Wendy Pashman’s cowboy picnic
Heavenly old-fashioned fried chicken
Southwestern black bean salad with peppers and cilantro vinaigrette+
Red, white and grape coleslaw with lime mayonnaise+
Crunchy rolls
Linzer bars or lemon squares
Beer or lemonade
Karen Levin’s ’60s night
Chilled tomato-basil soup+
New Orleans muffuletta sandwiches+
Assorted cheeses with grapes and strawberries
Minted chocolate-chip brownies
Beer or iced espresso
Karen Levin’s Oriental repast
Oriental chicken wings
Wonton chips
Spicy Chinese beef with noodles+
Fruit kebabs with gingered peach dipping sauce+
Iced jasmine tea
+Recipes included
Remember the classmates in grade school who always brought the best lunches, the ones you wished you could have exchanged for your boring bologna sandwiches? They had the great leftovers from their parents’ dinner parties.
Those classmates have grown up and may be planted right next to your blanket or table this season at Ravinia, opening this weekend in Highland Park, or any picnic celebration.
And while your hot dogs, chips and lemonade seemed a winning combination when you packed them, they may pale by comparison when they are opened within drooling distance of cold filet of beef served with a dollop of salsa on warm baguette slices, fresh fruit tartlets and a good bottle of crisp white wine.
There’s no reason why eating on a blanket or a wooden picnic table should be subject to lesser standards than indoor dining. Many foods and drinks can be toted outdoors.
And there’s also no reason real china, flatware, stemware, tablecloths, cloth napkins and heirloom candelabra can’t replace standard-issue paper or plastic plates, Army blankets and camp flashlights.
Matching fare with music
At Ravinia, some think that a John Philip Sousa march or Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky symphony should up the culinary ante. The most enthusiastic picnickers have been known to match their fare to the musical selections offered on a particular evening: bruschetta sprinkled with olive oil and cold marinated tortellini, for example, for Giuseppe Verdi.
On the other hand, if the concert features rock ‘n’ roll, what could be better than homemade submarine sandwiches to accommodate dancing and eating?
If the ’90s have taught us anything new about food trends, it’s that choice is optimum, especially for a tradition as established as a picnic. The late food writer Laurie Colwin once wrote in Gourmet magazine:
“The idea was (and still is) that a picnic can be anything. It can resemble the Mad Hatter’s tea party if you want it to. Its heart and soul is breeziness, invention and enough to eat for people made ravenous by fresh air.”
Many of caterer Wendy Pashman’s family picnics and those for clients of her Chicago Entertaining Co. are inspired by her fondest memories from camp and school picnics. The common denominator was, and is, simple but great food, she says.
“For eight years, I went to a wonderful girls’ camp in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, and every parents’ weekend there would be an al fresco buffet with the best fried chicken and biscuits.”
Today, she likes to serve an upscale cowboy-style picnic. Southwestern black bean salad with pepper confetti and cilantro vinaigrette and a slaw of red and white cabbage and grapes with lime mayonnaise are her choices to complement old-fashioned fried chicken.
No matter the style or menu, organization is necessary to guarantee healthful eating and the remembrance of things essential, such as sharp knives to slice pates, cheeses and fruits; salt and pepper shakers; corkscrews; and flashlights to permit safe navigation back to cars when night descends.
Wendy Freeman, a Chicago actress and director, fondly recalls climbing over the gate into Ravinia as a teenager in Highland Park. Since then she has learned not to bring foods that melt, run or separate. She recommends making coleslaw in a vinaigrette rather than mayonnaise dressing.
Eva Cohon, owner of the Eva Cohon galleries in Chicago and Highland Park, adjusts her menu to the day’s temperature. If it’s not very hot, she’ll include a Caesar salad; if it is, she switches to spinach salad.
“The leaves are wilted anyway.”
Paula Katz, a Highland Park volunteer affiliated with the Brandeis Book Sale who has brought picnics to Ravinia for 30 years, has honed her picnicking to a science, including having a favorite listening spot on a grassy knoll and keeping her picnic essentials always ready on a Ping-Pong table in the basement.
