Mary Brown Malouf is the late Executive Editor of Salt Lake magazine and Utah's expert on local food and dining. She still does not, however, know how to make a decent cup of coffee.
Drinking in Utah has been zany since the first clink. Detailing the Byzantine intricacies of Utah’s liquor laws would take several volumes and acres of footnotes, but here’s a distilled…
Colorful, tart and a seasonal must-have, cranberries are the perfect complement to holiday menus. Roast turkey, duck and goose all benefit from the mouth-puckering acidity of cranberries. But it’s time to give them a tasty twist. These easy-to-make variations on the classic sauce will have you and your guests asking for more. (P.S. Think beyond Thanksgiving sides. Whole raw cranberries freeze beautifully for a month, so try later with duck, rack of lamb, or grilled chicken and jack cheese.)
Put a Spin on Cranberry Sauce
THE BASIC CRANBERRY SAUCE (Makes about 2 1/2 cups)
1 cup water
¾ cup sugar
1 12-oz. package of cranberries
Bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add cranberries, bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until berries start to burst. Cool.
1) Cranberry-Apple Sauce
Substitute the juice of half an orange for the 4 Tbsp. water. Zest the orange and finely dice. Chop 1 tart apple into cranberry-sized pieces and add the apple and zest to sugar water with the cranberries. Proceed with the basic recipe. Season with ground cinnamon to taste after removing sauce from the heat. Garnish with apple fan.
2) Spiced Cranberry Sauce
Add to basic sauce after removing from the heat: ½ tsp. ground cinnamon 1∕8 tsp. ground allspice 1∕8 tsp. ground cloves 1∕8 tsp. ground nutmeg 1 ½ tsp. grated, peeled fresh ginger Garnish with crystallized ginger.
3) Chili Cranberry Sauce
Substitute 1/4 cup white wine for 1/4 cup of the water. Seed and chop a ripe, mild chili pepper (an Anaheim or poblano; or substitute 1/2 ripe red bell pepper and 1/2 ripe jalapeño pepper) and add to water with the berries. Proceed with basic recipe. Garnish with fresh red pepper.
4) Cranberry-Port Sauce
Skip the water. Cook cranberries, 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup orange juice and 2 Tbsp. grated orange rind together until just a few berries burst. Add 1/2 cup ruby port and cook another 2-3 minutes, until most of the berries have burst. Garnish with orange rind.
Many of us have memories of perfectly can-shaped cranberry jelly on the holiday table. That’s great, but if you’re looking for a way to jazz the jelly up a bit, here are a few ideas:
Serve the jelly in slices.
Add texture by sprinkling the jelly slices with chipped, toasted pecans.
Chill the jelly thoroughly, slice and shape with small cookie cutters.
Mash the jelly so that it resembles jam and garnish with orange zest.
KICK THE CAN
Many of us have memories of perfectly can-shaped cranberry jelly on the holiday table. That’s great, but if you’re looking for a way to jazz the jelly up a bit, here are a few ideas:
Serve the jelly in slices.
Add texture by sprinkling the jelly slices with chipped, toasted pecans.
Chill the jelly thoroughly, slice and shape with small cookie cutters.
Mash the jelly so that it resembles jam and garnish with orange zest.
Four Twists on Mashed Potatoes
Basic Mashed Potatoes
Serves 6
2 lbs. potatoes
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk or half-and-half
6 Tbsp. butter
1 egg
salt and pepper
Peel and quarter potatoes. Put them in a large pot with enough cold water to cover them. Add salt and bring water to a boil. Lower heat to medium and simmer potatoes until they are tender when pierced with a fork (15-20 minutes). Drain the potatoes, add the butter and mash with a ricer or electric mixer. Add the egg and beat it into the potatoes with a wooden spoon. Add milk or cream and continue to mash until fluffy.
Roasted Tomato Potatoes
Fold 3 oven-roasted tomatoes, coarsely chopped, into hot mashed potatoes.
Blue Potatoes
Fold ½ cup crumbled blue cheese into hot potatoes. Top each serving with bacon bits.
