You must be wondering, what a silly title.. Whoever has a picnic in a cemented front yard?! Wait! that is not even a front yard... That's a damn parking spot. Well. yes, guilty.
But, the who is .. umm.. New Yorkers! Jaded by the lack of outdoor spaces and foiled by unexpected thunderstorms from going to the park but determined to have their al fresco experience. Read moi!
So, I had this all planned out. I was going to make this awesome picnic spread with the products the lovely folks at Trois Petit Cochon sent across. Their picnic basket makes for a fantastic board as is but I decided to dare it up further. Then, me and partner were going to carry it to Astoria park, sit amidst the trees with a view of the bridge. I was going to uncork a nice bottle of chilled Rosé, pour into proper flutes (we don't do paper cups in our thirties.. we buy hampers with checkered cloth liners and leather straps to hold things together... #noirony), lean back and enjoy the afternoon. It was the pre-Memorial day picnic just right to ease into the Summer groove.
Except, as it usually happens in the East Coast, we were gifted with the heavy possibility of Late Spring showers that decided that a sunny forecast just wasn't what it had in mind. So, as the day stayed ominously cloudy, I postponed the long afternoon brunch plans to early evening dinner idea. And, we perpetually waited for either the sky to clear up or dump the water and go away.
Neither happened. But dinner time came. Yet, I was determined to have the damn picnic. So, as I watched the parking spot in our house clear out, while I sipped a settling lager, a plan formed. Well, if we can't go to the park, we'll bring it to us! It hatched as I took in the freshly planted flower plants that my landlady does every Spring. That's it! We'll have a picnic right in our front yard, ahem, parking spot!
So, I put out the folding chairs, brought out the platters and wood boards, popped open new beer, because by now, the beer was more fitting to the occasion and the spread. I was rather proud of myself, while the landlady herself, who was watching from the porch and all the passer-bys gazed on in amusement!
There we have it - the menu for my unique spread of all gluten free pork and duck things...
Chorizo and Pepper Chickpea Cake
Whipped Ricotta and Duck Mousse on Pepper Crak
Sliced Smoked Duck Breast
Sliced Chorizo
Paired with rich, deep, strong Lager
Trois Petit Cochon
#3pigspate #ad #unboreyourboard
Chorizo and Pepper Chickpea Cake
2/3 cup diced chorizo, about 1/2 inch cubes
1 red pepper, diced small
1/4 cup + 2 tsp sunflower seeds
1 T Dijon mustard
2/3 cup chickpea flour
1/3 cup gluten free flour blend {sub with regular flour is not GF}
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350F.
Whisk together the eggs and olive oil until very pale and nearly doubled. Whisk in the mustard to incorporate evenly.
Sift in the flours, soda, salt and pepper and quickly fold into the yolk mixture.
Add the chorizo , sunflower seeds and pepper pieces and fold in.
Pour into a 6 inch oiled cake pan and sprinkle the remaining 2 teaspoon of seeds.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until brown on top and springy to touch.
Remove and cool on rack till it comes to room temperature. The cake is delicate and best to not slice it while very warm.
Store in an box, on the counter for 2 days or in the refrigerator upto 4 days.
