Beef Stroganoff.

Beef Stroganoff
Preparation time (in case you have tender boiled beef fillet): 10 minutes, cooking time: 30 minutes, Yields 2-3 servings.

Ingredients:
500 g tender cooked beef fillet
1 large yellow onion
200 g sour cream
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp all purpose flour
3 tbsp olive, vegetable oil, or butter
1-1.5 cup water
Seasoning: salt, black ground pepper

Instructions:
The best beef cut for the recipe is tenderloin. However you may use another cut, take a lean part without gristle. If using another cut, select a lean cut and remove any visible membranes, fat, or gristle. Cut beef into 0.5 inch wide and 2 inch long strips.

Beef strips.

Also peel and rinse yellow onion. Cut it lengthwise in halves and thinly slice.

Put a heavy bottom, deep, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add butter or oil, add onion when the butter (or oil) is heated. Sprinkle a small pinch of salt over the onion and pan-fry for 5 minutes till onion becomes softer.

Pan-frying onion and beef.

Add beef strips, stir to combine well with the onion, sprinkle ground black pepper, drizzle the white wine vinegar. Maybe more salt will be needed if the beef was boiled without salt. Do not cover the skillet with a lid. Pan-fry the ingredients for 10-15 minutes over medium heat till onion and beef steaks become golden-brown.

When done, sprinkle flour over the onion beef mix and stir well the ingredients. The beef strips should be slightly coated in the flour. Leave over heat while your prepare the sour cream and water mix.

Adding sour cream mix.

Mix together water and sour cream till well thinned. Then add the mix  into the onion beef mix and stir to incorporate. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to minimum. Let the picnic food simmer till liquid is reduced to a thick paste. When the picnic food is cooked let it rest for at least 10 minutes covered and wrapped to absorb juices and allow aroma play out better. Serve warm over noodles, rice, or French fries.

To decorate add chopped shallots or fresh green onion.

The Recipe Variation:
With this recipe you won’t need a boiled beef. Take thinly cut fillet slices, pound it with a mallet; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut the slices into 0.5-2 inch stripes and pan-fry in hot oil or butter till browned. When done fry onion and fresh thinly sliced mushrooms (preferably champignons). Add 1 tsp mustard in the sour cream and water mixture. Combine beef stripes, onion and mushrooms, add sour cream mixture and simmer the ingredients. When excess liquid reduces over low heat, turn the heat off, cover the skillet with a lid and allow the mixture to rest and absorb flavors and juices. Serve warm.

I hope you will like this Beef Stroganoff recipe and will add it to your picnic food ideas favorite list.

While food is certainly an important factor at a picnic, the games and activities are what make picnics so much fun. Children can play with their friends while adults play with their older, yet equally excited friends. Parents can bond with their children. Everybody involved gets whisked into a world of fun and games. With the amount of picnic games and activities, it’s no wonder why everyone is in such an ambivalent mood. Picnic games are intoxicating and the following sections will explain why.

Picnic Games for Kids

Children love to play together, especially when they are free to leave the confines of their homes. Picnic grounds make it possible for large groups of children to explore nature, challenge others and themselves, and play games they could never play indoors. Children’s picnic activities should include a mix of competition and regular fun. With these picnic games and activities for kids, every child will walk away feeling like a winner.

Red Light, Green Light – This game is a bit like Simon Says, but it tends to work better on a younger crowd. Have all the children stand in a horizontal line while the child designated as “It” stands several yards in front of the rest of the group. The designated child says commands that are equal to those that would be found on a traffic light. Green means go, yellow means slow down, and red means stop. Using a mixture of each command, the “It” child tries to confuse players. If someone keeps moving after a “Red Light,” that person has to go back to the starting line. The first person to reach the designated child takes over as “It” and the game starts from the beginning.

Sardines – This game is like Hide and Seek with a twist. A child is chosen to be “It,” but instead of being singled out, that child becomes like a beacon for all the other players. In Sardines, the kid chosen to be “It” hides while all the other children count to 50 or 100. Everyone tries to find the “It” child and stays quiet when they do. Little by little, the hiding space becomes cramped like a can of sardines as each child finds “It.” The game ends when the last child finds the rest of the group and can restart with that child being the next “It.”

