After our warm, beautiful April, May has been decidedly cool. Nevertheless, since all of my children live a long way away and we had no guests on Mother’s Day at the Candlelight Inn, I decided to pack a picnic and go down the Mississippi River.
Those of you who have followed my column know that a picnic is my favorite way to dine. Anything from throwing some sandwiches into a brown paper bag to packing salads, fancy breads, cold roast beef slices and a chilled bottle of wine is good. There is something special about eating outdoors if the weather is even halfway decent. And, in spite of the coolness, Sunday was a perfect picnic day.
Fried chicken is a favorite, but it is putzy and time-consuming (also not-so-good-for-you). Potato salad is a must with chicken, but ditto the above complaints. The light bulb was a little slow Sunday, but it suddenly came on when I remembered a long-ago picnic of sorts on a sunny but cool spring day.
My three sons were all participants in the RAAA (Rosemount Area Athletic Association) and every April and May I spent all day on Saturday at the Rosemount Athletic field watching them run track. Of course, they were different ages, so it was really an all day affair. I brought blankets to soften the hard bleachers, raincoats and umbrellas in case of light rain (heavy downpours would cancel the events), puzzles to work, a portable radio and a few magazines. And food—lots and lots of food. Food for me, food for neighboring spectators who were not as seasoned as I, and food for the kids as they came bounding up with their ribbons to watch their brothers in the next meet.
One Saturday my sister-in-law was over and decided to come along for the day. She didn’t have any children yet and was always gung-ho to watch her nephews. When I lamented the lack of ideas for food to take along, she came up with a winner. She said that she had learned at a Chinese cooking class a delicious and easy chicken nugget recipe. So I watched her put Chinese Walnut Chicken Pieces together in short order. This with other goodies like cookies, cheese and crackers, fruit and lemonade made our day at the track a rousing success. I did notice, however, that when she did have children, neither of them participated in track.
Here is the menu I packed for our lovely Mother’s Day picnic—it really is easy and satisfying—and, as a bonus, really good for you.
Chinese Walnut Chicken Pieces
2 chicken breast halves, boned and skinned
¼ cup cornstarch
1 egg white beaten with 1 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. sherry
½ tsp. sugar
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for deep frying
Cut chicken into 1 ½ -inch squares. Mix together soy sauce, sherry and sugar. Pour over chicken squares in medium bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, pour oil in heavy, deep saucepan to a depth of 4 inches and heat to a temperature of 360 degrees. Dip each chicken square into cornstarch, then into egg white mixture and then roll in chopped walnuts. When all chicken is coated, deep fry, 5 or 6 at a time for about 2 minutes turning once. Drain on paper towels. Salt and pepper to taste while warm. These will be delicious cold or warm. You can freeze them by placing them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze firm; then put them into a Ziploc bag; label and freeze. When using them, heat oven to 425, and put frozen chicken squares on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until brown and crisp.
Quick and Easy Potato Salad
4 medium sized red potatoes
3 hard-cooked eggs
¼ cup Italian salad dressing
3 Tbsp. light mayonnaise
Chives (about 2 Tbsp)
Salt and Pepper
Cook potatoes in their skins until tender. Peel or not as you desire. Pour Italian dressing over warm potatoes and let sit until room temperature. Chop eggs, leaving one out for garnish, if desired. Scissor chives to 1/8 inch lengths. Mix eggs, chives and mayonnaise into potatoes. Add salt and pepper (hint: potatoes absorb a great deal of salt so you may have to use a bit more than you think—keep tasting until just right). Garnish with sliced egg and chives. Serve room temperature or chilled. If you take this on a picnic, chill first and put into thermos container with ice.
Those of you who have followed my column know that a picnic is my favorite way to dine. Anything from throwing some sandwiches into a brown paper bag to packing salads, fancy breads, cold roast beef slices and a chilled bottle of wine is good. There is something special about eating outdoors if the weather is even halfway decent. And, in spite of the coolness, Sunday was a perfect picnic day.
Fried chicken is a favorite, but it is putzy and time-consuming (also not-so-good-for-you). Potato salad is a must with chicken, but ditto the above complaints. The light bulb was a little slow Sunday, but it suddenly came on when I remembered a long-ago picnic of sorts on a sunny but cool spring day.
My three sons were all participants in the RAAA (Rosemount Area Athletic Association) and every April and May I spent all day on Saturday at the Rosemount Athletic field watching them run track. Of course, they were different ages, so it was really an all day affair. I brought blankets to soften the hard bleachers, raincoats and umbrellas in case of light rain (heavy downpours would cancel the events), puzzles to work, a portable radio and a few magazines. And food—lots and lots of food. Food for me, food for neighboring spectators who were not as seasoned as I, and food for the kids as they came bounding up with their ribbons to watch their brothers in the next meet.
One Saturday my sister-in-law was over and decided to come along for the day. She didn’t have any children yet and was always gung-ho to watch her nephews. When I lamented the lack of ideas for food to take along, she came up with a winner. She said that she had learned at a Chinese cooking class a delicious and easy chicken nugget recipe. So I watched her put Chinese Walnut Chicken Pieces together in short order. This with other goodies like cookies, cheese and crackers, fruit and lemonade made our day at the track a rousing success. I did notice, however, that when she did have children, neither of them participated in track.
Here is the menu I packed for our lovely Mother’s Day picnic—it really is easy and satisfying—and, as a bonus, really good for you.
Chinese Walnut Chicken Pieces
2 chicken breast halves, boned and skinned
¼ cup cornstarch
1 egg white beaten with 1 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. sherry
½ tsp. sugar
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for deep frying
Cut chicken into 1 ½ -inch squares. Mix together soy sauce, sherry and sugar. Pour over chicken squares in medium bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, pour oil in heavy, deep saucepan to a depth of 4 inches and heat to a temperature of 360 degrees. Dip each chicken square into cornstarch, then into egg white mixture and then roll in chopped walnuts. When all chicken is coated, deep fry, 5 or 6 at a time for about 2 minutes turning once. Drain on paper towels. Salt and pepper to taste while warm. These will be delicious cold or warm. You can freeze them by placing them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze firm; then put them into a Ziploc bag; label and freeze. When using them, heat oven to 425, and put frozen chicken squares on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until brown and crisp.
Quick and Easy Potato Salad
4 medium sized red potatoes
3 hard-cooked eggs
¼ cup Italian salad dressing
3 Tbsp. light mayonnaise
Chives (about 2 Tbsp)
Salt and Pepper
Cook potatoes in their skins until tender. Peel or not as you desire. Pour Italian dressing over warm potatoes and let sit until room temperature. Chop eggs, leaving one out for garnish, if desired. Scissor chives to 1/8 inch lengths. Mix eggs, chives and mayonnaise into potatoes. Add salt and pepper (hint: potatoes absorb a great deal of salt so you may have to use a bit more than you think—keep tasting until just right). Garnish with sliced egg and chives. Serve room temperature or chilled. If you take this on a picnic, chill first and put into thermos container with ice.
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