Courage in the Kitchen

Blue Moon Road intersects U.S. 63 about two miles north of Cable, Wisconsin, and meanders past old farmsteads, some cottages and two small lakes before it rejoins the highway south of Drummond. My father told me that I had my first ride on Blue Moon Road when it was still a part of U.S. 63. Since I was only a week old, I don’t remember that trip home from the hospital in Ashland.

I do remember learning from Dad that before it was named U.S. 63, the highway was called WIS 24. It started in Hudson, Wisconsin, went through New Richmond to Turtle Lake and connected the villages and cities served by U.S. 63 today until ending at U.S. 2 near Ashland.

Though the Blue Moon Road is worth a drive at least a couple of times a year if you enjoy the northwoods and the opportunity to negotiate a narrow, hilly and curvy county road for a few miles, the reason my family drove it no longer exists. Only the name remains of the bar and restaurant that served the best fish fry I remember from my childhood.

All the locals knew of the Blue Moon, and resort owners directed their guests to the place as well, so it was packed on Friday nights in the summer. Packed is actually an understatement. I remember how my father would thread his way through the crowd in front of the door, hand a dollar to someone waiting to get in and ask him to order three Cokes and two beers. The money and order would be passed from person to person until it reached the bartender. In a few minutes the drinks and change would be passed out to us.

When Mom and Dad were at the door, they were ferrying orders and drinks for people behind us. I still remember being impressed by two things: orders got placed correctly despite the fact that they often went through three or four relays, and all the change came back with the order.

While we waited for a table, Mom and Dad visited with friends and we kids found others to play with. There was a small lake across the road that kept us occupied. I do not remember ever falling in, but I may be repressing a bad experience. Ordinarily, my family waited until I fell into any nearby body of water so they could relax while I dried out.

Dozens of bars and restaurants served a Friday Fish Fry, but the Blue Moon’s was exceptional. It was worth waiting for. The walleye was perfectly done, the French fries were crisp and the cole slaw was as good as Mom’s.

Maybe not quite as good as Jerri’s, however, but I loved it then just as I love her cole slaw today. Last Sunday we had cole slaw to go with some bass caught by Jerri but cleaned by yours truly. If I do say so myself, the fillets were perfectly fried and with Jerri’s guidance, I also made the slaw. She cooked some wonderful hush puppies, which I am going to try one of these days.

The meal tasted so good that it reminded me of the Blue Moon. Here is how to make Jerri’s Cole Slaw.

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups green cabbage
1/4 to 1/3 cup white or yellow onion
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 cup mayonnaise or whipped salad dressing
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp. cider vinegar
1/4 cup grated carrot (optional)

PROCEDURE:

Wash and remove any damaged or tough outer leaves on the head of cabbage. Using a sharp knife, cut a medium head (about seven or eight inches in diameter) into quarters, remove the core and slice one quarter very thinly. Then cut the slices into pieces that are no more than a half inch long. Do the same with another quarter until you have four cups of finely chopped cabbage. Clean and chop the onion to a quarter inch dice. Mix the cabbage and onion together in a large bowl. Clean and grate the carrot and stir it in if you wish to include it.

Make the dressing in a small bowl by stirring together the mayonnaise or salad dressing with the sour cream, salt, sugar and vinegar. Pour the dressing into the large bowl and stir to coat the cabbage and onion. If the slaw looks too dry, add equal amounts of mayonnaise or salad dressing and sour cream and a dash of vinegar. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Chill for at least an hour before serving.

NOTES: Some people prefer a sweeter dressing than we do. Feel free to add a little more sugar once you have tasted the slaw, but follow the recipe to start with. Besides being wonderful with fish, cole slaw goes well with bratwurst, grilled chicken or barbecued ribs.

I had my first authentic enchiladas when Jerri and I were living in Charlottesville, Virginia. My friend Vince, a graduate student from Texas trapped far from home for the holidays, offered to cook Jerri and me a traditional Mexican Christmas dinner–a fiesta. Since Jerri and I were also far from our families that first Christmas, we welcomed his offer.

Vince had never cooked a dinner so he consulted an expert. He wrote his grandmother who sent him detailed instructions on how to make mole and refried beans. She told him how to pick out and cook a turkey, and she included detailed instructions on how to make enchiladas after shaping and baking the tortillas.