Water Balloon Toss – This game is great for extra warm days when children want to have some water fun. Children team up in pairs of two and fill a balloon with as much water as they can. All the children line up in two parallel lines with each kid standing across from his or her partner. Starting very close to each other, the teams toss their water balloon to their partner. If a balloon breaks, that team gets out of the line. After each round, both rows of children take one step backwards, expanding the distance between them and their partners. The balloon toss continues until only one team is left with a water balloon, after which a new round can begin.

Depending on the area of the picnic, children can also have a lot of fun with activities like Hide and Seek, Freeze Tag, Three-Legged Races, Capture the Flag, Frisbee, and Catch. If there is a swimming pool or lake nearby, kids may also enjoy water games like Marco Polo, Monkey in the Middle, and Water Tag. For water fun without a body of water, children can play with sprinklers, water balloons, and squirt guns, all of which will guarantee them a wonderful time.

Picnic Games for Adults

Adults rarely get the chance to revisit their childhoods and play games, but picnics offer an excellent exception to that rule. With adult picnic games, the grown-ups can have as much fun as the children and let their silly or competitive natures flourish. Nearly any outdoor game would be fun to play at a picnic, but the following activities are perfect for a day of outdoor adult adventures.

Water Balloon War–This game is a bit like paintball without the mess and bruises. Separate the adults into two teams, each equipped with a plentiful supply of water balloons. You may want to distinguish the team by shirts versus skins or team shirts with two distinct colors. The mission of this game is simple: Don’t get wet. Adults run and hide within their surroundings and try to hit people from the other team with a water balloon. When someone is hit, they are taken prisoner. If a water balloon breaks without hitting its target, the thrower is taken prisoner by the other team. The last person standing without getting hit is the winner and gets to douse the losing team with water.

Tangled – This is a fun game that involves flexibility, teamwork, and a good sense of humor. Have all adults split into teams of two. Give each team a roll of toilet paper and make sure that one roll has a stamp on it. The team that chooses the stamp will work as referees while the rest of the teams act as contestants. The referees wrap each team together in loosely bound toilet paper. Once everyone is wrapped up, the teams have to try to free themselves without ripping the toilet paper. If the toilet paper rips, that team is disqualified. The game continues until a team successfully frees themselves or until only one team still has their toilet paper intact.

Prop Charades – This game is equally fun and silly, and it’s guaranteed to bring the child out of every adult. Before the picnic, advise every adult to bring something interesting with them. They could bring a sombrero, a foam finger, a colander … Anything will do! In prop charades, the weirder the props, the funnier the game becomes. This game works like regular charades, but there should be two pieces of paper for each player to choose. One piece has the charade they have to act out and the other has the prop they have to incorporate into their acting. A volunteer should start the game and whoever guesses the charade goes next. The game continues until everyone has had a chance to act. There are no winners or losers in this game – just a bunch of adults having fun.

Adults may also have fun playing picnic games like Horseshoes, Limbo, Charades, Truth or Dare, and Spin the Bottle. Adults with a competitive streak can also have fun playing sports games like softball, touch football, volleyball, and water relay races.

Picnic Games for Mixed Ages

Picnics are terrific places for adults to bond with children. With everyone in a playful mood, families can create memories that will last for a lifetime. Here are some of the best tried and proven games where adults can compete against children without automatically having the upper hand. Just because we grow up doesn’t make us the best at everything, right?

Tug of War – This is a really fun game that can be played with a broad mix of ages. Split everybody into two teams and make sure there are equal amounts of kids and adults on each team. Everybody holds onto a long rope, trying to pull the other team over the boundary. The boundary can be anything from a chalk line to a pile of mud to a puddle of water. As soon as a team is pulled over (or into) the boundary area, the other team wins.

Limbo Contest – Kids love to play limbo as much as adults, and this is a game where children have a good chance of defeating the grown-ups. Take a long stick or a yard stick and have two people hold it. For the first round, the stick should be high enough for everyone to be able to walk under it. As each round passes, the stick is lowered a couple of inches and it becomes harder to pass under without touching the stick. Everyone who touches the stick is disqualified and the game continues until only one player remains. With the right music in the background, limbo is a great game for all ages.

Three-Legged Race – A classic for everyone young and old, a three-legged race is a fun way to promote teamwork, agility, and plain old silliness. Separate everyone into teams of two. You can either create each team with one adult and one child, or have the children play against the adults. Each team ties two of their ankles together with a bandana or a strip of fabric. All teams start horizontally at the starting line and work together to race to the finish line. The first team to cross the finish line wins.

