{"id":2771,"date":"2013-12-14T12:29:19","date_gmt":"2013-12-14T20:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/?p=2771"},"modified":"2013-12-14T12:29:36","modified_gmt":"2013-12-14T20:29:36","slug":"willie-flockos-country-kitchen-in-the-60s-the-best-place-to-eat-was-porcupine-ranch-by-bill-benge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/14\/willie-flockos-country-kitchen-in-the-60s-the-best-place-to-eat-was-porcupine-ranch-by-bill-benge\/","title":{"rendered":"Willie Flocko’s Country Kitchen– ‘In the 60s the Best Place to Eat was Porcupine Ranch’..By Bill Benge"},"content":{"rendered":"

(From the 2003 Zephyr Archives)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the 1960s and into the early 70s, an island of civility, culture, beauty and
\njoie de vivre<\/em> flourished in the upper reaches of Castle Valley—a veritable
\nCamelot known as Porcupine Ranch. This paradise was owned and operated
\nby Ray and Ethel Scovill.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ethel was a formally educated scholar who had attended the University of
\nCalifornia, Berkeley and the Sorbonne in Paris. Ray was self-educated, more
\nor less (mostly more) and had a colorful and distinguished past. Among the
\nmany hats he wore, Ray had been a professional hockey player, the owner of
\nan import\/export firm, a Moab City Policeman, and the Moab Justice of the
\nPeace.<\/p>\n

While he was a JP, Ray also ran a restaurant, located near the alley, behind
\nwhat is now the Back of Beyond Books. Ray could dispense justice all day, and
\ndispense steaks and fries all evening with the same aplomb. When the Scovills
\nretired and moved to Porcupine Ranch, they operated a \u201crestaurant\u201d of sorts,
\npartly to offset expenses and partly due to their love of interesting people and
\neclectic conversation.
\nAttendance at the \u201crestaurant\u201d was, by and large, by invitation only or, if
\nthey were lucky, prospective diners could call and request a reservation. If they
\nwere really lucky. Generally, one needed a \u201crecommend\u201d from someone within
\nthe Scovills\u2019 Inner Circle of Porcupine patrons.<\/p>\n

Ray was always very blunt with potential customers; if they weren\u2019t on the
\nrecommend list he told them. And if he simply wasn\u2019t in the mood to serve, he
\ndidn\u2019t. It was that simple.<\/p>\n

Whenever there was a film being shot in the area, the actors and crew could
\noften be found dining at the ranch. Customers included John Wayne (who Ray
\nliked), Betty Davis (who Ray also liked) and Terrence Stamp (who he despised).
\nIt might be noted that Ray\u2019s first impressions were usually irreversible
\nand required immediate action. If Ray Scovill didn\u2019t like someone, they were
\nhistory. Immediately. Even before the meal had begun. A Ray Rejection was<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

ordered to leave the premises and a long walk that required a several mile trek
\nto the main Castle Valley road and an even longer journey back to Moab.
\nDinners at Ray and Ethel\u2019s were conducted in a \u201csalon\u201d atmosphere. One
\nmight arrive at seven in the evening for cocktails. Discussions on any subject
\nmight follow and go on for hours. Sometimes the topic might be 18th Century
\nFrench literature. Or it could be modern detective fiction. Or contemporary
\npolitics. Or new wines from California. Dinner was served at Ray\u2019s whim,
\nwhen he was good and ready, generally between ten and eleven, like it or not.
\nDinner was served family-style at long tables and, with few exceptions, was
\nalways the same. It started with French Onion Soup (Ray\u2019s secret recipe), a
\nhuge salad with Ray\u2019s secret and patented salad dressing, followed by huge
\ntwo or three-inch sirloin steaks, served on a platter from which customers
\nwould cut pieces to fit their appetite, and twice-fried French potatoes so that
\nthey would puff up like a true French souffles potato.<\/p>\n

Dessert was usually Bavarian Cream. On special occasions like birthdays,
\nThanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, Ray would prepare dishes beyond his
\nusual bill of fare. One of the best of his special dishes was Deviled Crab. This
\nrecipe, like the onion soup and the salad dressing, was a carefully guarded
\nsecret (Ray had a lot of secrets). However, at the time of Ray\u2019s death, the recipe
\nwas passed along to a few of Ray\u2019s closest friends. I was grateful to be on the
\nlist. Inasmuch as Ray has been gone for almost 30 years, I feel it is proper to
\nrelease this recipe to the general public. Here it is:<\/p>\n

RAY\u2019S DEVILED CRAB<\/strong>
\n4 Tablespoons Butter<\/em>
\n4 Tablespoons Flour<\/em>
\n3 Cups Milk*<\/em>
\n1 Pimento, finely chopped<\/em>
\n2 Tablespoons chopped Green Pepper<\/em>
\n1 Tablespoon chopped Parsley<\/em>
\n1 Tablespoon sherry<\/em>
\n1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce<\/em>
\n2 Teaspoons Dry Mustard<\/em>
\n– Salt to taste<\/em>
\n2 Cups canned, flaked Crab Meat<\/em>
\n2 Hardboiled Eggs, chopped<\/em>
\n– Grated Parmesan Cheese<\/em><\/p>\n

Make a sauce of butter, flour and milk; add all remaining ingredients except cheese.
\nTurn into greased baking dishes (preferably greased scallop dishes) and sprinkle with cheese.
\nBake in 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

* Ray always used condensed milk as it kept better, Porcupine Ranch being
\nan hour or more from Moab. Therefore I always use condensed milk for historical
\nreasons. Use one can of condensed milk and the remainder water to make 3
\ncups.<\/p>\n

I hope that all of you will try this recipe and enjoy it, and for those of you
\nwho knew Ray and Ethel, I hope this recipe will bring back fond memories.<\/p>\n

For those of you who didn\u2019t know the Scovills, I\u2019m sorry that you missed two
\nwonderful people and a place and time that was magic.<\/p>\n

This recipe is dedicated to Pam, Ross, Donna, Steve, Jim, Adrien, Sam, Barr,
\nSusan, Sylvia, Sal and all the rest of Ray\u2019s \u201cspecial family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bill Benge died on October 20, 2006.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Feb\/Mar Zephyr is online (click the cover)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(From the 2003 Zephyr Archives) In the 1960s and into the early 70s, an island of civility, culture, beauty and joie de vivre flourished in the upper reaches of Castle Valley—a veritable Camelot known as Porcupine Ranch. This paradise was owned and operated by Ray and Ethel Scovill. Ethel was a formally educated scholar who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2771"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10515,"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771\/revisions\/10515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}