APÉRITIF:
Welcome to another week of On the Back Burner, our weekend edition of Sifted. For our new readers, On the Back Burner will feel more laidback — it’s where we’ll discuss more time-intensive recipes and other things on our mind going into the weekend. And if you’re a reader, but not a subscriber, you can change that here:
It feels like there are only a few weeks left where the weather will allow for outdoor socializing, but I plan to pile on the layers and go for as long as possible. In my fantasy, I have one of those big thermoses seemingly every outdoorsy person owns and I’m pouring warm mulled cider for all my friends as we cozy around a fire, draped in thick, plaid blankets. In reality, though, we’re sitting in Prospect Park on someone’s old bed sheets, drinking canned cocktails around an LED light. *Carrie Bradshaw voice* We couldn’t help but wonder, what are the best foods for socializing in the COVID-era? Is it individually portioned snacks? Big salads? Just forgo the food altogether for more alcohol to forget everything going on in the world? We’re no experts, but we can share what we’ve been packing for picnics to hold you over until we can go back to the days of ripping into a big baguette and taking swigs from a communal bottle of orange wine.
Live footage of us.
ON THE BACK BURNER THIS WEEKEND:
A Big Grain Salad: Nothing makes me feel more like an adult than throwing together a salad of hearty grains (except for using the term ‘hearty grains’). Full of protein, nutty, and filling, they’re an inexpensive way to feed your friends a nourishing meal that says “I love you and I care about your gut health.” Our go-to grains are farro, pearled barley, millet, and fonio (quinoa is so 2016). Here is a simple grain salad that’s endlessly adaptable from our extremely talented friend Jane. I also love this autumn salad that has all of the things you want to eat this time of year in one big bowl. For something a little warmer, this mushroom and barley one is super yummy and easy to pare down for a picnic; skip the shallots or top with store-bought fried onions (don’t knock ’em till you try ’em), pick one herb instead of three (I’d go for thyme here), or sub any cheese you have on hand (goat cheese is great in it). A Sweetgreen shroomami bowl could never… -CK
Container Cake: I’m the friend that insists on making your birthday cake. “What’s your favorite kind of cake? I’ll make you ANYTHING!” is something I’ve continued to ask people, even after moving into an apartment with no mixers and 0 (zero!) cake pans, and declaring biking my only mode of transportation. The lack of baking materials meant lots of mixing batters by hand (my arms are shredded) and baking in frying pans (yes you absolutely can make cake in them if they’re buttered and parchment-ed), but how was I supposed to transport that cake to the park, to a bar, to Manhattan, to a park or a bar in Manhattan… by bike? I’m so glad I asked! One day, after eating cold, leftover pad thai, I stared at the oily, empty takeout container and realized that a layer of cake would fit inside perfectly. I washed it, laid a round of cake on the bottom, frosted that, and repeated until the cake was just tall enough to snap the top on, strap it into my bike basket and ride away. Now my cakes always survive the slopes of Park Slope, the treacherous Manhattan Bridge, and every bike lane-less street. (The very first Container Cake was this olive oil cake with this chocolate olive oil glaze. A classy combination, I know.) -GS
Container cakes are also ant-proof.
Dips for days: I firmly believe in the power of a good dip, and that they can be the unsung hero of any gathering. Baba ghanoush is one of my grocery staples, but made fresh, it’s a totally different animal. This baba recipe, which hails from a beloved restaurant in my hometown, is ethereally light, yet deep with smoky eggplant flavor. It uses rich labneh (or full fat greek yogurt) to give it unparalleled creaminess. I promise you’ll never want to go back to the store-bought stuff. Going for more of a universal crowd-pleaser? This lemony-feta dip (reprinted here for those without the coin for a NYT sub) is seriously good. Salty, tangy, creamy, with just a little kick of cayenne; in the words of Stefon, this dip has everything. It stole the show at our last Friendsgiving dinner, so you know it’s good if it can stand out in a crowd of stuffing, mac n’ cheese, and mashed potatoes. Just be sure to enforce a strict no double dipping policy at your picnics. -CK
TAKEOUT:
One thing I’ve learned this summer is the importance of a picnic blanket. You do not want to show up to Prospect Park without one (do you know how itchy and mysteriously damp that grass is?), and you definitely don’t want to be stuck sitting directly on the cold, hard concrete of a roof you’re technically not allowed to be on for four hours without one (a situation I’ve found myself in more than a handful of times this summer). I love Pendelton blankets as much as the next Brooklyn twentysomething, but they cost a pretty penny and I firmly believe they don’t make ’em like they used to (the old ones are thicc!), so I love scoping out vintage ones on Ebay.
Sometimes my closet feels like a Russian doll of tote bags — one stuffed inside another inside another bigger one with seemingly no end. But now’s the time to leave tote at home in favor of a sturdy backpack! This is a classic, but I recently added this bigger one with lots of inside and outside pockets to my collection (some colors are on sale!). I’ve been packing it with my trusty make-me-feel-like-I-work-in-a-restaurant containers that I’ve filled with salty cheeses and seedy crackers and spicy greens and mustardy salad dressing and cold pasta and homemade pickles, and heading out to park picnics with everything I could ever want or need on my back. (Tote) bag lady, no more.
When in doubt, or tight on time, just bring a pizza. It’s a cop out move, yes. Is anyone mad you brought a pizza pie to the party? No. That’s right, a super giant pizza, plain, nothing on it.