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While I have certainly enjoyed watching previous (N)ICSAs, I've never tossed my hat in because  . However, my wife loves picnics so I decided to finally commit and do the thing.It took me a few days to settle on a menu and I unfortunately was forced to do everything on the past couple of days due to moving apartments. Heck, my kitchen is still a mess but I managed to clear enough space to cook up a couple of tasty dishes for our park picnic. I knew I wanted to do something inspired by the Two Fat Ladies, the first cooking show I ever watched (and still do). Clarissa and Jennifer led fascinating lives and their repartee during the programs always brought a smile to my face. I highly recommend watching the episode titled Cocktail Party where they cook for the Brazilian Embassy in London making traditional recipes like Bolinhos de Bacalhau and Acaraje interspersed with Jennifer singing old Samba songs while making and drinking capirinhas. I'm certainly biased having grown up in Brazil but it truly is magical. Ultimately, I chose to make adaptations of two of Jennifer's dishes from the Picnic episode (I know, creative as hell). Since I needed a third dish, I decided to do something from my more recent cooking show obsession: Chef John's Food Wishes. As he's on the tubby side, this is now a tribute to Three Fat People. My goal for the menu was a refreshing meal, so nothing was served hot or even warm. The only outlier is the dessert, but let's face it, everyone likes apple pie! The Menu today is:
Starter: Creme Vichyssoise Glacee Jennifer had a tendency to name her dishes in a rather grandiose fashion so I will honor her memory by not changing the name. Vichyssoise is basically Potato & Leek soup that is served cold. And it is good! The ingredient list is simple. Potatos, leeks, chicken stock, butter and cream. Seasoned simply with salt and pepper at the end.  Unfortunately, all my soup pictures got corrupted, so I don't have action photos of it being made. Watch the Food Wishes Potato Leek Soup video and pretend that's me. The methodology really is the same. The only difference is that I got to use my brand-new certified reconditioned Vitamix to blend the soup and boy howdy does that thing work amazingly well! Here it is after being blended. Silky smooth!  My leeks were on the small side though so I had to use a good bit of the greens and it resulted in a less-than-virginal-white soup. Still tasty though! Main: Tartine from Provence Now, as far as I know, a tartine is an open face sandwich, which this is not. Still, Jennifer's word is law so a Tartine it is! I've made variations on this for parties and picnics and assorted gatherings before and it is always a hit. This time I decided to make my own baguettes and change up the way the filling is assembled a bit. The baguettes were a Food Wishes no-knead slow rise recipe I was trying for the first time. Forgot to take a pic of the mise because I tossed everything into a bowl on a sleep-addled haze but really it's just yeast, water, flour and salt. I do have a picture of it after rising. Look at all that tasty gluten!  Punch it down, divide it into 2 or 4 depending on the number and size of baguettes you want, roll them into little cylinders and then slash the tops with a sharp knife or, if you subscribe to You Look Like poo poo or The Crackhead Clubhouse, a razor blade.  Bake them in a ridiculously hot oven with a water basin inside while also misting them every 5 minutes and this is what you get:  Now that we have bread, we can proceed with the filling!  Red peppers, tomatoes (cherry tomatoes were the best looking ones I found in the store), anchovies, garlic, black olives, lemon zest and juice and olive oil. I decided to make something like a tapenade by crushing the garlic, anchovies and olives in a mortar and pestle. Seasoned it with some pepper flakes, oregano and extra virgin olive oil.  Turned out delicious! Really strong taste, so a little goes a long way. We then turn our attention to the peppers and since the new apartment has an electric range, we roast them under the broiler until charred. Here they are prior to covering with cling film to steam a bit.  Remove skins and seeds, cut into strips, mix with tomatoes, salt, pepper, lemon juice and zest and extra virgin olive oil and you get this lovely mess:  Spread the tapenade onto the baguettes, spoon the filling generously over it and you're basically done. The sandwich does benefit from being pressed though, which I did with a cutting board and pans after wrapping in parchment paper.  I sacrificed my sandwich's structural integrity before the picnic so you guys could have a better look at it post-pressing.  Dessert: Apple Hand Pies We start with the crust. A very flaky crust composed of flour, sugar, butter and ice water. Which we work with our fingertips because we have neither pastry cutters or food processors.  Pretty standard stuff. Final result is flaky and tasty! Filling also follows traditional lines. 3 granny smith apples, 4 Tbsp white sugar, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp butter.  The filling was cooked on the stove top just so the apples got soft and a caramel formed. The bottle of Glenfidich isn't there by accident. I was having myself a snort while cooking and decided that the apple filling couple be improved by addition of some whisky. Now, you might ask 'wouldn't bourbon be better?' Yes, yes it would. I was out of bourbon though, so scotch it was.  Glug glug. They were also seasoned with cinnamon, fresh nutmeg and a tiny pinch of ground cloves - just enough for you to know something special's there but you don't really know what.  Then it's a matter of rolling out your dough, scooping and crimping. Add an egg wash, sprinkle some sugar, cut some vents and you're ready for the oven.   After baking they look really quite appetizing.  