Note: “blinchik” is a singular, while “blinchiki” is a plural form of the word.

Russian Blinchik with Cottage Cheese and Honey.

Russian Blinchiki with Flavored Filling
Surfing the internet and numerous cooking websites by all means you will come up with quite a dozen of different recipes of Russian blinchiki. And all of them will be referenced as classic and traditional. I have tasted different blinchiki, but the one I definitely like the one I do the best.

This recipe comes from my grandma who is Russian by origin. I remember her cooking these thin slightly turned golden-brown crepes on two skillets at a time. Then there were two huge piles of this delicious picnic food served on the table with sour cream. Like other traditional Russian food, say, vareniki or pirojki, blinchiki are usually cooked to have in a company – with the whole family and friends. By all means it is also a perfect option for breakfasts and snacks.

With this – a more miniature recipe – you will have blinchiki enough for a company of 5-7 people.
Preparation time 5 minutes (plus the time to rest the batter), cooking time about half an hour; yields 20-25 blinchiki.

Ingredients:
Blinchiki Batter
1 large egg
2.5 cup (0.5 liter) milk
1 cup plain flour
1 small pinch salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
1 tbsp vegetable oil (and some more for frying)

The Filling
400g cottage cheese
1 tbsp sugar (optional)
1 leveled tsp cinnamon powder
1 leveled tsp ginger powder
200g (or more) honey
100g walnut kernels

Note: do not use sugar if using raisins in the filling.

Instructions:
Blinchiki Batter
Pour half of the milk (1 cup) into a deep bowl. Break the egg, add vanilla, sugar and salt and whisk together shortly. Use a wire whisk, blender, or mixer for that. Sift the flour, whisk until a thick soft mixture forms. When done add the rest of the milk (1 cup). It is recommended to use warm or room temperature milk (not cold). Stir well the added milk to thin the batter. In a tablespoon slake baking soda in lemon juice or vinegar; add to batter while still fizzy. Stir batter evenly. It is highly recommended to leave the batter to rest for at least 15 minutes in warm place before cooking. Before proceeding with cooking add vegetable oil and stir well.

Blinchik Batter.

Note: Some people prefer using 50×50 milk and water, it means 1 cup milk and 1 cup water.
Tip: Use freshly squeezed lemon juice to slake baking soda.

The Filling
While the batter rests we will get down to preparing the filling.

Cottage Cheese and Flavors.

In a bowl combine cottage cheese, sugar, cinnamon and ginger powder. No need to stir the ingredients very thoroughly.

Flavored Cottage Cheese and Walnuts.

Cut walnut kernels into smaller pieces and add to the mixture evenly. Set aside to rest while you are done with the blinchiki.

Cooking Blinchiki
Now put a medium size non-stick (preferably heavy type) skillet (or griddle) over medium heat. Brush the bottom with few drops of vegetable oil or cooking spray.

Frying a Blinchik.

When the skillet becomes hot (not steaming hot!) take batter approximately half of a small ladle and swirling spread it evenly over the skillet bottom.

Cooked Blinchiki.

Fry one side of blinchik till golden-brown then flip it over. Use a thin spatula to flip blinchiki. One blinchik is cooked in about one minute. Transfer cooked blinchiki one at a time on a kitchen towel to absorb excess steam.

Stuffing Blinchiki
When you are done with frying blinchiki proceed to stuffing them.

Stuffing Blinchik.

Spoon 1 tbsp of cottage cheese filling on one half and cover with the other half.

Blinchik Wrap Topped With Honey and Walnut.

Then spoon 1 tbsp of honey on blinchik and near it on the plate. Decorate with walnut, drizzle it with a bit of cinnamon powder at one side.

Serve this picnic food at room temperature one per plate. Priatnogo appetita! – which is Russian form for Bon appetit!
Note: As coriander and ginger are effective anti-cold spices use them with this picnic recipe in autumn and winter seasons. Use sweet cream and berries (instead of honey and flavors) in summer.

Pirojki with Mushroom Filling.

Mushroom Pirojki
Use your favorite mushrooms, it can be even champignons. Any fresh or dry mushrooms will do, however you may try the marinated ones as well. Normally the pirojki are not made of marinated mushrooms – at least I haven’t heard of such. Overall preparation time is about 1 hour, cooking 30 minutes (for the whole batch); yields approximately 20 pirojki which may be enough for a company upto 10 people.

