Tag: picnics

Aperitifs and picnics in the vineyard in September. In Piedmont – Italian Cuisine

Greedy and fun initiatives of a winery in the Asti area, aperitifs and picnics in the middle of the vineyards.

The Covid-19 period and the consequent closure of wineries and clubs have sharpened the ingenuity of many producers in the post lockdown era, to approach loyal customers, attract tourists, but also those who stayed in the city during the summer.
Among these, also the Bologna family with the Braida Wine Resort in Rocchetta Tanaro (Asti). Raffaella Bologna and her brother Giuseppe organized aperitifs and picnics in the vineyard throughout the summer, which were sold out. Given the success of the initiative in recent months, the Bologna family has decided to repeat both the aperitif in the vineyard and the picnics.
First appointment of'AperiSunset Friday 11 September starting at 7pm, to enjoy an unforgettable sunset on the Asinara hill, tasting Braida wines (Il Fiore Langhe Doc, Limonte Grignolino d'Asti Doc or Il Bacialè Piemonte Doc) together with a dish prepared by the Dolce & Salty (vegetable couscous, friciulin, salami, cheese with Cugnà, peaches with Brachetto d'Acqui Braida).

Two new new dates for i Picnic in the vineyard: Sunday 6 and Sunday 20 September, from 5 pm: a blanket spread out on the lawn, the cheerful air of a summer afternoon, assorted baskets ready for a rich and delicious sinoira snack.
100% Piedmontese recipes such as the wines offered in combination, all from Braida.
The picnic offer at the Braida Wine Resort is divided between classic basket (veal with tuna sauce, Piedmontese appetizer, potato and green fritter, focaccia, cheese and salami, seasonal fruit salad, hazelnuts, corn biscuits, water), veg version (Piedmontese appetizer, cheeses, potato fritters, focaccia, courgette omelette, spicy olives, seasonal fruit salad, hazelnuts, corn biscuits, water), baby basket (sandwich with cooked ham, sandwich with salami, parmesan, mini mother-in-law's tongues, seasonal fruit salad, apricot fruit juice, water).

We asked Raffaella Bologna for one of the recipes proposed in the picnic baskets and she told us about thePiedmontese appetizer, also perfect for winter dinners-

"For the picnics at the Braida Wine Resort we have chosen a selection of local and typical dishes, in the name of lightness, color, simplicity. Directly from the recipe book of the Bologna house – "Braida", I propose the recipe for the typical Piedmontese peasant appetizer, which amazes and conquers and is suitable for a summer picnic. A great variety of vegetables combined together in an exquisite mix. The Piedmontese appetizer or Piemontese Giardiniera is what we often serve because it satisfies vegans and not, it is colorful, it is a fresh and seasonal appetizer. It can also be kept for the winter. It can then be enriched with eggs, tuna and… imagination! The vegetables used to prepare it: carrots, celery, cauliflower inflorescence, onions, peppers, green beans and gherkins. The vegetables must be washed, cut into chunks and cooked, then drained and placed in airtight glass jars, taking care to distribute the various types of vegetables in uniform quantities for each jar. The jars should be stored in a cool and dark place. The Giardiniera is ready for consumption at least one month after packaging and, normally, it can be kept for about a year. It goes very well with Piedmontese cured meats .

Recipe

Ingredients (for a dozen jars)

500 g of celery
500 g of onions
500 g of green beans
500 g of cauliflower
500 g of peppers
500 g of carrots
3 kg of ripe tomatoes
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons of sugar
1 glass of vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
coarse salt

Method

Wash the vegetables well and cut them into cubes. Then, wash and peel the tomatoes; cut into the skin and pass them for a few minutes in boiling water. In a little extra virgin olive oil, brown a very finely chopped onion; add the bay leaves and tomatoes and cook everything for about half an hour. Now pass everything in the vegetable mill and bring the past to a boil. As soon as everything boils, add the diced vegetables and sugar.
To respect the different cooking times, the vegetables must be added to the past at an interval of 10 minutes from each other, in the following order: celery, carrots, onions, green beans, cauliflower, peppers.
After ten minutes after adding the peppers, add a glass of extra virgin olive oil, one of vinegar and a handful of coarse salt and mix well so that the ingredients blend together.
Sterilize the jars by placing them in a hot oven for 10 minutes. Pour the Giardiniera into the jars, close them tightly and turn them upside down.
All that remains is to put the jars in the pantry, letting the gardener rest for at least four weeks before enjoying it, perhaps during a relaxing picnic in the Monferrato vineyards!

