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Loafer II

Loafer II

Island Dining: Dottie Potatoes

By Buzz Lamb

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

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Raymond VanSantvoord was president of Cohoes Coal & Oil Company and president of Cohoes National Bank.  To his friends, he was known as “Zig.”   Zig had a lot of friends on Lake George because he was the proud owner of a 32-foot cabin cruiser berthed on the lake.

Zig married my aunt, Mildred Osterhout, in February of 1956, retired from business and moved to Bolton Landing.  The two of them enjoyed going out on the lake for picnics on their boat, Loafer II.  Often Zig’s sister, Dottie, would accompany them.

Dottie was famous for her potato salad, which she would make fresh, bringing all of the ingredients from her home in Cohoes.  Everybody loved Dottie’s potato salad. A picnic without her potato salad just wasn’t a picnic.

Zig and Millie planned a picnic for 10 people the last Saturday in August, 1956 and invited Dottie to join them.  As always, Dottie said she would make the potato salad.  Everybody boarded the boat at Lamb Brothers boatyard and the crew headed for Picnic Island in the Mother Bunch.

Steak was on the menu that day as Millie had gotten some juicy T-bones from Harry Mabee at the City Market in Bolton Landing.  Once the fire settled down and the coals got hot, Dottie got set to put together her famous potato salad.

Much to her dismay, Dottie discovered that the grocery bag which contained the necessary ingredients to mix with the potatoes was nowhere to be found.  She was beside herself, as this would be a first…no fresh potato salad from Dottie.  Zig was beside himself as well.  He wanted potatoes to go with his steak and corn-on-the-cob.

Buzz demonstrating "Dottie Potatoes"

Dottie did bring the sack of baking potatoes (she liked them better than the russets) and a bag of onions along with a bottle of cooking oil.  It was a secret, but we later found out she always added a cup of cooking oil to the water when she boiled the potatoes.  Zig could still get his potatoes, but she didn’t want plain-old boiled potatoes with her steak.  To her, they just didn’t go together.

It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention.  Dottie rummaged through the galley on Zig’s cruiser and found two 10-inch cast-iron skillets.  She poured some of the cooking oil into the skillets, grabbed a bunch of the fist-sized spuds, sliced them into thirds and tossed them, skin and all, into the oil.  Both skillets were placed a few inches over the hot coals and the oil began to sizzle.

Next, she gave a few shakes of salt and pepper over the mixture, peeled the onions and sliced them into quarter-inch rings.  After turning the potatoes a few times in the hot oil they began to turn golden brown.  Dottie pushed aside a half-dozen of the now dark-brown spuds and dropped a couple of handfuls of the onions into each skillet.

Within minutes everyone gathered around the fire, drawn by the smell of the sizzling onions and the well-cooked potatoes.  Zig cooked the steaks and they all sat down at the picnic table, somewhat apprehensive about Dottie’s newest recipe.

It was a hit!  Everyone agreed…these were the best potatoes they ever had with a steak dinner…crispy skin on the outside with a soft, moist center, steeped in the flavor of sautéed onions.

From that day forward, when Dottie went on a picnic she made her special “Dottie Potatoes.”   I grew up enjoying them and cooking them on family outings. Today, when our family goes on a picnic the first question asked is “Buzz, are you going to make Dottie Potatoes?”  The answer is always “Yes”.

“Dottie Potatoes”

 Put 1/4 to 1/2 inch of Wesson Oil in the cast iron skillet.

Cut two or three large baking potatoes into thirds (skin on).

Peel and slice (quarter inch thickness) two large onions and separate slices into rings.

Sprinkle cut side of potatoes with salt, pepper and dried parsley flakes.

Put potatoes into cast iron pan cut side down.

Put pan on gas grill and close the lid to get the oil to the boiling point.

After about 10 minutes turn the potatoes over or onto their sides.

Turn potatoes again after 10 minutes making sure all side get immersed in the oil.

Continue turning routine until cut sides are a little darker than golden brown.

Move the potatoes to one side of the pan stacking them on top of each other.

Add the sliced onions to the hot oil (watch out for splattering).

Move the potatoes to on top of the onion slices and distribute evenly in the pan.

When the onions are golden brown (about 10 minutes) the “Dottie Potatoes” are ready to enjoy.

