Does anyone remember Howard Johnson’s? The chain restaurant with its distinctive semi-Alpine architecture, bright orange roof, and decorative steeple? To refresh your memory, there’s an episode of “Mad Men” where a Howard Johnson’s circa 1965 is meticulously recreated. Salaries aside, that show must have cost so much money to produce.
When your dear Cousin Mattie was a wee lad we used to go to HoJo’s on special occasions (when my mother demanded a break), which was one of the only restaurants in town. I don’t think my menu ever varied: ice water, a Coke, a children’s menu of fried clam strips, and a peppermint ice cream cone for dessert. What made this even more enjoyable was the air conditioning was always on full blast, which came as a relief during the dog days of August. I dearly miss the one in Times Square, but, being an adult, I used to haunt the bar there. There was no dance floor or disco music but it looked like the disco in “Saturday Night Fever” populated by characters straight out of “Midnight Cowboy,” even though it lasted into the early years of this century. Anyway, on to the clam strips.
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1 1/2 lb. clam strips. My local seafood market, which has slowly raised its prices to obscene levels, carries clam strips and I don’t know why. They must have other uses, maybe there’s a popular Asian dish that uses them? If you can’t find them, you can use clam bellies, which are probably much more common.
Oil for deep frying. I use whatever I have, and that has included peanut and canola.
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup corn flour
1 cup regular (all-purpose) flour
Some salt and black pepper
Rinse the clam strips, put them in a colander, shake out as much water as you can, and put them on paper towel to dry further.
Heat the cooking oil in something like a deep iron skillet or a Dutch oven. You won’t be putting this in the oven, but you need to get the oil to at least 350 degrees and no more than 400 degrees. If you have a thermometer use it. Ideally the oil should be around 375 degrees.
While the oil is heating pour the buttermilk into a bowl and whisk together the corn flour, the regular flour, and the salt and pepper in another bowl. When you think the oil is heated enough (if you don’t have a thermometer, stick something wooden into it like a spoon or a chopstick and if you see a few bubbles form you’re ready. If you see lots of furious bubbles it’s too hot so reduce the heat) dump the clam strips in the buttermilk and stir very gently to coat. In batches, retrieve a few at a time with a slotted spoon and let the excess drip off. Then, batch by batch, put the clams in the bowl with the flour mixture and try to shake off as much excess as you can. This may seem tedious but drop the clams in the heated oil one small batch at a time and give each plenty of room so they don’t all glom together, as they are wont to do. Leave them alone for about 30 seconds so the coating will adhere and then again, very gently, stir them around for another minute and a half or so. Move them to a plate or a sheet covered with paper towel so they dry. Do the other batches fairly quickly and add to the paper-toweled plate or sheet. Let them rest for a little bit to cool down but, and this is important, you should really eat these as soon as you can.
Traditionally you serve fried clam strips with tartar sauce, accompanied by a small cup of cole slaw and some fries that are midway between the thickness of a McDonald’s fry and a steak fry. For the full Cabot Cove experience, because there are no more HoJos, keep an eye out for potential murderers and put all of this in individual little plastic lattice baskets lined with butcher paper. You can actually find these baskets in dollar stores and I can’t think for the life of me why. I wouldn’t use wax paper because some of the wax itself might become a final coat, although I’ve had these in wax paper and never noticed this. While eating, ask your friend Seth the cop if there are any developments concerning that out-of-towner whose dead body was found in their rental car on the highway leading into the town. Though this is highly unethical Seth will tell all and you can “help” him with his investigation.
Thank you for the HoJo memories, Cousin M. Those clam strips sound yummy, but more effort than I wish to exert (I always end up grease stains on my clothing, even with an apron). Do you deliver? I
dohave done a similar thing with calamari, to rave reviews. But it is also very fussy – one must soak the squid overnight in a milk bath, enabling the lactic acid to tenderize it.Smaller squid, like 6-8 inches long including the tentacles, can be sliced and fried right away. But I will only deep fry if I’m cooking a ton of fried food, because cleanup is a pain.
When my parents took us on trips to the Etats d’Unis, we used to stop at HoJos everywhere so yes, I love the HoJo Fried Clams and orange sherbert in small metallic bowl with a tiny dollop of blue ice cream.
I also got fat on those trips… for some reason.
The only time I ever felt nostalgic watching Mad Men were the episodes where they were in a HoJo.
