A TRIBUTE TO SAMBO’S

Thinking about Nickerson Farms the other day started me off thinking of all the favorite restaurants we found on our many travels while I was growing up.  Sambo's was most definitely at the top of my list of all-time favorites. 

Sambo’s was a restaurant started in 1957 by Sam Battistone, Sr. and Newell Bohnett. who commonly were referred to as Sam and Bo. Though the name was taken from portions of the names of its founders, the chain soon found itself associated with The Story of Little Black Sambo. Battistone, Sr. and Bohnett capitalized on the coincidence by decorating the walls of the restaurants with scenes from the book, including a dark-skinned boy, tigers, and a pale, magical unicycle-riding man called "The Treefriend." By the early 1960s, the illustrations depicted a light-skinned boy wearing a jeweled Indian-style turban with the tigers.  That makes perfect sense to me since tigers are found in India, certain nowhere in Africa.

By 1979, Sambo's had 1,117 outlets in 47 American states. However, in the late 1970s, controversy over the chain's name drew protests and lawsuits in communities that viewed Sambo as a derogatory term against African-Americans.  Several of the restaurants were opened as or renamed to "The Jolly Tiger" in locations where the local community passed resolutions forbidding the use of the original name or refused to grant the chain permits.

 

Today all but the original Sambo's at 216 West Cabrillo Boulevard in Santa Barbara, California, have closed their doors.  Several locations were sold to Denny's.  Battistone's grandson, restaurateur Chad Stevens, owns the only remaining Sambo's.

I’m sure allo of the steaks sandwiches and other foods at Sambo’s was delicious, but the only thing I ever ordered there was the BEST buttery pancakes I ever put in my mouth.  I would order the Short Stack or more usually the wonderful Silver Dollar Pancakes, always dripping in (like Nickerson Farms) that spectacular Honey Butter!

The Mama Mumbo Special is still on the menu (two fresh ranch eggs any style and four “delicious” Sambo’s pancakes). So is the Papa Jumbo Special (bacon, ham, or sausage; two eggs any style; three “delicious” Sambo’s pancakes).

If you loved Sambo’s, TRY THIS RECIPE!!!

Sambo's Pancakes

2 eggs, separated (whites in a clean copper, stainless steel or glass bowl [DO NOT USE A PLASTIC BOWL, NO MATTER HOW CLEAN YOU THINK IT IS!], yolks in an 8-cup mixing bowl with a handle)

2 tablespoons sugar

16 ounces biscuit and baking mix (about 3 loosely spooned cups)

2 cups milk (any fat content; we use 2/3 cup of nonfat dry milk and 2 cups of water)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Heat electric griddle or electric skillet to 375 degrees or heat a heavy skillet over medium heat while mixing batter.

Beat egg whites with a hand mixer on high speed to stiff peaks and set aside. Cream sugar and egg yolks at high speed until lemony colored (about a minute). Add milk and beat 2 more minutes on high. Add biscuit mix and vanilla extract, mix on low speed until just blended (barley-sized lumps of mix are OK). Scrape beaten egg whites into batter and gently whisk in with the mixer switched off. Let stand 5 minutes.

Pour onto heated griddle or skillet, cook about 3 minutes before turning. Cook 1 to 2 minutes on second side. Serve with real butter and hot syrup.

FOOD AND FOOTBALL

Today is a special day here in Florida!  The first kickoff of our University of Florida GATORS against the Idaho Vandals right up in Gainesville at The Swamp at 7:00 p.m.!  You can feel the excitement in the air!  And Albert & Alberta are ready to welcome to the 2014 Season!

Of course, we still miss seeing Tim Tebow out there on the field.  He’s the greatest PLAYER ever, not an announcer.  But we love him and wish him all the best in the world.

 Of course, Game Day means food and football means Tailgate Parties!  We don’t go out and eat in our van, but we have an indoor Tailgate in our living room.  With a 52-inch TV screen, we feel like we’re right there at The Swamp!  And every time the Gators play, I’ll be posting one of our Tailgate recipes for you to try when your favorite team plays!  Today it’s my famous Hot Crab Dip.  Enjoy!  And GO GATORS!!!!!

HOT CRAB DIP

1/2 lb crabmeat
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, soft
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 pinch garlic salt
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated, divided

Remove cartilage from crab meat.

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, and garlic salt until smooth.

Add enough milk to make mixture creamy.   Stir in 2 tablespoons of the grated cheese.   Fold crab meat into cream cheese mixture.

Pour into greased 1-quart casserole.  Top with remaining cheese and paprika.  Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit until mixture is bubbly and browned on top, about 30 minutes.

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM

Most people crave ice cream when it’s hot outside and that’s a quick way to cool down.  I guess I’m strange, because my official Ice Cream Season never ends!  I love it best when it’s really cold outside.

 

In Ohio we had the best ice cream on earth.  We’d go two or three times a week to one of the many United Dairy Farmers locations.  All the flavors were great, but my very favorite was their Chocolate Chip.  Not big hunks of chocolate amidst vanilla ice cream, but shaved chocolate throughout the entire cone.  Mmmm  Mmmmm!

Here in Florida, there are no UDF stores.  Not a single one.  But my Mom (the best Christmas gift shopper EVER!) gave me a Toll House Recipe Book several years ago for Christmas.  She had been to a yard sale where an elderly lady was selling her collection of cookbooks.  You know the kind that you find in the racks at the front of the grocery store.   Mom bought all she had and tucked them away for part of my Christmas gift.  I was THRILLED!