Ingredients:
The Dough
0.5 l fermented milk
2 eggs
700g flour
100g butter
1 level tsp baking soda
1 tsp vinegar
1 level tsp salt

The Filling
400g fresh mushrooms (champignons or other)
2 medium onions
1 level tsp salt
black pepper and chilli powder to taste (or a bit more)
herbs (optional): dill, coriander

For frying: 150g vegetable oil

Instructions:
The Dough
To make the dough you will need a medium size bowl. Blend together the fermented milk, 2 eggs and salt. Take a tablespoon, add there 1 level baking soda and vinegar. While the mixture bubbles mix it into the dough. Also, stirring continuously add the melted butter.

Preparing the dough.

Gradually add flour, blend until smooth. When dough becomes tougher transfer it on the kitchen table.
Note: Lightly flour the surface before hand (!).

Dough for Pirojki.

Knead the dough for a while – though it should remain smooth enough. Do not make it tough. When done, cover the dough with plastic file and leave it for 15-20 minutes to rise a bit. Meanwhile you may start preparing the filling.

The Filling
Peel, rinse and finely chop the onions.

Chopped Onion.

Add about 50g vegetable oil into a large frying pan. Pan-fry the onions with some salt on middle heat till golden brown.

While onion is being cooked prepare the mushrooms. For this picnic food I am using champignons.

Tip: I have read somewhere that it is preferable to leave mushrooms in cold salty water for some 10 minutes and then rinse them in cold water. Salty water detaches minor soil particles and thus rinsing becomes more effective.

Thus leave mushrooms for 10 minutes in salty water. Then rinse them and put on a paper towel to drain excess water. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces and add into the skillet to pan-fry together with onion (which is already golden-brown).

Finely Chopped Champignons.

Add black pepper, chilli powder, and salt to taste. Pan-fry the mushrooms till cooked through. As I am using champignons it took me about 20 minutes. You may use the filling this way or add freshly chopped dill and coriander when mushrooms are done. Set aside to cool slightly.

Wrapping the Pirojki
Meanwhile the dough is ready. Cut a thick strip of dough. Then cut a smaller piece as shown on the picture. You may do without a rolling pin, roll the dough with your hands pressing it evenly.

Adding Mushroom Filling.

Put a tablespoonful of the filling. Fold the pirojki, place with the seam side down on the floured baking board.

Stuffed Pirojki.

Note: If you have some spare time it will be good to leave the pirojki covered with a light towel for 10 minutes to rest before frying.

When you are done with the pirojki pour about 100g vegetable oil in a deep skillet. When the oil becomes hot on the medium-low heat carefully place pirojki. Turn over when one side is golden-brown. Each side will take about a couple of minutes to cook through. Oil should be enough to cover also the sides of the pastry. Fry in batches. When done place on the paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Pan-fried Pirojki.

Leave to rest for 5 minutes. When you take pirojki from the frying pan they will be crispy becoming soft in a few minutes as they cool a bit. Better to serve this picnic food hot or at room temperature. Bon appetit!

As autumn is the vegetable season we have decided to present more recipes of the seasonal veggies. Considering health properties and nutrients of the eggplants (aubergines) you will find a one more eggplant recipe here. This picnic food recipe will be focused on spices and walnuts. Also, here you will find useful tips and possible recipe variations. We hope you will enjoy these delicious picnic ideas. Bon Appetite!

Eggplant Rolls.

Eggplant Rolls with Walnut Filling
When buying the eggplants take those that are without seeds. You will need long purple eggplants. The key to success in the recipe the herbs, namely “Khmeli suneli” dried spices. These spices are mainly used in the Caucasian part of the Black Sea region. Normally this dried spice mixture includes the following ingredients: coriander, basil, dill, marjoram, bay leaf , fenugreek, safflower, parsley; or saffron, celery, thyme, mint, hyssop, hot and black pepper.

This is a quick and easy recipe. Preparation time: 15 minutes, cooking time 30 minutes.
Yields 3-4 servings.

Ingredients:
3 medium size eggplants
100g walnuts
100g cream (optional)
3 cloves of garlic
2 tsp “Khmeli suneli” dried spices
fresh coriander
1 tsp dried coriander
1 tsp saffron
1 tbsp wine vinegar
0.5 tsp chili powder (hot)
salt
For pan-frying: vegetable oil
For decoration: pomegranate seeds

Instructions:
Eggplants
Wash and dry the eggplants. Cut the eggplants lengthwise into 5mm slices. Place a skillet over medium heat, add oil. Panfry the eggplant slices on both sides for a couple of minutes till golden-brown. Do not cover the skillet with a lid. Lay the fried sliced onto a paper towel to remove excess oil. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

Tip: To prevent bitterness in the eggplants you may cut them and put in a big bowl with salted water for an hour. If you cook eggplants immediately after you have sliced them they most likely will not be bitter.