Pakora Potatoes
Fold 1 tsp. Turmeric, ½ tsp. curry and 1 cup of frozen peas into hot mashed potatoes.
Pesto Potatoes
Fold ½ cup basil pesto into hot mashed potatoes. Garnish with toasted pine nuts.
Add-ons and Stir-ins for Cornbread
Jalapeno + Scallions + Cheese
Mince 3 seeded jalapenos. Grate 6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese. Slice scallions to make 1/3 cup . Stir all ingredients into the batter at the end. Sprinkle with cotija cheese crumbles when baked.
Lemon + Blueberry
Add 1/4 cup sugar to the batter. Zest one lemon. Gently stir 1 cup blueberries with 1 tsp. flour, add lemon zest and berries to the batter. Sprinkle the batter lightly with sugar and bake.
Cranberries + Pecans
Stir 1 cup chopped cranberries with 1 tsp. flour. Chop 1/2 cup pecans and fold berries and nuts into the batter after mixing wet and dry ingredients.
Caramelized Onion
Slice one medium onion. Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in an iron skillet and arrange the onion slices in the pan. Cook slowly over medium-low heat until the onions brown. Pour in batter and bake. Invert to serve.
Tips:
-Preheat your oven and your skillet—grease the skillet and put it in the oven while you mix the batter.
-Use stoneground meal for better flavor and texture.
Mary’s Fave Cornbread Recipe
2 cups stoneground cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
2 tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 cup creamed corn
2 Tbsp. butter
Preheat oven to 425 and place a 10” skillet in the oven. Combine the buttermilk, eggs and creamed corn. Combine the dry ingredients and add to the egg mixture. Stir to combine. If the batter is too thick, add a bit more buttermilk. Put the butter in the hot pan and tilt it to coat evenly. Pour in the batter and bake until the top springs back to the touch—about 25 minutes.
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They’re everywhere—on the state highway signs, on the Capitol building, on the state flag, on manhole covers. Dozens of Salt Lake businesses begin their name with “beehive” — Beehive Bail Bonds, Beehive Auto, Beehive Elementary School, Beehive Credit Union, Beehive Title Insurance, Beehive Glass. Insurance companies, scooter sellers, clothing stores—all use the logo of a beehive, which is actually a coiled straw dome, called a skep, that hasn’t been used to house bees for over 100 years. There’s a beehive fountain in front of the Brigham Young Academy; the Beehive Society is the oldest honor society on the University of Utah campus and each summer Salt Lake magazine rolls out accolades in our Best of the Beehive issue.
No wonder visitors ask, “Where are the bees?” But I’m surprised how few native and resident Utahns even know the reason Utah is called “The Beehive State.” It has nothing to do with the proliferation of Apis mellifera, the scientific name for the western honey bee. The state ranks 24th in the U.S. for honey production.
Ancient symbolism
“The beehive has been used as a symbol for thousands of years,” according to historian Mark Staker, an expert on early Mormon anthropology at the LDS Church’s Family History Center. “The Bible refers to the ‘Promised Land’ as ‘the land of milk and honey.'” Of course, there were no honeybees in the ancient Middle East. “The European monks whose scriptoria kept The Bible in print before Gutenberg came along had no way of knowing that Biblical honey was most likely date honey and had nothing to do with bees. So, they incorporated bees and the cooperative life of the hive into early Christian symbolism,” explains Staker. Freemasons also used the bee and beehive as symbols of cooperative work, and the images are found in early American art and literature. “Many of the founding fathers were Masons, and America had become the new ‘promised land’ of opportunity,” says Staker. Many early Mormons were also Masons, including one particularly important Mason/Mormon: Joseph Smith. The Book of Ether in The Book of Mormon (books within books) tells the story of the Jaredites, a tribe that lived at the time of the Tower of Babel in the Old Testament. According to The Book of Mormon, the Jaredites made a miraculous 344-day voyage across the ocean to North America. They brought with them the “Deseret” which means “honey bee” in the nomenclature of The Book of Mormon
The State of the Hive
When Brigham Young and the Latter-day Saints arrived in Salt Lake Valley in July of 1847, Young chose the name “Deseret” for their new home, and the beehive as its emblem, symbolizing the kind of cooperative work that would be required to make the desert bloom. Images of bees and beehives—the traditional skep, five of which the Mormons brought with them on their trek—were used in much early church construction embellishments. Notably, on the interior and exterior of the Salt Lake Temple and, famously, on Brigham Young’s own Beehive House, which is crowned with a carved bee skep. Newell posts, doorknobs, windows and all bore the emblem of a beehive. Mark Twain commented on the Utah beehive symbol in his book on the 1860s American West, Roughing It, saying, “The Mormon crest was easy. And it was simple, unostentatious and it fitted like a glove. It was a representation of a Golden Beehive, with all the bees at work.” On October 11, 1881, an article in The Deseret News explained the symbolism: “The hive and honey bees form our communal coat of arms. … It is a significant representation of the industry, harmony, order and frugality of the people, and of the sweet results of their toil, union and intelligent cooperation.”
