Daily Record from Morristown, New Jersey • 24

B2 Daily Record, Morris County, Wednesday. September 30, 1998 Food Flexible Hamburger Skillet comes in adult, kid versions BEVERLY MILLS ALICIA ROSS Hoekje says you can add just about anything else you have on hand onions, peppers, wine, mushrooms, sour cream, celery and the dish just improves. We don't tend to crave bland combinations like hamburger and soup, but our children surely do. And we reasoned that hamburger and soup is, after all, the basis for about a million other casseroles. When the time came for the taste test, sure enough, six children and a teenage babysitter all pronounced "Gloop Glop" a hit "This is great You can make it anytime.

Mom," said a 5-year-old picky eater. He also loved the name, his mother reports. On the other hand, all three adults sampling the recipe found themselves craving some additional ingredients. So we made a second batch with sauteed onions, bell peppers and mushrooms. For good measure, we threw in a little garlic powder, dry sherry and some sour cream to taste, and served the sauce over egg noodles.

"Gloop Glop" suddenly became "Flexible Hamburger Skillet" Delightful Whether you need a quick fix for the children or a way to use up bits of leftover veggies from the refrigerator, this is a workable addition to the recipe box. "My kids ate this once a week for most of their lives," Hoekje says, "and they still ask me to fix it for them. Cook's note: The following recipe is Lee Hoekje's child-friendly original. But when fixing this recipe for adults, we recommend adding a sauteed onion and either a bell pepper or a cup of fresh sliced mushrooms. We also stir in garlic powder, reduced-fat sour cream and either dry sherry or Worcestershire sauce to taste.

The dish can also be served over rice, noodles, baked potatoes or mashed potatoes, for lower total fat Menu Flexible Hamburger Skillet Sliced peaches Crusty rolls FLEXIBLE HAMBURGER SKILLET 1 lb. extra-lean ground beef, fresh or frozen 1 can (10 ozs.) reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup 1 to 2 Ts. skim or low-fat milk 4 ozs. potato chips J. If the meat is frozen, run it under hot water so you can remove any packaging.

Place the meat on a microwave-safe plate and microwave 3 minutes, uncovered, on high, to begin defrosting. 2. Place the partially defrosted meat over medium-high heat in a 12-inch, nonstick skillet Cook until completely browned, turning and breaking up the meat from time to time. 3. Reduce the heat to medium-low.

Add the mushroom soup and 1 tablespoon milk and stir until the soup is well-combined and hot, about 3 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add the second tablespoon of milk. Serve at once over potato chips. (Serves 4) APPROXIMATE VALUES PER SERVING: 411 calories (56 percent from fat); 25 gs. fat (9 gs.

saturated); 73 mgs. cholesterol; 24 gs. protein; 21 gs. carbohydrates; 1 g. dietary fiber; 747 mgs.

sodium. BEVERLY MILLS is the former editor of The Miami Herald Food section. Alicia Ross is a food columnist for The News and Observer in North Carolina. Each has two children and they take turns writing this weekly column. They welcome your favorite quick recipes, desperate tales of woe, or everyday success stories.

Send to Desperation Dinners, co Daily Record, 800 Jefferson Road, Parsippany, N.J. 07054. One cook's desperation can be another cook's dinner party. Lee Hoekje, a reader from Cross Village, writes that although she likes Desperation Dinners, she does have one complaint The recipes don't always seem so desperate. 'Some of the recipes assume you have ingredients on hand but maybe you don't," she says, "and they assume you have the time to prepare them but maybe you don't." Yes, indeed! Two of the guiding principles behind Desperation Dinners are: Keep your pantry and freezer stocked, and pack as much flavor as you can into 20 minutes of cooking.

But what happens when the kitchen is bare and dinner must be on the table in only five minutes? "Make Gloop Glop," Hoekje says. "When my mother-in-law told me about this recipe back in the early 1950s, I thought it sounded terrible. I've told others about it, and I always get funny looks. But I guarantee you will be sur- DESPERATION DINNERS prised. I have never served it to anyone who did not love it." Like Hoekje, we also had reservations about the recipe name.

But we had to admit we were curious. All that's required is a can of mushroom soup, a dash of milk, some hamburger and potato chips. History FRESH MAHI MAM Continued from Bl Ebenezer Byram built the Black Horse Inn on Route 24 in Mendham In 1742. STEAKS LB. property along the Passaic River acquired from William Penn.

The mill supplied flour, meal and feed to the Continental Army encampment at Jockey Hollow during the Revolution. Having passed through a series of owners, the Basking Ridge property was purchased in 1929 by William Childs, of the Childs restaurant chain. He moved the mill's barn across Route 202, and began The Olde Mill Inn Restaurant. Today, the barn that once held FILLET LB, 1 1 1 $5 OFF DINNER FOR 2 EXP 103198 1 0 a a THREE FOR THE MONEY! Save on this week's specials. Proof that it's easy as 1-2-3 to enjoy our value-priced seafood.

These and all your other favorite varieties caught and hand-picked every day at dockside. While supplies last until 10398 LIVE MAINE LOBSTERS 1-1VLB. The Steak House at 80 Elm St. in Morristown (near Del's Novelties and overlooking The Hiker monument) ia about 150 years old but restaurateur Pat Piccolo says he's only the third owner. Piccolo also owns the Settebello II Caffe in town.

When the building was new, it was a food and vegetable store, selling both wholesale and retail. Then, after about 35 or 40 years, it was turned into a plumbing supply store by its second owner, W.B. Egberts, Piccolo says. It was being used as a warehouse for plumbing supplies when he bought it in 1994. "It had an old-fashioned freight elevator, which we took out, and no amenities except minimal electricity," Piccolo recalls.

