Before moving to the Charleston area, we read about Spoleto, but never had an opportunity to attend. One of the events we chose during our first year here was the Festival Finale at Middleton Place. We had heard that people went to a lot of trouble to produce gourmet meals to share with their friends at a spectacular location. We thought our picnic was elegant, but once we arrived at the plantation, it was obvious that numerous people had spent a lot more time and effort on their presentations. The first thing we saw was a lovely table for two, complete with a silver candelabra, fresh roses, champagne glasses, and upholstered chairs. Countless groups had elaborate table settings with fresh flowers, decorations, and beautifully presented food. We thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and evening (in spite of rain) and we will be attending again this year with our house guests. We're trying a new recipe as the centerpiece of the meal and we will share it later (depending upon the results). Meanwhile, we think this combination of recipes will produce an enjoyable picnic. What you choose to do in terms of transporting silver, china, and crystal to Middleton Place, we leave up to you. The Finale is a wonderful occasion and we hope many of you plan to attend.
This recipe is from Basil by Janet Hazen (Chronicle Books 1993).
Ingredients:
In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, goat cheese, garlic and red pepper flakes; mix well. Just prior to serving, add the basil and pistachios. Mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature on crackers, stuffed into celery hearts, or spread on cucumber slices. 6 servings.
A speciality of Cunetto House of Pasta in St. Louis
Ingredients:
Mix oil, wine, parsley, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes in a large bowl. Add cubed chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate one hour.
Preheat broiler. Combine the bread crumbs and cheese on waxed paper. Remove the chicken from marinade and add chicken to crumb mixture. Toss to coat and thread chicken onto skewers. Place skewers on broiler pan with rack and broil until thoroughly cooked, turning frequently (about 15-18 minutes total cooking time). Transfer skewers to platter.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Mix thoroughly and drizzle lemon butter over chicken. 6 servings.
Ingredients:
Prepare charcoal grill. After washing vegetables, cut zucchini, eggplant and yellow squash in half lengthwise. Lay vegetables, cut side up, on waxed paper and sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 30-45 minutes. When ready to cook, thoroughly rinse salt from vegetables and pat dry with paper towels. Combine olive oil and garlic and brush the oil mixture onto all surfaces of squash, eggplant and peppers. Sprinkle with pepper. Place vegetables on grill over direct heat and cook, turning frequently, just until tender. 6 servings.
Although we've never made this recipe from Lee Bailey's Country Weekends (Clarkson N. Potter, 1983), we do enjoy it when Merry's daughter, Nicci, makes it for us.
Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
Combine flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the frozen butter and Crisco. Process until the shortening is the size of small peas. Add 5 TBS ice water. Process until dough begins to form a ball but remove before it does. (Add additional water if necessary). Gather dough into a ball, dust with flour and refrigerate in plastic wrap for 30 minutes.
Roll out half the dough into a thin sheet. Have ready the marmalade mixed with the soft buttered bread crumbs. Cut dough into 5 inch squares, place one heaping tablespoon of marmalade mixture on one side of square and fold the dough over on itself. Seal the three open sides by pressing them together with the tines of a fork. Repeat with remaining dough and marmalade. Bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Cool on rack. 8-10 tarts.
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