I can't use the excuse "I'm new at this" anymore can I? Darn.

[mstakenidentity]

I need advice from those who know where things are in Melbourne, those who cook, those who don't drink, and those who've been on successful romantic picnics. Oh, and possibly vegetarians.



For Valentine's Day I suggested to mc_shamo that we go to the free MSO concert in the Sidney Myer Music Bowl (yeah I know it's actually on the 13th, I don't think getting the day exactly right matters). As I can't afford a nice restaurant at the moment or a fancy gift my Valentine's Day present to him will be a stunningly laid out picnic for two, in a prime position for the concert. In order to do this I've asked work to refrain from rostering me on the afternoon before so I can go to the market (it's closed on the day of the concert) and have asked for the 13th off completely so I can cook, prepare and make sure I'm at the Bowl early enough to grab the best spot and have things nicely laid out for when mc_shamo arrives after work.

Being a clueless geek I googled "romantic picnic recipes" for inspiration. So far my menu looks like this:


-Antipasto (olives, blue-and-cream cheese spread, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, cantelope etc.)

-Mussels Vinagrette

-Watercress and Blue Cheese salad

-Strawberry blossoms (strawberries with sweetened cream cheese filling) and chocolate dipped strawberries

-Chocolates

-Mineral Water

I have Questions.

1. Where the f&ck do I get watercress from, and what does it look like? I seem to think it's a green leafy thing, right? And just in case, what can I replace it with?

2. Can anyone think of a vegetarian replacement for prosciutto? I want to make prosciutto wrapped cantelope pieces for the antipasto, but without the meat. All I've come up with so far is to put salt on the cantelope...

3. Can anyone recommend a place to get Really Good Chocolates? A place where they charge by the chocolate, that sort of thing? I'll only get four or so, but I want them to be special.

4. You may have noticed that this menu contains no booze. This is because mc_shamo has given it up for the month of February. While I think this is admirable it does leave me wondering what on earth to serve as a "special occasions" drink. Any ideas? For non-drinkers or those who often cater for non-drinkers, what is a special (and yummy) non-alcoholic drink? Some assembly is ok.

5. I have noticed when on picnics mc_shamo and I tend to eat a LOT, and I'm concerned what I have here might not be enough, does anyone know of any other small dishes that are easily transported, non-meat (seafood ok), can be kept chilled but don't need to be frozen, and are again "special occasion" type things?

6. Does anyone on here who I will see in the next week have a picnic set I could borrow? mc_shamo keeps meaning to buy one and forgetting, and I think it would be cheeky of me to jump the gun on that one (also, buying one would fly in the face of the reason I'm doing our first Valentine's day comparitivley on the cheap, i.e. I'm broke) But I'd love to be able to have matching cutlery and plates and cups (and a real picninc blanket if available, mine is in my room somewhere and I've lent my room to someone else right now, so don't have access for a search).

If anyone can help me with any of these questions I'd be very grateful.

Comments

[naturalredhead.livejournal.com]

3. Haighs - they have a bunch of locations around Melbourne, including on Swanston St, just north of Bourke St.

4. Appletiser, grapetiser or sparkling apple juice (Cascade or similar). These need to assembly :-D

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, i'd forgotten about sparkling apple juice! Thanks!

[fnoo.livejournal.com]

Koko Black on Lygon St in Carlton or in one of the markets in the city. I forget which.

If you're going to the Vic Markets themselves there's plenty of really nice chocolate places there, too.

As far as non-alcoholic drinks go, I'm a big fan of cinotto, aranciatta, etc. Generally $3 for a bloody tiny bottle for the good stuff. Or mix up a lemon+lime+bitters.

And we have a picnic set that you are welcome to borrow.

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

...why didn't I think of Koko Black? I'm going senile in my old age...

That's also a good point about the drinks, I can get sparkling apple for the "champagne" and little bottles of the pelegrino brand drinks (think I've mispelled that) as well!

The picnic set would be great, thank you, I can probably even meet up with Kate for gym and get it surrepticiously so Seamus doesn't see!

[fnoo.livejournal.com]

Pelegrino! That's what I was thinking of, yes. I forget that you used to work hospitality...

I love me a bit of Cascade sparkling apple, and it'll be much cheaper than the pelegrino stuff.

Ok. I will tell Kate and get her to sort it out. It may need cleaning. Comes with plates, plastic cutlery, wine glasses, and a smallish rug. Not terribly romantic, unfortunately: no wicker baskets or anything like that.