"The Braida wines that I propose in combination are the following: Langhe Nascetta La Regina, Serra dei Fiori, a soft and aromatic white wine that comes from the high Langa from a rediscovered Nascetta grape; Lively Barbera del Monferrato La Monella, Braida, exuberant red wine, lively and perfect for the sweet and sour appetizer ".

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Sweet potatoes that will revolutionize your picnics! – Italian Cuisine

Easy to cook, light and full of taste, a different idea to enrich the picnic flavor and trips out of town. We are talking about North Carolina sweet potatoes, which will add a gourmet touch to your happy outings. Be inspired by our recipes, for a basket full of healthy and tasty delicacies that will conquer all your loved ones

In the summer picnic basket there is one more ingredient for those who love healthy eating without giving up tasty recipes. These are the sweet potatoes, a tuber at least as old as Christopher Columbus. In fact, the great admiral found the natives who already cultivated and cooked them; and if in the distant 1492 this unknown ingredient caught his attention, today it has conquered millions of stars and stripes consumers.

Due to their intrinsic characteristics, North Carolina sweet potatoes are ideal for the warmer season, and this by virtue of their low calorie content (86 Kcal per 100 grams), but also because they are fat-free and rich instead of calcium, protein, vitamin C, B6, E, beta carotene (8 times more than broccoli), fiber and potassium. Thanks to their low glycemic index, they are also suitable for diabetics. A "light" and "veg" food, therefore, which is also extremely practical to cook, according to the most diverse variations, from appetizers to desserts, passing through first and second gourmet courses.

Sweet potatoes: use in the kitchen

The uses in the kitchen are manifold. North Carolina sweet potatoes can be eaten raw or cooked, as a side dish, soup or salad. Being available all year round, they are suitable for recipes of every season, so much so that in the United States they are an ingredient in daily cooking, being used for appetizers, first courses, second courses, snacks and desserts. There are therefore many recipes that can be proposed, from vegetarian lasagna to omelettes, from velvety to gnocchi. They are also perfect as a side dish for chicken, turkey and pork dishes, or particularly suitable for panna cotta, pudding and crème brûlée. North Carolina sweet potato bread is also very tasty, made with sweet potato puree and flour. There are also numerous ways to cook them: baked, steamed, grilled, sautéed in a pan, as a puree or cooked in the microwave. We offer you four amazing recipes.

"Tower" of North Carolina figs and sweet potatoes with brie

Ingredients for 8 pieces
2 North Carolina sweet potatoes – 8 sprigs of rosemary – 30 grams of walnuts – 150 grams of brie – 1 tablespoon of oil – lemon juice – salt flower – 4 figs – cayenne pepper – pepper – salt.

Preparation: about 25 minutes
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them diagonally into 8 rather thick pieces. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes, then drain them and put them on kitchen paper to dry.

Break the walnuts and toast them in a pan without adding fat, then put them in a bowl. Cut the brie into 8 pieces and press the slices into the bowl of walnuts. Wash the figs and dry them, in the meantime remove the lower needles from the sprigs of rosemary that you will need to create your turrets.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the sweet potatoes for about 4 minutes. Season with the fior di sale, pepper, cayenne pepper and lemon juice and then remove the potatoes from the pan.

On a slice of sweet potato, put a piece of brie, another piece of sweet potato and 1/4 of fig. Finally insert a sprig of rosemary in the middle to hold the tower together.

Ham and sweet potato toast

Ingredients for 4 people
2 large North Carolina sweet potatoes (about 400 grams) – 100 grams of ham cut into thin slices – 1 or 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard – 50 grams of common watercress – 1 baguette (about 300 grams) – 5 tablespoons of bread grated – 100 grams of mayonnaise – 2 tablespoons of flour – 2 or 3 tablespoons of oil – 1 egg – salt – pepper.

Preparation: about 40 minutes
Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into slices about 5 mm thick, cook them in boiling salted water for about 2 minutes. Drain the potatoes on kitchen paper and flavor them with salt and pepper. Whip the egg in a container, pass the sweet potato slices in the flour, egg and finally in the breadcrumbs. Fry the potatoes in hot oil for about 5-7 minutes and let them cool.

Mix the mayonnaise with Dijon mustard and wash the watercress. Cut the baguette into 4 equal pieces and distribute the Dijon cream on the baguette. Finally put the slices of sweet potato, ham and watercress in the lower half of the baguette and close with the upper half.

Sweet potato pie with tapenade sauce

Ingredients for about 12 pieces
600 grams of North Carolina sweet potatoes – 200 grams of flour – 100 grams of butter – 4 medium-sized eggs – 1 bunch of spring onions – 1 teaspoon of dried thyme – 200 grams of crème fraîche – dried legumes (for cooking in white) – 1 tablespoon of oil, nutmeg – transparent paper, parchment paper – salt and pepper.

