This chapter features esay, child-friendly dips and nibbles for a midday feast between building dens and catching minnows. The menu is finger food, which needs a few serving dishes and bowls, but otherwise a minimum of plates and cutlery. There’s a case to be made for paper plates and cups, as light to carry and easily disposable, but if the budget runs to something more, there is plenty of well-designed acrylic picnic ware available. Choose plates with bright colours and attractive patterns, as youngsters eat with their eyes as much as anyone else, probably more so. Set the food out nicely and use brightly coloured cloths and napkins.
Although it’s best to carry the dips, the crudités and filled rolls in a cool-bag, the rest can be packed into cake tins or nice boxes. Wet wipes are essential, and take along bottled water and other drinks as appropriate. What else? A picnic rug or two, perhaps some cushions, sunscreen for if the weather is kind, and sweaters and wraps for if it isn’t.
Take also:
• Fruit in season – small children might prefer it made into ‘kebabs’ of raw fruit – orange sections, pieces of peach, melon, kiwi fruit or pineapple, strawberries, and other fruit in season, threaded onto wooden skewers.
• Tea, coffee or other drinks for the grown-ups.
• Soft drinks or fruit juice for the children as an alternative to lemonade.
• Crisps or other savoury nacks as desired.
Dips and Things to Dip in Them
Skordalia (Greek Garlic Sauce)
Cream Cheese and Ginger Sandwich Filling
You can buy dips, of course, or use bought ones as a base, tarted up with extra herbs, spices, a little olive oil or a scattering of toasted pine nuts. Or you can make dips and sauces that aren’t available from the shops, such as the two given here. Both can be made the day before, and both are good as side dishes for barbecued fish or chicken, should the mood lean towards something more substantial. (See also Baba Ganoush, Tapenade and Avocado Salsa.)
Makes about 350g
1 large avocado
100ml buttermilk
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh chives
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh basil
juice of ½ lemon
1 small garlic clove, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
a pinch of chilli powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 anchovy fillets or ½ teaspoon ground cumin
A recipe from the west coast of the USA, this dip has many variations: some use mayonnaise or soured cream, some omit the avocado and some add watercress or a little mint. The parsley, tarragon, basil and chives, garlic or shallot seem to be fairly constant.
Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend well.
Scrape out into a pretty serving bowl and chill until needed.
Makes about 450g
125g crustless stale white bread
4–5 garlic cloves, to taste
50g blanched almonds
180ml olive oil
2–4 teaspoons red wine vinegar, to taste
salt
Skordalia is a dip based on either bread or potato and strongly flavoured with garlic. The character of the sauce depends a lot on the olive oil: extra virgin gives a strong, peppery olive flavour; use a lighter one, or a mixture of the two, for a milder version. The almonds are not essential but add interest to the texture.
Put the bread in a bowl and cover with water, then leave to soak for a few minutes. Remove the bread and squeeze well to remove as much water as possible.
Put the garlic, ½ teaspoon salt and the almonds in a blender or food processor and process for a few seconds to make a rough paste. Add the bread and pulse to make a paste.
With the motor running, gradually pour in the oil to make a smooth mixture. Taste, and adjust the seasoning using the vinegar, plus a little more salt if needed.
For a potato version, substitute 300g freshly cooked mashed potato for the soaked bread, and make the dip by processing the garlic, salt, almonds and a third of the oil together. Stir the mixture into the potato, then add the remaining oil little by little.
To serve, put your chosen dips in nice bowls (lightweight plastic picnic ware is appropriate here) and surround with a choice of items for dipping. Try an array of vegetable crudités – little oval tomatoes, halved lengthways, slender white and pink ‘French Breakfast’ radishes, small wedges of fennel bulb, cucumber, carrot or red pepper cut into sticks are classic choices. Or add new-season young carrots boiled for 2 minutes and baby new potatoes boiled until tender and halved lengthways.
Bread sticks, bought or home-made, add a change of texture and crunch, as do Savoury Palmiers (below). If you want to avoid commercially made savoury snacks but would still like something salty with lots of flavour, try Paprika Cheese Biscuits, baked as straws instead of cut into round biscuits. Children of any age also appreciate good sausages, nicely cooked and well drained, and allowed to go cold.