Picnics for mixed age groups can incorporate nearly any game into a battle of adults versus children. Some additional mixed age picnic game favorites include Hide and Seek, Water Balloon Toss, and group games like Frisbee, catch, touch football, basketball, and softball.

As an added bonus, you may want to give out small awards or ribbons to everyone who participated in the picnic games and activities. You can give out ribbons to everyone who won a game and also come up with fun categories with prizes. For instance, you could give an award to the adult who is bad at everything or the person who almost won it all. Awards for most fun, silliest, best team spirit, and best teamwork are also appreciated by all players.

No matter what the ages of the picnic attendees, there are more than enough games and activities to ensure that everyone has a fun, memorable time. As long as everyone comes with a smile and a willingness to have a good time, fun will certainly be had. There will not be a shortage of picnic games and activities any time soon, so get out there and enjoy them while the weather permits it!

Assorted Meat Solyanka.

Assorted Meat Solyanka
Preparation time: 30 minutes, cooking time 30 minutes (plus 4-5 hours for boiling beaf); rich yield. When cooking this potage for the first time, you may experiment with less ingredients – to get the taste of the food.

Ingredients:
500 g beef
150 g smoked Bavarian sausage (or other)
150 g ham
150 g bacon (plus any other sausages or smoked meat products)
10 black olives
10 green olives
2 medium pickled cucumbers
2 medium button onions
1 level tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp olive oil
1 level tbsp capers (optional)
Seasoning: salt, Cayenne, and black pepper to taste
200 g sour cream
1 fresh lemon
Fresh coriander

Instructions:
Rinse beef, then cut into small pieces and put into warm water, bring to the boil and boil on low heat till well tender. You can as well use pork together with beef. When boiled, remove bones and any parts that you will not use in the potage. Sieve the broth. Add the meat.

Pan-fried onion with tomato paste.

Peel and rinse the onions; cut thinly and pan-fry in olive oil for about 10 minutes with a small pinch of salt over medium heat till soft and not yet turned golden-brown. Add tomato paste and a couple of tbsp broth. Leave over heat for a couple of minutes constantly stirring. When done add into the broth – which is boiling over small heat with a lid covered.

Preparing assorted meat ingredients.

Cut ham, bacon, sausages and any smoked meat products that you are going to add into the potage into medium-small size dice. You may have some meat products in bigger pieces the other thinner and smaller – or shredded. Add the ingredients into the broth.

Olives and pickled cucumber.

If pickled cucumbers have hard peel – remove it, if soft- leave as it is. Shed the cucumbers or cut into bigger pieces. You may likewise cut several olives of each color or may add whole with stones into the broth. Stones will add specific flavor. Add olives into the broth.

Preparing solyanka.

Note: add half can liquid of the black (or green for a more tart flavor) olives into the broth.

Taste the potage to check how much salt is needed. Season with salt accordingly and sprinkle black pepper, and Cayenne. Add some freshly chopped coriander, stir shortly; cover the pot with the lid, leave over small heat for a couple of minutes more. Then turn off the heat and allow the potage to rest for at least 30 minutes – ideally it would be a couple of hours.

Serving solyanka.

Serve hot in warm pots. Sprinkle with freshly chopped coriander, lemon slice, 1 small spoon of sour cream, and a few fresh olives in the potage.

Personally I like pumpkin freshly juiced or baked. There were some soup experiments with this vegetable in my past but I even can’t remember how it tasted – meaning nothing special. That is why I got down to this recipe being quite skeptical. One thing that sounded very fascinating to me was the combination of pumpkin and ground nutmeg. That is why I gave it a try. Now that I have cooked and eaten it I can’t yet say definitely whether I loved it or not so much… Call it eating or taste habit but sometimes with new things – especially when it concerns food – you need time to get whether you like that something new or not. With this pumpkin nutmeg recipe I can say definitely – I will cook it again, and maybe again… I liked how the spices played out – the cayenne pepper with ground nutmeg, and how the soft cream and pumpkin taste winded it all up smoothly….

Well, here is the detailed recipe with pics and instructions of the pumpkin soup and the croutons. This soup can perfectly work as autumn or winter picnic food idea. Hope it will be an interesting cooking experiment for you as well. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cream Soup with Croutons.

Spicy Pumpkin Nutmeg Cream Soup
Food type: lacto vegetarian, preparation time: 30 minutes, cooking time: 30 minutes.
Yields: 4 servings.