For the Tapenade
100 grams of seedless black olives – 1 tablespoon of capers – 2 sardine fillets – 1 clove of garlic – 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Preparation: about an hour and a half
Prepare the dough with flour, butter, a pinch of salt and 1 egg. Roll the dough between 2 pieces of transparent paper wrap, flatten the dough and spread it on the cake mold. Repeatedly prick the dough with a fork and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Peel and slice the sweet potatoes in 2 mm thick slices. Wash the spring onions, cut them into rounds and keep some pieces aside. Steam the sweet potatoes and spring onions in a hot pan of oil for 5 minutes and season with salt, pepper and thyme.

Blend the crème fraiche and 3 eggs well and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Place the dough on the baking paper and pour over a layer of dried legumes (cooking in white). Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven at 200 ° C (180 ° C for the ventilated ones). Remove the baking paper and the dried legumes, add the sweet potatoes and the spring onions over the dough, finally cover with the crème fraiche.

For the tapenade, chop the olives, the sardines, the capers and the clove of garlic into fine pieces, mixed with olive oil and finish adding the spring onions, sweet potatoes and the tapenade.

Sweet potato madeleine

Ingredients for about 20 pieces
125 grams of North Carolina sweet potatoes – 2 large eggs – 50 grams of soft butter – 1 tablespoon of finely grated organic orange peel – 125 grams of sugar – 200 grams of flour – 1 or 2 tablespoon of baking powder – 1 spoonful of powdered sugar – butter and flour.

Preparation: about 1 hour (without waiting time)
Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into small pieces and cook them in boiling salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain the sweet potatoes and pass them in a potato masher. Let the mashed potatoes cool and in the meantime grease and bake the mold on the Madeleine baking tray. Then separate the eggs and whip only the egg whites.

Pour the butter, orange zest and sugar into the sweet potato puree, mix everything with a whisk until the mass becomes creamy. One after the other, mix the egg yolks well, finally add the flour and baking powder, gently add a third of the beaten egg whites and slowly pour in the rest.

Fill a pastry bag with the dough and make small Madeleines on the baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 ° C (ventilated at 180 ° C) for 10-12 minutes.

Place the Madeleine on the oven grill to let them cool, once cold sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.

Bread and egg boats for picnics – Italian Cuisine

The bread and egg boats are a more original version of the classic sandwich with the omelette protagonist of our picnics. Here are two recipes to prepare them

The sandwich with omelette is a classic of picnic, but today we want to offer it in a more elegant and original version.
Bread + egg yes, but shaped boats.

Sandwich bread magic

This recipe is very easy to make and very scenic because the crispy boats made with slices of White bread become i egg containers.
To make sure that these shells don't break, but stay in good shape, it is important first of all remove the crust and then roll them out with a rolling pin.
They cook in the oven inside muffin molds directly together with the eggs.
If you don't want to use sandwich bread, loaf is also fine, but it must be very soft and always without the crust.

Whole eggs or omelette

You can fill the sandwich bread shell withwhole egg, simply opened and put inside without breaking the yolk or with one omelette. The first version is more suitable for an aperitif, the second if you have to carry the boats for a picnic.
The whole egg safely enters a muffin mold, while for the omelette consider about 6 eggs to fill 12 molds. You can enrich it with herbs or even with vegetables like zucchini and tomatoes, or leave it plain with parsley, parmesan and a little milk.

boats-of-bread-and-egg-picnic

Tasty boats

In addition to sandwich bread and eggs, as we have said, you can add vegetables, herbs, and spices, but also cheeses and cold cuts.
An idea could be one slice of speck on bread before inserting the egg, or you can chop some cooked ham or mortadella and add them to the omelette.
Stress what applies to cheeses. A slice of thin slices to be added almost at the end of cooking on the egg will make everything greedy.

The recipe for bread boats with eggs

Remove the crust from 12 slices of sandwich bread. Do not throw it away, but chop it and use it to make breadcrumbs.
Roll out the bread with a rolling pin and then lay each slice in a muffin mold or a 12 muffin mold.
Grease the mold with oil or butter so as not to stick the bread and to brown it when cooking.
Fill each stencil with a whole egg, add a pinch of salt and bake at 180 ° for 15 minutes.

Small boats version with omelette for picnics

Prepare the bread as explained above and separately an omelette with 6 eggs.
Enrich it with two spoons of parmesan, a cup of milk, salt and parsley and then distribute it in the muffin mold over the slices of bread. It will swell a little so do not put too much in cooking, especially if you enrich it with other ingredients.