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Beach Eats....What do you bring?

post #1 of 21
8/9/02 at 1:12pm
Thread Starter 
The dog days of summer are upon us,
Actually it's been quite beautiful the last few day's in CT,warm and low humidity :)

But anyway, what do you all like to bring along with you when you head out for a day on the beach?

I like simple things like chilled roast chicken or sliced flank steak,cheeses and bread.

Chilled shrimp with hot sauce
olives,and cold roasted eggplant.Lots of water+lots of chilled adult beverges.

Raw veggies and sandwiches for the kids,chips and stuff.

Anyone else?
Baruch ben Rueven / Chanaבראד, ילד של ריימונד והאלאן
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post #2 of 21
8/9/02 at 2:55pm
Seems like whenever we picnic on the beach, we always bring too much food. Apparently, I'm the slaw queen, so there always has to be slaw. I'm with ya on the chilled roast chicken, CC. And sandwiches are perfect, because they start with sand.:p
I just made a tasty rosemary and olive oil boule, and I might slice that up and eat it with grain mustard , romaine lettuce, and peppermill turkey.:lips:
www.cakesuite.com
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post #3 of 21
8/9/02 at 4:16pm
Thread Starter 
Nothing like a bit of sand in your sandwich.

I love the extra "Crunch"makes me think of the Cape :)

The Boule sounds tasty
Baruch ben Rueven / Chanaבראד, ילד של ריימונד והאלאן
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post #4 of 21
8/9/02 at 6:11pm
All this sounds wonderful, and I would love to eat it at home.

Am I the only one who doesn't like eating on the beach? :D


Sue
I live in my own little world. But it's OK...they know me here.
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post #5 of 21
8/9/02 at 9:43pm
I don't like eating at the beach. You get sand in your food, you drop it all over yourself (unless you bring little tables or something, I guess), seagulls harass you, it blows away, etc.
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post #6 of 21
8/10/02 at 7:08am
It seems that I am in a "muffeletta" rut right now. Everytime we go off for a picnic of some sort, I usually bring a variation on a muffeletta. Along with that, there is always fresh fruit. Cherries are a great picnic food!!! And don't forget the adult, malted beverages!
From Man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the World-Saint Arnoldus
http://www.onceachef.com/
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post #7 of 21
8/10/02 at 8:52am
Pete,
I've already heard from people here the word "muffeletta" and wonder what kind of food it is! It reminds me of the Italian word "moffetta", but since it means "polecat" it's clearly something else:p . Could you enlighten me?

Apart from that, I too don't like eating on the beach...although our beaches are usually pretty stony and sand is not a problem :(
So, my idea of a picnic is a mountain one...something rather boring, I must say, if I remember all those walks I had with my family during my childhood, but suppose it's a curse nobody can escape;)
In any case, this is the menu of a "typical" Italian picnic (my family ones included!)

-Sandwiches with salami, prosciutto, cheese and veggies (tomato/mozzarella and so on), cotoletta alla milanese
-Frittata (probably the top ten in ANY italian picnic)
-Roasted chicken
-Hard boiled eggs
-Rice salad
-Focaccia and/or homemade pizza
-Fresh fruits
-Chocolate bars
-Beverages (malted or not) as everywhere in the world!

