RED: A Perfect Picnic Pairing

Picnic season is officially upon us and how often have you forgotten to pack a knife to slice a juicy peach or cleave some charcuterie?

At Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks you can pick up an indispensible folding French knife engraved with our shop logo, "Read Eat Drink". These beautifully crafted knives are honed from high carbon steel and fold and lock conveniently into the engraved hardwood handle.

Handsome, practical, sharp. Just add a delicious picnic and you're ready for summer.

And if you're planning ahead for fall fungi foraging, we carry the very useful Opinel mushroom knife: classic high carbon steel blade, hardwood handle and a brass wire brush all-in-one tool.

Choux au Fromage from Breakfast at The Wolsely

To start off our summer picnic series, Mark chose an elegant recipe from Breakfast at The Wolseley by A.A. Gill. These delicate morsels are a variation on choux pastry often used for sweets such as profiteroles and eclairs. The choux au fromage would be a exquisite addition to a late summer picnic or an early fall brunch or cocktail party.

Choux au Fromage from Breakfast at The Wolseley
125 mL water
125 mL milk
125 g butter
6 g (or about 1 tsp.) salt
125 g plain [all-purpose] flour
6 large eggs
200 g Emmental cheese, diced, plus more for grating
5 g (or about 2 tsp.) black pepper
1-2 g freshly grated nutmeg

In a saucepan, bring the water, the milk, butter and salt to the boil.
Add the flour all at once and beat with a wooden spoon over the heat for a full minute.
Remove from the heat and continue to stir for a minute to allow it to cool slightly.
Place the paste into a mixing bowl and beat with a mixer on medium speed. Whisk the mix for a minute to cool slightly, thereby avoiding the immediate 'cooking' of the eggs as they are added. Continue to beat the paste and begin incorporating the eggs one by one. Once all the eggs have been added, cover the surface with cling film and leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C [375 degrees F] or gas mark 4. Add the diced Emmenthal, pepper and nutmeg to the dough paste and stir well.
Spoon the paste onto baking sheets (30g each for mini pieces, 110g for larger pieces) and great a little more Emmental on the top of each piece.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until they are a golden-brown colour.

Makes 10 large pieces or 30 small ones

Quinoa Corn Salad from The Urban Picnic

On Saturdays during the summer, we've been featuring a series of picnic recipes to cook and taste at the Main Shop. Last week I cooked this fabulous, fresh Southwest-inspired Quinoa Corn Salad from The Urban Picnic by John Burns and Elisabeth Caton (The recipe is also found in Rebar Modern Food Cookbook by Audrey Alsterberg and Wanda Urbanowicz) . Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is high in protein, calcium and iron and is a great grain to include in salads as it has a mild flavour and retains a soft texture when chilled. What a great way to also feature locally grown corn.

Quinoa Corn Salad

1 cup (240 mL) quinoa

1 1/2 cups (360 mL) water

1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) salt

2 1/2 cups (600 mL) corn, fresh or frozen

1 small red onion, minced

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

1/2 red pepper, finely diced

3 Tbsp. (45 mL) lemon juice

3 Tbsp. (45 mL) lime juice

1/4 cup (60 mL) chopped cilantro

3 scallions, minced

2 Tbsp. (30 mL) finely minced chives

1 tsp. (5 mL) salt

1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) Tabasco sauce, or to taste

Place quinoa in a fine mesh sieve and rinse thoroughly with cold, running water. Bring water to boil in a small pot, add the quinoa and salt and bring to a boil again. Cover and reduce heat to low for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep the pot covered for an additional 5 minutes. Strain off any excess liquid and spread the quinoa out to cool on a tray while preparing the remaining ingredients.

Steam or lightly saute corn until just tender and cool to room temperature [I steamed the whole cobs of corn, cooled them and cut them off the cob]. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and gently toss. Season with additional salt, pepper or hot sauce to taste. Serve with fresh lime wedges.

Serves 6