Of course, you can’t go too far with the etymological comparison or you raise awkward implications. What about drones? What about the queen bee? “The meaning of the beehive shifted a little as Brigham Young’s Deseret became a territory, then a state,” says Staker. “It lost some of its religious connections but the community connotations continued.” The beehive still serves as the logo of some Church-related organizations, but it’s come to symbolize the whole state of Utah. When Utah territory became a state in 1896, it retained the beehive symbol in its state seal and on its flag. The state adopted the beehive as its official symbol in 1959, designated the honeybee as the state insect, and even named the “beehive cluster” as the state’s astronomical symbol. Utah is known as “The Beehive State,” and businesses continue to name themselves after the antique skep, many of them without knowing what a bee skep is, or where the bees are. But even without them knowing it, the beehive has become an everyday icon that links present-day Utahns—Mormons and non-Mormons—with their pioneer past.
Elegance and heartiness in one bite—that’s duck, the chef’s choice. Even the late Julia Child chose duck as her ideal birthday dinner when she wrote “Julia Child and Company.” These days nearly every upscale restaurant serves some kind of duck dish. No, it’s still not as popular as chicken or turkey, but the rich flavor and versatility that made it a favorite in pro kitchens is catching on with home cooks. Make your own delectable holiday duck dish with these tips and tricks.
Duck, Duck
Many home cooks are nervous about cooking duck, but Tom Grant, former chef at Martine (a beloved Salt Lake bistro that shuttered in March of 2020 as a result of the pandemic) for 12 years, cooked his first duck when he was 16. “Of course it was for duck à l’orange,” he says. For years, duck à l’orange was a French/Continental standard and was also pretty much the only way you ever saw duck on a menu in this country. Decades later, Tom Grant has some advice for beginning duck cooks:
Don’t fear the bird. Cooking duck is easy, Grant says. Remember, it’s red meat with no marbling—treat it like you would a tenderloin of beef.
Duck is amazingly versatile; its rich meat combines well with spice and chilies or sweet-tart fruit and port. Besides his traditional recipe, Grant serves it smoked, with a potato-ricotta rotelle and a mission fig jus; dusted with espresso with a hazelnut-Frangelica jus; with a cherry jus and a goat cheese bread pudding.
Divide your labor. Grant partially cooks the duck breasts early in the day, and then sears them off to order. He puts a little olive oil in a pan, then puts in the duck, fat side down. “Start it in a cold pan,” he advises. Then cook it slowly; the fat will render out and turn a rich brown.
Top it Off
Cranberries pair famously with well-prepared duck. But you don’t have to settle for the nostalgic can-shaped cranberry jelly on the holiday table. Jazz up the jelly with these ideas:
• Serve the jelly in slices.
• Add texture by sprinkling the jelly slices with chipped, toasted pecans.
• Chill the jelly thoroughly, slice and shape with small cookie cutters.
• Mash the jelly so that it resembles jam and garnish with orange zest.
• Mash the jelly and sprinkle with crumbles of blue or goat cheese.