Pongi
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post #8 of 21
8/10/02 at 4:06pm
I really like all the food ideas but one thing is missing though .
That special someone to share it with . Thats what makes the beach picnic so good for me . oh and maybe some cold fried chicken with potato salad and a veggie assortment with dip ,
watermelon for dessert and Im a happy camper . Just dont forget that special someone . Your friend in food , Doug ..................
The two most common things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity !
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post #9 of 21
8/10/02 at 6:49pm
While I do love cold fried chicken on the beach as well as grilled burgers and hot dogs I always seem to feel cheated if I don't eat seafood on the beach. There's something almost primal to me, about having clams on the beach or crabs, fresh caught grilled fish and dare I say it....LOBSTER!!!
Got to have a Clam bake!
My latest musical venture!
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Also
http://www.myspace.com/popshowband "I'm at the age when food has taken the place of sex in my life. In fact I've just had a mirror put over my kitchen table." Rodney Dangerfield RIP
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post #10 of 21
8/10/02 at 7:37pm
Pongi, a muffeletta is a sandwich that was created in New Orleans by Italian immigrants. Central Grocery is the supposed birthplace of this wonderful sandwich. It is made on a very large, round, flat bread covered with sesame seeds. They slice the bread open and layer a number of different italian cold cuts (salami, mortadella, capicola, etc. I can't remember exactly which meats though), then add provolone cheese. But what really makes the sandwich special (and messy!) is the olive salad that they top the meats with before closing the sandwich. Its a salad made up of olives, garlic, carrots, other various vegetables, oil, vinegar, and a light sprinkling of red pepper flakes. They are so large that they sell the sandwiches by the 1/2s and 1/4s. Getting a muffeletta at Central Grocery is always one of my highlights whenever I get to New Orleans.
From Man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the World-Saint Arnoldus
http://www.onceachef.com/
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post #11 of 21
8/12/02 at 4:53am
I've been afraid to go to the beach this year...afraid all those nosy tourists are gonna push me back out to sea.
It's not Dairy Queen.
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post #12 of 21
8/12/02 at 6:10am
Thanks Pete!
This muffeletta sounds very yummy...could anyone of those immigrants come back to Italy and teach our grocers the recipe?
BTW, after your reply I did a quick online search and, as I supposed, there is no trace of it in any Italian site. So, it's another "Italian" specialty that actually wasn't born in Italy, and I wonder how many dishes exist in the world which are unknown in the country they're told to come from!
I'm starting a thread about this topic...

Pongi
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post #13 of 21
8/12/02 at 10:08am
:D :D :D :D :D They're just being helpful.. They don't want to see your skin start to crack.
Avoid PETA they'll probably try to adopt you.;)
My latest musical venture!
http://myspace.com/nikandtheniceguys
 
Also
http://www.myspace.com/popshowband "I'm at the age when food has taken the place of sex in my life. In fact I've just had a mirror put over my kitchen table." Rodney Dangerfield RIP
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post #14 of 21
8/12/02 at 3:09pm

beached food

Growing up the beach always meant exotic fast food (well exotic in that we didn't have that particular footlong hot dog stand which introduced our family to deep fried whole turkey back in the 80's, but that's another thread) and seafood restaurants. Up north meant crispy and melt in your mouth sweet fried clams and outdoor grill steamed lobsters spread out on picnic tables--the only way to eat them. Down south was bushels of steamed shrimp and wash tubs full of steamed oysters with DIY cocktail sauce fixin's on the lazy susan on the table. And those fascinating (at least to the young me) oyster roast tables with holes right in the middle to dump your oyster shells or to crawl under and stick your head through when the conversation waned. But in all of those years and even now, I can never remember actually eating anything on the beach other than sand and snootfulls of sea water.
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post #15 of 21
8/12/02 at 8:14pm
Pongi, no, the muffeletta is not Italian, nor do I think that it has ever claimed to be. It is a New Orleans dish through and through. It's only link to Italy, is that it was created by Italian immigrants or childern of Italian immigrants. But it is wonderful, you should attempt to make one. There are numerous recipes floating around on the web.
From Man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the World-Saint Arnoldus
http://www.onceachef.com/
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post #16 of 21
8/12/02 at 9:13pm
Aaaaa the aroma of Central Grocery is reminisent of a polecat.It just so happens I have a coupla jars of Central Grocery olive salad with muff recipes on them....Genoa salami, Ham, swiss or provolone, mortadella topped with olive salad on an Italian bread.
Ingrediant list off the jar of olive salad...olives, celery, cauliflower, carrots, sweet peppers, onions, capers parsley, pepperocini, vegetable oil, olive oil, vinegar, salt garlic and spices. olives are large green cracked and soft black heavy on the green. Oily, stinky, lucious....