Ingredients:
700 g pumpkin (peeled and seedless)
1 medium onion
3 medium garlic clove
33 tbsp olive oil
350 g boiled water
200 g cream (11%)
3 pinch ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp cayenne
1/5 tsp black ground pepper
50 g Parmesan
4 tbsp sour cream

Instructions:
Rinse, cut the pumpkin, remove the seeds, peel and cut it 1×1 cm dice.

Pumpkin dice.

Peel and finely cut the garlic cloves and the onion (separately).
Put a heavy bottom saucepan over medium-low heat. Add olive oil. Add the garlic and panfry for 1 minute. Soon add the onion; panfry together with the garlic for the next 6-7 minutes.
Add the pumpkin to the saucepan continue pan-frying the veggies for 5 minutes more. When done add boiled water and allow simmering for 10-12 minutes stirring continuously.

Pan-frying pumpkin, garlic and onion.

When the pumpkin becomes tender, blend the ingredients till smooth pure forms. Bring to the boil over low heat, add cream, season with salt, cayenne, ground black pepper and nutmeg.

Seasoned pumpkin puree.

Stir well the seasoning into the pureed veggies. (I love the view!)

Mixing the seasoning.

Leave over the heat for the next 3-4 minutes. Then cover with a lid and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.

Pumpkin soup with croutons.

Serve with croutons or grissini. Serve the picnic soup in warm pots, add 1 spoon sour cream and top the picnic soup with some grated Parmesan to each pot.

Spicy Garlic Croutons

Croutons.

Croutons are French food. I like them with pureed soups or separately. Also, they are perfect as a side dish for example with beer. You can vary the spices. This garlic crouton recipe goes well with the above presented pumpkin soup. Enjoy!

Preparation time: 5 minutes, cooking time: 20-30 minutes; yields: a good batch of croutons.

Ingredients:
400 g white bread (French baget or other)
5-7 garlic cloves
50 ml olive oil
Seasoning: salt, cayenne (plenty)
dried herbs (optional): basil, oregano, thyme, celery

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 200-210 C.

You may either use bread with or without the crust. Cut the bread into 1.5×1.5 cm dice. It will be ideal to allow the dice dry a bit on in the shadow for at least 30 minutes.

Bread dice.

Meanwhile crash the garlic cloves. Take a medium bowl, add oil, garlic, salt, and spices and stir well.

Garlic, cayenne, oil mixture.

Coat bread in the spicy oil.
Lay the croutons on the baking sheet. Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes checking how well the croutons bake. If needed turn them over. When croutons become golden-brown they it is time to take them out of the oven.

Tip: A quick option for making the croutons is pan-frying them with or without oil over a large skillet continuously turning them over with a spatula.

Allow the croutons to cool slightly before serving them with the picnic soup, salad, or separately in a deep bowl.

Prosecco: Cheaper than most French Champagne, Prosecco delivers the same bubbly and romantic experience.  Prosecco might be lighter for the wallet, but it’s not lighter in taste.  Flavors of pear, apple, and vanilla, Prosecco is mouthwatering and clean, and on a warm day, it’s a refreshing thirst quencher that goes with pretty much any food.   Our top picks:

NV Nino Franco Rustico Prosecco, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Generously bubbly. Fresh and slightly sweet aroma, with a yeasty, rich hint on the palate. ($20)

NV Zardetto Prosecco, Veneto
Zesty, light and fruit-forward, this wine is breezy and simple. Very refreshing! ($13.99)

Rosé:  If you think White Zinfandel when you think of Rose, think again. Fine rose wines are juicy, full-flavored and dry (not sweet). This wine comes in a variety of styles bridging the spectrum between whites and reds, from lighter, paler styles to darker, full-bodied selections that are almost like a red wine. Fruity, dry, elegant, even sparkling, there are a number of different types of Rosé you can choose from.  Our top picks:

2009 Domaines Ott Les Domaniers
From the reigning region of rosé – Provence. Classic, elegant and refreshing! ($19.99)

2006 Mouton Cadet Rosé, Bordeaux
Made primarily from Merlot, this rosé is deep in color with bold but somewhat simple flavors. ($8)

Sparkling Red Wine:  Yes we said it, RED! Did you know that many of the finest sparkling wines are actually made from red grapes like Pinot Noir? They are made into white or rose styles, but if allowed to ferment on the skins for a longer time, you get a sparkling red wine. Bubbly reds can be made with different grapes, and our two selections below are both made from Shiraz. These are heavier in body so are great choices to enjoy with bold, cheesy, or meaty dishes.  Our top picks:

NV Hardys Australia Sparkling Shiraz

Flavors of blackberry and raspberry with a touch of sweetness                             ($20.00)

2003 Majella Coonawarra Sparkling Shiraz

Jammy, earthy, dark and rich.

