Good Morning.
Most people associate picnics with bugs, soggy plates, and sand that turns up in the lemonade. The usual fare is fried chicken, served lukewarm after being wrapped in foil, potato salad, and the requisite brownies. Perfectly fine but things can be better, admittedly with a fair amount of effort.
I glance at a poster of a place called Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the Massachusetts
Berkshires. Most of the concerts are held in an open-sided shed where patrons pay a decent amount to sit in relative comfort. Others take to the lawn outside, a huge expanse of grass where they can stretch out on a blanket while listening to Mozart or Beethoven. This summer James Taylor, Diana Ross, Melissa Etheridge, and Sting will also be in concert. Take your pick.
The Tanglewood picnic, a long-standing tradition, can be a few ham sandwiches and a pint of cole slaw picked up at a deli or an elaborate affair at a portable table set with good linens and silver candlesticks. For my picnic I shall use an old cotton cloth, checkered napkins, and votive candles, but I will also bring real dishes, glasses, and utensils from my kitchen drawer. My napkins will not be pressed and perfect like the ones pictured below. They will be wrinkled and rolled into wooden napkin rings for a certain effect. This effect would be called Lazy.
Here is my menu:
WHITE WINE SPRITZERS.
I bottle of white wine, your choice
1/2 bottle of club soda
2 oz. cognac
I navel orange, sliced
Bring these ingredients in a bag to the picnic, mix together in a big pitcher, throw in some orange slices, and serve in glasses with plenty of ice. One person who cometh needs to be the designated iceman. A cooler on wheels is an excellent investment, and so is a second bottle of wine so you can finish off the club soda.
Now we have a CREME SENEGLAISE SOUP.
5 cups chicken broth
4 egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp. curry powder
Dash cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup cooked chicken breast, finely chopped
1 Granny Smith apple
Heat the broth in a large saucepan to almost scalding. In a bowl mix with a mixer the egg yolks, cream, curry, cayenne, and lemon juice. Stir a little of the hot broth into the egg mixture, then pour the mixture into the broth. Cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Remove from the heat and let cool. Season with salt and chill until very cold. Remove from the fridge, place in a blender with the chopped chicken, and process until smooth, Take this to your picnic in an ice tea jug you should keep in the cooler filled with ice. Serve in bowls topped with chopped apple - done at the last minute so bring along a paring knife.
I once served a lovely chilled vichyssoise to my children and they were not impressed. Soup at a young age is hot and has
noodles in it. If it's tomato, it has whipped cream on top for purposes of bribery. At my picnic today, it is cold and has chopped apple.
In any case, on to SHRIMP, PINEAPPLE, AND MANDARIN ORANGE SALAD.
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. sherry vinegar
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 pound medium-large shrimp, precooked and ready to go - remove tails and cut in half
Half a pineapple, peeled, cored, and chopped into chunks
1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
8 cups fresh salad greens of your choice
To make the vinaigrette, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl and place in a portable container. Put the shrimp in something and the fruit in something else. Place the greens, torn into bite-sized pieces, in large baggies and put all of the salad ingredients in the cooler. Bring along a salad bowl - wood will be safer to haul in a bag. To assemble, put the greens, shrimp, and fruit in the bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Serve on plates with the following BACON CORN MUFFINS:
8 strips bacon
3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. light brown sugar
3/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
3 tbsp. butter, melted
Saute the bacon in a skillet until crisp, drain on paper towel, cool, and crumble. Reserve about a tablespoon of bacon fat. Spray a 12 count muffin tin with cooking spray or use muffin cups and set aside. In a large bowl, mix the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and brown sugar. In a separate bowl whisk the milk and egg together with the melted butter and reserved bacon fat. Add to the dry ingredients and stir in the crumbled bacon. Fill each muffin cup about three-quarters full. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Serve with butter; honey butter is even better.
And for dessert, COCONUT PEACH PIE.
3 large peaches, peeled and sliced
1 package instant coconut pudding
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped with 1 tablespoon sugar
1 pie shell - make your own or bake one from the frozen section. Everyone will know if it's the latter because it comes in a tin plate and the crimping is perfect. Who cares.
Place the peach slices in the cooled, baked shell. Prepare the coconut pudding with 1 cup milk and fold in the sweetened whipped cream. Cover the peaches with this mixture and chill for several hours Take this item to the picnic in the cooler.
Bring after-dinner coffee in thermos bottles if desired and enjoy the concert, the forest, a pond, or some place away from
your usual, undoubtedly hectic venue.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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