Drink: Cucumber-Infused G&T I love gin and tonics. They are hands down my "you're stranded on a desert island and can only have one mixed drink for the rest of your life" drink. I already find them refreshing enough but decided to up the fresh factor by adding some cucumber. I tried 2 approaches. One worked and one failed miserably. Here's the one that failed:  My plan was pretty solid: cut, peel and seed a cucumber, toss it in a pot with water, cook it until the water's infused and then reduce it so you only have to add a little to your cocktail for that tasty fresh cucumber kick! Turns out boiled cucumber water tastes like boiled cucumber which is not refreshing. At all. So attempt numero dos was made, which was successful but barely qualifies as cooking.   Place some cucumber ribbons and lime zest inside little bottles, cover with gin and infuse in the freezer for a few hours. Add tonic, lime wedges and ice and you're good to go!  The Final Result Stick everything inside a Costco soft-sided cooler, throw it in the car and find a park!  Preferably one with a lake!  And geese!  Lay it all down on a heart-patterned sheet and barely have time enough to take a picture before digging in!  Oh, and that apple hand pie?  Delicious! As far as I'm concerned, the proper way to end a picnic is to lie down on your back, look up at the canopy above you and contentedly forget about everything else.  Thanks for stopping by!
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Jun 25, 2017 03:28
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 00:18 |
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That's a good looking hand pie! I made some up in blueberry the other day, they're a great to-go desert.
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Jun 25, 2017 03:46
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Really nicely done! If you're interested in exploring the world of infused liquors further, do some research on infusing using a whipping siphon.
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Jun 25, 2017 04:10
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Liquid Communism posted:That's a good looking hand pie! I made some up in blueberry the other day, they're a great to-go desert.  Ginger Beer Belly posted:Really nicely done! If you're interested in exploring the world of infused liquors further, do some research on infusing using a whipping siphon.
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Jun 25, 2017 04:24
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cigaw posted:Thanks! I'm pretty sure I'll be hand-pieing more in the future. Probably blueberry now because you made me crave blueberries. Do it, blueberries are great. My filling broke and ran a bit though, I was out of cold-set starch and underestimated just how juicy these blueberries were! 
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Jun 25, 2017 04:57
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Those sandwiches look really delicious
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Jun 25, 2017 11:12
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I swear these are two of the dishes that the Two Fat Ladies make on their "Picnic" episode. That being said, I'm not trashing you for using their ideas cuz they're both wonderful ladies.
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Jun 27, 2017 03:00
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nazutul posted:I swear these are two of the dishes that the Two Fat Ladies make on their "Picnic" episode. That being said, I'm not trashing you for using their ideas cuz they're both wonderful ladies. cigaw posted:Ultimately, I chose to make adaptations of two of Jennifer's dishes from the Picnic episode (I know, creative as hell). You cracked the case! 
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Jun 27, 2017 06:45
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I lie in my yard and look at the sky through the branches all the time... Scotch in the pies seems like it would throw off the flavor. But nice job on making your own baguettes!
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Jun 27, 2017 14:11
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Nah, whiskey and apples are good buddies, much like brandy and cherries.
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Jun 27, 2017 15:55
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Liquid Communism posted:Do it, blueberries are great. My filling broke and ran a bit though, I was out of cold-set starch and underestimated just how juicy these blueberries were! Scientastic posted:Those sandwiches look really delicious nazutul posted:I swear these are two of the dishes that the Two Fat Ladies make on their "Picnic" episode. That being said, I'm not trashing you for using their ideas cuz they're both wonderful ladies. Phil Moscowitz posted:I lie in my yard and look at the sky through the branches all the time...  I would've preferred to use bourbon but scotch works too. Key is to use only a little.
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Jun 27, 2017 17:08
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cigaw posted:Like franco mentioned, that was the somewhat unimaginative tribute. The recipes where altered (soup was kind of a haphazard do-it-from-memory" affair and the sandwich changed up a bit) but were still the same basic thing. No, it's fabulous! I love it! Great job!
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Jun 28, 2017 02:12
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 00:18 |
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cigaw posted:Do you have a recipe for your blueberry filling you can share? Those look really good. Usually I just toss them with sugar and quick-set starch, but I ended up doing a cooked filling for this. 2c blueberries, 1/3c sugar, tbsp lemon juice, tbsp cornstarch, tbsp water. Blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan, bring to a boil stirring frequently, slurry the cornstarch and water, then add in and cook until thickened. Let cool before filling pies, which I failed to do here. 
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Jun 28, 2017 19:08
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