You are Welcome to visit : http://easyfoodandwine.com to learn more about food and wine

Hope you have enjoyed our brief wine guide for your picnic food ideas. Thank you!

Health related important facts:
Broccoli is a product that has extremely positive effect on health. First of all it has great anti-cancer properties. IS very rich in vitamin C, dietary fiber, phosphorus, potassium, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, and many other.  It stimulates the immune system of organism and helps it fight viruses and harmful bacteria. Among the diseases that broccoli has proved to be effecting are prostate cancer, heart attack, and other.

Broccoli and Chicken Finger Food.

Broccoli and Chicken Canapes
I like broccoli due to its unique bunch of vitamins and microelements that one may find lacking in other veggie in cold seasons. Also due to that it is likewise good fresh, frozen, steamed, boiled, and fried. When I cook broccoli I give it to short heat treatment to maximally preserve its healthy qualities. I hope you will enjoy the recipe and find this picnic food idea both tasty and healthy.

Preparation time – 10 minutes, cooking time – 20 minutes; yields: 5 servings.

Ingredients:
400 g broccoli (fresh or frozen)
150 g chicken breast fillet
50 g semi-hard shredded cheese (optional)
1 tsp cappers (optional)
1 cup bread crumbs
1 free-range egg
1 level tbsp all purpose flour
100 g vegetable or olive oil for frying
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch cayenne

Note: I always buy fresh broccoli. If using frozen allow it to unfreeze before cooking.

Instructions:
Separate broccoli florets; rinse and lay the florets on the paper towel to dry.

Broccoli Florets.

Break and shortly whisk an egg in a small bowl. Add some salt, shredded cheese (if using), a small pinch of cayenne, and flour, whisk well till tin batter forms.

Shredded cheese, breadcrumbs, broccoli florets.

Note: I have used less flour but added 1 level tsp of instant mashed potatoes to the batter.

Put a non- stick skillet over medium heat. Add oil allow to become hot (not steaming hot).

Dip the florets into the batter and then coat plentifully in the bread crumbs. Lay breaded broccoli florets in the hot oil.

Coating broccoli in the batter.

Do not cover the skillet with a lid. When the side turn golden- brown turn over the florets to the other side, continue till all sides become equally golden-brown.

Pan-fried broccoli.

Tip: If you use a small size skillet and add more oil there will be no need to turn the florets over as all sides will fry equally and at the same time.

Continue frying the broccoli florets in batches till all are done. When done, put the pan-fried broccoli on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Then put on a cutting board. To allow the future canapés stay well it may be necessary to cut of the bottom part of the pan-fried broccoli balls. You will see that the small florets when breaded and pan-fried are like balls.

If you don’t have cooked chicken breast fillet, then rinse, skin and remove bone from a chicken breast that you may have. Put it in the boiling water and cook for 20 minutes till soft.

Pan-frying chicken fillet.

Also you may not need boiling chicken breast but slice it, sprinkle with salt and plentifully with cayenne and pan-fry in a hot vegetable oil for a coupe of minutes on both sides. When done cut into pieces best fitting your future canapés.

Broccoli, cheese, chicken, and veggie canapes.

Add carrot, lemon, or pickled cucumber slices. And form your picnic finger food using a toothpick. The bottom will be the broccoli, then a cheese slice, followed by fresh or pickled vegetable slice, then chicken, and cappers. Also you may add fresh dill. Bon Appetit!

Note: What I like about broccoli besides all is that it remains so bright green even when after cooking. That is also why I cook it shortly.

Tip: White whine will be a good pairing for this recipe.

Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms.

Juicy Stuffed Champignons with Cheese
Preparation time 15 minutes, cooking time 15 minutes, yields 3-4 servings.

Ingredients:
12 large fresh mushrooms with stems
100 g semi hard cheese
1 small yellow onion
Seasoning: salt, ground black pepper
For frying: 50 g vegetable or olive oil

Note: You may use smaller mushrooms. I like those that are about 5-6 cm or 2-2.3 inches in diameter. Remember that when cooked champignons let out juices and become about 1/3 smaller in size.