Walnut Filling
Using a food processor process the walnuts. Add “Khmeli suneli” dried spices, vinegar, fresh coriander, chili powder, and salt. Mix well to combine. If the ingredients are not softly pureed add 1-2 tbsp of oil or water to the walnut mixture. Add cream at room temperature if you want the filling be richer and more nutritious. If on a diet use the fat free cream.

Spoon about 1-1.5 tsp of the spiced walnut mixture along each eggplant slice. Make rolls. You may brush some mixture over the rolls as well. Decorate the rolls randomly with the pomegranate seeds.

Note: As the walnut filling is very tasty you can easily use more walnuts in the recipe, say, 1 cup.

Eggplant Salad.

Eggplant Salad with Walnuts and Mayonnaise (or Cream)
This is a very, very tasty and a spicier variation of the eggplant picnic idea. Preparation time: 15 minutes, cooking time: 30 minutes. Yields 3 servings.

Ingredients:
3 long purple eggplants
100g walnuts
8-10 cloves of garlic
150-200g Mayonnaise or Cream
coriander (optional)
Salt to taste

Instructions:
Cut the eggplants lengthwise, pan-fry in the oil over medium heat till golden-brown on both sides. Sprinkle with salt. Set aside to cool. Crush the walnuts and garlic cloves, mix together. Add chopped fresh coriander (optional). Sprinkle some of the mixture on the bottom of a bowl add some Mayonnaise (or cream), then lay fried eggplant slices over it. If using a cream add a small pinch of salt to the mixture. Repeat till eggplants and the walnut mixture are over. Brush with the Mayonnaise and add the mixture above the last layer of the eggplants. Cover with a lid, put in the fridge for a couple of hours to allow the picnic meal get properly saturated. You may add fresh cilantro shoots on the plate while serving this picnic food.

Note: Use the fat free cream for dietary considerations.

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In choosing the right picnic foods, there are some points to consider preventing total disaster of the picnic mood. Some points to consider are:

■  Food Safety

Picnic foods are meant to last the whole day without spoilage. You have to be sure that the ingredients you will use will not spoil easily.

■  Weather

This is an important aspect also in choosing the right food. If the weather is too hot, do not prepare foods that can easily moist. Bacteria easily multiple in foods that are moist, which causes the spoilage of the foods.

TRADITIONAL FILIPINO-STYLE CHICKEN AND PORK ADOBO

This is non-debatable, try asking a Filipino what could be an ideal Filipino picnic food for him, and it will always be Adobo. Adobo actually is a Spanish word, which means “marinade”. Adobo has become a tradition in all food celebrations in the Philippines, maybe because it does not spoil easily. It is the process of cooking meat in soy sauce and vinegar and other spices available. The vinegar in adobo prevents it from spoiling because vinegar stops the growth of bacteria.

Meats that are commonly used on cooking adobo-style are chicken and pork. However, people became creative in cooking adobo for they can use any meat they desire like goat, lamb, beef, squid and fish. Even the weirdest meat you can imagine, Filipinos can transform it into adobo like frogs or the famous exotic food “balut”.

Another good thing about adobo is that you can adjust the taste according to your desire. Some might want the sour taste to reign or the saltiness to accent a little more.

Traditional Filipino-Style Chicken and Pork Adobo

What you will need:

½ kilo     chicken, cut into small serving pieces
1 kilo     pork liempo/butt, cubed
1-cup    cane vinegar
1-cup    water
½ t    black pepper, ground
1 head    garlic, peeled and crushed
2 pcs.    Bay leaves
½ c    soy sauce
2 T    cooking oil

What you will do

1. Combine all ingredients except soy sauce and oil in a cooking pan or casserole.
2. Bring it to a boil and simmer for a period of 30 minutes.
3. Add in the soy sauce and simmer for another period of 10 minutes.
4. Remove all the meat from the mixture and set aside.
5. Pour the sauce of the mixture in a separate bowl.
6. Heat the oil in the same casserole wherein you simmer the meat.
7. Brown the meat.
8. Pour back the sauce into the casserole together with the meat.
9. Simmer until it thickens and adjusting the taste according to your desire.

