last gasp picnic

I learnt my picnic technique from my mother, who could prepare a hamper with a whole salmon and all the trimmings to feed 10, throw together a sandwich or knock up a fire on a beach and cook sausages. It helps to have the right gear, but the main ingredient necessary is being up for it.

Yesterday the local festival, here in the cultural centre of the world, Cricklewood, had scheduled an outdoor showing of Some Like It Hot in a park on the dark side (Barnet). Hurray for the Cricklewood Silk Road Festival. Outdoor viewing said picnic to me. So I started getting the picnic kit together, and decided on the menu: chicken and salad wraps with cider to wash them down.

The chicken was marinaded for a few hours and then thrown on the griddle. It cooked beautifully, but left me wishing that I'd spared my clean hob and grilled it instead, letting the oven take the flack. I finally cooked some of the lovely looking split peas I have had for a while, to make a herby salad, and the mayo in the jar was going to get a makeover with paprika and friends. Add some rocket and a wrap, and napkins would be needed to catch the drips and wipe the mouth while it was being devoured.

What else do you need for a picnic? Leaving aside the hordes of helpers to carry the full dining table, crockery and chandelier, I prefer not to do disposable. This the gear I go for:

• a drying up cloth (tea towel to some) with cutlery rolled into it: sharpish knife, spreading knife and spoons
• duralex glasses or other almost unbreakable glasses, in another cloth, to prevent cracking
• picnic blanket, such as bedspread or a couple of sheets. 
• cold bag or box with ice, camping cold pack or my preferred version, a not quit full plastic bottle of water - if it's full it cracks btw. And maybe some ice to throw into a drink as well.
• food
• drink
• something warm to wear in case the weather changes

So this is a cookery blog, let us consider the food prep. 

Chicken with basil and parsley marinade

Ingredients:

• Chicken pieces - I cut up a whole chicken following this video , but cutting it into eight pieces

Marinade

• 1 clove garlic
• small bunch of basil
• small bunch of parsley
• juice of 1 lemon
• olive oil
• glug of cider
• pepper and salt

1. blitz the garlic, basil, parsley and lemon juice together, or chop the dry ingredients finely and then add the liquid and seasoning
2. mix with the chicken pieces and leave for a few hours - to speed things up you can slash the pieces to help the marinade penetrate
3. to cook grill or griddle all the pieces until both sides are well browned, about 5m a side

Maionnaise with additions - I like to add paprika, garlic, lots of pepper, lemon and olive oil to bottled mayo, to give it a kick. This salad is refreshing and not too heavy, the peas should be firm but not at all hard, and they keep a lovely green colour. The herbs and lemon lift the flavour.

split pea salad

• small bowl of split peas
• handful of each: mint, parsley, coriander
• 1 clove garlic
• two tomatoes
• half an onion
• pepper
• salt
• lemon juice
• olive oil

1. cook the split peas in boiling water, it takes about 20 minutes
2. deseed the tomatoes and dice the flesh
3. finely chop all the herbs, onion and garlic
4. drain the cooked peas - they should still be firm - and mix in the herb mixture, and leave to cool
5. add chopped tomatoes, then pepper, salt, lemon juice and olive oil to taste

For the wrap, I start with a smear of the spiced up mayo, add rocket, pea salad and bits of chicken, and then I roll the lot up, carefully folding one end. Don't think it won't drip, because it will.

Salad composee

Despite the rain, it is still great weather for a plate of salad, so long as it is full of flavour and colourful.

mixed bounty from France, ripe Camembert, pave sausage and celeri rave
with green salad and tomato salad

vinegar chicken

This is a rich stew with a tang, the vinegar gives a kick that balances the sauce nicely. I have got to do a few more experiments, as the recipe I used asked for a small glass of vinegar, unlike most others that only used a few spoonfuls. It was a little sharp.. but I still managed to choke it down. The meat is beautifully tender, and, as you can see, it looks wonderful on the plate.

Simple soup - red lentils

I'm knocking up some red lentil soup using my dhal recipe, just adding liquid. Cheap, deliciouse and nutritious, and of course easy to make.

Greek Salad

I've just come back from Samos, staying in a sweet house in a hill village called Vourliotes. To get there you drive up a vertiginous and winding road, with spectacular views, overlooking steep and rolling hillside, peppered with vineyards, olive groves and scrubby forest punctuated by pencil thin cypresses and occasional houses. Greek salad is served in all the village tavernas, and in every taverna on the island. Of course some are better than others, but it seems impossible to ruin a dish this simple, so long as the ingredients are good. In London I've always been served this dish with the feta cut into small pieces, but on Samos the cheese is laid on top of the veg in a big slab, sprinkled with oregano and then olive oil is poured over it. The onions are very sweet, and the amount used varies considerably, they are not simply red onions, but red onions will do. I'm going out to find the ingredients... well I will when the weather gets a bit warmer, because I don't think it'll taste the same in the cold and wet.

Recipe

Ingredients

two large ripe beef tomatoes
1/2 large cucumber
1/2 bell pepper
1 sweet onion
1 large slice feta cheese
1 doz greek black olives, stones in

1 large slice feta, about 1.5cm x 10cm x 7cm

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 pinch salt, a few good grindings of black pepper

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Method

• Wash all the veg.
• Remove the tough stalky bit at the top of the tomatoes and cut into eight segments.
• Finely slice bell pepper across (all seeds and stalk having been removed)
• Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and cut into slices
• Peel onion, cut in half and slice
• Mix all together in a bowl with the olives
• Mix together 3 tbsp olive oil and vinegar with salt and pepper and pour over sliced vegetables
• Put slice of Feta on top of the dressed veg, sprinkle with dried oregano and pour over last tbsp of olive oil

Serve with crusty (if possible Greek) bread

Eat straight away

NB
If you find the Feta a bit salty, let it soak in water or milk before using it. Drain and discard liquid before using.