It seems that Memorial Day weekend is the kick-off for summer picnics and going to the beach. Driving along Keaukaha, cars are lined along the streets and tarps are all in place for camping and cooking out.
Here are some general rules of thumb for packing a picnic:
1. Have an ice cooler with enough ice or ice packs to completely cool all perishable foods like potato salad or eggs.
2. Use a separate cooler for drinks. Do not put them in the same container as the raw meats, poultry, or seafood. Additionally, when packing, all these foods should be placed at the bottom of the cooler, with lots of ice on top. Placing them on the bottom reduces the chances of any raw juices dripping on other foods in the cooler.
3. Make sure all utensils are clean and never use the same utensil you used to grab raw foods to remove cooked foods. This is also true of containers. Do not re-use the container you brought the raw chicken or meat to the picnic to place the cooked food in. Use a clean plate or container.
4. At the picnic site, wash hands if possible. If there is not water to wash hands, use disposable wipes or hand sanitizer before handling food.
5. If grilling, barbecuing chicken or pork, bring a thermometer to be sure they are cooked through. The center of the chicken should read 175-180 degrees and the pork should be at 160 degrees.
6. Do not leave food out in the hot sun. If possible keep food in a shady area. If the temperatures reach 90 degrees, foods should not be left out more than one hour.
7. Adhere to the two-hour rule. No perishable foods should be left out for more than two hours. After that time, it should be thrown away.
Most of us immediately think of musubi or rice balls wrapped in nori. However, always remember that once cooked rice reaches room temperature, dormant spores of the bacterium Bacillus cereus produces powerful gastrointestinal toxins and can give you a tummy ache. The heat of cooking rice does not destroy these spores and within a few hours out, they start growing.
This is why vinegar added when making sushi kills the spores. When cooking rice for a picnic, and you know that you will be eating it when cold or making musubi, add about one tablespoon vinegar to 2 cups rice and water when cooking.
Pack a bag of tortilla chips and make this salsa to eat at the beach.
Mango
Black Bean Salsa
Serves 8
In a medium bowl with a cover, combine:
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 large, firm but ripe mango, peeled, seeded and diced into 1/4-inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
A great salad would be a slaw with a vinegar base:
Confetti Slaw
Serves 4
Shred finely (I like the Japanese mandolin):
1/4 head green cabbage
1/4 head red cabbage
Using a shredder with a julienne cutter(or use a shredder used to make green papaya salad):
2 carrots
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Place all in a large bowl. Make vinaigrette:
Whisk together:
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2-4 tablespoons sugar, depending on your taste
Slowly drizzle in, while still whisking:
2/3 cup extra virgin-olive oil
Slowly add vinaigrette to slaw and mix to thoroughly coat.
Now all you need is a hibachi packed to grill the chicken for dinner.
Miso Shoyu
Chicken
Serves 8
In a large bowl with cover, mix together:
1 cup white miso
1 cup shoyu
1 cup beer
1 cup sugar
Add:
5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Marinate overnight. Barbecue over hot coals until cooked through. Make sure to use a thermometer to assure doneness.
This Sunday is Father’s Day, and if my father were still with us, we certainly would be at the park with our “goza” or beach mats and hibachi!
Foodie Bites
This month’s Food Network Magazinelists some competitive eating contests, like for Father’s Day, a curly fries-eating contest on the Morey’s Pier boardwalk in Wildwood, N.J., with the record to beat at 3 1/2 pounds of fries.
If you are in Tigard, Ore., on June 22, the Festival of Balloons has a rib-eating contest for adults and corn eating for kids. A 6-year-old won last year by consuming three ears of corn in one minute!
Love lobster? The annual LobsterFest in Portland, Maine, has will be held June 29. However, it is not lobster meat … you have to crack and shuck it also.
The most famous one we always hear about is the Fourth of July hot dog-eating contest at Coney Island. There is also a mini-corn-eating contest, which we never hear about.
It always amazes me how anyone could down that amount of food in a few minutes. The body must go through shock during that time!