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

Wicker baskets just make me think of Bernard Black...

Smallish rug is good! I feel bad taking up too much space at the MSO concerts and small just means "cuddly" (er... when it comes to rugs that is!)

Thanks Michael :-)

[vivienne-aster.livejournal.com]

Actually, come to think of it, I think we have a couple of picnic packs ;)

[morsla.livejournal.com]

You can usually track down watercress in the Vic market - there are a few stalls near the deli building that sell lots of green leafy things. Failing that, replace it with any non-bitter salad greens...

It looks something like this - green, round leaves, hollow stems. If you're adding blue cheese for a salad, the cheese will drown out the watercress flavor anyway, so you might as well get whatever looks tasty :)

For the antipasto, you could use strips of marinated vegetables (eggplant, capsicum, etc) to wrap the cantelope.

When in doubt (about food quantities), add more to the antipasto platter :) Marinated and/or stuffed mushrooms are always good, as is some sort of bread (fresh ciabatta?) to dip in all the leftover marinade oil. The Vic market deli also sells some good dolmades.

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

Awesome, thank you! That makes me feel better, if I can't find it I'll use baby spinach and spring onion I think.

I actually make really nice stuffed mushrooms, they just didn't occur to me as a picnic food for some reason, thanks for reminding me!

[morsla.livejournal.com]

Stuffed mushrooms are awesome. And I just remembered that I haven't had lunch yet...

*runs to the kitchenmobile*

[harkon.livejournal.com]

I second morsla's suggestion re the rock melon. I've also had a thin strips of cucumber around them too. You might want to do a little experiment first because getting two wet things to stick to each other might actually be tricky. Since you are losing a lot of salt without the prosciutto, maybe sub in something like tapenade?

I'd stay away from the pickled mussels myself, especially if you will be away without refrigeration for a while.

[musosian.livejournal.com]

Having made some eggplant rolls last night that would be messy for a picnic I think but were good for home, I can recommend thinly sliced GIANT EGGPLANT (roasted with a drizzle of olive oil) to wrap stuff in. Then you could salt it if you wanted to as well. The eggplant I bought was average size and probably a little small for making mini-spring-roll sized things, but for wrapping melon it could be ok.

Something I like to drink is soda water with sliced lime and pineapple syrup (out of a tin of sweetened pineapple slices) - I 'marinate' the lime in the pineapple syrup in a jar in the fridge then pour some out into a glass, pull out a few lime slices, add ice, and eat. Bit more effort for a picnic tho (you could always premix it in a bottle though I guess).

Water crackers, mountain-bread-ala-uni-days, you can buy dips at the markets too or make some. For filling stuff. Dips can be pricey though.

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

Eggplant sounds good, thanks! Any idea how long I should roast it for?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_audhumla_/]

What about salted eggplant wrapped around cantelope? Is that just too weird? On the non-alcoholic special drink front I would recommend appletise. It is a sparkling apple drink that is very tasty. They also make grapetise. It is in the fake booze section of the supermarket (not always with other softdrinks in my experience). I got addicted to it in Botswana, where it is very big for some reason.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_audhumla_/]

oo and Daniel has this great recipe for vegie sausage rolls made from cottage cheese and nuts. Not sure if sausage rolls are sufficiently romantic but they are delicious! Also probably they need to be hot. Oh well.

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

Possibly not the sausage rolls for this picnic, but the recipe sounds good, I'll have to get it off him sometime!

[musosian.livejournal.com]

Well, I kinda forgot about mine, but only the edges actually went hard and crispy. I'd say just until it's soft/cooked, for wrapping purposes. Recipe said 5 minutes, turn, 5 minutes, but I'd recommend 10 minutes each side and then see how it looks/feels.

Hope it works out!

[muffin-gloves.livejournal.com]

Nick says never to underestimate a freshly baked, crusty loaf of bread! Laurent cafe in the City have nice ones (cnr of Lt Collins and the Causeway), or one of the bakeries at the market. He also suggested to go to the market EARLY, so all the good stuff's still there. And he thinks salt on cantelope is bizarre. :P You could go half-half, I suppose and still use prosciutto for the ones for Seamus. He's being lazy on the bed and making me type....*whinges*

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

Yes, fresh baked bread is a definite, I've never been to Laurent, but it sounds good, thanks!