Katz plans and prepares the entree and assigns other courses and wine to a handful of friends, preferably six and no more than eight.
“I try to choose foods that can be served cold or at room temperature and that don’t require a knife and fork.”
She’s also from the picnic school that believes in not going overboard in food preparation “or else you burn out at the beginning of the season,” she says.
Though her food looks simple-pasta salads, dips and vegetables, veal tonnato-it’s splendidly presented on a foldaway table. Guests bring their own chairs. She uses fancy paper plates and napkins and plastic glasses and utensils.
A newer yet no less devoted convert to Ravinia picnicking is cookbook author Karen A. Levin, who gradually mastered the art after her family moved to Highland Park from Beverly Hills, Calif., eight years ago. Levin, a freelance recipe developer for companies such as Quaker Oats and Campbell Soup, brings picnics twice a week during the season.
“We live within walking distance, and when our children were young we used to pull them and the food over in a red wagon.”
Some of Levin’s meals are geared toward multigenerational entertaining, perhaps with a Sixties-style picnic of New Orleans muffuletta sandwiches and rich brownies and fruit for dessert.
Tips from Levin and other “professional” picnickers:
– Use caution to eliminate the risk of food-borne toxins. Picnic foods need to be cooked, stored and wrapped properly. (See accompanying story.)
– Eating outdoors tends to rev up appetites, though hosts shouldn’t bring too much because that means they’ll have to cart home extra food or throw it out, says Fritz Dickmann, catering director for Zambrana’s food shop, 2346 N. Clark St. Levin has come up with a solution.
– Eliminating messy foods improves dining and listening pleasure, especially because wash-up facilities aren’t as accessible as at home, some say.
Bob Golek, co-owner of An Apple A Day, a restaurant and catering firm in Glencoe, disagrees; he says eating outdoors is a perfect time to get sloppier than usual as long as picnickers have enough paper towels. His favorite picnic food is a giant sandwich that his shop prepares on homemade bread 24 inches in diameter. It’s drizzled with olive oil and piled four inches high with meats and cheeses, a sort of New Orleans poor boy, or muffuletta.
– Judiciously choosing a menu, containers, place settings and utensils is vital. The heavier the food and packaging, the more difficult it will be to tote.
With any picnic, just remember to sit back, eat and have fun.
HEAVENLY OLD-FASHIONED FRIED CHICKEN
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Chilling time: Overnight
Cooking time: 15 minutes per batch
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
This and the following two recipes from Wendy Pashman add to a casual picnic menu.
2 broiler/fryer chickens, cut into pieces
3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon each: dried oregano, garlic powder
4 large eggs
1/4 cup water
3 cups all-purpose flour, about
1 tablespoon paprika
3 cups vegetable oil for frying
1. Rinse chickens and dry thoroughly. Combine 1 teaspoon of the salt, 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper, oregano and garlic; sprinkle over chicken. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Whisk together eggs and water in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish or in a large plastic food bag, mix flour, paprika and remaining 2 teaspoons salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Dip chicken first in egg, making sure pieces are completely coated but letting excess drip off; then dip in flour.
3. Heat oil to 375 degrees in a large chicken fryer or large, deep-sided saucepan. Cook chicken, in batches, until golden brown and cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve hot or refrigerate and serve cold.
SOUTHWESTERN BLACK BEAN SALAD WITH PEPPERS AND CILANTRO VINAIGRETTE
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Salad:
2 cans black beans (15 ounces each), rinsed, drained
1 each, finely diced: red, green, yellow bell pepper
1 medium sweet onion, diced
Dressing:
2/3 cup vegetable or olive oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
1. Combine beans, bell peppers and onions in a medium bowl. Combine dressing ingredients in another small bowl. Add dressing to taste to salad; mix well. Salad can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Adjust seasoning at serving time.
RED, WHITE AND GRAPE COLESLAW WITH LIME MAYONNAISE
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon minced lime rind
1/2 head each, shredded: green cabbage, red cabbage
1 cup seedless red grapes, cut in half
4 green onions, cut in thin rings
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1. Combine mayonnaise, lime juice and rind in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Can be made a day ahead; adjust seasoning at serving time.