I was even more thrilled when I got to Florida and used the wonderful recipe for Toll House Chocolate Chip Ice Cream in that special little book!  Now I can have the very best chocolate chip ice cream whenever I want it.  And since it’s a Toll House kind of day, I’m posting the Original Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie which was in the same book.  YOU’LL LOVE THESE!!!!

TOLL HOUE ICE CREAM

1/2 c. + 2 tbsp. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. heavy cream
6 oz. (1 c.) Nestle toll house little bits semi-sweet chocolate
1 c. chopped toasted walnuts

In a small heavy gauge saucepan, combine brown sugar and butter. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring occasionally; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. In blender container, combine eggs, vanilla and salt; cover and blend at medium speed for 30 seconds.

Gradually add brown sugar mixture; blend at high speed for 1 minute. Set aside; cool to room temperature. In a large bowl beat heavy cream until stiff. Fold in butter-sugar mixture. Fold in Nestle little bits and walnuts. Pour into foil-lined 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Cover with foil, freeze until firm (several hours or overnight). Makes about 1-1/2quarts.

RUTH WAKEFIELD’S ORIGINAL TOLL HOUSE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (12 oz) pkg. Nestles Tollhouse Semi Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375-Degrees.  Sift flour together baking soda and salt; set aside.

In mixer, cream together butter, sugars and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until combined. Slowly mix in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate morsels and nuts.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool cookies on the baking sheets for 2 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

TOLL HOUSE CHOCOLATE CHIP PIE

2 Eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
one 9" unbaked pie shell
whipped cream or ice cream for garnish (optional, but delisch)
Pre-heat oven to 325. In large bowl, beat eggs until foamy; beat in flour, sugar and brown sugar until well blended. Blend in melted butter. Stir in semi-sweet chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour into pie shell.

Bake for one hour. Allow to set for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Now a little history of Toll House …

Can you believe that before 1938 no one had ever had the joy of biting into a chocolate chip cookie? To me, the greatest invention of the 20th century was the chocolate chip cookie. It’s hard to imagine a world without them.  The cookie was invented completely by accident by a lady named Ruth Graves Wakefield in 1938.

 

Ruth Graves Wakefield

Ruth graduated from Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts in 1924. After graduation, she worked as a dietitian and food lecturer.

During the 18th century, toll roads were built and maintained by private companies. The companies collected a fee (a toll) for use of the roads by the public. These toll roads were often very profitable because travel was difficult and it was a time-saving convenience to travel on a well-maintained road.

In the 18th century there was an inn located midway between Boston and New Bedford, Massachusetts, just on the outskirts of Whitman. The original inn was built in 1709. The road on which the inn was situated was a toll road, so while the stage driver stopped at the inn to pay the required tolls, passengers would get off the stage, stretch their legs and get something to eat. The inn survived into the 20th century long after toll roads had disappeared.

In 1930 the Cape Cod-style building was in a state of disrepair but was purchased by Ruth and Kenneth Wakefield. They were determined to restore the inn to its original condition and appearance, and to establish it as a popular and charming New England inn where travelers would come to stay and local people would come to eat. America was headed into the Great Depression, so this was a risk for the Wakefields. They went ahead, with Ken supervising the restoration while Ruth began creating a menu for the restaurant. In honor of the building's history, they named their inn and restaurant The Toll House. Ruth cooked home-made meals and her incredible sweet desserts started to attract people from all over New England.

 

The Toll House Inn & Restaurant purchased by Ruth & Ken Wakefield in 1930

One of Ruth’s favorite recipes was for Butter Drop Do cookies, a cookie made with melted chocolate mixed into the batter to give it a chocolate cake-like texture. While she was preparing the cookie dough one day, she discovered that she had run out of baker’s chocolate. She found a semi-sweet chocolate bar in her kitchen pantry. So she cut it into tiny bits and added them to the cookie dough. She expected the tiny chocolate bits to melt when they baked in the oven. However, the chocolate bits held their form. She found out that the Andrew Nestle chocolate bar bits softened to a creamy texture. Therefore, the cookies that Ruth created accidentally became very popular with guests at the inn. Soon her recipe was published in a Boston newspaper.

 

In the meantime, Andrew Nestle noticed the sales of his Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar sky rocket. Ruth and Nestle came together to reach an agreement that would allow Nestle to print the Toll House Cookie recipe on its packaging. Ruth, in return was awarded with all the chocolate she could use for the rest of her life. Nestle has since printed the recipe on the back of every bag of chocolate chips they have sold.

 

The Original Nestles wrapper

With Ruth’s creation of chopping the Nestle bar into tiny pieces lead to Nestle packaging the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar with a special chopper for easy cutting. In 1939 Nestle had even a better idea. They began offering Nestle Toll House Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels in a bag. And the rest, my friends, is chocolate chip history!

 

In 1940, the Nestles Company bought the rights to the "Toll House" name and the cookie recipe from Ruth and Ken Wakefield. The Toll House recipe remains America's favorite. Nestle subsequently lost the trademark rights to the name in 1983. Toll house is now, legally, a generic word for a chocolate chip cookie.

During World War II, Tollhouse cookies were sent to GI’s from Massachusetts who would then share them with other American soldiers from different parts of the states. This lead to several soldiers writing home asking for Nestle toll house cookies which lead to many people contacting Ruth wanting her recipe which lead to a nation wide craze for these delicious cookies.

 

Ruth Graves Wakefield passed away in 1977. Her name is virtually unknown, yet she is a significant figure in culinary history in the U.S.