"I had to bring in power lines, electricity, water, gas lines, heat and air conditioning." He saw the promise in the building, he says, laughing, but his wife did not. The renovation took until 1996. Now, visitors can enjoy the original doors, restored after they were discovered sandwiched inside plywood; original brick walls and oak ceilings. The restaurant, which can seat from 85 to 90 on two floors, has a diverse menu but its main concern, the owner says, is prime steaks. Call (973) 539-8545.

Ebenezer Byram built the Black Horse Inn on Route 24 in Mendham in 1742. Originally a farmhouse, it has been a thriving business for better than 250 years, ever since Byram turned it into a prime stagecoach stop for the run between Scranton, and Newark. Entrance to the building, whose wood, says Black Horse administrator Lynn Ward, is 90 percent original, is through a glassed-in porch, always decorated in keeping with the season. Inside, each of the three main antique-filled dining rooms has its own individual ambiance elegant Victorian, cozy English pub, or warm colonial taproom. The restaurant seats more than 225 patrons, and the adjacent, more informal pub, 175.

Call (973) 543-7300. According to "The Saga of a Crossroads: Florham Park," the town was called Columbia in 1780 when what is now the The Afton restaurant at Columbia Turnpike and Hanover Road began life as a broom factory. By the 19th century, it had become a general store operated by Theodore Hopping. Residents wanted their own post office in 1877 mail had been coming from Madison but there already was a Columbia in Warren County. So a vote was taken and the name Afton, from the song "Flow Gently Sweet Afton," won by 10 votes.

The former Hopping store became the home and office of Dr. Ed- wina Dusenberry during the 1920s, and was turned into the Afton Tea Room in 1932. Carl and Sylvia Wessling purchased it in 1941 and, renovated and added to several times, it's been a restaurant ever since. With a comfortable Early American atmosphere, The Afton, long famous for its "sticky buns," can serve 300 in five dining rooms. Call (973) 377-1871.

The original stone section of the Bernardsville Stone Tavern Brewery, found just off the center of town, was built by John Bunn in 1849 on the site of a Revolutionary era establishment, Bullion's Tavern. Originally intended to be a blacksmith's shop, it was opened instead as an inn called the Old Stone Hotel. Lewis Doty added the back frame section in 1882, when the hotel became known as Doty's. It became the Bernardsville Hotel in 1910, but reverted to being the Old Stone Hotel in later years. In 1978, the name was changed to Freddy's, and the present name became official in October 1996.

The microbrewery at the Stone Tavern allows it to serve eight varieties of beer on tap. The dining room and, when the weather's fine, tables on the porch can seat 150. Call (908) 766-6575. In 1768, Samuel Lewis built a water-powered gristmill and barn on FRESH SEAFOOD MARKET 77)f? fahulous seafood markets rivht next Bto our restaurants 430 Rl. 1 7S Carlstadl, NJ 07072 Rest: (201) 933-3300 Seafood Mkt: (201) 933-9200 1 555 RI.46E Parsippany, 07054 (973) 263-5500 Expires 10398 LOOD IS NEEDED IN U.

Generations Have Enjoyed Pepperidge Farm Quality At Bakery Thrift Store Prices. the Continental Army's grain has been renamed The Grain House, and the complex, including a new hotel, is called The Olde Mill Inn. The Grain House seats 100 in its main dining room, 78 in its pub, and, weather permitting, 36 outside on the patio. Call (908) 221-1150. Willie's Taverne in Bedminster was built by Aaron Melick in 1786 as a home for his son John, who was returning from the Revolutionary War.

Since then, the building has been a pub, a polling place, a pool room, a package store, a speak-easy, a hotel and a restaurant. Its present name honors a colorful former owner, Willie Howard, who was hired as a huntsman for the Essex Hunt in 1893, and bought what was then the Bedminster Hotel for $5,000 five years later. Willie gave the hotel his name, raised nine children on the premises and hosted Woodrow Wilson in 1916 as he delivered a campaign speech from the Howard Hotel's front steps. Today, in the Colonial Room, one of the five dining rooms that can serve 219 patrons at Willie's, a large beam has the original hand-structured markings. Call (908) 234-1596.

Hand-hewn beams, old cigar store Indians, wide fireplaces and collections of antique china are among the furnishings of Larison's Turkey Farm Inn at the intersection of Routes 24 and 206 in Chester. Two rooms from a farm circa 1736 are now part of the kitchen and serving area, and the main building is circa 1800. James Topping bought the building in 1829, and it was purchased by Willis and Ruth Larison in 1945, who initially ran it as a turkey farm. After World War II ended, the Larisons began serving turkey and all the trimmings. Country-style meals (many entrees have joined turkey on the menu) served family style in four dining rooms have been attracting diners ever since.

Art Mc-Greevy purchased the restaurant, which seats 265, in 1975. Call (908) 879-5521. In 1833, Antoine LeBlanc was the last criminal hanged on the Morris-town Green. He'd bludgeoned to death his employer, Samuel Sayre, Sayre's wife, Sarah, and their maid, Phebe, at the Sayre home at 217 South St. in Morristown.

Today, that home is Jimmy's, the last in our sampling of historic eating places. Today, this is a restaurant and nightclub with the ambiance of New Orleans. But Phebe 's still around, the story goes, a resident spirit manifested in self-opening doors, swinging chandeliers, exploding punchbowls, whispered calls and more. Jimmy's formerly The Wedge-wood, Phoebes, Argyle's, Society Hill and South Street seats 50 in its dining room. Call (973) 455-7000.

14 I -a 1 1 And You Can, Too. WDHAWMTR BLOOP DROVE. AT THE BROADCAST PARK 55 Horsehill Cedar Knolls, NJ Sept. 30, 1998 8 AM-4 PM Please call to make a reservation or just stop on by. For info, call 973-538-1250 x.

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