Instructions:
Fill a large bowl with room temperature water. Add 1 tbsp salt and stir to dissolve. Place mushrooms in the salty water to sit for about 10 minutes. When done rinse and dry with paper towel. Transfer the champignons to the kitchen table.

Large Champignons.

Tip: salty water helps small soil particles fall of the champignons better.

Carefully remove mushrooms stems pressing them with fingers to one side at a time. Place mushroom caps aside.

Mushroom stems removed.

Dice mushroom stems in about 5 mm or ¼ inch small pieces.

Diced mushroom stems.

Peel, rinse and dry the onion. Transfer it to the cutting board and finely dice. Place a medium size frying pan over medium heat, add 2 tbsp oil. Transfer the diced onion into the frying pan, add a small pinch of salt. Fry till slightly golden-brown.

Now also shred the cheese on a small grater.

Note: As with me little salt is quite enough when cooking champignons. Remember that you will add cheese to the food. Though little salt adds to the fried onion but don’t over do with it in the end.

Fried mushroom onion mix.

When onion is cooked, add diced mushroom stems to it and pan-fry for some 5 minutes on medium heat. Sprinkle with ground black pepper; stir well. When done set aside or transfer the mix into a small bowl or plate.

Clean the frying pan briefly with a paper towel to remove onion as it will turn black when you cook the caps. Anyways you may use a different maybe a larger pan. No need to cook all caps at once you can cook them in 2 batches.

Add 2 tbsp oil to the skillet. Put caps rim side down. You may sprinkle very little salt over the caps if you like. Cover the skillet with a lid and fry champignons for 10 minutes on medium heat. When you see the juices came out, open the lid and let the mushrooms fry this way for another 2-3 minutes. It is time to turn the caps over when rims turn brown.

Stuffed caps.

Fill the caps with fried mushroom and onion mix, spoon about 1 level tsp of the mix.

Mushrooms with shreded cheese topping.

Top it with 1 tsp of shredded cheese. You may slightly press the cheese to sit better.

Cooked Cheese Stuffed Champignons.

Return the skillet over medium heat for another 8-10 minutes. Decorate to your taste. When cooked serve while still hot or warm.
Note: you may use frying plate instead of a skillet. In that case serve in the plate at once.

So that was my method of cooking this picnic food. Now I will shortly speak about a more classical recipe for this meal. I find mushrooms not as juicy and yummy as when cooked the way I do.

Instructions:
Place the raw caps on a baking sheet. Add a small piece of butter in each cap. Bake in the 220C hot oven for 10 minutes. When done stuff the caps with fried mushroom and onion mix. Add shredded cheese on top. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes. When cooked serve warm.

Fried Cheese Finger Food.

Fried Cheese Finger Food
This is an easy and quick recipe. Crispy cheese sticks have all chances to become your favorite snack. Preparation time: 10 minutes, cooking time: 10 minutes, yields: about 10 servings.

Things you will need.

Ingredients:
125g Brie cheese
1 egg
1 tbsp all purpose flour
small pinch of salt
a pinch of red hot chili powder (optional)
1 small apple
small shoot of fresh mint or 10-15 dried mint leaves
10 diet bread crisps
1 cup breadcrumbs
For frying: 0.5-1 cup olive or vegetable oil

Note: Brie cheese work the best for me in this recipe, instead of Brie you may use, semi-hard Gouda Holland, or harder cheese like Feta.

Instructions:
Although Brie is a soft mildly aged cheese it perfectly works in this frying recipe. I have also tried other soft cheese type like brined (or pickled) soft cheese and it melts and leaks out of the breading at sides when fried. Thus if you want neat fried cheese sticks use semi-hard or hart cheese. If you like blue cheese (like Dorblu, Roquefort, or Gorgonzola) they also are fine for this recipe.

Cut the Brie cheese circle into slices as thin as 0.5 cm or as thick as 1.5-2 cm. My slices were about 5-7 mm (round 1/4 – 1/3 inch) wide. The length may be as the cheese piece allows or divided in smaller cubes – about 1.5 inch or 4 cm long.

Assorted Cheese Slices.

Beat and whip the egg. Add all purpose flour, some salt and a pinch of red hot chili powder if you like. Stir to incorporate well. Dip several cheese pieces in the mixture at a time.

Cheese in Egg Mix.

Then coat the cheese in the breadcrumbs. Now you may either proceed with frying the breaded cheese or secure it with a double coating and return the breaded cheese in the egg mixture again and then bread it once again as well. To my opinion as we add flour into the whipped egg and since we are not using soft type of cheese single coating should work pretty fine – at least with me it did.

