A Perfect Day For A Picnic

Don't get me wrong, I love fall.  But when I looked out yesterday and saw the leaves falling, one thing jumped into my mind -- picnic.    Even in the cool middle of Fall, one can find  A Perfect Day For A Picnic.  We do have an incredible soft spot for picnic books.  Truth be told, most anything can be stuffed into a picnic basket.  I confess, it is not so much the food as it is the photos of picnics that draw us to picnic books. 

A Perfect Day For A Picnic starts out pretty perfect.  The book's spine is bound with a lovely red ticking.   Along with picnics, ticking is one of our favorite things, so we really couldn't resist.  Tori Finch provides just the ting one would want in a picnic cookbook; easy recipes and great pictures.  Who could resist a knobby old bicycle rested against a tree? 

Tucked in the picnic box, this take on a traditional quiche, but in a crust-less frittata version.

Frittata Lorraine

8 rashers smoked streaky bacon
1 small shallot, finely diced
1tsp olive oil
8 eggs
200ml crème fraîche
75g grated Gruyère cheese
Sea salt and ground black pepper

 Preheat the oven to 180C. Scrunch a sheet of baking parchment into a ball and then flatten it out (this will make it more malleable) and use to line a 20x28cm roasting tin. Put the bacon in a large frying pan with the shallots and olive oil and cook over a medium heat. Stir occasionally until golden and beginning to crisp up.

In a large jug or bowl, whisk together the eggs and crème fraîche, then stir in the bacon, shallots and fat from the pan. Add most of the Gruyère (saving a little to sprinkle on top) and season well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyère and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35min until golden and set. You can eat it warm, or leave to cool, slice into wedges and pack into your cool box.

 I realize that it is still August, but September is looming, so get out there and picnic.

Cooking Out Of Doors

 It is a cold day here in Lucindaville.  And we are not alone, it is a cold day pretty much everywhere.  (Please do not email us and tell us that YOU are in Hawaii and it is 84 and balmy.  We are happy for you but really, keep it to yourself.)   The cold has prompted us to think about picnics!   So we pulled out a vintage charmer:  Cooking Out Of Doors by Molly Graham.  This 1960 British cookbook offers up a cavalcade of al fresco dining options.

But remember, it is the sixties, in fact the first sixty, so some of the ideas are a bit...  like these sandwich suggestions

Cream Cheese and Gherkin

Spread cream cheese on thickly and top with thinly sliced gherkins.

or

Ham and Crushed Pineapple

Chop up some ham or gammon and spread on bread with butter.  Add a layer of well-drained, tinned crushed pineapple.

Here's and idea for a caravan holiday:

Braised Tinned Tongues

large tin lamb tongues
vegetables
a little water
seasonings

Set the children to preparing any vegetables you have.  These should include a large onion and a large potato each for the family.  Open the tin of tongues and separate them.  Put the tongues into a casserole and put sliced vegetables on top.  Add a little water and salt and pepper.  Put into a moderate oven until the vegetables are cooked, about 1 hour.  

If very venturesome, make a sauce to go with dish.

 Correct me if I am wrong but if you are eating canned tongue you have probably crossed over into the "venturesome" category already!   Which led me to wonder -- Can one still buy canned lamb tongues?  The answer is yes, especially if one lives in New Zealand.

Fortunately there are several drink recipes.  One will be needing several drinks before the canned lamb tongue casserole.   Here is one beloved by the British Navy.

Pink Gin

Take a cocktail glass and into it a drop of Angostura Bitters.  Twist round so that this coats the glass then pour away and surplus.  Add a measure of gin.   the drink will be pale pink.

Well, I am heading home to hunker down by the fire...and picnic another day.

Picnics

I love picnics. Though I must admit, I have never really found a picnic book that I adore, completely. Picnics, by Sara Deseran, is one of the best little picnic books. It offers a nice mix of recipes and heaping helpings of picnic advice. There is a list of items to bring to the picnic. How frustrating can it be to arrive at a lovely picnic area and realize that you have no corkscrew?

Deseran adds a menu section in the back of the book. She takes recipes from the book and arranges them into events like a City Picnic, an Elegant Brunch, or a Latin Barbeque. The menus are a nice touch.

I am a huge fan of orzo and it rarely shows up in cookbooks. For my money, it is versatile, easy to use, and downright tasty. Picnics offers up a great orzo salad.

Orzo Salad with Green Olives, Tomatoes, and Feta

1 pound uncooked orzo (2 generous cups)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 pounds cherry tomatoes, in an assortment of colors, halved
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 English cucumbers, unpeeled, quartered lengthwise and cut into slices
1 cup chopped red onions
1 cup (about 5 ounces) feta cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup green olives, halved
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orzo and cook until just tender, about 8 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain again. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and mix well. Set aside.

Put the tomatoes in a large bowl and add 1 teaspoon salt. Let stand for 1/2 hour or so and then drain any accumulated liquid. Add the cucumber, red onion, feta, olives, parsley, lemon juice and the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and gently mix. Add the orzo and gently toss with the vegetables. Season with the remaining salt and the pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Mix up a big batch and head outside.

