Weekend Cook and Tell: Picnic
Welcome once again to the Weekend Cook and Tell. Every Wednesday we peruse the food sections of various national newspapers and come up with an article or recipe to inspire a weekend cooking project. We want all of you to cook along with us and share your experiences, recipes, and photos.
This week's idea comes from Florence Fabricant of The New York Times. Ms. Fabricant shares ideas for putting together a picnic for 4 spending under $50. Ms. Fabricant's picnics are based around cured meats, cheeses, and prepared foods, easily assembled and transported. Here is some of her picnic advice, "You can’t go wrong with meze, antipasto, flatbreads and quiche. Canned or smoked seafood are also fine, as is grilled or fried fish. Vegetable-based cold soups are easy to eat. For sweets, the less fragile the better."
This week's challenge is to have a picnic! You meal can be either store bought or homemade, spend as much or as little as you like. Sandwiches eaten at the park or a beachside barbecue. Dining outdoors is the only hard and fast rule of this challenge. Of course a picnic basket and a checkered blanket wouldn't hurt.
Keep us posted over the weekend and let us know what is going to be on your menu and where you are planning on picnicking. Show us your photos on Photograzing (make sure to include "Cook and Tell" in your submission title) and tell us about your recipes in Talk with comments on this thread! If you'd like to blog along from home, leave a link to your Cook and Tell blog post in the comments. Next Wednesday we will be posting a round up of your photos and recipes. We can't wait to see what kind of al fresco eating experiences this weekend is going to bring!
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15 Comments:
So, I just checked the forecast for the weekend and it looks like perfect picnic weather.
Caroline Russock at 6:06PM on 07/16/09
I'll definitely be outdoors on Sunday. My little neighborhood is doing a Taste of... celebration. It's always fun. It helps that Michael Symon, Rocco Whalen, and Zack Bruell's restaurants are in my backyard.
Saturday is the pick day for a picnic with a forecast high of 68, a break from the awful upper 70/lower 80 degree weather we've been having. Can't wait! We've been meaning to try the Cook's Illustrated fried chicken for some time. Maybe we'll do it this weekend.
Cassaendra at 6:35PM on 07/16/09
@Cassaendra: I was dreaming of picnic fried chicken when I wrote this post! I have to take a look at the Cook's Illustrated version.
Caroline Russock at 2:02AM on 07/17/09
It is 90 degrees in DC, so picnic is out of the question,
but here is a little list of salads that I would bring with me if I was to have a picnic:
1) panzanella with mozzarella and basil
2) potato, egg, cucumber & dill salad: no mayo!
3) cucumber and radish salad: super crunchy!
4) extra special Greek salad
5) Jerusalem salad
Enjoy!
orchidgirl at 9:20AM on 07/17/09
My husband and I love to go hiking and we usually bring along some snacks to fortify us. Last time we had roasted tomato and quark cheese sandwiches with a mustardy potato salad. This sime I'm a bit short on picnic supplies so we might do a quick trip to whole foods and head on out on the trail.
missjess at 9:44AM on 07/17/09
I do a bit of day-hiking during the summer, and am always on the lookout for good, easy, and easily transportable food to bring with me. this 100-recipe list by Mark Bittman from 2 years ago was a real godsend. Not everything is picnic-worthy, but i'd say at least half is.
mr guy at 2:23PM on 07/17/09
This past week we headed up to Walter Dacon Winery in Shelton, WA for a little picnic on their patio. Bought a bottle of their fabulous Viognier and enjoyed Crab Rolls I made from Cooking Light (http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1197155) and brownies from a free mix I received from King Arthur.
kalajo at 12:00PM on 07/18/09
A friend and I made sushi last night and I was left with various trimmings: julienned carrots and asparagus, avocado, and egg.
I was out of suitable rice, so I slathered the inside of a pita with the cream cheese, wasabi, and avocado, stuffed with everything else, sprinkled in some of the painstakingly grated fresh horseradish, shredded nori, and rice vinegar. An excellent picnic sandwich.
malecki at 5:33PM on 07/18/09
Husband and I took lunch to the park today. Lunch included
- sandwiches made with a baguette from Mazzola Bakery in Brooklyn; mozzarella from Stinky Brooklyn; tomato and basil from my window sill
- cucumber and red onion salad and
- cookies purchased at Ikea
It was a lovely day for a picnic, but it's days like this that make me wish I had a backyard!
bkbella at 6:12PM on 07/19/09
Bacon, tomato and mayo sandwich. I wasn't going far, but when i do I bring the cooked bacon wrapped separately. Potato salad with onion, green pepper, and sugar snaps from the garden. Took my picnic in the community garden. cool but dry for a change.
lemonfair at 7:13AM on 07/20/09
Mr guy - Bittman also did a 101 picnic ideas http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/dining/02mini.html
Anyway our hiking picnic consisted of left over slices tomato mozzerella tart I had made the pervious day, trail mix, dried pineapple, water and for desert Vosges Chocolate bacon bar becuase I saw a tiny one at whole foods and curiosity got the better of me. Was good but not great. (maybe becuase I prefer dark chocolate)?
missjess at 9:54AM on 07/20/09
It was so hot that we just bought a watermelon at a market in Boston and went at it.
noanise at 10:15AM on 07/20/09
Ahh the cleverly disguised cocktail makes a (n adult) picnic a picnic. Sangria, spiked lemon or limeade, magarita mix in a cold thermos or juice bottle. I'm with the above who desire fried chicken! I have a sangria recipe I concocted just for picnic matters here:
http://cantaloupealone.blogspot.com/2009/07/rose-sangria-for-park-day.html
Cantaloupe Alone at 12:58PM on 07/20/09
My brother and I invited some friends and we had a bbq out on our patio. We've been wanting to do so for a while, so this was a perfect occasion with this week's cook and tell challenge. We grilled corn, drumsticks, hot links, brats, hot dogs, italian sausages from Costco. Also made some cheese and garlic biscuits and cornbread pudding. For dessert, we had chocolate chip cookies and guava mousse cake.
http://www.kirbiecravings.com/2009/07/weekend-bbq.html
kirbie at 4:32AM on 07/21/09
Because of the AH1N1 thing, we're trying to stay in rather than go out... so this past weekend we celebrated my friend Ana Yolanda's birthday with a pool-side picnic with my Babaga-hummus... we also complemented it with some grilled veggie kebabs and grilled corn.
Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking
MadelynRodriguez at 7:10PM on 07/21/09