[hespa.livejournal.com]

Second vote for Haighs! Their violet creams are particularly divine.

Re: watercress. At the Vic Market, there is a stall positioned between the entrance to the deli section and the start of the organic fruit & veg stalls, first stall on the right as you walk out of the deli section (past Tim's cheeses). It isn't organic, but is does tend to stock the more bizarre fruit and vegetables, fungi (they really have a thing for fungi) and herbs. I'd recommend that as the first place to look; even if they don't have it, though, there's good odds that *somewhere* at the marker will.

Also, if you can't find a friend with a picnic set, I know housemate aurellia has one and can ask her about lending it.

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

Awesome, thanks for the advice re: watercress

And thank you for the offer of picnic basket, but I think I now have that covered. :-)

[vox-diabolica.livejournal.com]

Watercress is available at most supermarkets. It's quite a common ingredient. It looks like this:

http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/478077/2/istockphoto_478077_fresh_watercress.jpg

http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/health/substanceabuse/information/non_alcoholic_beverages.html#palacerefresher

Cheese. A nice sharp cheese to offset the mussels. If you're okay with blue cheeses, go for a Stilton.

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks! Watercress is not at my local supermarket, mind you, I'm surprised sometimes that that place even stocks apples and oranges.

Of course I'm ok with blue cheese, I'm sure I've made you a stilton omlette before :-)

[moneypenny.livejournal.com]

Shirley Temples are always good for the unboozy -- grenadine and ginger ale, nothing easier.

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, he likes ginger ale too! (Pity I can't stand it... but i can make myself something else!)

[asmodel.livejournal.com]

As an alternative to eggplant, I suggest you wrap the canteloupe with something leafy. Perhaps spinach. I think mint would go fabulously with melon as well, but you wouldn't want to wrap with the entire leaf, just add a little chopped mint.

I second the grapertiser suggestions. I've recently become a big fan of soda as well. Mix it up with a dash of fruit juice, or maybe add some pureed berries or something. You may need to experiment. For a less sugary version of lemon lime and bitters, I mix half a shot each of lemon and lime cordials, bitters, top up the rest with soda water, and stir.

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

The less sugary version of the LLB sounds great. I used to love them as a kids, but find them too sweet now, even if I don't use it for this picnic (am leaning towards sparkling apple juice at this stage) that's given me a good idea for what to order in a pub next time I'm there and not drinking! (No, really, sometimes it does happen!)

Thanks!

[asmodel.livejournal.com]

Go to the pub and not drink? How can this be???

But then I do that all the time now:) I had to shift down to being a 'social drinker' because of medication, so I found that LLBs are a good 'beer' substitute at the pub.

I think 'less sugary' may be misleading. I haven't tallied up the sugar, but it tastes less sweet in any case.

[impostinator.livejournal.com]

Most people have already said all the sensible things I was going to say by now, but re: cantelope, I read an interesting recipe the other day that had cantelope slices served with a kind of chilli/garlic/fresh herb relish as an entree - though heaven knows garlic and chilli isn't everyone's idea of romantic...

As far as drinks go, you could make up some interesting varieties of iced tea, or something like that...

If you want extra stuff, I know a lot of people have said this already, but you really cannot go wrong with some really nice bread and dip.

Good luck with it... such a sweet idea...

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

Do you perchance remember where you read that recipe? Sounds interesting!

[impostinator.livejournal.com]

It's in a cookbook I own; can e-mail you the recipe if you like

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

That would be great if you have time, thanks!

[cows-might-fly.livejournal.com]

If you want another easily transportable sweet dish, I have a Moroccan recipe for Stuffed Dates which is always a big hit. Uses fresh dates and a mixture of pistachios, almonds, butter and sugar from memory. If you're interested I can lend you the Moroccan cookbook, I got it from, it might have some other good stuff as well.

[mstakenidentity.livejournal.com]

YES YES YES!

That sounds divine!

May I borrow the book? I can probably get most of that stuff from the market too... *plots*

[ephant.livejournal.com]

fresh bread and dip is good for picnics. Dips can be expensive - but not this one!

Curried Lentil Dip
------------------

1 onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 cup red lentils
1 1/2 cups (approx) water
Olive Oil

Fry the onion & garlic in a saucepan with some oil, when the onion is transparent add some curry powder for a few moments and then add water & lentils. Boil for 30 mins or so. Can be served warm or cold.