REMINDER:

■  Although adobo does not spoil easily, make sure you follow the guidelines in keeping foods in a covered container. Never cover any food if it is still hot. The moisture will be trapped causing bacteria to multiply fast.

■  Make it a habit to use serving spoon so that bacteria from other utensils will not mix with the food and spread to other people. Besides, it is not hygienic.

■  Separate cooked foods from the raw and separate meats from fish or seafood to avoid cross-contamination.

■  If you plan to cook barbecue, make sure to cook all meat accordingly. There is certain food that is not meant to eat raw for it can cause salmonella or other food poisoning.

■  If plan to bring raw meats, always keep it at a safest temperature of 40oF or below by sealing it in a cooler with plenty of ice packs.

■  Always have two insulated coolers: one for raw meats and the other one for drinks. NEVER combine the two.

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Soup with Kreplach (dumplings).

Meat Dumplings with Meat, Cheese, and Potato Fillings
Dumplings in Israel are more commonly known as Kreplach. They can be used as a side dish or dropped in soup or broth. Apart from meat, cheese, and potato, you may fill it with fruits, say, cherries, and have it with cream. With traditional Kreplach you may have different gravies that are best to your taste.

Tip: It is highly recommended to prepare filling before the dough unless you keep it covered by plastic file or wet tea towel. Otherwise it will dry out and most likely become unusable.

Meat Filling
Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion
1 cup ground beef or cooked chopped chicken fillet
1 egg
Seasoning: salt and black pepper
Herbs to taste (optional)

Note: finely chop the onion, beat the egg

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Drizzle oil on the frying pan, put over medium heat. Add onion, saute till golden-brown. Set aside to cool, add to the mixture in the bowl, stir well.

Kreplach (dumplings) With Sour Cream.

Cheese Filling
Ingredients:
1 cup dry cottage cheese
1 egg
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp bread crumbs
Seasoning: salt (to taste)

Instructions:
In a medium bowl combine the ingredients. Use food processor as needed.

Potato Filling
Ingredients:
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 egg
1 medium onion finely chopped onions
vegetable oil, butter, or other fat
Seasoning: salt, and black pepper (to taste)

Instructions:
Finely chop the onion; saute in the oil (or butter) over medium heat till golden-brown; add some salt. Beat the egg. Add 2 tbsp fat or butter to hot mashed potatoes, stir. Add fried onions, salt and black pepper. Cool if needed, add the egg; stir.

Dumpling dough
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1.5 cups flour
0.25 cup water
Seasoning: salt, black pepper (optional)

Instructions:
Beat the eggs. Make dough by mixing water, eggs, flour, and salt. Use hands or a food processor to knead the dough till it gets soft and well combined.

For convenience’s sake divide the dough. Flour the table or other surface you work on. Using a rolling pin finely roll out one piece of dough. Cut into 2 inch squares or make circles pressing glass rim.

Meanwhile, fill a big saucepan (stew pan) half with water, put over high heat to quickly bring to the boil. Add salt.

Continue with dumplings. Add 1 tsp of fillings in each piece, fold to your taste pressing the edges; apply flour where needed to seal well.

As water starts to boil drop dumplings; cook over medium heat about 15 minutes till picnic food raises on top puffed up. Remove with a slotted spoon. You may freeze them till the occasion when needed, add Kreplach in a soup, panfry, or serve in pots with sour cream, sauce, or any other gravy to your taste.

Jewish Style Pot Roast.

Jewish Style Pot Roast
This type of the sweet-and-sour Jewish pot roast commonly is Europe. Yields 6-8 servings. Great picnic food to have in a good company.

Ingredients:
3 lb. boneless beef
6 onions (large)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
boiling water
1 slice stale rye bread
1 lemon (juice only)
0.5 cup honey
seasoning: salt, black pepper

Note: for meat you may use brisket. Quarter the onions; remove crusts of the bread slice. It is recommended to use freshly ground pepper.

Instructions:
Put meat, onions, bay leaf, and thyme into a heavy pot. Add boiling water to cover the ingredients. Put the pot over high heat, bring to the boil. When done, cover with the lid and let the meal simmer on low heat for some 2-2.5 hours. Add boiling water when needed.

Soften the bread with boiling water, mash and add to the meat. Add some boiling water if needed then lemon juice, and honey. Simmer uncovered over low heat continuously stirring for 20 minutes. Season the picnic food with salt and pepper when meat is well tender and brown. Serve hot. As this picnic food idea can be relatively flexible you may add your favorite herbs on top of the pot roast when serving.