What To Pour
Wine pairing advice when serving duck: Pinot noir—like the stylish and popular Meiomi—is the classic accompaniment to duck. But duck is friendly to a wide variety of seasoning flavors—from aromatic spice and chilies to sweet-tart fruit and port reductions. So, follow this rule of thumb: the deeper the sauce, the deeper the wine. Taking the principle in the opposite direction, rosé is terrific with duck salad.
It’s the season to entertain, but face it, we don’t all live in spaces that can accommodate a group of guests. Even if we do, we may not have the energy to clean that space. The alternative? Outsource your dining space. Many restaurants have private rooms—book one and pretend that you can design your own table decorations, pre-order a menu that suits your budget, bring your own music, print menus and place cards and create all the frou-frou details that make the party your own. But entertaining in a private room also allows you to get your nails done, pick out a party outfit and finish wrapping your packages. These are five Salt Lake restaurants with great private dining rooms rooms:
Once relegated to garden parties and summer soirees, red wine spritzers are now a favorite for fall, thanks in part to bitters.
Forget its lowbrow reputation and remember it’s a favorite Spanish refresher. Switch out the traditional lemon soda for a splash of seltzer and amp the sophistication with a dash of bitters. Instantly, the red wine spritzer becomes a great fall sipper. Red wine gives it more body and substance than a white wine cocktail and, of course, lends a festive color. The bitters add backbone to the low-alcohol drink, perfect for casual gatherings. Give it a hint of the holidays by stirring with a cinnamon stick.
What You’ll Need
4 ounces medium-body red wine
4 ounces soda water
4 dashes orange bitters
½ ounce orange juice
Orange peel garnish
Utah Gets Even Bitter
Americans—and especially Utahns—are famous for their sweet tooth. But we’re learning to love sweet’s opposite: bitter as in the astringent taste that comes in bitters. Maybe it started with the radicchio and arugula craze of the ’80s. That has settled into a permanent relationship but perhaps it broadened our palate to include bitterness.
Photo courtesy of Bitters Lab
The popularity of Amaro, Campari, Aperol and Fernet Branca have all increased. In San Francisco, a favorite drink is Fernet and ginger beer and I have a friend whose regular drink is a Coors Banquet with a shot of Fernet. (Yes, odd. We all think so.) This category has exploded. No longer do we have to choose between Angostura and Peychaud’s. In Utah alone there are several bitters-makers—Bitters Lab, Grandeur View Bitters and Honest John Bitters that make dozens of flavored bitters.
Although I don’t really believe anyone who claims they have grown tired of bacon the way they’ve tired other food trends like quinoa or cauliflower, I am a little weary of chef’s substituting for a more inventive way of adding pizzazz to a dish. It’s an easy solution, I know—bacon does make everything taste better. But after awhile you can become bacon blase—it’s delicious but it doesn’t knock your palate back the way it did a few years ago when the health police decided it was okay to eat and people started getting all hot about apple-smoked and so on. So I was surprised when the high point of a lunch at Spencer’s Steak & Chops was one of the restaurant’s menu standouts: The Millionare’s Bacon.
One strip of bacon was presented as an appetizer. But the bacon was from Daily’s. It was cut a third of an inch thick. This delicious strip was braised until a significant amount of the fat had been rendered, then broiled with blue cheese and figs. You had to eat it with a steak knife and fork. It is the best bacon strip I’ve ever had and I’ve had a few. Stop in the bar at Spencer’s, order some bourbon or a big red wine and a piece of bacon and prove to yourself—once again, I hope—simple delights are the best.
This story was originally published in May of 2018 on saltlakemagazine.com. But the bacon is still delicious.
Don’t even try. There is no way to tally the number of tips out there for making great guacamole. But if you’re planning on mashing up some guac for a summer celebration—or any other time, for that matter—here is one of the best pieces of advice we’ve heard: Before you mix in the avocado, prepare a paste from other ingredients first. Why? Salt releases liquid from the onion and jalapeño. This combines with the avocados resulting in big flavor. These four simple steps—and a short list of simple ingredients—will sell you, too, on the power of paste.
