When you go for a picnic, it is of course nice to eat something different than a peanut butter sandwich. The following three recipes give you the perfect base to take with you when you go on a picnic: a picnic bread with ground beef, pesto and corn, a pear rhubarb pie with a crispy, layered base, and a non-alcoholic apple and nectarine cocktail with a little spice.
Picnic bread with minced meat and pesto
For this recipe you will need:
- A round, uncut bread (see also the recipe for a loaf)
- 500 grams of minced meat
- 2 medium onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Green pesto
- 150 grams of corn
- Balsamic vinegar
- Olive oil
Cut the onions and garlic into small cubes. Fry the onion in some olive oil until translucent and add the garlic. If you like a more pronounced garlic flavor, you can press the garlic better and not fry it. Remove the onion and garlic from the pan and let it drain on a paper towel.
Fry the minced meat in a little olive oil and add some balsamic vinegar when done. Let this reduce briefly and stir the minced meat so that it is covered with balsamic vinegar. Cut the top of the bread and hollow it out until an edge of about half an inch is left. Mix the pieces of bread you just removed with the corn, onion, garlic and minced meat.
Spread a layer of pesto on the bottom of the hollowed out bread. fill the bread with the minced meat mixture and press firmly. Replace the ‘lid’ of the bread and wrap it all in aluminum foil. Put it in the fridge for an hour to stiffen. Serve with a spicy sauce of your choice.
Make your own bread
If you have more time to spare, you can possibly make the bread yourself which you will fill. Keep in mind that the bread can take a long time to rise, especially when it is fresh in the house. For this recipe you will need:
- 500 grams of flour
- 300 ml of lukewarm water
- 5 grams of instant yeast
- 7.5 grams of salt
- 25 grams of butter
- Olive oil
If you are using yeast that has yet to be activated, take some of the water, half a teaspoon of sugar and the yeast and mix them together. Let stand for 10 minutes until small bubbles appear. Don’t forget to deduct the water you added to the yeast from the total!
Mix the flour with water, yeast and butter. Knead this until well blended, then add the salt. This prevents the salt from destroying the yeast cells. Knead this well for 15-30 minutes. The dough is well kneaded when you can stretch a piece of dough until you can see the light through it without tearing the dough. This may take some time!
Put the dough in a bowl, cover it with a layer of oil and cover the bowl with a piece of cling film. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size (about an hour). Squeeze the air out of the dough, shape it into a ball, and let it rise again (about half an hour). You are now giving the yeast a chance to multiply.
Shape the dough into the shape you want (a ball is recommended for the picnic bread) and cover for another 45-60 minutes to rise. When you can press the dough and it slowly springs back, it has risen enough. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius (200 degrees for hot air) and bake the bread for 15 minutes. Turn the oven back to 200 degrees for 15 minutes (180 for fan) and bake for another 35 minutes. If the bread sounds hollow when you tap it, it is done.
Pear rhubarb pie
For this recipe you will need:
- 4 stems of rhubarb
- 1 pear
- 75 grams of sugar
- custard powder
- 185 grams of flour
- 2 grams of salt
- 115 grams of cold butter
- 60 ml ice-cold water
Start with the dough. For this dough it is very important that everything is and remains very cold. So get the butter not from the refrigerator before starting, and make sure the water is ice cold (possibly with some ice cubes).
In a large bowl, mix the salt and 155 grams of flour. Take the butter and mix it, preferably with a knife, through the flour and salt, until it forms a crumbly structure. Keep it as cold as possible by not kneading it with your hands. Add the ice-cold water little by little, until the dough forms a whole. There are probably white dots of butter in the dough. This is not wrong, it is desirable. Wrap it in cling film, flatten it a bit and put it in the fridge or freezer.
For the filling, first clean the rhubarb: rinse the stems under running water, cut off 1-1.5 cm at the bottom and possibly peel the rhubarb. The rhubarb can now be cut into pieces about 0.5 cm wide. Do not make the pieces too big, so that they cook well in the oven. Wash the pear and cut it into pieces as well.
To compensate for the slightly sour taste of the rhubarb, add about 75 grams of sugar. Add the remaining 30 grams of flour and stir well. This will absorb some of the juices from the rhubarb and pear. Leave it for a while. The juice will come from the rhubarb and pear. By letting it leak out of the filling before baking, you will prevent a wet cake base.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator or freezer and place it in a cake pan with a low edge (approx. 20 cm in diameter). Save some dough for a lid. When you roll out the dough, you can do this on cling film. After rolling out, pick up the foil and all the dough and place it in the tin with the plastic on top. You can then gently pull the plastic off.
Prick holes in the bottom with a fork or knife and sprinkle the bottom generously with custard powder. The powder will absorb any moisture from the filling and it will give it a sweet taste. Fill the bottom with the rhubarb / pear mixture and cover with the pastry lid. Make some big cuts in the top so any steam can escape. Press the lid onto the edge with a fork.
First bake the cake for 10-15 minutes at 230 degrees Celsius, then lower the temperature to 170 degrees Celsius and bake for another 45 minutes. Note the edges; these quickly turn brown. Cover the edges with some silver foil if they get too brown. Let the pie cool sufficiently when it comes out of the oven. When you cut the dough it should have a ‘flaky’ structure; many layers and resembling puff pastry. Serve with some freshly whipped cream.
Apple nectarine cocktail
For this recipe you will need:
- 4 sweet apples
- 6 ripe nectarines
- 1 lemon
- A red pepper
- A scoop of ice cubes
Start cutting the apples and nectarines. Remove the seeds, but leave the skin on. Then puree the nectarines in a blender or similar kitchen equipment. Squeeze the juice from the apples and add it to the nectarines. Cut the pepper in half and remove the seeds and the seeds with a sharp knife. Then cut the pepper into strips and mash it through the apple and nectarine. Squeeze the lemon and add this to the apples and nectarines. Serve with ice.