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Chicken Stew Soup.

Chicken Stew Soup with Pepper and Pancakes

With this picnic idea you can serve a great party of your friends. The picnic recipe consumes moderate amount of time – half an hour for preparation, and 40-60 minutes for cooking. So, this cooking won’t be exhausting and just imagine, it will yield 6 servings (!).

Ingredients:
Chicken Soup
1 3/4 (1 L) of fresh chicken stock
3 white onions (medium)
3 carrots
2 tbsp of tomato puree
2 cubes of chicken stock
1,5 tsp curry powder
4 small red chillies (fresh)
4 tbsp of dried chilli flakes
2 chicken breasts
2 chicken legs
3 large potatoes
3 tbsp corn oil
Seasoning: salt and black pepper

Note: chop the onions and carrots, crumble the stock cubes, thinly chop the fresh chillies, and peel and quarter the potatoes. Also, have the chicken breasts cut into 1 in (2.5cm) pieces, and the legs separated for thighs and bones.

Tip: Always try to use freshly ground black pepper.

Pancakes
6 oz (170g) plain flour
13fl oz (or 380ml) of full-fat milk
10 oz (275g) sweet corn
1 egg (preferably free-range)
4 spring onions
vegetable oil (for frying)
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp salt

Note: have the onions thinly chopped and the egg lightly beaten.

Instructions:
Chicken Soup
Put a saucepan with chicken stock over heat and bring to the boil. When done, add chopped carrots and onions and leave to simmer.

In a small combine tomato puree, crumbled cubes of chicken stock, curry powder, chilli flakes and chopped fresh chilli. Stir to mix well.

Drizzle the corn oil on a heavy-based frying pan (large), put over a medium heat. When hot, add the chicken in batches not to overcrowd the pan; fry 2 minutes per side till golden-brown. Add the tomato and spices paste, stir to coat. Let the chicken fry for the next couple of minutes stirring occasionally.

Add carrot and onions mixture, as well as the hot chicken stock; simmer for the next 10 minutes. When done, add the potato wedges, salt and black pepper. Keep on simmering till potatoes are tender.

Tip: To check the chicken, pierce it in the thickest part to see if the juices run clear.

Pancakes
Screen the flour into a large bowl, add baking powder, salt, dried chilli flakes; stir to mix. In a smaller bowl lightly whisk the egg; add milk; whisk well. Add the mixture to the spiced flour, beat till a smooth paste forms. Leave the batter to rest for a couple of minutes, then, add the chopped spring onions and sweet corn.

Tip: You may use a fork to beat the batter.

Sprinkle vegetable oil on the bottom of a non-stick frying pan; put over medium heat. When hot, lay spoonfuls of pancake batter side by side (allow some space in between). When the bottom becomes golden-brown and the top bubbles, turn around and cook for the next 1-1,5 minutes.

When done, remove pancakes to drain. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Keep the cooked pancakes warm.

To serve the picnic food, have warm bowls ready. Ladle the soup. Serve together with the warm pancakes on the other plate.

Spinach and Fried Sausage.

Spinach, Sausage, and Banana Picnic Idea
You may find the combination of the ingredients unusual in this quick picnic recipe. If you are eager for positive taste experiments, go on! Preparation takes maximum half an hour, cooks in some 10 minutes. As the picnic food yields 1 portion you may increase the ingredients if needed for your company.

Ingredients:
Spinach and Sausage Salad
2 oz (55g) spiced sausage
0.5 lemon
4.5oz (125g) fresh spinach leaves
small handful fresh parsley
3 tbsp of olive oil
Seasoning: salt and black pepper

Note: Chop the sausage and parsley. Squeeze lemon for juice.
Tip: Always try to use freshly ground black pepper.

Preparing the Banana Chutney.

Banana Chutney
1 banana
1 lime
2 tbsp fresh coriander (chopped)
1 tsp red chilli (chopped)
2 tbsp olive oil
Seasoning: salt and black pepper

Note: Have the banana peeled and chopped (or mashed), squeeze the lime for juice.

Instructions:
Spinach and Sausage Salad
On the hot non-stick frying pan fry through the sausage pieces till golden-brown. Have the spinach washed, drained with paper towel, and leaves separated in a large bowl. Add the fried sausage pieces.

To make a dressing, in a medium bowl combine the lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, salt and black pepper; whisk. Add over the spinach with sausage, stir to coat well.

