The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
HARMONIOUS RECIPE
Sublime musical evenings enhance summer’s outdoor picnics at Holden Arboretum, Wade Oval
Outdoor concerts will fill the summer air on Wednesday evenings starting today when Wade Oval Wednesdays begin at 5:30 p.m. at University Circle and the Concert in the Forest Series get going at 6:30 p.m. June 22 in the Main Display Garden at Holden Arboretum in Kirtland. Both venues will have a tent for wine and beer and food trucks will sometimes be available. It’s a good time to plan a picnic. Greg Esterburg knows lots of folks watch their consumption of carbohydrates, so he makes sandwiches served from his Off the Griddle food truck on naan flatbread and promises that any of them can be made as a salad with no bread at all. His food truck will be at the Arboretum from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on July 13 and Aug. 10 and 24.
“My trucks are totally self-contained, and we make our food to order,” he said. “They each have a quiet generator so as not to detract from the music.”
Food trucks slated to be at Wade Oval Wednesdays include Rascal House Pizza, The Cleveland Fish and Seafood Co., Kernels by Chrissie, Le’Scoop Dessert Boutique, Original Greek Gyros, Beckham’s B & M Bar B Que, EDWINS and PearlFlower Catering, serving up everything from pizza to gyros, ice cream to barbecue.
Take a tip from Northeast Ohiobased baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire, which will offer boxes of fruit and charcuterie at its concerts on July 22 and 23 and pack yourself a picnic of breadsticks, cheeses, cold cuts, olives and crackers. Or go with hard-cooked eggs dolled up with a variety of fillings.
Apollo’s Fire will bring a Celtic folk group to the Holden Arboretum with “The Road to Dublin,” a program of haunting ballads and lively reels with Irish singer Fiona Gillespie joining instrumentalists on fiddle, flutes, cello, hammered dulcimer, plucked instruments and harpsichord. Get tickets at apollosfire.org or call Apollo’s Fire at 216320-0012.
LochErie begins the Holden Arboretum’s summer concert series at 6:30 p.m. June 22.
“This will be our third time playing at the Arboretum, and we love the outdoor atmosphere,” said Will Trivison, who began the three-man Celtic folk band in 2004. ”We’re really excited to be there again.”
Picnic recipes
There’s a reason that sandwiches are a picnic staple. They’re portable, easy to eat without utensils and endlessly variable when it comes to flavor and texture. With good planning and augmenting your menu with food truck fare, a picnic dinner is easy. Here’s a deliciously hearty sandwich that transports easily and won’t get soggy en route.
Prosciutto and Brie Sandwiches With Rosemary Fig Confit
(makes four sandwiches)
INGREDIENTS
Long loaf of French bread 1⁄2 cup rosemary fig confit (recipe follows)
¼ pound thinly sliced prosciutto
¼ pound Brie cut into thin slices
INSTRUCTIONS
With a serrated blade, cut the bread loaf diagonally into four pieces and cut each piece in half. Spread confit on open sides of bread and make four sandwiches with prosciutto and brie,
Rosemary Fig Confit
(makes 1-¼ cups)
INGREDIENTS
1 cup dried figs, chopped fine ½ cup dry white wine
½ cup water
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
INSTRUCTIONS
In a heavy saucepan, stir together ingredients and simmer, covered, for 20minutes. Remove lid and continue simmering, stirring occasionally until mixture has thickened and most liquid has evaporated. Confit may be made five days ahead and be chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.
— From Janet Podolak’s recipe box
Egg-citing ideas
Borrow from the past with a variety of deviled eggs for your picnic. They can be hearty enough for a light meal.
Save the egg carton they came in and, after you’ve hard cooked a dozen eggs, peel them, cut eggs in half lengthwise, removing the yolks into a separate dish, and put the whites together back into the egg carton in the fridge. Divide the yolks into four small bowls and mash them with the different ingredients listed below. Scrape each mixture into its own separate zip-close bag, label, seal and refrigerate.
Once you’ve set up your picnic site with pretty paper plates, snip a small corner off each of the bags and pipe the different egg fillings into hard-cooked egg halves.
Here are some suggestions for a half dozen eggs — a meal for two or snacks for more.
I prefer Hellmann’s mayonnaise. Adjust ingredients accordingly for more or fewer eggs:
Anchovy eggs
Mash or force egg yolks through a sieve and add 3 tablespoons of chopped anchovies or 1 tablespoon of anchovy paste, one-half teaspoon of black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon chopped pickled onion and enough mayonnaise to form a thick paste.
Eggs Virginian
Mash egg yolks, add 4tablespoons of finely chopped cold ham, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon finely chopped gherkin and enough mayonnaise to form a paste. After piping into egg whites, garnish with finely chopped ham mixed with paprika.
Seafood eggs
Chop 1-½ cups of cold crabmeat, shrimp or lobster, add 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley and 1 tablespoon of chives. Mix with half a tablespoon of jarred Thousand Island dressing and fill whites of 6eggs. Garnish with chopped egg yolk. Smoked salmon eggs Mash or force hard-cooked egg yolks through a sieve. Add one-half cup of finely diced smoked salmon, 1 tablespoon chopped dill, 1 teaspoon salt and bind with mayonnaise. Pipe into egg whites and top with thin slices of cucumber.