Vancouver Sun
Best picnics: Goodbye sandwiches, hello prawns
Lucy Hyslop, Special to The Sun
June 15, 2011
Heather Nichol, who owns the Gone Crackers cracker company, is an experienced picnicker who says preparation is key.
Preparation, preparation, preparation: The picnic lovers' mantra is well recited because, as every Canadian knows, when the sun finally appears, there's no time for dilly-dallying.
"You just have to think ahead," suggests Heather Nichol, creator and owner of the Surrey-based Gone Crackers cracker company, who strives for an "easy-but-elegant" approach to eating al fresco. At her home in White Rock, her go-to picnic set involves such items as palm leaf recyclable plates by Burnaby-based Saakori, her own cutlery ("it raises the game"), a metal wire-mesh "bug dome," a Napoleon portable gas grill, an expansive picnic cloth she hand-painted for her late mother (a prolific picnicker) and more than a handful of Ziploc bags for storing any food, ice packs and a trusty dishcloth.
"Sometimes it looks like we're going camping for a year," she quips. "We don't mess around when we picnic."
For both David Robertson, chef instructor at the Dirty Apron Cooking School in Vancouver, and Terri-Anne Eeles, co-owner of Vancouver's 2008-launched FreshPicnic.com (an online store specializing in picnic products), a picnic backpack is their default item complete with wine glasses, plates and insulated cooler section. "It's great to be ready to take off on the spur of the moment," says Eeles. "There are only a limited number of ideal days, after all."
However, the food is the premium part of the advance planning.
"You want some real crowd-pleasers," Robertson pipes up. "Something that is low-maintenance but good and tastes like it's straight out of a restaurant." Which translates into his easy-to-make checklist: A good prosciutto, salami, another sliced meat, a couple of cheeses, a spread such as humus or baba ghanoush and some sun-dried tomatoes and bread.
He encourages seasonal variations, too.
"B.C. spot prawns are beautiful right now, and one seafood item on a picnic by the water obviously makes for a nice hit," he says, adding that they easily can be the star attraction in a salad or middle of a baguette. "You can't go wrong."
Nichol is a regular of Oyama Sausage company on Granville Island and will often barbecue marinated lamb tenderloins on skewers.
She adheres to the mise en place culinary approach to picnic preparation: "I like to have it all cut, sliced, diced and put in bowls or containers to throw together when needed."
An Australian transplant, Eeles believes knowing how to eat well outdoors is "ingrained" in Antipodeans, and offers a few handy tips learned Down Under.
"The last thing you want it to be is stressful," she advises. "It's not necessarily about being prim and proper; we're more about the quality of time with each other, so you can go as simple as throwing snags [her native slang for sausages] on the barbie or pick up some chicken and rosemary to lift it to a level where the food is memorable."
In terms of desserts, Eeles opts for a pavlova, a meringue, cream and fruit dish. Make it the day before and let it sit in the oven overnight.
"It will keep well and then you can prepare it with the cream and fruit once you are at your picnic spot," she continues. "It's so light and refreshing."
While Nichol is a "ginormous fan" of watermelon ("so good for keeping hydrated, plus fruit salad on skewers"), Robertson's gourmet side - naturally for a chef - wins out. He opts for fruit skewers with yogurt and toasted hazelnuts. "Or yogurt and fresh berries and a dash of fresh basil, and perhaps you can even shave a bar of chocolate over it," adds Robertson, who is a fan of the Weber barbecues for retaining heat. Just always check how much gas you have before you head out, he suggests, recalling a recent picnic where he ran out and spent 90 minutes scouring the stores for a refill.
Robertson grew up in North Vancouver where Cates Park and Deep Cove were family picnic favourites ("when it was a hidden jewel that no one knew about"). His criteria for the perfect spot usually involves finding a log on the beach as his table. Even if a little sand creeps into the sandwiches, like it did recently with his two-year-old daughter Chase, Robertson doesn't like anything "too pampered" while picnicking.
"It's all about nature's wonders for us," he says. "I like going all out for the food and then having everything else being more rustic."
Which, no doubt, is why after living in Africa, the U.K., the Caribbean, New York, and Switzerland, he's returned to B.C. - home of the perfect rustic picnic spots.