Banana Chutney
In a bowl, mix together all ingredients of the banana chutney.

When serving this African picnic idea have the salad piled on a plate. Spoon the banana chutney on top. Bon appetite!

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Asian Picnic Food Ideas
Greek Picnic Ideas

If you want to surprise your friends, or just change the picnic menu that you have been using for a while (for ever for some people), you may want to try the barbecued Asian pork chops. This very tasteful dish includes easy to find ingredients such as orange juice, soy sauce, garlic, chillies and of course pork chops. Mix all the ingredients and add them to the pork chops, refrigerate them for a few hours and then cook them grilled or in your oven. Now we need a salad to go along the tasty pork chops Asian style. Our recommendation is the Asian noodle salad with roast beef and soy-ginger dressing, even its name sounds delicious, don’t you think? This salad include the following ingredients for the  Soy-ginger dressing, 1 teaspoon minced root ginger, 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon caster sugar, minced 6 tablespoons soy sauce, 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 2 medium garlic cloves 1/2 teaspoon red chilli flakes. In terms of the Pasta salad you need thinly sliced 75g chopped roasted peanuts, 3 medium carrots cut into strips, 4 spring onions, 2 tablespoons salt, 4 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander, 300g rare sliced roast beef, 1 red pepper peeled and julienned, 300g bean sprouts, 250g broccoli florets and 300g packet free range egg noodles. Isn’t your mouth watering already? Just to top that off, we will include Chinese egg rolls to our picnic menu. To prepare this dish you would need the following ingredients, 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, and for the marinade a pinch of cornstarch, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Also use 3 tablespoons water, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 small chopped onion, 14 – 16 egg roll wrappers, 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms, 1 red bell pepper, 4 cups oil for deep-frying, 2 chopped green onions, and 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water to seal wrappers.

Now that you have your Asian picnic ideas, visit us at satay for more information on the preparation of any other dishes that you would like to include in your Asian style picnic and get ready to enjoy an Asian experience.

Taquitos: Steak with Savory Sauce Tortilla.

Taquitos: Steak with Savory Sauce
The total time for preparation and cooking is 40-60 minutes. This picnic recipe yields 8 tortilla rolls (2 per person).

Ingredients:
Taquitos
3 tbsp of olive oil
1 onion (large)
2 cloves garlic
1 lb 2 oz. (or 500 g) sirloin steak
1 tsp of dried oregano
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp of fresh chopped coriander
3 tbsp of tomato purée
Seasoning: salt and black pepper
3.5 fl oz. (or 100 ml) beef stock
8 flour tortillas

Note: finely slice the onion, peel and thinly chop the garlic cloves, and cut the steak into 0.5″ (1 cm) cubes.

Dressing
9 fl oz. (or 250 g) of soured cream
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
2 tbsp of warm water
3 tbsp fresh chopped chives

Note: Serve with fresh salad leaves and lemon juice

Instructions:
Taquitos
Pour the olive oil in a saucepan (large); place over a medium heat. Add chopped onion and garlic when oil is hot; fry. Add the steak when onion and garlic are softened. Allow frying until beef turns brownish. Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper; add cumin, oregano, tomato purée, and sugar. Stir well to combine, allow the ingredients simmer for a minute.

Slowly in the saucepan add the beef stock. When the sauce starts to boil, decrease the heat to minimal and leave the food to simmer for another 5 minutes. Now the meat should be tender and sauce thickened; flavor with coriander. Fill tortillas with steak and the sauce, roll to wrap.

Dressing
Blend soured cream, chives, cayenne pepper, and warm water.

Place tortillas on plates, drizzle with the dressing. Serve with salad and squeezed lemon juice.

Fresh Herbs, Spices, Red Rice, etc.

Albondigas: Meatballs with Tomato Sauce and Red Rice
The picnic recipe is a Mexican variation of meatballs. You may use the garnish and sauce with such picnic food as burgers or roasted meat. Preparation and cooking may take up to an hour (each), however the average estimate on the both may be less. This picnic idea yields for 4.

Ingredients:
Meatballs
2 onions
9 oz. (or 250 g) of pork mince
9 oz. (or 250 g) of beef mince
1 tsp dried oregano
2 oz. (60g) fresh breadcrumbs
1 tsp ground cumin
1 beaten egg
8 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp olive oil
1 lb 12 oz. (or 800g) canned tomatoes (chopped)
4 medium-hot red chillies
2 garlic cloves
3.5 fl oz. (or 100 ml) beef stock
Seasoning: salt and black pepper

Note: finely chop the onions, tomatoes (if needed), agarlic cloves, and chilli peppers (with the seeds removed).