Makes 18–20
flour, for dusting
250g puff pastry, home-made or purchased, and thawed if frozen
50g Pesto Genovese, home-made or purchased
These are easy to make, especially if you buy ready-made pastry, and are good with dips or as a nibble with drinks. They are best on the day they are made but will keep for a few days in an airtight tin. Tapenade, Garlic Butter or Ravigote Butter are good alternatives instead of the pesto.
Preheat the oven to 220ºC. Dust a work surface with flour and roll the pastry into a narrow rectangle about 12 × 40cm.
Trim the edges with a sharp knife to make them straight. Spread the pesto lengthways down the centre in a strip about 6cm wide. Take it right to the edges at the short ends.
Fold in the long edges so that they meet in the centre, covering the filling. Then fold lengthways again. Use a sharp knife to cut the pastry into slices at 2cm intervals.
Put cut-side down and well spaced apart on two baking trays and bake for 12–15 minutes, until the pastry is nicely expanded and golden. Cool on a wire rack.
Makes 20 small sausage rolls or 8 large ones
600g good-quality sausage meat (buy your favourite sausages and remove the skins)
extra seasoning, to taste, such as 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves and 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
flour, for dusting
250g puff pastry, thawed if frozen
1 medium egg, beaten
I’ve yet to meet a child who doesn’t like sausage rolls, and most adults seem to like them too. They are very simple to make and home-made ones are generally much nicer than bought.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Put the sausage meat in a bowl and stir it to make a homogenous mass, adding the extra seasoning if needed.
Dust a work surface with flour and roll out the pastry to a rectangle roughly 32 × 15cm. Cut in half lengthways.
Divide the sausage meat into 2 and form into long rolls the length of the pastry. Put the meat along the long edge of each piece of pastry. Brush water down one side and roll up neatly, then cut each in 10 short lengths (for little rolls) or 4 (for large ones).
Transfer to a baking tray and brush with the beaten egg. Bake small rolls for 20–25 minutes or large ones for 25–30 minutes until puffed and golden. Cool on a wire rack.
Makes 16 small rolls
1 teaspoon dried yeast
a pinch of sugar
200–250ml hand-hot water
450g strong plain bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
30g lard, cut into small pieces
2 medium eggs
1 medium egg, beaten, or milk or cream, to glaze
Bridge rolls were a treat at picnics, tea parties and cold suppers in my childhood, usually filled with a mixture of mashed hard-boiled egg and salad cream. Whatever is put in them, they should be tiny – a couple of mouthfuls – and I find the only way to get this size is to make them myself. The dough also makes good burger buns.
Put the yeast, sugar and half the water in a jug and leave in a warm place for a few minutes until it begins to froth.
Put the flour in a large bowl and sprinkle in the salt. Rub in the lard. Add the yeast mixture, the 2 eggs and about half the remaining water. Mix to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. If it seems a little dry, add some more water, then knead until the dough becomes a smooth, coherent mass. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC and grease a baking tray. Knock back the dough and divide it into 16 pieces. Dust your hands and the work surface with flour. Shape each piece of dough into a 4cm long roll.
Space the rolls equally on the tray and brush with egg, milk or cream. Leave to rise for 30 minutes–1 hour until they have doubled in size. Bake for 10 minutes, until golden.
Cool the rolls wrapped in a clean tea towel to help keep the crust soft and tender.
Makes enough to fill 10 bridge rolls, or 20 tiny afternoon tea sandwiches or 4 large rolls
4 hard-boiled medium eggs, peeled and chopped
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
a bunch of watercress, coarse stalks removed
salt and ground black pepper
This filling is simplicity itself, and an old favourite. It can also be used in afternoon tea sandwiches (especially the Harry’s Bar type, see Poached Salmon Mayonnaise), or in large soft bread rolls as part of a walker’s pack.
Mix the eggs with the mayonnaise and add a little salt and a generous amount of pepper.
Chop about half the watercress (if it is a bit spindly you may need a more) and stir it into the mixture. Fill the sandwiches and use the extra cress to garnish them.