The recipes were in Spanish, which Vince translated as he read them to us. The instructions were like those from many experienced cooks who had learned how to do things from their mothers. For example, one instruction for the mole said, “Don’t heat too hot,” which Jerri said meant not to boil it. She was already an experienced cook.

The biggest problem was the ingredients. Vince’s grandmother had warned him that he was not to buy gringo chili powder. It was adulterated with stuff that would spoil the recipes. Her mole needed powdered chili peppers. Period. Chocolate had to be real Mexican chocolate, not the kinds you bought in American supermarkets. She told him he could use cheddar cheese if he had to, but queso blanco would be better.

We bought the turkey, cheddar cheese and dry pinto beans at the Safeway store in Charlottesville, then drove to Richmond, Virginia where we had located a Mexican market. Besides the chili powder and chocolate, they had locally made tortillas which made life a lot simpler. The meat market in Charlottesville had wonderful bacon that we needed for the grease to make the refried beans.

A couple of weeks before the big day I offered to roast the turkey and was prepared to buy a roaster. Instead, Vince told me that we needed to boil the bird, so we bought a stew pot. Boiled turkey for Christmas dinner was new to me, but Vince said it was what his family always had for their special fiestas. “It’s wonderful,” he said, “and you will like it.” He was right.

Jerri remembers that it was a complicated affair. The day before our fiesta, Vince began cooking, carefully following his grandmother’s recipes. We cut the turkey into pieces, boiled it until it was tender and took the meat off the bones in large pieces. While the turkey was cooking, Vince was making the mole and I was assigned the job of cooking pinto beans. Jerri made a pumpkin pie.

On Christmas Day, Vince put it all together. We had cheese and bean enchiladas, turkey mole with rice and refried beans, beer, coffee and pumpkin pie. The food was delicious, making it was fun and we three celebrated the holiday in a way that I will never forget.

As I learned from Vince, enchiladas are simply corn tortillas rolled around various kinds of fillings. In other words, enchiladas (and burritos) are Mexican versions of the sandwich. The ones Vince made were filled with mashed beans, onions and cheese. His sauce was, as I recall, mainly chili powder, salt, a cup of tomato sauce and water simmered together for a few minutes. It was pretty spicy.

Jerri and I have been making and enjoying enchiladas since that Christmas fiesta. Here is a simple recipe for one kind. It may not be an authentic Mexican recipe, but the enchiladas taste good, and it’s easy to make them. If you make the sauce ahead of time, you can put a tasty main dish on the table in half an hour or so.

INGREDIENTS:

For the enchiladas:
3/4 lb. hamburger
1 medium onion
1/2 cup sour cream
2 T parsley, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
10 corn tortillas
1 cup cheddar or jack cheese

For the sauce:
2 cups tomato sauce
3/4 cup water
1 jalapeño pepper
1/3 green bell pepper
1 T chili powder
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. garlic powder

PROCEDURE:

First start the sauce by putting the tomato sauce, water and spices into a saucepan over medium heat. Wash and cut the stem from the jalapeño pepper and then cut it into fourths lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds and white membrane and chop the pepper fine. Do the same for the bell pepper. Stir the chopped peppers into the sauce and simmer while you make the enchiladas.

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Brown the hamburger in a skillet over medium heat. While the meat is browning, chop the onion and parsley medium fine. Drain the hamburger and add the onion to the meat, cooking it for two or three minutes over low heat. Stir in the sour cream, parsley, salt and pepper and turn off the heat.

Lightly grease a baking pan and warm the tortillas. The easiest way to warm them is to put four or five tortillas between damp paper towels and heat them for a few seconds in your microwave oven until they are warm and flexible.

Put about three tablespoons of meat mixture in a row on each tortilla. Roll and place the tortillas seam side down in the baking pan. Top them with the sauce. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Top with the cheese and bake three or four minutes more until the cheese is melted.

These enchiladas are good by themselves or you can serve them with refried beans and a green salad.

NOTES: You can substitute ground turkey or chicken breast sliced into thin strips
for the hamburger. You can make two or three times as much sauce with almost no extra work and store the extra in a covered container for a week or so in the refrigerator. If you prefer spicier enchiladas, use more jalapeños or add some cayenne pepper to the sauce.