CHILLED TOMATO-BASIL SOUP
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Chilling time: Several hours
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 cups
Karen Levin suggests serving this soup with garlic crostini or garlic toasts.
3 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 tablespoon each: olive oil, balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt or more to taste
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, shredded
Freshly ground black pepper or prepared pesto sauce as garnish
1. Position broiler rack 6 inches from heat source; preheat broiler. Place tomatoes and garlic on an aluminum foil-lined jelly roll pan. Broil, turning as necessary, until tomatoes are blackened and garlic is tender but not brown. Tomatoes will take 12 to 15 minutes; garlic 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Core tomatoes and slip off skins when they are cool enough to handle. Peel garlic. Quarter the tomatoes, working over a large bowl with a wire mesh strainer to catch the juices. Put tomato seeds into the strainer. Press on the seeds to release as much liquid as possible.
3. Mince garlic in a food processor. Add tomato quarters and puree. Add oil, vinegar and salt; mix well. Transfer to the large bowl containing the tomato juices. Refrigerate several hours until well-chilled or overnight.
4. To serve, stir in basil; sprinkle with pepper or swirl pesto sauce over the top.
NEW ORLEANS MUFFULETTA SANDWICH
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Chilling time: 4 hours or overnight
Yield: 4 servings
Adapted from one of Karen Levin’s contributions to Favorite Recipes magazine.
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup each, chopped: pimiento-stuffed olives, black olives, pickled mixed vegetables
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 loaf Italian or French bread, 12-inches long
4 ounces each, sliced: Genoa salami, provolone cheese, baked ham
1. Combine mushrooms, olives, pickled vegetables, parsley, garlic, oil, lemon juice, oregano and pepper in a mixing bowl. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
2. Split bread in half lengthwise and scoop out soft bread from center, leaving a 1-inch shell. Layer bottom of bread with salami, cheese and ham; top with olive mixture and cover with top of bread. Cut into quarters to serve.
SPICY CHINESE BEEF WITH NOODLES
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Marinating time: 15 minutes
or overnight
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Here’s a recipe from Karen Levin that has been adapted from “Light & Easy Chinese” by Publications International.
1 ounce dried Chinese mushrooms
6 tablespoons peanut oil
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound boneless top beef sirloin, about 1-inch thick
2 tablespoons each: soy sauce, rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Oriental sesame oil
1 red bell pepper, cut in strips
1 1/2 cups snow peas, cut in strips
8 ounces vermicelli, broken in half, or somen noodles, cooked according to package directions
Chopped cashews for garnish
1. Put mushrooms in a small dish and cover with hot water; soak 20 minutes. Drain and squeeze out excess water. Cut off and discard stems; slice caps.
2. Combine 2 tablespoons of the peanut oil, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Spread 2 tablespoons of mixture evenly over both sides of meat. Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes or refrigerate up to 24 hours. Stir 3 tablespoons of the peanut oil, soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil into remaining oil-ginger mixture; set aside.
3. Heat a large non-stick skillet over high heat. When hot, add steak. Cook, turning once, until medium-rare, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand 10 minutes. Cut into thin slices.
4. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon peanut oil in skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, bell pepper and snow peas; stir-fry until crisp/tender, 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Toss noodles with reserved oil mixture. Add steak and vegetables. Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with cashews.
FRUIT KEBABS WITH GINGERED PEACH DIPPING SAUCE
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
The most succulent of summer fruits, cut in bite-size pieces, are skewered for easy handling. Karen Levin’s simple sauce sets them off to perfection.
1 small piece fresh ginger, about 1/2-inch
1 can (16 ounces) sliced peaches in peach juice
1-2 tablespoons each: light brown sugar, Amaretto liqueur
2 ripe peaches, sliced
1 1/2 cups stawberries
2 cups fresh pineapple, cut in large chunks
1. For sauce, mince ginger in a food processor or blender. Add canned peaches with their juice and sugar and Amaretto to taste. Puree until smooth. Sauce can be made two days in advance. Chill well before serving.
2. Thread fruit onto 4 skewers, alternating the varieties. Keep well-chilled until serving time.
3. Serve fruit with the sauce on the side.