Red Rice
3 large plum tomatoes
1 lb 2.5 oz. (or 500g) long grain rice
2 garlic cloves
10 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp of paprika
2 spring onions
2 limes (use juice only)
3 tbsp of tomato purée
18 fl oz. (or 500 ml) vegetable stock (and optional extra hot water)
1 tsp dried oregano
Seasoning: salt

Note: cut the tomatoes into quarters and thinly chop the onions.

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce.

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C, Gas 6).

Meatballs
In a large bowl combine onions (half portion), pork and beef mince, egg, breadcrumbs, oregano, and cumin. Season with freshly ground black pepper and salt; combine well. Make 1.5″ (or 4cm) meatballs. Pour vegetable oil in a frying pan and heat well over a mid-high heat. Fry the meatballs for 5 minutes until brown; turn around occasionally. Set the meatballs aside with the oil drained.

In a sauce pan fry the rest of onions, garlic, and chilli until softened. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper, leave on the medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the stock and the meatballs, cook for 20 minutes.

Red Rice
Drizzle plum tomatoes and garlic with olive oil, roast until soft. Allow to cool. Remove garlic peels and tomato skin. Blend the tomatoes, garlic, paprika, lime juice, sugar, oregano, spring onions until turns a paste.

Wash and drain the rice; drop into a large saucepan. Fry in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the both tomato mixtures; stir to combine allowing the rice absorb the juices. Add the stock slowly, stir well. Simmer till rice is tender.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the both Mexican picnic ideas. Bon Appétit!

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Greek Burgers

Greek Burgers
This picnic food is easy to prepare. The overall preparation and cooking time takes less than 40 minutes; yields for 4 persons. It would be common to call it burgers, however, Greeks usually call this picnic meal “bifteki”. You can grill or bake the burgers in the oven. The special part in this picnic recipe is that feta cheese is added into the minced meat. Serve with a salad and flat bread or in buns.

Ingredients:
1.25 lb (or 500 g) minced beef
1 tbs natural yoghurt (low fat)
1.5 tsp of dried thyme
4 oz (or 100g) of feta cheese
seasoning: salt and black pepper

Instructions:

Prepare the barbeque, you will not need a direct heat. Take a medium size bowl and combine the minced meat with natural yoghurt. In order to have the burgers extra juicy some people add soft part of bread dipped in milk or water. Crumble 0.25 – 0.5 lb of moist bread into the minced meat. Season the mixture with freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste. Stir until well combined.

Shape eight (about 2″ in diameter) equal flat burgers. The burgers should be twice as thin as the normal as you will double them latter. Make four slices of feta cheese. Lay a feta slice between 2 flat burgers; join the edges to seal. Repeat with all flat burgers. Put aside. Apply some oil on the grill (grate), lay burgers on the hot grill. You may cover the burgers. Grill the picnic meal for 7-10 minutes then turn over and cook for the next 5-7 minutes. The cheese will melt inside the burgers making it extra delicious.

Greek roasted chicken

Greek Spiced Chicken Roast
Although this picnic meal preparation takes some 30 min it is cooked in no less than an hour and a half; yields for 4-6 persons. Serve with green salad and Greek yoghurt.

Ingredients:
Coating
3 egg whites (preferably free-range)
1 tbsp of honey
1 lemon
2 tbsp of cumin seeds
0.5 tsp of each spice: cayenne pepper, ginger, cinnamon, ground allspice
Seasoning: salt and black pepper
Note: lightly whisk the egg whites, use the lemon juice and zest only.

Chicken
1  3 lb (or 1.3 kg) whole chicken
4.5 fl oz. (or 125 ml) olive oil
1 lb 2 oz. (or 500 g) salad potatoes (Charlotte or Anya)
3.5 oz. (or 100 g) black olives
seasoning: salt and black pepper
Note: Parboil the potatoes (preferably in chicken stock). Remove the olive pits and chop olives randomly.

Topping
1 lemon zest
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp fresh parsley
Note: use unsalted butter, randomly chop the parsley.

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C, Gas 4).

Coating and Spices
Put egg whites, lemon juice and zest, and honey in a bowl, whisk until well blended.
In another bowl, combine the cayenne pepper, cumin seeds, ginger, allspice, cinnamon; add salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir until well combined.

