by Terrance Mc Arthur

Spring is here, and so is Easter. What foods could I feature for The Great Food Search? I thought about it, and the first thing that came to mind was an Easter Ham. The second thing I thought of was the Easter Egg. Then in a flash of insight, BAM! Sandwiches! There are sandwiches with ham, and there are sandwiches with egg. Of course, the path to figuring out the theme of this GFS was a bit more torturous than that, but “On with the Show!”

Huckleberry’s—2100 Clovis Ave., Clovis—My wife and I were in Fresno, leaving a medical appointment, planning to go to Costco in Clovis, when we thought of stopping at the nearby Huckleberry’s. I almost ordered my usual catfish entrée, but my wife pointed out the menu description of the Monte Cristo. AHA! That would fit my theme for the month. Ham and turkey, Monterey Jack cheese, egg-dipped sourdough bread fried, and the whole of it delicately sprinkled with dots of powdered sugar (The only other Monte Cristo I’d ever had was almost covered in powdered sugar; I made the mistake of inhaling and couldn’t get the stuff out of my lungs.) For dipping, there was a small tub of Huckleberry Jam (WOW!). It was like a sweet version of a French Dip . . . and there were munchable fries on the side.

Marie Callender’s Restaurant & Bakery—1781 E Shaw Ave, Fresno, CA 93710—My wife and I were in Fresno, leaving a medical appointment (We are at the stage of life when medical appointments are a major part of our calendar), when we thought of stopping at the nearby Marie Callender’s, across from Cal State, Fresno. One possible GFS idea was looking for good Pies, but we’re saving that theme for another month. Looking at the menu, I was attracted to the words “Grilled Ham Stack.” What, wondered I, is a Grilled Ham Stack? It turned out to be a pile of thin pieces of ham, a goodly slice of tomato, lettuce (that I did without), and a yummy-yummy Sweet Gherkin Thousand Island dressing, all stuffed between two slices of grilled Parmesan Sourdough, with a generous mound of fries on the side. It was a whole lot of sandwich, and half of it went home with me. It was still good the next day.

Red Caboose Café—5054 N. Academy Ave., Suite E, Clovis—My wife and I were taking a friend to lunch (Yes, we do other things besides going to medical appointments) since he had recently broken a shoulder, a collarbone, and a rib (while riding his e-bike, the fellow tried to avoid a cat; the cat got away, unscathed), and decided to treat him to a good meal. I chose my recently-discovered favorite sandwich on the railroad-themed menu, the Deuce Caboose. What, you may ask, is the Deuce Caboose? It’s a good old-fashioned Egg Salad Sandwich. Big chunks of egg and oh-so-sloppy dressing that gets all over the place, and lettuce (which I did have) with a wedge of dill pickle that has a terrific bite to it. The sandwich comes with a complementary side, so I went for the soup, because The Red Caboose now has their killer Clam Chowder every day! Thick, creamy, loaded with veggies, and clams galore. I love the restaurant, especially when the model railroad chugs overhead on its figure-8 track. A friendly place with reliably-delicious food.

The Verdict—For being a “What am I going to write about?” month, this turned out to be a month of good eating. The Grilled Ham Stack was a lot of good eating, the Deuce Caboose was messy and a treat (The Clam Chowder is in a class by itself!), but Huckleberry’s Monte Cristo was a mountain of flavor that topped them all.

Happy Eating!

Check out more food articles and more of Terrance’s Great Food Search column in our Food Fun section. And check out a KRL staff profile this week on Terrance!

Terrance V. Mc Arthur worked for the Fresno County Public Library for three decades. He is retired, but not retiring. A storyteller, puppeteer, writer, actor, magician, basketmaker, and all-around interesting person, his goal is to make life more unusual for everyone he meets.