Picnic

Where did this summer go? Labor Day is already here and I didn't even get around to half of the summer activities I wanted to do. I guess that skydiving roadtrip pool party will have to wait until next summer. At least the weather is still nice enough to have a picnic, so that's what we did.

Picnics should be simple and relaxing, so I decided to make some simple things to eat. Don't stress about creating an epic meal for your Labor Day picnic. Make something easy and enjoy your picnic and the sounds of dogs, kids, and that squirrel who won't stop making noises in the tree above you. Just drink your wine out of your water bottle and enjoy life.

Homemade Focaccia

• 1 3/4 Cups Warm Water
• 1 Package Active Dry Yeast
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 5 Cups All-Purpose Flour 
• plus extra for kneading
• 1 tablespoon Salt
• plus Sea Salt (or pink Himalayan salt for sprinkling)
• 5 tablespoons Butter melted
• Olive Oil for drizzling

1. In a small bowl combine the warm water, yeast and sugar. Fun fact: sugar makes yeast fart. Put the bowl in microwave for 15 minutes, but DO NOT turn it on. The microwave is a warmish environment that allows the yeast to grow.
2. In a mixing bowl combine the flour, salt, butter and the yeasty sugar water. Combine using a mixer with dough hooks on low speed for 1 minute. Once the dough clumps together crank the speed up to medium and continue kneading for another 5 minutes or so. Knead until the dough becomes smooth and soft. Add more flour to the dough if it becomes sticky and tacky.
3. Finally get around to cleaning off some counter space, and then immediately cover it lightly in flour. Knead the dough by hand once or twice, add more flour if needed.
4. Coat a clean mixing bowl with the olive oil and place the dough ball in the bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and place in microwave with a cup of hot water for at least an hour. The dough should double in size.
5. Coat a casserole pan with olive oil. Stretch the dough out in the pan. Press it out to the edges of the pan. 
6. Preheat the oven to 425. Let the dough rise until the oven reaches temperature. Press little indentations with your finger into the dough, like the picture above. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the dough and be pretty liberal with your oil. Then grind the salt over the dough and then bake for about 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
7. Let it cool before slicing into it. Add any sort of meat and cheese to this bread to make a delicious picnic sandwich. We went with prosciutto and asiago.

Mason Jar Parfait

Serves two

• 2 Shortcakes cubed
• 12 Raspberries
• 3 oz. Dark Chocolate shaved
• Whipped Cream
• 1 1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1. Using a mixer whip the cream, sugar and vanilla over medium speed for 3 minutes or so.
2. Split the shortcake between two mason jars. Then add some whipped cream, then the raspberries, then chocolate, more whipped cream and top it off with more chocolate.
3. Cap it and there you go, a perfect portable picnic dessert.

Keep your picnic simple and enjoy your Labor Day weekend! These picturesque picnic pics by Katy Weaver

Fish Tacos 2.0

Second chances. Sure, we all romanticize the past in our own way. Probably everyone who reads this wants another stab at something in their past that didn't quite work out in their favor. It could be re-doing high school, because for some reason you glorify a time when you woke up at 6 and ate lunch at 10 am. Or another chance on a relationship with "the one" whose timing was just off. Or even just another chance to finally make it all the way through the buffet to the soft serve machine.

Well, I say if you have the opportunity, go for it! Life is too short, go ahead and give the other person another chance. This is America (unless you're reading this outside of the U.S.) land of second chances!  Here's some advice: if you want to re-live high school, become a high school football coach.

Remember last year when I told you fish tacos are actually really good and that you should give them a try (here's a link if you've forgotten)? Well, I decided to take another look at fish tacos and how I could make them better. Let's just say it was worth it.

Spicy Lime Cilantro Yogurt

• 1 cup Greek Yogurt
• 1 tablespoon Cilantro chopped
• 2 limes zested and juiced
• 1 Jalapeno minced

1. After mincing the jalapeno and chopping the cilantro, mix into the yogurt and add the zest and juice. Refrigerate until the rest of the taco fillings are finished.

Pineapple Salsa

• 1 Pineapple chopped
• 1/2 cup Red Cabbage chopped
• 1/4 cup Red Onion chopped
• Juice from 1 lime
• 1 Carrot shredded

1. After you have chopped and shredded all the produce mix together in a large bowl with the lime juice.
2. Add to tacos once you make your fish.