Chicken
First, coat the chicken with the egg-lemon-honey mixture. Then, drizzle the spicy mixture over the coated chicken. Put the coated spiced chicken on a baking tray. Roast for 1.25 – 1.5 hours till the chicken’s skin is golden-brown and crisp. To check whether the bird is cooked, zest a skewer in the thickest part of the chicken breast –clear juices would mean the chicken is roasted well. Cut the chicken into four portions.

Potatoes
Preheat the roasting tray, pour in the olive oil and keep in the oven till very hot. Lay the parboiled salad potatoes, add randomly chopped olives: season with freshly ground pepper and salt to taste. Cook in the oven for no more than 40 minutes. The potatoes should be golden-brown and crisp. Drop the roasted potatoes and olives into a medium bowl, add butter, parsley and lemon zest. Stir until well combined and coated. When serving put the chicken pieces on plates, put roasted potatoes with olives around. Serve with salad, yoghurt and flat bread.

Light Greek Chicken
The quick picnic recipe is done in 30-40 minutes; yields for 8. Serve with feta cheese, garlic bread, and tomatoes.

Ingredients:
4 fl oz. (or 112 ml) olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp of fresh rosemary (chopped)
1 tbsp fresh thyme (chopped)
1 tbsp fresh oregano (chopped)
2 lemons, juiced
1 whole chicken portioned

Instructions:
In a bowl combine the garlic, oregano, thyme, rosemary, lemon juice, and olive oil. Coat the chicken pieces with the spiced mixture. Leave the spiced chicken in the fridge minimum for 30 min ideally overnight.Prepare the barbeque. Brush the grate with olive/vegetable oil. Grill the chicken pieces 15, turn over and leave on the grate for another 10-15 minutes – till golden-brown.

Enjoy our Greek picnic ideas!

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Armenia is a country with one of the oldest cultures in the Caucasus. Caucasian cuisine has something in common in all countries of the region, however national traditions add special flavor to it. Armenia is bordering with Georgia, Baku, Iran and Turkey. It is the oldest Christian country in the world. The present article is dedicated to Armenian cuisine, picnic traditions; also we will provide a relevant few picnic recipes.

Armenians enjoy spending time in family, among friends and relatives. Picnics and barbeques are an important part of Armenian life. Although in the cities there are numerous restaurants and BBQ spots a picnic in the nature is a special occasion for everybody. Armenians prepare for the picnic barbeque a couple of days in advance. Barbeque has its Armenian equivalent, namely “khorovats”, thus the verb “horovel” would mean “to roast or broil” on natural fire not in the oven or grill. Horovats is prepared on skewers (i.e. stainless metal or wood sticks). There is food that Armenians would surely have at the picnic. The most necessary are: basturma, lavash, vegetables, tan and other. We will explain in detail what does each mean and will give recipes of each of these key meals or products.

As Armenians are gourmand they enjoy preparing food, and make it delicious. A day before leaving for a picnic it is a must that the meat intended for horovats (either pork or beef) will be specially prepared. To make barbeque soft, juicy and very tasty Armenians put the meat in special dressing (or marinade) which Armenians call “basturma” for a day (in case you are short of time a couple of hours will also do). Basturma is prepared the following way: 1 kilogram of meat should be washed, cut in pieces of 30 – 40 g (the size best fit for skewers) and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Add 150 – 200 g of sliced onions and poor 150 – 200 g of vinegar. Keep in fringe ideally for 5 – 10 hours.

Along with meat barbeque Armenians usually roast (or grill) vegetables, namely: eggplant, bell pepper, and tomatoes. Skewer the vegetables and keep them above the coals till rinds on the vegetables become blackish and partially peeling off. Take the vegetables of the skewers and peel them off, cut in small pieces, add salt, pepper, onion, garlic, olive oil and greens: basil, parsley, coriander, and dill.

Armenian traditional bread

is a must during the picnics. It is called lavash and can also be spelled as “lahvash”. Lavash is a thin flatbread and although it is a part of cuisine in different countries it originated in Armenia and only here it is thin as a paper. The flat rolled-out dough is prepared of wheat flour and then slapped to an inward side of the tonir (a wood or clay oven). When lavash is fresh it is soft, when dried it resembles crackers or chips.

The traditional cold non-alcoholic Armenian drink is tan. Besides being healthy it is very refreshing in hot summers. Tan is prepared from a sour milk product much resembling a yogurt. Mix same proportions of sour yogurt and water, add salt. Shake well, drink cold.

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