Breaded Cheese.

Put a medium size skillet over medium heat. Pour in the vegetable (or olive) oil and allow it to become well hot (not steaming hot). Carefully transfer the breaded cheese sticks into the oil and allow to pen-fry till golden brown. If you are using plenty of oil you may not need to turn the cheese over, thus if needed turn it over to allow frying of the other side. Normally the cheese stick fries on both sides in about half a minute – quite fast.

Frying Cheese.

Transfer the fried cheese sticks onto a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Removing Excess Oil.

In a few minutes transfer the fried cheese sticks on a serving plate or on a bread crisps.

Tip: Use one cheese stick per crisp or place fried cheese in the middle of two crisps.

You may serve fried cheese as picnic food this way or proceed for a more elaborate serving. I went on adding apple slices. If interested read on. Rinse and dry a small or medium size apple. Make as many thin slices as many fried cheese pieces you have.

Apple Slices.

Apple slices would remind you of potato chips. When done, panfry the apple slices till edges start to curve. If you are for an experiment you may leave them longer in the frying oil and check what comes out. I didn’t experiment although may do it next time as I find it very intriguing – whether I will succeed in making the apple slices as crispy as potato chips.

Elaborate Canapes.

Transfer the pan-fried apple slices on cheese sticks. Add a 1-2 leaves of fresh or dried mint and top the picnic finger food with a seedless slice of a grape. I find fresh mint very fragrant – at least for this recipe thus I preferred dried leaves which added slight after taste to apple and Brie cheese mild flavor.

I love the combination of crispy crust of the fried cheese and its soft inside. It is highly recommended to serve this picnic food while still warm. As a paring have a bottle of semi hard wine. Bon appetit!

The sweetish juicy middle and the salty bitter coat makes cheese balls a perfect picnic food for real gourmands. A glass of good wine will be a must for such a special picnic food. Ideally a proper pairing with salty bitter food would be a semi-hard sweetish type wine. Thus if using Dorblu, Roquefort, Gorgonzola, or other blue cheese you will need Cabernet Sauvignon, Port, Gruner Veltliner, or Merlot type of wine.

Grape Cheese Balls

Gourmand Cheese Balls
Preparation time: 20 minutes, cooking time: no, yield: 6-7 cheese balls. In this recipe I am using the red globe grapes.

Ingredients:
6-7 medium large round and sweet grapes (like globe grapes) or 10 olives
100g soft cheese, cream cheese, or processed (process) cheese
100g blue cheese (like Dorblu, Roquefort, or Gorgonzola)
150g pistachios or roasted (could be also salted) pumpkin seed kernels

Note: If you are using olives better to have the pitted ones. It would be also interesting to experiment with the stuffed olives. Use olives of the Spanish table type.

Instructions:
If using grapes then rinse and dry them using a paper towel. If using olives, no need to rinse them just, likewise, dry them with a paper towel.
If using pistachios, remove the shells and any unnecessary pieces. You will need only the green kernels. If using pumpkin seeds, remove the shells, pan-fry on a skillet shortly if needed. Nowadays you can easily find a great variety of seed kernels that are packed peeled and fried. Crush the kernels into small pieces.

Pistachios and Grapes

Mash the blue cheese. Then combine it with soft cheese (cream cheese, or process cheese). Mix well. You may not need a food processor for that, a folk may be quite handy to mash and make the cheese mix.

Cheese Mix

Take one grape (or an olive) and about a teaspoonful of the cheese mix. With your fingers cover the cheese mix over the fruit and then allow it coat evenly as you roll the fruit between your palms.

Olive Cheese Balls

You will see how a cheese ball forms itself quite fast. Make as many cheese balls as the cheese mix allows you to.

Cheese Balls

When done coat the cheese balls plentifully in the pistachios crumbs (slightly pressing them) .

Pistachio Coated Cheese Ball

Note: if you like, you can use sesame seeds with grapes.

Assorted Cheese Balls

The picnic food – a romantic picnic snack is ready. Now all you need is a good company and a bottle of semi-hard wine. Bon Appetite!

Useful information about the blue cheese:
Not many people often eat blue cheese. Some of them don’t find the look of the blue-green mold appetizing; the others fear the mold may have negative side-effects on health. If you find yourself in one of this group then the facts below may come very useful to you.

