Comments Add a public comment

kevinkclee

To WIN tell us: You're eating out but this time, your al fresco feast is on you--a picnic! You've got the blanket, the frisbee (or badminton racket, if you must), now all you need is the food. What do you pack in your perfect (or quirky) picnic basket? And where in Beijing would you have your picnic?

Contest ends April 24

4 months, 2 weeks ago

undiebunz

Seeing I am a horrible cook - I would probably resort to ordering the food & then putting it onto my home plates and pretend that it was self-prepared....teehehe

Thus, the following dishes "as prepared by me" would be: Starters: 1. 2x Order of Hatsune Spicy 119Roll 2. Taboulli Salad + 10 Mezza dishes with
Pita Bread from Biteapita

Main Courses: 1. # of People x Alameda/W Dine&Wine
Set Lunch

Dessert: 1. Ice cream from Comptoirs de France - various flavors with any of their choco-licious desserts

Wine: 1. A bottle, or two....or ...three...four...

Location: On the grassy knoll at Central Park - Open space that not many people frequent.

.....mmm......damn - I actually just might do this next week....foodie for life

4 months, 2 weeks ago

devibengfort

My perfect picnic:

Since the weather is getting hotter, I would have a completely vegetarian meal to make sure that there is no chance of spoiling meat. I also love to cook, so here is what I'd do:

Starters: Home-made Red Pepper Hummus Very easy and quick to make. Add chickpeas (canned, or you can buy a twenty kuai bag of dehydrated chickpeas from Louhao Organic Store, cook them and store them in your freezer for quick use), sesame seed paste, lemon juice, olive oil, half a red pepper and some salt and pepper to a blender and blend smooth. Voila! Serve with your favorite crackers or pita bread, most preferably from Biteapita.

Salad: Asian Spinach and Avocado Salad

Get some spinach and an avocado (12 kuai at Jenny Lou's). Finely mince a shallot, add white rice vinegar, a little olive oil, and add spinach and sliced avocado, mix till coated with vinegar and oil.

Main Course: Grilled vegetable and Feta Cheese sandwich on Ciabatta.

Cut a red pepper and a yellow pepper in half and broil in toaster oven on highest setting as close to the burner for 15 mins. skins should get a little charred. Peel off some of the black skin, slice. On stove caramelize some red onions. Put all, including feta cheese on ciabatta (Found a store called tasty bakery near Shuangjing qiao that has superb ciabatta for 3 kuai a piece! It's fantastic)

Desert: I'm partial to the carrot cake and other deserts at the German bakery on Lucky Street. Also, it's summer! Ripe, juicy sweet strawberries make a perfect dessert.

Wine! No romantic picnic with the boyfriend/husband/lover/boytoy is complete without a bottle (or two). I hate to copy undiebunz, but I would also choose to go to the grassy knoll at Central park. It has grassy tiers, and is relatively quiet. Plus, you can stop by Top Cellars to pick up a wine on the way! Also, I live in Pingguo, and I've seen people out on blankets soaking up the sun, which has made me so jealous. That could also be a good spot, just watch out for all the dogs!

4 months, 2 weeks ago

dilawur

I actually prepared lunch with three other girlfriends for a lazy Sunday just a few weeks ago so I can tell you first hand what we did that made our picnic a real success. We were lucky as it turned out to be the first real day of Spring in Beijing and one of the girls is a wine expert so she worked out the wine pairing. We made a 3-course lunch, starting with aperitifs of fresh garlic soaked with olives, caprese (tomatos, mozarella and olive oil/balsamic vinegar) and italian sausage paired with extra dry Prosecco. First course was a salad with homemade French dressing of vinegar, oil, seeded mustard and pepper. We threw in artichokes hearts, mushrooms, shredded emmentale cheese, and garlic-butter shrimps. All washed down with a fresh Valckenberg Rieseling. Second course was chicken tagine stewed for 2 hours with vegetables and spices matched with butter couscous and a Henri Bourgeois Pouilly-Fume white. Third course was homemade 75% cocoa chocolate mousse chilled for 4 hours (lunch was long) paired with Banfi Rosa Regale sparkling sweet wine. All in all, the picnic was a tremendous success that left us happy and lazy. We ate out by the lawn at Pingguo and the numerous jealous dogs and their owners who stopped next to us to stare were amusing. We were also able to lie down on the grass without getting harassed by grass-guards in between courses.

