Rice Dressing Recipe

A Lingering Memory Uncovers a Forgotten Favorite

If you lived in Laguna Beach between the early 1960s and the late ‘80s, chances are good that you patronized La Paz, one of the few restaurants outside of downtown.

Though gone from the scene for more than two decades, nostalgic recollections by loyal La Paz customers are surprisingly easy to find. We turned them up as a result of a recent inquiry from former resident Steve Buchanan, a 1964 Laguna Beach High School graduate. He wanted to track down the restaurant’s famous blue cheese salad dressing.

In its heyday, when La Paz closed for the help’s annual vacation, “you marked off the days on the calendar until they opened again,” said resident Cathy Hallinan, who regularly frequented the landmark Mexican eatery in the late ‘60s and ‘70s. She fondly recalled making daily treks from Oak Street beach up to the restaurant’s popular back door, where surfers and sun worshipers lined up still sandy footed in trunks and swimming suits to get the combo plate of beans, rice and cheese.

The take-out door opened on a narrow corridor between La Paz and the building next door. Patrons awaiting their paper plate passed the time writing their names, drawing hearts, and recording surfing feats on the wall, said Hallinan.

Usually, they’d bring their foil-covered paper plates back to the beach, but sometimes they’d lean against the sun-drenched wall of the tiny deck to finish off their affordable and satisfying meal. Prices ranged from 35 cents to $1.25 between the early ‘60s and late ‘70s.

Buchanan and his friends would walk up from their hangout at Wood’s Cove and eat their combo plates on the walk back.

The back-door Laguna ritual was born of expediency since kids coming from the beach used to track tar all over the floor inside, owner Florence Nichols told the Laguna News-Post in 1988. In an earlier article, reporter Len Hall wrote that the back door window had a particular following in the ‘60s “when it became a haven for long haired, barefooted hippies who weren’t welcome elsewhere.”

The ever-genteel owner-hostess greeted those who ventured inside the tiny establishment for a sit down meal. They dined on dishes devised by her husband with the help of the cook to replicate memorable meals from restaurants such as Mexico City’s Sanborn’s.

Hence, the inspiration behind La Paz’s much-praised Sanborn’s enchilada. “My dad just sort of copied the ingredients,” of dishes he liked, said Holly Pettit, the Nichols’ daughter, who still lives in Laguna.

Wild Rice Dressing Recipe | Simply Recipes

I've always been a fan of wild rice, and yes, I know it's not actually a rice, nor, for the most part, is it wild. It's an edible grass, and most of what we eat is farmed from the Upper Midwest to California, although real wild rice can be had if you look. Wild rice is nuttier, firmer and murkier-tasting than white or brown rice—perfect for game, especially turkey. And what better way to serve wild rice with turkey than as a dressing?

I say dressing because I am not a huge fan of stuffing a turkey, or any other bird for that matter. But if you want to stuff a bird with this, feel free. I bake mine outside the bird as it cooks.

Most wild rice stuffings rely solely on wild rice as the starch, but that results in a too-dense stuffing, to my mind. So I leaven the rice mixture with regular bread croutons . Nuts (walnuts or pine nuts work best) add crunch, cranberries, acidity and sweetness, and some sautéed mushrooms bring even more of that dusky, forest-floor flavor to the party.

Serve this with any turkey dish, other game birds such as pheasant, or with venison, beef or bison—anywhere you want to up the "wild game" feel to your food.

1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add the wild rice. Cover, turn the heat to low and simmer until the rice is tender, about 25 minutes or so.

2 Preheat the oven to 350°F.

3 As the rice is cooking, heat a large sauté pan on high for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and shake the pan a little so they don't stick. Dry sauté the mushrooms, stirring often, until the release their water. When most of the water has burned off, sprinkle salt over the mushrooms, add 3 Tbsp of the butter, onion and celery and toss to combine. Sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring often.

4 Drain the rice when it is tender (most of the grains will have split by then) and add the rice to the sauté pan. Turn off the heat and add the sage, croutons, dried cranberries and walnuts. Sprinkle a little more salt over everything. Stir to combine.

5 Put the dressing into a large, oven-proof pot with a lid and dot with the remaining butter. Add the chicken stock, cover and bake for 45 minutes. If you want, take the cover off for the last 15 minutes to brown the top.

Yield:

This looks totally awesome. Can I mooch off your family's Thanksgiving, or at least the leftovers? As by way of introduction, I am a poor college student living two and a half hours away from home...

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