My beach is more like Mo. parks, streams, creeks, and hills....I adore an herb fougasse with tapenade, feta, chopped artichokes, grilled zucchini, red onions, red peppers, chopped tomatoes, basalmic and olive oil all smushed together. I cooked for a Farm Picnic yesterday (Joan Gussow was in town)....fresh tomatoes (heirloom brandywines, arkansas travelers, sungold, etc...) caponata on a crouton with chevre!!!! to good. herb jasmine rice salad with sauteed shiitakes, corn and black bean salad, fingerling haricot verte French potato salad, peach crisp, lamb brats, watermelon, assorted artisan breads.....um think that's it. All Missouri grown.

I like taking alot of vegetarian (non-mayo) foods with any meats separate into the woods....
Personally I'm not a sand girl, but when I was 16 and surfing in LA meatball subs were the food of the beach.
cooking with all your senses.....
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post #17 of 21
8/21/02 at 9:30pm
Before I actually answer the What do you bring to the beach? question, I've got to add my 2 cents to the muffalletta discussion: YUMMMMMMMMM. When I've gone through NO on the train, I've always tried to hit Central Grocery and buy a whole one. It lasts me a couple of days, it's so big. That is, if I can stop myself from eating it all at once. ;)

Now: I usually just bring fruit, and water. How boring. But we only stay a few hours at a time. When I was a kid, we'd stay by Lake Ronkonkoma all day, and have simple stuff like sandwiches and fruit and cupcakes and lemonade. Then stop on the way home to get bagels and bialies and lox (the REAL thing, not that tasteless Nova), and other "appetizing" (herring, baked salmon, smoked whitefish).

But I have a funny beach-food story, as related to me by hubby Paul: last week we spent part of our vacation on Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester, MA. Literally across the street from the beach, but ... Anyway, one afternoon he went out to jog on the beach, and noticed a seagull with a small bag of chips in its beak. Then he saw another seagull poking around in a beachbag on an empty blanket, and pulling out a large bag of chips. Apparently the birds had knocked over the beachbag and were rooting around in it for food -- which they took away, still sealed in the bags!
"Notorious stickler" -- The New York Times, January 4, 2004
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post #18 of 21
8/23/02 at 12:24pm

BEST BEACH FOOD!

Sparkling cider (if one does not drink wine)
Thin crackers
Gourmet cheese
Smoked salmon and tuna, purchased somewhere along the beach
Chocolate truffles

A calm night

A warm blanket

A beautiful sunset

Of course, that was when I lived on the west coast

~~Shimmer~~
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea"
- Henry James
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post #19 of 21
8/24/02 at 12:07am
Here's my checklist for the Beach:

-Wife
-Dog
-Blanket
-Throw toy (for the dog!)
-Good bottle of wine
-Club crackers
-Genoa salami
-Cheddar cheese
-Pocket knife (to cut the......)

My wife and I try and go a couple of times a year and this seems to be the easiest recipe for success for us.
My wife woke me last night; I screamed at the top of my lungs "How many times do I have to tell you:
SWEEP THE FLOOR!"


Posh Nosh Restaurant "Casual Gourmet"
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post #20 of 21
8/26/02 at 7:32pm
When we were kids, we used to have to lug tables, coolers, pots and pans etc. to the beach or picnic area. I swore I would never do that! I bring some frozen water bottles, and maybe some cheese and crackers. I'll go up on the boardwalk and get some vinegar fries, sausage and peppers or clams on the half shell, and of course a Kohlers ice cream.
You are not old, till you've lost all your marvels.
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post #21 of 21
8/26/02 at 7:39pm
Wow, where I used to go to the beach, the only thing up above the sand was trees and more sand! No boardwalk!

~~Shimmer~~;)
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea"
- Henry James
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