Have you ever had pommes soufflés? They’re basically french fries, but you cook them twice, once in oil heated to about 325 degrees (so not really hot enough) for a few minutes, let rest for just a couple of minutes to dry off, and then again in really hot oil, like 375 or 400 degrees. But doing it this way they puff up for reasons I can’t remember. The only way you can really pull this off is if you have two pots of hot oil going at once, so you basically convert your kitchen to a roadside McDonald’s because the pommes soufflés, like all fries, need to be eaten hot/warm , not cold, and not reheated, so this can’t be done in advance.
According to the Larousse Gastronomique, consult your copy, they were created by accident in a very 19th century. Local worthies were gathered somewhere in France to greet a train that inaugurated a new rail connection to–Paris, I imagine it must have been. The train broke down, or was delayed. The chef on hand (because no occasion in France, no matter how humble, would be without a chef on hand) was in the middle of making french fries. Upon hearing that the train had failed, he stopped. But then, a while later, there everyone was! In a panic he threw the half-cooked french fries into some hot oil, they puffed up on him, and thus the pomme soufflé was born.
I meant to say “in a very 19th-century way.”
And, finally, that was @elliecoo (see above)
Post in haste, repent at leisure.
Fun Fact: Howard Johnson modeled his business concept after a similar venture by a man named Fred Harvey. Harvey capitalized on the expansion of the railroads to create a network of restaurants that served actually good food for travelers. This was no small thing because, back then, food establishments didn’t give a shit about quality or atmosphere. He was also one of the earliest entrepreneurs to not only hire women, but to actually give them the opportunity to become less financially dependent upon their families (once they got married, that was the end of their employment–it was the 19th Century, after all, but this was still quite progressive for the day). Eventually, he expanded into hotels. There are a number of Harvey’s old restaurants and hotels which are still standing today, several of which are in NM where I used to live.
If you’re particularly interested (and I’m guessing Matt is), read the book Appetite for America. It also contains a bunch of recipes from the Harvey restaurants.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/56650/appetite-for-america-by-stephen-fried/
Pierre Franey and Jacques Pepin worked for Howard Johnson early in their careers!
Oh I know all about the Harvey restaurants because at an impressionable young age I saw, for the first time:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038589/
and then I read up on them &c.
Of course you did.
Look, I’m elderly, and when I was growing up we had three channels, PBS came along at some point, but we also had these two independent stations that showed old cartoons and as the day wore on showed old movies. Even then I loved a good movie musical!
We had five channels–the three networks, PBS and an independent station. I watched lots and lots of B&W movies on Saturdays–but no musicals.
Not only have I had the clam strips at Ho Jo’s, I’ve eaten them at a very specific location!
https://www.eater.com/2017/2/14/14601970/last-howard-johnsons-lake-george-new-york
And was it as ghastly as the Eater story seems to make it out to be?
No, though I have not been since probably the mid-’90s, and I’m sure it hasn’t changed an iota since then. There was a water park across the way — Water Slide World, and anyone who lived in this region between the 80’s and mid-2010s will know the theme song by heart — and my mother and I would usually go once or twice a year and stop at HoJo’s for sundaes afterward.
It’s tough to save a restaurant that’s main draw is its historic nature. Change too much and you alienate the people there for the history; change too little and everyone complains that you’re out of date.
Howard Johnson’s and IHOP were where we always stopped on vacations. Both had something for everyone. I loved the clam strips at HoJos’s. We have a local place that does them really well. But I save them for special occasions because deep-fried food is so fattening.
Some of the best fried clams I’ve had substituted club soda for the milk. The proprietor’s rationale? “What do you get when you mix milk and flour? A pancake. Do you want clams wrapped in pancakes?”
Come to think of it, a beer batter might not be bad, either.
Mmmmmmm………………………beer.
I’m sorry, the answer you’re looking for is “No, I don’t want clams in a pancake?” Because I do. Also I want beer-battered clams too. Look, let’s stop talking and have some more clams.
In Rhode Island they have clam cakes, which are basically chopped clams in deep fried balls of pancake batter.
I can’t say they are as good as fried clam strips, but they’re still pretty awesome in their own way fresh out of the fryer.
Since this was my post and we’ve all moved on to the excellent DUAN Shark Week post, will you indulge your very bored Cousin Matt? Myo may ban me permanently and I wouldn’t assign blame if that were to happen; I might do so myself.