Beer Battered Cod

Serves 3-4

• 1 lbs Cod cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 cup Flour
• Plus an extra 1.5 cups to coat the cod pieces in.
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 cup Shredded Coconut
• 1 Egg
• 1 bottle Beer (lager or a pilsner would work best)
• Canola Oil

1. Whisk or sift together all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
2. Mix in the wet stuff (egg and beer) and the coconut.
3. Set up your workstation so you can effectively make the best fish of your life. First step to setting up your cod fryin' station is to establish a work direction. Go from cutting board with fish to the flour bowl to the batter to the oil to plate.
4. Coat the cod cubes in the flour. Dust the cubes off and submerge in the batter. Let the excess batter drip off the fish before adding it to the hot oil.
5. You heated up enough canola oil over medium high heat in a skillet to pan fry the fish right? Good. Cook each side for about 30 seconds or until golden brown.
6. Let the excess oil drain from the fish on a plate before assembling your delicious fish tacos.

So instead of having the same-old-same-old for dinner, give fish tacos a second chance to change your mind. All these fishtastic photos by Katy Weaver

Light n' Breezy

I'm sure there's a name for this cocktail, but I like the name I came up with and I don't feel much like Googling the name of the drink. Long story short, I wanted to make a dark and stormy, but for some reason I couldn't find any ginger beer, so I went with ginger ale instead. It has less of bite, but the result was still blogworthy.

Pairs well with fish tacos! Especially these fish tacos!

Light n' Breezy

• 1/4 cup crushed Ice
• 1 shot Dark Spiced Rum (I use Kraken) 
• 1 Small Lime worth Juice
• Ginger Ale

1. Add the ice to a tumbler. 
2. Pour the rum over the ice.
3. Add the lime juice
4. Fill the rest of the cup with ginger ale. Stir. Garnish with a lime slice.
5. Enjoy!

These great photos by Katy Weaver

Thai Chicken and Waffle Sandwich

One of the greatest pieces of advice I've ever heard was from Alton Brown who said, "Never take advice." I am open to criticism and feedback though, because without them you can't get better. But advice is more one sided than a HP Laserjet P3005ch printer (it doesn't have duplex printing). When it comes down to it, you're the only one who knows what you really want and what you have to do to make it happen, so start being selfish and start working towards something awesome. 

For some reason in today's culture, selfishness is portrayed as a negative trait, although people forget is that this is what made this country great in the first place (that's right I'm making this a cultural thing). We broke away from the British Empire because we wanted to do things OUR way. We didn't get involved with WWII until we were attacked and it affected us. 

Knowing that your crazy idea is a great one, and actually having the guts to go out there and make it happen doesn't make you insane or eccentric; it makes you successful and a goddamn American. Frankly I'm tired of having artificial roadblocks being put up, especially for people of my generation.  Just get out there and create something, whatever it may be. 

What do those old-man style ramblings have to do with Thai chicken and waffles? Almost nothing. But let's be honest, "Thai chicken and waffles" sounds like a weird, crazy idea, until you actually make it happen and try it. Remember an idea is only as good as its end product, so ignore that advice and prove those nay-sayers wrong.

Before I get into the recipes, I want to make a couple shout outs! First, thanks to Flavour Gallery for sending me an awesome apron (I was wearing it the entire time I was cooking all this). They also have a bunch of cool food t-shirts you should check out. The second shout out is to Kraken rum because I love the stuff and would love a free bottle or two. The great thing about Kraken rum is that you get to yell, "RELEASE THE KRAKEN!" Everytime you open the bottle.

Grilled Chicken with Blackberry Barbecue Sauce

If romantic comedies have taught us anything it's that Paul Rudd will continue to be in every movie ever made and that perfect couples exist and they'll eventually end up together, even if it takes some work. 

Blackberries and barbecue sauce are that perfect couple. They were meant to be together.

Sure, blackberries seem like a perfect match for pies and tarts, but no. We beg to differ. So, here it is: the unlikely love story between blackberries and barbecue sauce. 

Blackberries can be prickly, but their sweetness eventually wins almost everyone over. Meanwhile, barbecue sauce is more of a wildcard - it can be sweet, spicy, salty, or even bitter. When these two met, they both ordered the same Frappuccino while in line at Starbucks; barbecue sauce knew it wanted blackberries inside of it (things just got real saucy!). But the blackberries were reluctant at first, mainly because their parents always assumed they would end up with a nice pastry. After barbecue sauce almost lost blackberries to a cocktail, they decided to add a little heat and spice to their relationship, and become more than just work colleagues. In time they discovered what they had together was true love. They eventually got married and hired a pretty good photographer for their wedding and ended up having a beautiful chicken breast together. 

There you have it kids, true love always wins in the end, except in real life where everything usually falls apart and it's more like the ending of Wet Hot American Summer.