Sunday Picnic

One of the items on Michael's and my summer to-do list was to go for a picnic in Governor Nelson State Park. This time, our focus was more on the picnic than the park, but we'll make use of his state park parking sticker later in the season to check out some of the other park attractions. On the menu: chorizo burgers with a roasted red pepper aïoli and cucumber salsa and sponge cake with fresh whipped cream and berries.

I didn't mess with the original recipes much, so I'll just post pictures and links:

Hamburger Buns (recipe found here)

These buns were super simple to make. I used 1/2 and 1/2 whole wheat and AP flour, and topped them with my "Everything" mix (an assortment of kosher salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and granulated garlic and onion). I made good use of my roommate Emily's KitchenAid stand mixer, and I don't know how I survived without one! The dough hook is my favorite, doing the kneading for me while I can get some other stuff done. I had a lot to do Sunday morning, so I needed to stay up on my dishes. I didn't make them quite as big as traditional hamburger buns, as the recipe called for 12 buns. They were quite dense for hamburger buns, but they were sturdy enough to handle the juicy/oily nature of the chorizo, and the flavor of the buns was right on. I froze 6, and was very tempted this morning to bring one out for breakfast...

Roasted Red Pepper Aïoli (recipe found here)

For the experience and the challenge, I made up this aïoli by hand; just me, a bowl, and a whisk. For those interested in doing the same thing, I would suggest recruiting someone to pour the oil for you. I found myself using the measuring cup to try and steady the bowl as I beat, but then I would splash in the oil a little faster than intended. For a delicious addition to the David Lebowitz recipe, I would definitely recommend freshly roasted red peppers. The acidity of the peppers was balanced really well by the creamy egginess of the aïoli. So many levels of yum. (And for those wondering, our refrigerator came back to a semi-working level, but I bought a new case of eggs for this. No salmonella for us.)

Cucumber Salsa (...or cucumber tomato salad, found here)

I made a cucumber tomato salad to eat as a side dish, but Michael had the brilliant idea to use them as a crunch factor on the burgers. It worked out perfectly, especially because I forgot to bring lettuce and tomato for the burgers. While the balsamic dressing on the salad didn't quite fit the flavor profile of the chorizo, it was a nice complement. In hindsight, it would have been amazing to have some avocado slices to top the burgers. Next time. (And please note the aïoli dripping off the bun in this picture)

Glorious Sponge Cake (I did not make up the name for this recipe)

There are 6 eggs in this cake. Six. And surprisingly for me, no butter. I learned that I'm not that great at separating eggs. And when I was fishing egg yoke out of my bowl of whites, I remembered an episode of Good Eats wherein Alton Brownie (Michael and my moniker for one of our celebrity crushes) was describing the scientific reason why it was paramount that you shouldn't have one bit of yoke in your egg whites during whipping. I can't remember the reason, but it exists out there to haunt me. I also learned why angel and sponge cakes are commonly baked in springform pans. Save the lecture; just don't bake it in a bundt pan, unless you want to be scrubbing out sponge cake bits, even after you've let the pan soak all night.

All in all, it was a successful picnic! After eating all of this rich, heavy food, I treated myself to a 4-hour dance rehearsal. I'll just say it wasn't as bad as eating Thai food before dance rehearsal... Some more pictures from the day:

Grillmaster Flash