Voted Off the Island: King of Picnics

July 02, 2008

King of Picnics

As the reigning Queen of Picnics, a skill honed by 20 years of al fresco meals on the lawn at Tanglewood in the Berkshires, I have been thinking of giving up my title and just retiring. I haven't been in a terribly picnicky mood lately. Perhaps it has something to do with not having the time or money to actually BE at Tanglewood anymore. Perhaps its my funk just knowing that the season has begun for my Berkshires rat pack and I'm not at the party anymore. The Great White Middle Class Yuppie Culture-Fest is underway, and I am consoling myself with plans for one splendid night in August, and the Berlioz Saint-Saens program. It will have to be enough.

Picnicking on the Lawn at Tanglewood

At any rate, Mark Bittman wins my vote for King of Picnics. Today in the NY Times he offers 101 20-minute "Inspired" picnic recipes, and man they're good. This is like getting a picnic cookbook for free. The categories are:

Now on to one of my own picnic favorites --

Israeli Cous-Cous Salad
1 cup Israeli Cous Cous (fat, pearl sized)
Juice of 2 lemons
1 cup of fresh dill, minced
1 can (drained) garbanzo beans
1/2 bag (2 cups) fresh uncooked spinach, arugula or swiss chard, finely chopped
1 large red pepper, seeded and minced
olive oil (about 1/2 cup)

Boil the cous cous and drain. Toss with olive oil and salt to taste.
Add the remaining ingredients while cous cous is still warm.
The greens will wilt.
Serve warm or refrigerate for your picnic.

Posted at 02:04 PM in Atlanta, Berkshires, Food and Drink, Music, Travel | Permalink

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Wow - a lot of those recipes look like winners.

Thanks for the link!

Now...why am I hungry all of a sudden?

Posted by: Elisson | July 02, 2008 at 05:03 PM

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What I'm Reading

Jennifer Homans: Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet
Brilliant and BIG new history of ballet. Cool to be reading this after "The Black Swan."
Zoe Heller: The Believers: A Novel
Fun novel of family dysfunction -- an iconic leftie family (think William Kunstler) in NYC wrestles with truth and and loyalty as the patriarch lies in a coma.
Patti Smith: Just Kids
Patti Smith's style is lean and direct, but she still grabs your heart and soul in this memoir of NYC in the 70's and her lifelong friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe.
Allegra Goodman: The Cookbook Collector: A Novel
I didn't even realize it was a riff on Jane Austin. Well done novel dealing with themes of family, greed, trust and identity during the dot com boom.
Howard Jacobson: The Finkler Question (Man Booker Prize)
Substitute "Jew" for Finkler and you have a biting and hilarious novel about Jews in England.
Curtis Sittenfeld: Prep: A Novel
David Kamp: The United States of Arugula: The Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution
How I forgot to read this I'll never know...had a copy on the shelf and overlooked it. A very entertaining and well done overview of the Foodie Revolution. Putting all the players and trends into a time line makes me see how far we've come, and how far we still have to go.
Anthony Bourdain: Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
The always entertaining Tony Bourdain comes to terms, sort of, with aging, old grudges, and the delights of fatherhood. He hasn't totally lost his edge, but there are some knicks on the blade. The chapter on the guy who breaks down 700 pounds of fish every day for Le Bernardin is worth the whole book.
Hilary Thayer Hamann: Anthropology of an American Girl: A Novel
Well, I finished it. And I liked it alot. But then, I love books about bourgeois life where nothing much happens. The writing is sharp and evocative. The story is, I dunno, familiar? Most interesting is the story of how this book went from a self-published effort to a mainstream book. Kudos to HTH.
Clay Shirky: Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age
A must read for anyone involved with social media or who is left breathless by the pace of change in our world.

What I'm Cooking

Cheap Ceviche
This is almost a mock ceviche because it's made with junk fish (tilapia) and surimi, the tofu of fish. However, with the right amounts of lime juice, cilantro, onion and hot sauce, even cheap fish makes a fabulous ceviche. I chopped up a 1/2 pound of tilapia and combined it with 2 packages of chunked surimi. Marinate in juice of 5 limes, 1/2 red onion chopped fine, and one head of cilantro chopped fine. Add a healthy squirt of Sriracha sauce and refrigerate.
Collard Greens
My CSA is sending us lots of green love in the form of collard greens. Here's my very delicious veggie-but-smoky recipe. In a large pot add 1 cup vegetable broth, 1 cup water. Nice pinch of salt, and 3/4 tsp. Spanish smoked Paprika. Add your chopped collards and simmer gently for at least 45 minutes.
Tzatziki Sauce
Just outstanding on everything. Take a container of Greek style yogurt (no-fat, low -fat, doesn't matter). Grate 2-3 thin skinned middle eastern cukes on a box grater and squeeze out all the water. Mince 3 cloves of garlic VERY fine. Stir cucumber and garlic into yogurt, add a splash of olive oil and a grind of black pepper. Dunk in vegetable of your choice, slather on spanakopitas, etc.
Polenta
Apparently the par-boiled polenta I'm using is considered ca-ca by serious cooks. I've found it to be utterly delicious, especially smothered with sauteed portobello mushrooms. I will give plain old yellow cornmeal polenta a try after Thanksgiving.
Hangar Steak
Grilled in a cast iron pan in the oven, on broil. Remarkably tender and so quick. Salt, pepper and smoked paprika for seasoning.
Brussels Sprouts + Corn
A smashing combination -- the bitter tang of the Brussels Sprouts with the sweetness of corn. Saute with olive oil, salt and pepper. C'est tout!
Stuffed Cabbage
My favorite recipe From the NY Times Jewish Cookbook, made with fresh cranberries and canned cranberry sauce. Total yum.

Voted Off the Island

Bye bye L.I. Hello Atlanta.

July 02, 2008

King of Picnics

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