Picnics

Picnics by Viola Johnstone is from a series of small, British cookbooks published in the late 50’s and early 60’s. I adore this series, but frankly, many of the recipes are so vague, you need to know how to cook in order to accomplish the recipe. Then some are really straightforward such as the section on sandwiches. It lists 23 types of sandwiches, including eggs mashed with mayonnaise, chicken mashed with mayonnaise, sardines mashed with Worcester, crab meat mashed with Worcester and on and on.

There are many recipes that include aspic, which has a short shelf life in the out of doors! Unless you are traveling with a refrigerator, or the picnic is right out the kitchen door, I can’t imagine making a lot of aspics for a picnic.

Here is a simple salad that even the most unaccomplished cook could pull off -- and be a hit.

French Dressing

1 part of wine vinegar or lemon juice, 3 parts of olive oil, dry mustard, salt and pepper.

A basic French dressing in composed of the above ingredients. Some people advocate the addition of a little sugar, but this is not included in a correct and traditional French dressing.
Put the mustard, salt and pepper into a bowl and stir in the vinegar or lemon juice. Add the olive oil and mix well. Transfer to a jar with a top which will screw on tightly.
Travel the dressing—which will prove invaluable at almost every picnic –in the jar, and shake it well before pouring on any salad.

Salad of Baby Broad Beans

This is a delicate salad when broad beans are young and just in season –but for salad purposes they must be fresh and neither frozen of tinned.
Shell the beans and cook for a few minutes—according to age and size—in boiling salted water. Drain, cool and transfer to a container. When required serve tossed in a little French dressing which has been traveled in a screw-top jar.

I love picnic cookbooks, but I have yet to find one that makes me all excited. Perhaps because I am more interested in how to package the food and not what to make. Most anything becomes “picnic” food when you walk it out the door.

The Tailgate Cookbook

April Herbert's The Tailgate Cookbook is subtitled: A Practical Handbook of Delightful Meals for Campers, Travelers and Sports Enthusiasts. I rather like this cookbook, and keep finding torn up copies, book club and ex-library editions, so it must have been quite popular in its day.

It does run the gamut from snails to coq au vin. There is a recipe for pork paté that includes peanut butter and suggests Chinese Fried Rice as an accompaniment. Overall it is a wonderful book -- tons of recipes that would make any tailgate or camp a "delightful" experience. But, as often happens, every cookbook has its misstep. I remind you of this in presenting my favorite recipe from the book, not actually to make but just because it made it into a recipe book. So without further adieu, notes on hot dogs...

FRANKFURTER TREATS

East To Do: use any of the following ideas to embellish hot dogs for a quick, inexpensive, and good dinner.

Can be prepared at home an packed tightly:

Marinated Hot Dogs

MARINATE: 8 frankfurters
1 cup French dressing (p. 189 or bottled)
1/4 cup dry wine

Before serving:

CHARCOAL: Frankfurter Treats until done

Variations: Serve charcoaled frankfurters with bottled Béarnaise Sauce




Nothing screams "TAILGATE" like wine and French dressing marinated hot dogs. Or try this....

Miss Lucinda's Frankfurter Treats

8 hot dogs
1 cup Tab (or Diet Coke if you can tolerate NutraSweet)
1/4 cup Jack Daniels

Mix the Jack Daniels into the Tab

Grill the hot dogs

When the hot dogs are cool enough to eat, grasp by the end (either end works just fine) and dip into the Jack Daniels and Tab. If you drank it all during the cook process, make more.

Variations: For the more traditional cook, use Rum and Coke.

Further Variations: To impress your British friends, make up a big batch of Serena Bass' Pimm's Cup. In lieu of fruit and a big cucumber slice, add a hot dog!

Festive Picnics

I am planning to do a week of picnic books as they are one of my favorite types of cookbook. I was planning to do that week of titles when it was warm and sunny and all the world was picnicing

Today’s weather in Shirley was supposed to be 72 degrees and sunny. In reality, it is 51 and pouring rain! Weather is such an exact science. So I am jumping the gun and offering up a picnic recipe as a form of wishful thinking.

I must say, I have yet to find the “perfect” picnic cookbook. Truthfully, any food can be a picnic food, the true test is the portability of the food. I wish that more picnic cookbooks spent time on the transportation of the food.

Festive Picnics by Pamela Sheldon Johns and Jennifer Barry has ideas for picnic table decorations and fun ideas for transporting what you have cooked. Of course some things need to be cooked on sight.

Garlicky Barbecued Corn

6 ears of fresh sweet corn, husked
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the corn for 3 minutes. Drain and let cool.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter with the garlic. Set aside.

Light the fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill to 425 F. Place the corn on the grill turning and brushing frequently with the garlic butter for about 3-5 minutes, until the corn is heated through. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve at once.

I am resting assured that May is near. Warm weather. Sunshine. Lovely picnics. I’ll keep wishing!