Recipe
Prepare ingredients. 1 Tbsp. white onion (chopped), ¼ tsp. kosher salt, minced jalapeño (to taste), 1 Tbsp. cilantro, 1 medium tomato (chopped), 3 ripe avocados. Quantities are approximate, so season to taste.
Make the paste. Put white chopped onion, minced jalapeño and salt in the molcajete and grind with the pestle until the juices release.
Score the avocado so that it comes out in small chunks, then you aren’t trying to break up larger wedges while overworking the other ingredients.
The molcajete, a stone mortar and pestle, is an ancient tool that predates kitchens. And if you don’t have one, get one. Carved out of basalt, it has a rough texture ideal for mashing avocados without turning them to mush.
Utah is a burger-loving state, and though there are many new and notable restaurants serving cutting-edge cuisine in the city, you shouldn’t leave town without a taste of our burger culture. We have national faves, from D.C.’s Five Guys to California’s In-N-Out, and local chains like Hires Big H and Crown Burgers. Pretty much every restaurant has its own special burger. In honor of National Burger Day, these are 5 of the best.
The state’s signature burger–a beef patty topped with an inch of thin-sliced pastrami–has obscure origins, but it’s available at many of the local burger chains, including Crown Burgers, Apollo Burgers, B&D Burgers and Hires Big H.
The Bar Burger:Lucky 13 won first place for burgers in the World Food Championships in Las Vegas last year with its specially concocted Spicy Candied Cajun Burger. You can choose from the regular menu of 11 burgers, ranging from the foot-tall “Big Benny” with its 28 ounces of ground chuck to the “Ring of Fire,” topped with jalapeños and habaneros to the Fungus Amongus, featuring mushrooms sauteed in red wine. With so many choices, you’re bound to find one you like–finishing it is another matter. Of course, you’ll eat it with a local brew or High West Whiskey. 135 W. 1300 South, SLC, 801-487-4418, lucky13slc.com
The Artisan Burger: Scott Evans’ little cafe, Pago, has been at the forefront of Salt Lake’s local and artisanal food movement. That doesn’t mean the menu is full of esoterica. In fact, its burger is one of the restaurant’s most famous dishes. This intensely planned sandwich holds a patty of fresh Niman Ranch beef topped with white Cheddar, black garlic aioli, local bacon and house-pickled red onion. Wine expert Evans will be happy to find the perfect pairing from his list or by the glass from his Cruvinet. 878 S. 900 East, SLC, 801-532-0777, pagoslc.com
The Family Burger: Three beef cuts–sirloin, chuck and brisket–are ground together and patted into several size burgers, depending on your appetite, from 1/3 pound to the “tiny” Tony for tots. Tonyburgers is also the place for a full-on American burger meal: Milkshakes here are made to order with real scoops of ice cream and the award-winning french fries are hand-cut and twice fried. 613 E. 400 South, SLC, 801-419-0531, 4675 S. 2300 East, Holladay, 801-676-9686; 1695 Towne Center Dr., South Jordan, 801-679-1194. tonyburgers.com
The Gourmet Burger: Inside the yeasty house-made bun, The Copper Onion’s (and sister spots Copper Common and Copper Kitchen) beef patty is garnished with aioli, caramelized onions and crisp Iceberg lettuce. You can add cheddar cheese and choose steak fries or an arugula salad to go with. 111 E. Broadway #170, SLC, 801-355-3282, 111 E. Broadway #190, SLC, 801-355-0543, 4640 S. 2300 E. #102, Holladay, 385-237-3159. thecopperonion.com, coppercommon.com, copperkitchenslc.com
The Garlic Burger: Garlic burgers are a Salt Lake institution, andThe Cotton Bottom Inn is the most authentic place to taste it. A venerable dive with an upscale outdoorsy clientele, Cotton Bottom offers a glimpse into Utah’s classic outdoors lifestyle—great jukebox, cold beer and lots of garlic and tall tales from those who’ve been around on two feet or two wheels. 2820 E. 6200 South, Holladay, 801-273-9830. cottonbottominn.com