Grilled Chorizo Pepper Skewers
4 chorizo sausages
1 red pepper cut in large bite-size pieces
1 yellow pepper cut in large bite-size pieces
4 wooden skewers (soaked in water)
Marinade:
1/3 cup (80 mL) extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. (22 mL) red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste
(reserve 1 tablespoon (15 mL) to brush sausages for grilling)
Place cut pepper pieces in a container with marinade.
Brush sausages with marinade and grill until firm but not fully cooked (2 minutes per side).
Remove from grill and slice into bite-size pieces.
Alternate sausages on skewers with marinated chopped peppers.
Place back on grill until sausages are cooked through, and peppers are soft with grill marks.
Place cooked skewered sausages on a plate, and coat with the balance of marinade.
Serves 4
Recipe from Heather Nichol
Pavlova
4 egg whites (eggs at room temperature)
1 1/4 cup (310 mL) extra fine white sugar
1 tablespoon (15 mL) cornstarch
1 teaspoon (5 mL) vanilla extract
1 teaspoon (5 mL) white vinegar
whipped cream
fresh fruit for topping (eg. strawberries)
Preheat oven to 350 F (170 C). Cover a cookie tray with a sheet of parchment paper.
Place egg whites in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high for 10 minutes while gradually adding sugar. Mixture should form stiff peaks and be thick and glossy.
Combine cornstarch, vanilla and vinegar in a small bowl and mix until it becomes a smooth paste.
Add to egg whites and beat on high for another 4 minutes.
Spoon mixture onto parchment paper and gently form a 7-inch circle.
Place pavlova in the oven and decrease temperature to 210 F (100 C). Bake for one hour and then leave in the oven to cool for at least 1-2 hours.
Top with whipped cream and fresh fruit (eg. strawberries) just prior to serving.
Serves 8.
Recipe from Terri-Anne Eeles
Rustic Potato Salad
12 small red potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
1 14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed and chopped
1/4 large red onion, sliced
2 stalks chopped celery
Place in large bowl
Dressing:
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (75 mL) extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon (22 mL) grainy mustard
1 tablespoon (15 mL) red wine vinegar
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons (60 mL) chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) pepper
1/2 tsp. (2 mL) salt
1 tablespoon (15 mL) chopped basil for garnish
pinch paprika (optional) for garnish
Steam potatoes until tender. Drain and set aside in a bowl to cool. Add artichoke hearts, onion and celery to potatoes. Combine dressing with potato mixture in bowl and toss. Top with fresh basil. Keep chilled before serving.
Serves 4.
Recipe from Heather Nicol
Citrus Olive Oil Poached Spot Prawns with Summer Salad
Prawns
1 pound (450 g) spot prawns (shelled & deveined)
1 lemon (zest & juice)
1 orange (zest & juice)
1 lime (zest & juice)
6 garlic cloves
fleur de sel
black pepper
500 mL extra virgin olive oil
In a saucepan large enough to contain oil and prawns, heat the olive oil, zest and citrus juice slowly on medium heat until inserted thermometer reads 135 F (57 C).
Season the spot prawns with fleur de sel and black pepper. Poach the prawns in the olive oil until heated through, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove prawns from oil using a slotted spoon and allow them to cool, using a paper towel to soak up any excess oil. They are best served medium rare.
Salad
10 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
½ long English cucumber, ¼-inch dice
1 avocado, skin removed and ¼-inch dice
1 lemon (juiced)
1 Tbsp. (15 mL) chives, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. (15 mL) basil, chopped
olive oil (enough to drizzle over top)
salt and pepper
Take all ingredients and mix together with the poached prawns from recipe above and keep cool until needed.
This recipe is great on its own, but also makes an amazing filling for a sandwich on any picnic day. An additional tip is to mix all ingredients with cooked pasta.
Serves 3-4
Recipe from David Robertson
Our experts' food suggestions:
Opt for finger food as much as possible, such as vegetables that are easier to eat with one hand
Steaks on a Portuguese bun
Prosciutto, salami, another sliced meat
Selection of cheeses
Spreads such as humus or baba ghanoush
Sun-dried tomatoes
Bread
B.C. spot prawns
Potato salad
Avoid putting anything soggy in sandwiches such as tomatoes
No awkward big bowls of salad
Take plenty of Ziploc bags - double bag your dishcloth and any ice
Pavlova for dessert is easy to transport
Fruit skewers, yogurt, toasted hazelnuts, fresh berries, basil, shaved chocolate
Added tip: Make sure you bring tons of ice to keep things safe and cool.
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