Welcome to an occasional edition of “Properties That May Be of Interest to People of Quality With a Discerning Eye.” What happened was that Better Half is getting a little bored being cooped up in Winfield Hall, with its 52 rooms and clock tower, and neither of us have really gotten over the night tremors you’re experiencing after spending the weekend at The House of Horrors, and Harry or Hal or whatever his name is, the driver, isn’t getting any younger so the trips up to the Family Compound in coastal Maine are becoming more arduous, and Better Half is a Boston native, so anything to ensure domestic tranquility.
Restored Gilded Age Estate in Massachusetts to List for $22 Million
A 100-year-old Massachusetts mansion (+1) formerly owned by one of the greatest female athletes of the early 20th century (+1 for the unusual but not objectionable provenance) is set to be listed for $22 million, Mansion Global has learned.
Rock Edge Estate (no points: Rock Edge is a great name, that “Estate” tacked on at the end is a little…) in Beverly, Massachusetts, is a commanding 28,000-square-foot (+2) Georgian-revival (+2) residence with 11 bedrooms (+1) and 12 bathrooms (+1) on what was once considered the region’s “gold coast,” (this gets a big +2, possibly a +3, because “once considered” means it’s not some gotten-up “luxury” development area) according to the listing with George Sarkis of Douglas Elliman (+1 for Douglas Elliman; they’re a fine firm. Not as good as Sotheby’s but who knows what goes on up in Massachusetts). As the name suggests, the 3-acre (+1) property sits on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, and includes 400 feet of water frontage (+1) with a private beach (+2).
The home has also been updated “from soup to nuts,” (-2) according to owner Charlie Benevento, who oversaw the renovation.
“It has the style and grandeur of a Gilded Age estate (+2), as well as all of the amenities of modern living (-1),” said Mr. Benevento, who owns Benevento Companies, a construction materials supply company north of Boston (Oh dear. -2, I’m afraid).
Mr. Benevento’s father purchased the home in 1970 from the estate of athlete Eleonora R. Sears. A champion squash and tennis player, she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1968 (oh, +2 then).
She was also a competitive horsewoman, a daring driver, pilot and fashionista who was widely criticized for wearing trousers in public, according to a 2009 biography by Peggy Miller Franck (+5, with a point awarded for being the subject of a biography).
Sears was well-connected to the social and political worlds, and guests at the estate included Judy Garland, Harold S. Vanderbilt and Cole Porter, who played piano for guests on the lawn (without knowing who the other guests were, I’ll give this roundup a +4), Mr. Benevento said. Sears lived in the home from 1940 until her death in 1968 at age 86.
Mr. Benevento inherited the home about four years ago, and soon began a “total refit” of the property (-2). That included new roofing, electric, plumbing, heating and more. Linda Zarifi of Boston-based Zarifi Design helmed the redesign (no points either way, just a faraway look of incomprehension).
Details of the mansion include custom woodwork (possibly +1), hardwood floors in a chevron pattern (+2), 14 fireplaces with bespoke mantels (+3) and an 1,500-square-foot kitchen with Carrara marble countertops, with oversize windows and glass doors throughout (+2, not that you will ever set foot in the kitchen).
“There are water views from every room (+3),” Mr. Sarkis said. “And location wise, it’s close enough to Boston to commute [about 35 minutes], but far enough away to make it a getaway (+2).”
The home also features a formal dining room (+1), a music room (+1), a game room and study with custom cabinetry (is this all one room? No points. If they mean a billiards room and a study, +3), as well as ample outdoor space (+2), according to the listing. There’s also a two-bedroom carriage house (+2), a garage for up to seven cars (+1) and restored cabana (+1), original to the property (+ another 1), by the beach. “This house is one of one,” Mr. Sarkis said, adding that builders have estimated it would cost more than $40 million to create today. “It’s the most unique property on the North Shore of Massachusetts, and it can’t be replicated.” (If this is true, +5)
@matthewcrawley these comments remind me of this skit
One of the best skits SNL ever aired.
Hmm. I’m very familiar with Beverly, and they do have some ridiculous mansions there (as well as some not so nice areas). I also feel like the name Benevento is familiar, but not enough to place how I know them. Maybe it’s just the company.
huh. I had no idea Howard Johnsons was a restaurant, for some reason I always thought they were a hotel or something…
Lochaber, they have hotels, too!