4 months, 1 week ago

annecec

I really miss picnics; in France when the weather's nice we often go picnicking with friends on the Champ-de-Mars and other parks in Paris. Such a shame Beijing doesn't have nice lawns in its parks where people could sit and lie down. I guess the best spot for picnic here would be the botanical garden.

So I'd cook and bring the classics French usually bring for pique-nique and apéritif:

-Fresh-cut vegetable medley blend (carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, cauliflowers, and mushrooms) with a few dips: mayonnaise, mustard, vinaigrette, béarnaise, etc. -Pita bread and various dips: humus, tapenade (olive dip), eggplant caviar, guacamole, tzatziki -Charcuterie (cooked and preserved meats) saucisson, smoked ham, pâté, rillettes with some pickles (cornichons), cocktail sausages and mustard dip -Mixed salad with, tomato, tuna, corn, feta cheese, green beans, lettuce, olives, avocado, eggs, basil, etc. -Lebanese tabouleh -Quiche lorraine (pie with egg and bacon), cake jambon-olives (olive and ham loaf) -Baguette bread and cheeses (brie/camembert, goat cheese, roquefort, comté, etc.) -Dessert: home-made apple or apricot tart, chocolate cake and fresh fruit like cherries, strawberries, Reine-Claude plums (greengages)

Just to think of it makes my mouth water!

And along with the dishes, the corresponding fresh drinks of course. In order :Pastis, Kir (white wine+black currant liqueur), rosé wine, beers, red wine, calvados (digestive)

And then linger on the blanket, play cards or party games with friends and just enjoy!

4 months, 1 week ago

cynthjeany

I haven't found a place where you can do outdoor BBQ DIY style in Beijing... so we'll go for picnic for now. My rationale is to bring great food that tastes great even served cold as it's not convenient to bring a grill along.. Let's go to a park nearby (Perhaps, Ritan park? Where there's water and trees.. and quiet) instead of staying in your apartment complex.. Start off with a light Broccoli Apple Salad... chop the apples and mix with buttered broccoli, walnuts and finely chopped red onion with raisins and yogurt, serve on a bed of lettuce. The next dish requires a bit of a wrapping exercise: Turkey-Cranberry Wraps. Spoon a tablespoon of mustard and cranberry sauce down the center of the tortilla and top with a slice of cheddar cheese, turkey ham, pecans and lettuce leaves and start wrapping! Even kids can do it and they'd love it! While everyone is busy wrapping, take out the delicately prepared Chicken Roll-ups cold dish and feed everyone like babies. It's a beautifully roll-up of chicken cutlets seasoned with salt and pepper, with slices of prosciutto, fresh mozzarella cheese and figs wrapped flavored with olive oil. They'll love it! At last, spice up your taste-buds with the Spicy Fruit Dip. Take out the spicy dip that consists of cottage cheese, cinnamon, honey and nutmeg and serve with assorted fresh fruit - strawberries, sliced kiwifruit, pineapple, honeydew, cantaloupe melon, star fruits, etc. I know they all sound like fantastic summer fruits, but aren't we all waiting for the summer? I'd pair a Riesling or a chilled white wine with this picnic... my purpose is not to get drunk with so much wine... I'd even prepare chilled fruit juice for the little ones or those who want to go easy and enjoy more of the sun. A rejuvenating experience of healthy food and vitamin D from the sun!

4 months ago

kevinkclee

Thank you all for responding to the Al Fresco contest! This contest is indeed over. After wiping our mouths from all the salivation from reading your answers, we've heart-wrenchingly chosen a winner. They have been notified and we will announce publicly who it is tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

4 months ago