Food For Picknics And Outdoor Cooking

What people used to do on the week end around here back in the fifties was to pack the car and go for a spin around the country side. We’d bring bulging picnic baskets, camping chairs and tables, blankets, cooking gear, you know, the lot. Then we’d find a nice quiet spot, preferably by water of some kind, a lake, a river or even a small stream. Then we’d empty the car and have our self a really nice time. Some of my fondest childhood memories are from just trips like these.
There aren’t so many people doing this any more, which is a shame. I still do with my daughters. That, or we’d pack our backpacks and go hiking in the woods and make our food and have the picnic there. Great fun, just as it was in the fifties – Ted

Nothing is quite like going for a trip on the county side and have a nice meal out doorsin the summer. The fresh air gives you such an appetite and the food tastes so much better.

Tinned ham with halved tinned peaches filled with rowanberry jelly on fresh salad leaves and a fresh potato salad. This makes a really nice outdoor meal. Easy to pack and with very little preparation when you have found the place to have your picnic.

Smoked mackerel with curry stewed chanterelles, deep fried spinach, eggstand and a potato salad sprinkled with fresh dill. This is another marvellous picnic dish, it makes for a great breakfast at home as well.

Cold smoked pork square (Kassler) with fresh vegetables in vinegar sauce and potato salad followed by cheese and biscuits with radishes. Make the dish at home and all you have to do at the picnic is to lay the table.

OTHER DISHES SUITABLE FOR PICNICS

Cold smoked tongue on a bed of green with macaroni salad. Boil the macaroni in salted water and rinse well. Whip 3 dl. of fresh cream and add a few tea spoons of grated horse radish, a few dashes of vinegar and 2 teapoons of sugar. Garnish with thin slices of radishes. Serve with smoked tongue on a bed of green salad. Sausage salad 2 boiled breakfast sausages, 6 – 8 cold potatoes, 1 tablespoon of chopped onion, 2 tablespoons of spring onion, 2 tablespoons of chopped beetroot 2 tablespoons of capers. For the sauce use: 5 tablespoons of virgin olive oil, 1 ½ tablespoons of vinegar or fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons of water. Cut the sausages and potatoes in slices and mix it with the onion, beetroot and capers. Mix the sause and pour it over the salad. Keep cold before serving.

Cold mixed meat with paprika salad Make a mix of diced pork, beef, lamb and chicken and mix the salad. For the salad use; 1 red, 1 yellow and 1 green paprika, 2 fresh head salads, 100 gr. fresh champignons, 2 tomatoes, 2 hardboiled eggs. For the salad sauce use; 6 table spoons of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of virgin olive oil, salt & pepper, a tablespoon of sugar and a dash of mustard powder. Corned beef salad One tin of corned beef, one tin of peas, 4 – 5 cold, boiled potatoes, 1 finely chopped onion, 100 gr. of cucumber 2 – 3 tomatoes. For the sauce use: 6 tablespoons of virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice salt and pepper. Dice the corned beef, potatoes, tomatoes and cucumber and put in a bowl. Add the chopped onion and the peas. Add the sauceand the salad is ready for the picnic.

 
OUTDOOR COOKING

There is a lot of equipment for outdoor cooking on the market to day and you’ll find them in all price ranges. My daughters and I use one of the cheapest and in my eyes the best. In Norway we call them storm kitchens and we got quite a few of them. It consists of two saucepans, a frying pan, a windbreaker and a burner unit. Packed it works like Russian wooden dolls, the smaller units goes into the larger ones so it takes up little space in a backpack and the whole cooker weights about 150 grams. It is very safe to use and burns methylated spirit, which is easy to get hold of, you can get it at any petrol station, paint store or hardware store. At a picnic in the woods we can have as much as three of these going at the same time, you can finish a meal in no time that way – Ted

Curry stewed shrimps with eggs. 3 tablespoons of virgin olive oil, 2 onions, 1 ½ tablespoons of flour, ½ tablespoon of mild curry, salt, a pinch of garlic salt, half a cube of fish stock, a little cream, 4 – 5 hardboiled eggs one tin of pealed shrimps. Chop the onions, and cook them tender in the oil in a saucepan, add curry, salt and garlic salt, make a stock from the fish stock cube and 2 dl. of water and add to the saucepan. Add the cream and the liquid from the tinned shrimps little by little while stirring. Let it simmer for five minutes. Cut the eggs in halves and add these and the shrimps to the saucepan. Let it cool and put it in a tight container and reheat it quickly at the picnic site. Serve with fried rice or fried potatoes. Be careful not to let the cource stay to long on the burner, the shrimps tend to be very chewy if you do. Serves 4 French farm omelette 1 tablespoon of virgin olive oil, 2 raw potatoes, 50 – 100 gr. smoked ham or bacon, 1 onion, 1 tablespoon of grated cheese, 1 tablespoon of bread crumbs, 5 – 6 tablespoons of milk or a mix of water and cream, 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of flour. Dice the onion, potatoes, and smoked ham and fry in the oil. Remove from the frying pan. Add the bread crumbs to the milk and let it swell. Mix all ingredients and fry under lid. Serve with hot buttered toast. Although this course has quite a lot of ingredients, it is quite easy to make outdoors. Serves 4

Sausage à la Forssell 300 gr. dinner sausage, 1 tablespoon of butter or margarine, 2 tablespoons of tomato puree, 2 dl. thick cream 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley. Slice the sausage and fry it in the butter, mix the tomato puree and cream and add. Let it simmer for five minutes, sprinkle with the chopped parsley and remove from the burner. Serve right from the frying pan with fried potatoes fried on another burner. This course is very easy to make outdoors, done in no time and with few ingredients. Serves 4 A nice veal casserole 400 gr. of boneless veal, 1 ½ tablespoon of butter, 1 ½ virgin olive oil, salt, white pepper, 1 finely chopped onion, 1 finely chopped leek, 4 – 5 finely chopped carrots, 2 – 3 tablespoons of tomato puree, 2 – 3 dl. of stock, 1 dl. cream, 2 teaspoons of flour finely chopped parsley. Dice the veal and fry in the butter and oil. Add the leek, carrots, salt and white pepper. Add the tomato puree and the stock an let it simmer till vegetables are tender. Add flour and cream and stir. Add parsley and remove from heat. This is a course that it might be convenient to make at home and reheat at the picnic site as it has quite a lot of ingredients. Serve with boiled potatoes or rice. Serves 4 These recipes are taken from the Swedish magazine "Husmoderen", No 22 1959.