Makes enough to fill 10 bridge rolls or 20 very small sandwiches
60g preserved stem ginger in syrup, or to taste, drained
250g full-fat soft cheese
10 very thin slices (less than 5mm thick) from 1 small wholemeal loaf, 1 day old
softened butter, for spreading
The idea for this slightly sweet filling for sandwiches was among those listed by Ambrose Heath in Good Sandwiches and Picnic Dishes (1947). Oriental Filling is another cream cheese filling, given an interesting texture with the addition of nuts.
Chop the stem ginger into tiny cubes a little less than 5mm along each side. They should be large enough to be visible, but not so large that they make a very lumpy filling.
Beat the soft cheese smooth, then stir in the chopped ginger and mix well.
Spread the bread slices thinly on one side with the butter, making sure you spread it close to the edges.
Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over 5 of the buttered slices and top with the remaining bread, then press each one down gently. Trim off the crusts to make each sandwich as close to a square as possible, then cut each sandwich again to give 4 tiny square sandwiches.
Makes 24 mini muffins or about 8 regular muffins
200g Nutella
2 medium eggs
100g self-raising flour
80g dark chocolate chips
80g frozen raspberries
1–2 tablespoons milk
This recipe is specifically intended for mini-muffins, something small children seem to appreciate, but the mixture can be made into regular-size muffins if you prefer. They can, of course, be used for any picnic as preferred. Children might enjoy helping to make these as well.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC and line 24 mini muffin pans or 8 regular muffin pans with paper cases. Put the Nutella in a bowl (it is helpful to use one with a pouring spout) and break the eggs into it. Stir well until it is amalgamated into a smooth mixture.
Stir in the flour, followed by the chocolate chips and frozen raspberries (break any large ones up). The mixture should be quite runny; add the milk to slacken it if it seems on the stiff side.
Quickly divide the batter among the muffin cases. Bake for 15–20 minutes, testing after 15 with a cocktail stick: if it comes out clean, they are done.
Cool on a wire rack.
Makes 16 small or 8 larger pieces
100g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
100g soft light brown sugar
2 medium eggs
1 tablespoon golden syrup, or syrup from the preserved stem ginger jar
2 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
150g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon mixed spice
50–60g preserved stem ginger in syrup, to taste, drained and chopped into small cubes
50–60g walnuts (optional), to taste, roughly chopped
Here is a lighter, spiced version of banana cake. The walnuts add a pleasant crunchy contrast in texture but can be left out if you prefer. It can be made a couple of days ahead.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC and grease and line a 20 × 20 × 2cm square tin with non-stick baking parchment.
Quick method
Put all the ingredients except the stem ginger and walnuts, if using, into a deep mixing bowl and blend with a stick blender for 1–2 minutes, just until everything is mixed (don’t worry if there are a few small lumps). Stir in the ginger and walnuts.
Alternative conventional creaming method
Beat the butter and brown sugar together until the mixture is light and pale. Beat in the eggs, one after another. Stir in the syrup and bananas. Don’t worry if the mixture curdles a little at this point.
Sift in the flour, baking powder and spice, and stir to combine, then stir in the stem ginger and walnuts, if using.
Put the mixture in the prepared tin and bake for 30–35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when pushed into the centre of the mixture.
Cool in the tin and cut into 4 along the top and sides to give 16 pieces, or cut into 2 along the top and 4 along the sides for 8 larger pieces.
Makes about 500ml
450g sugar
2 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
10g citric acid (optional)
ice cubes, to serve
This recipe makes me nostalgic for the lemon cordials my mother made in summer. The citric acid, which can be purchased from pharmacies, adds flavour and helps the cordial to store well. The kaffir lime leaves are available frozen from Asian grocers. The packs are quite large but they keep well in the freezer, and one or two leaves can be taken out as necessary. For an alcoholic drink made with this cordial.
Put the sugar and 350ml water in a saucepan over a medium-low heat and stir to dissolve. Add the lime leaves, and the lemon zest and juice, then bring to the boil. Turn off the heat.
Add the citric acid, if using. Allow the mixture to cool, then strain and transfer to a sterilised bottle. Dilute to taste and serve over ice.