Blue cheese has wonderful benefits on health! The cheese mold in Latin is called “Penicillium roqueforti” – just like Roquefort cheese. Penicillium perfectly fights different harmful bacteria in the human body and organism. Also blue cheese is made from the goat’s milk. Thus this cheese will help young organism grow (as it has much calcium), others – to remain slim (as it is low in calories), and prevent cavities (due to calcium and milk protein). Goat cheese is rich in calcium, A and B vitamins, phosphorus, and iron. Besides it has less cholesterol and saturated fats.

Lenette:
A few weeks ago, I was approached by a fellow blogger and asked to exchange articles for our very different cooking styles. Needless to say, I was thrilled! Despite the fact that I live in Miami, as a culture, we don’t embrace the outdoors as much as one would think. Of course, there are the beach communities that are frequently showcased on TV; but generally speaking, it is usually so hot, that people here tend to look for thirst quenchers and lite bites. However, liquid lunches can only get you so far and some nourishment is required.

Apple Marmalade and Flank Steak Jerky Crostini

Taking a tip from picnicfood-ideas.com, I started thinking about what I would like to take on an outing. I almost couldn’t help myself from incorporating the holidays into this recipe. So in typical Flavor Fusion style, I merged the best of both worlds.

Picnic Menu: Homemade Apple Marmalade and Flank Steak Jerky Crostini

sashimi pieces

The Jerky
Don’t be overwhelmed; it couldn’t be easier!  Take a slab of flank steak and thinly slice the meat.  Use a fillet knife and cut across the grain to cut sashimi thin pieces.

Ingredients:
In a large zip bag add the following:

¾ cup teriyaki sauce
3 smashed garlic cloves
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
2 pinches of crushed pepper flakes
Several twists of ground pepper
3 pinches of kosher salt
3 tbsp of honey or simple syrup

Instructions:
Seal the bag and shake to mix the ingredients.  Add the meat, seal the bag, and massage the mix into the meat.  This has to sit in the refrigerator overnight.

sealed bag with ingredients

The final step to prepare the jerky is to dry it out.  Set oven to 200 degrees.  Place meat strips onto a baking sheet.  Each piece should lay flat.  Let the meat cook for about 3 hours.  Remove from pan and let it cool completely before eating.

preparing the jerky

the jerky

The Marmalade
Not only is this a great homemade gift, but it is a great way to preserve fruits for later use.  Today, it’s all about the Grannie Smith.

Ingredients:
4 cups of green apples (about 3 1/3 large apples)
1 ½ tbsp. lemon juice
4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
1 pkg of pectin (sure gel)
1 tsp. of candied ginger
2 cups of water
7-8 small canning jars (sterilized in dishwasher)

preparing the apples

Instructions:
Wash, core, and chop the apples; I like to leave the skin on.

Place the apple pieces in a heavy pot.  Add the lemon juice, water, and pectin; bring to a boil.  Once boiling, add the sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and candied ginger; bring to a boil once again.  Stir and let the mix boil for a couple of minutes and remove from the heat.

preparing the marmalade

Gently, take a masher and help break down some of the apple pieces.  Don’t make it a complete puree, but mashing some of the fruit will help the gelling processes and make spreading easier later on.

Carefully fill the pre-sterilized jars with the apple marmalade.  You must leave about ¼ inch space between the lid and the fruit itself.   Seal the lids and rings tightly.  The final step is the water bath which ensures that the product will remain safe to eat.

pre-sterilized jars

Boil water in a heavy pot and place the tightly capped jars into the water bath.  The water should go about half way up the jars and should sit there for about 5-6 minutes.  This is where the lid becomes airtight.  If you find that the center of the lid is still popped up, the process didn’t take. Return the jars to the boiling water bath for an additional 5 minutes.

jars in the boiling water bath

Let the marmalade cool completely before opening the jar.  Give the jars as gifts and save one jar for your picnic.

Picnic Day
On your outing, take your homemade jerky, apple marmalade, a few sprigs of your favorite fresh herb, and a baguette or crispy Melba toast.

Smear some of the marmalade on a slice of bread, place a piece of the flank steak jerky and add a fresh herb leaf.

The mix of sweet apples, spicy beef, earthy herbs, and the neutral yet crunchy bread is a feast for both the eyes and the palate.

Pair it with a crisp white wine and you are ready to spend a great day outdoors. Happy eating!

I hope this recipe comes to your taste. For more interesting recipes and  extraordinary recipe collections see The Flavor Fusion Project.