Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: picnic

Showing posts with label picnic. Show all posts

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Guest Author Elizabeth J. Duncan's Welsh Leek Quiche #Giveaway #Recipe @Elizabethduncan

This is turning into Wales week here in the Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen! Today we welcome back our friend Elizabeth J. Duncan, who’s been in Wales since last fall and shows no signs of coming home. Make sure you read to the end to see Elizabeth's giveaway.

Here's Elizabeth with a treat for you!

You probably think of sandwiches when you think of picnics, and quiche when you think of standby fare for lunch or a light supper, but easy-to-make quiche is actually the perfect picnic food. Today we’re making one using that most traditional of Welsh ingredients, the leek, and then we’re taking it on a picnic. Yes, the weather and views in this beautiful country are such that we ramble and picnic in January!

The leek is a national emblem of Wales. According to legend, Saint David, patron saint of Wales, ordered his Welsh soldiers to identify themselves by wearing the vegetable on their helmets in an ancient battle against the Saxons that took place in a leek field. It is still worn on St David's Day each March 1.

Leek Quiche

You just need a few basic ingredients!

Ingredients

4 oz Cheddar or Gruyere cheese, grated

1 leek, washed and sliced

3 eggs

6 oz milk or cream or a combination of both

salt, pepper

one pie crust, homemade or store bought, cooked

Optional: : Add whatever happens to be in the fridge: mushrooms, bacon … I had some Scottish smoked salmon on hand and added that.

Method

Wash the leek, slice crossways, and sauté gently until soft and fragrant. Do not brown.

Gently saute the leeks

Sprinkle cheese over the bottom of the pie crust (or pastry case as its called in Wales), add the leek which has been allowed to cool slightly. Beat eggs lightly with milk or cream, and salt and pepper, and pour mixture over cheese and leeks.


Ready for the oven!

Bake at 350 until the centre is set, about 25 minutes.

Ready to slice!

Allow to cool, cut into slices and pack for your picnic. Or enjoy on March 1 in celebration of St. David’s Day.

Here's Elizabeth showing us part of her packed 'winter' picnic on a clear day at the base of Mt. Snowdon. What a spectacular view. No wonder she's spending so much time in Wales. Wow!

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Old-Fashioned Party Potato Salad @LucyBurdette

Big bash with the family

LUCY BURDETTE: As a kid we often celebrated holidays with my aunts and their families--my mother did not love to cook, but she loved holiday spreads. And these always included potato salad. (My mother's in the brown dress, I'm just to the right.)

Janet and Barbara goofing around

My Aunt Barbara was usually in charge of the potato salad. She had to make several kinds, because someone wouldn't eat onions and I wouldn't eat eggs and so on...(These were NOT allergies--they were preferences. She was more accommodating than I would be:)

But I started to think about those hard-boiled eggs--why shouldn't they be a main ingredient? What if I left out all the fancy stuff--the onions, the celery, the pickles, the peppers, the capers--and went back to something basic? Here's what I came up with--we decided we like it quite a bit, but as always, tinker away until it feels like yours!

Ingredients

6 medium red potatoes
2 eggs
Heaping tablespoon of fresh dill
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp celery salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 heaping Tbsp Hellmann's mayonnaise (I used the kind with olive oil)

Wash the potatoes, cut out any unappealing spots, and cut them in half or quarters, depending on size. Boil them gently until they are soft. Cut them into slices when cool.

In another pan, boil the eggs about ten minutes and let them cool in the hot water.

Stir together the oil and vinegar and dill and marinate the warm potatoes in this mixture.

Meanwhile, mix the other ingredients--the celery seed, celery salt, mustard, and mayo, and add fresh black pepper to taste.

Slice the eggs and add them to the potatoes.

Fold the mayo mixture into the potatoes and eggs and taste to correct the seasoning.

Serve in a pretty bowl with grilled anything! Here's hoping you have a wonderful holiday weekend with all your favorite relatives and friends-- and food!

Lucy is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries. DEATH WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS coming this December!

Follow her on Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy 4th and Picnic Suggestions

Greetings friends! We hope you are all off celebrating Independence Day--with parades, parties, and picnics! If you're still wondering what to bring to the picnic, we have some July 4 ideas.

As usual, Lucy thinks it's all about the cake. How about a yellow cake with whipped cream and flag-colored berries? You can find the recipe here.

Happy fourth! Daryl aka Avery loves desserts on the fourth. But it's all about the family.

These cake pops are so much fun to make for the kids!!! Make sure you have plenty of sprinkles on hand!!! Click on the RECIPE HERE

Peg recommends peach kuchen--in some parts of the country it's peach season already! And there's nothing more delicious than a fresh peach. This dessert can be made with fresh peaches in the summer and canned in the winter (when you need a hint of summer!) It's perfect for the 4th of July. Recipe here.

If you're looking for something cool to drink (and one that's historically appropriate for the Fourth of July), Sheila suggests taking a look at shrub, a Colonial-era drink. You can find the recipe here.

Says Victoria: If only life could be all dessert all the time! But sooner or later, someone will want a main course. Even on July 4th. Here's something a bit different, but very delicious, for your grill and your guests! Make lots.

Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Cedar-Planked Maple Salmon

At Krista's house, the fourth usually includes Dead Man's Bones (baby back ribs). They're not just for Halloween! But they're finger-licking good. Even better, if rain sends you running indoors, they can be made in the oven, too!

And last but not least, if you want a showstopper without a lot of work? Use white cake mix and food coloring to create Cleo Coyle's Fireworks Cake with this recipe!