubbling, squeaking and hopping around; the flavor is awesome and fun to watch, and listen to, cooking. Reminded me so much of making the English dish "Bubble and Squeak", but that is for another article in the future.  An angle cut for the sausages gave more surface texture inside the pancakes. For the six-inch pancakes, three strips of bacon or three sausage links were used; but if you want both meats in your pancakes, then I would suggest just using two of each.

Fresh Pork Sausages without Seasonings.

 

So, let’s get started, first here is my recipe for Honey Wheat Pancakes and then the construction of the actual Saddlebags.

 

Honey Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 and ½ cups old fashioned oatmeal (ground to flour or use oat flour)

3 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

2 and ½ cups buttermilk

2 tsp. canola oil

1 egg

2 egg whites

2 Tbsp. honey

Preparation:

In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients; slowly add to dry ingredient bowl, mixing together as added. Do not over mix batter; let rest 10 minutes while griddle (stove top or electric) heats up.

Lightly oil griddle before each batch if using nonstick appliance. Use a regular ladle (1 and ½ ladles per pancake) to portion out batter; using bottom of ladle to smooth out batter to a 6-inch circle. Each pancake will take 2-4 minutes per side depending on type of griddle used.

Makes 8 pancakes.

 To Make Saddlebag Pancakes:

 

The construction of the Saddlebags begins once the griddle is ready for the batter. Remember to have your bacon and sausage cut up and ready to go. First get the batter on the griddle for two pancakes.

 

 

 

 

 

Add bacon pieces to one pancake, sausage to the other. Depending on how your griddle browns up pancakes, you will know when to flip them over. Once flipped, leave them alone and just let the batter brown up as usual. Remove to a plate once done. 

 

 

 

It was that easy; now have your eggs going at the same time, so everything will be piping hot. Maple syrup goes best with these beauties, and eat enough of these saddlebags, your hips will develop their own.

Honey wheat pancakes not to your liking?  Buttermilk pancakes work just as well, and here is a recipe for that.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 and ¼ cups flour

1 egg

1and ¼ cups buttermilk

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ cup canola oil

1/8 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. butter

Preparation:

Preheat electric griddle, or stovetop griddle, to 300F.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, except butter, and do not over mix.  Melt the butter on the hot griddle; use a ladle to pour batter onto the griddle, forming 6-inch circles.

As the batter cooks, bubbles will appear and when the edges seem firm; flip over and cook other side.  Both sides will take 2-4 minutes each; and be golden brown.  Serve with favorite toppings or syrups.

Makes 6-8 pancakes.

Mary Cokenour