Total cooking time is generally about 40 minutes depending on how hot the grill is..

Enjoy a glass of wine, cold beer or your favorite libation while you wait for this delicacy to cook.

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The Inimitable Lake George Chowder Party

By Lisa H. Hall

Friday, April 22, 2011

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“Lake George Casual” – inscribed across invitations today – had a somewhat different meaning in the 1890s, when John Boulton Simpson issued invitations to his “Lake George Chowder Parties.”

Simpson, as most people know, was the New York City businessman who, along with four other investors, purchased Green Island and built the Sagamore Hotel in 1882. They also built cottages for themselves on the island, and spent the long summers entertaining themselves and one another with regattas, cruises, balls and informal parties. Simpson’s “Inimitable Chowder Parties” as the Lake George Mirror called them, were among the latter. By 1891, they were “Regular features of life at this popular resort.”

Preparations for the chowder parties began early in the day. Levi Pratt, the “boss” chowder manufacturer of Warren County, according to the editor of the Lake George Mirror, brought the ingredients – for the chowder as well as the party – to the Sagamore docks. With the aid of six men and a corps of waiters, mostly African-American, Pratt loaded the 12 foot long trestle tables, linens, silverware, glasses and dishes, including the huge bowls from which the chowder was served, into Simpson’s steam launch, the Caprice. Everything was then transported to the site of the party, Gull Bay, Tongue Mountain or Indian Kettles. At 11 am, some thirty guests, each given a boutonniere on arrival, would board Simpson’s “flag ship,”  the 80-foot Fanita.

“Commodore J.B. Simpson of the Lake George Yacht Club does nothing by halves, and when he purposes giving a party on board his handsome steam yacht, guests may rest assured nothing will be lacking to make the affair the most enjoyable. Wednesday of this week, the Fanita steamed down the lake, skirting the east shore in and out among the emerald gems scattered through the Narrows. The day was glorious. The sun shone over the waves, gilding their crests with bright touches of gleaming splendor as sparkling as diamonds.” Thus wrote the editor of the Lake George Mirror about the start of one such chowder party, held in September 1891.

Once Levi Pratt and his crew arrived at the site selected for the chowder party, the tables were erected, places set and the branches in the trees above strewn with pennants, burgees and bunting. Then the Fanita and Simpson’s guests arrived.  “A landing was effected and the chowder compounded,” to quote the Lake George Mirror.

Although the parties were informal affairs when compared with the balls at the hotels, the chowder parties were not like picnics of today. The table settings were formal, the men attired in three piece suits, and the host outfitted in his commodore’s uniform.

“The eatables and drinkables were the best the market afforded,” the Lake George Mirror routinely reported. A bottle of champange was placed before each man. Not surprisingly, “Speeches were made after the inner anatomy of mankind was satisfied and many interesting stories told by the chowderites.” The party would last through the early evening, when the guests would return to the Fanita for the trip home, “well pleased with their trip, commodore Simpson’s hospitality and the chowder.”

Should anyone wish to revive the tradition of John Boulton Simpson’s Chowder Parties, we provide this local recipe from 1890.

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A local chowder recipe, circa 1890:

Fish Chowder

4 lb. Perch or other white fish

4 cups potatoes cut in 3/4-inch cubes

1 sliced onion

1 1/2 –inch cube fat salt pork

1 tablespoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons butter

4 cups scalded milk

8 common crackers.

Order the fish skinned, but head and tail left on. Cut off head and tail and remove fish from backbone. Cut fish in two-inch pieces and set aside. Put head, tail and backbone , broken in pieces, in stewpan. Add two cups cold water and bring slowly to boiling point; cook twenty minutes. Cut salt pork in small pieces and try out, add onion and fry five minutes ; strain fat into stewpan. Parboil potatoes five minutes in boiling water to cover; drain and add to fat; then add two cups boiling water and cook five minutes. Add liquor drained from bones, then add the fish; cover, and simmer ten minutes. Add milk, salt, pepper, butter and crackers split and soaked in enough cold milk to moisten, otherwise they will be soft on the outside but dry on the inside. Remove crackers, turn chowder into a tureen, and put crackers on top. Pilot bread is sometimes used in place of common crackers.

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