Text: Leila Saffarian. Assisted by Nomvuselelo Mncube. Art director. Jani Venter. Photographs: Graeme Borchers. Assisted by Curtis Gallon. Article from the February 2013 issue of Food and Home Entertaining Magazine. 

Whether you choose a romantic picnic for two or you’re planning a family gathering indulge in these picnic ideas with a retro twist

Essential vintage picnic tips

• Make sure you take along plenty of soft picnic blankets.
• Create that vintage look with piles of old books.
• Put all your vintage crockery and cutlery to good use in wicker picnic baskets.
• Wooden tennis rackets are easy to transport and fun to actually play with.

These crumbed chicken bites are easy to transport and anything served in a glass jar just says old-school picnic eating

Crumbed chicken and sesame coleslaw pots 

Serves 4

EASY 35 mins

Crumbed chicken

4 boneless and skinless chicken breasts

120g (1 cup) cake flour

500ml (2 cups) Panko breadcrumbs

2,5ml (1/2 tsp) cayenne pepper

60ml (1/4 cup) Parmesan, grated

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 large eggs, beaten

vegetable oil, for frying

Coleslaw

1 small white cabbage, shredded

½ small red cabbage, shredded

1 large carrot, julienned

small handful fresh coriander,

roughly chopped

Dressing

250ml (1 cup) Greek yoghurt

30ml (2 tbsp) good quality mayonnaise

45ml (3 tbsp) fresh chives, chopped

45ml (3 tbsp) fresh coriander, chopped

juice of 1 lime

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

sesame seeds, to serve

fresh coriander, to serve fresh

lime wedges, to serve

1. For the chicken, cut the breasts into strips and dust with flour.
2. Place the breadcrumbs in a large bowl and add the cayenne pepper, Parmesan and seasoning.
3. Coat the chicken in the breadcrumbs. Dip into the beaten egg, followed by a second coating of crumbs. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes.
4. Heat the oil over medium heat. Test the oil by placing a crumb in the oil – when ready, fry the chicken in batches until golden, about 4-5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Set aside.
5. For the coleslaw, combine the white and red cabbages, carrot and coriander in a large bowl.
6. Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a jug and mix well. Add to the veggies and coat well. Spoon into glass jars and top with sesame seeds.
7. Serve the crumbed chicken with coleslaw and scatter with extra sesame seeds. Serve with fresh coriander and lime wedges.

Leila’s tip

The crumbed chicken can be baked for 15 minutes in a preheated 200°C oven – crisp and delicious!

Mini chicken, baby marrow and bacon picnic pies

These mini pies are utterly yum, easy to make, pack and eat

Makes 6-8 mini pies

A LITTLE EFFORT 45 mins

Filling

4 cooked boneless and skinless chicken breasts, chopped

250ml (1 cup) good quality, store-bought cheese sauce

30ml (2 tbsp) fresh chives, chopped

5ml (1 tsp) dried chilli flakes

5ml (1 tsp) ground coriander sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 rolls wholewheat puff pastry

roasted baby marrow slices

5 pieces cooked, crisp, streaky bacon, chopped

1 large egg, beaten

Dijon mustard, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. For the filling, place the chicken, cheese sauce, chives, chilli flakes and ground coriander in a large bowl. Season and mix well.
3. Grease a 6-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
4. Roll the pastry out on a floured work surface and cut circles, slightly bigger than the muffin holes, with a smaller circle for the pie tops.
5. Gently push the larger pastry discs into the muffin holes and fill with 15 – 30ml (1-2 tbsp) of chicken filling. Place baby marrow slices on top, followed by bacon and add another tablespoon of chicken into the pie.
6. Top the pies with the smaller pastry discs, brush with beaten egg and create a small steam hole in the top of each pie.
7. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180°C and bake until the pastry is golden and crisp, about 15 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and cool before serving with a jar of Dijon mustard.

Leila’s tip 

Serve these little pies with a simple, peppery rocket salad

Old-fashioned pink lemonade

Refreshing and pretty with just a hint of pink for all the romantics

Serves 4

EASY 10 mins + 1 hr to chiil

juice of 2 pink grapefruit

1L (4 cups) still water

squeeze of lime juice

30ml (2 tbsp) castor sugar

ice cubes, to serve

fresh mint, to serve

cucumber slices, to serve

fresh lime wedges, to serve

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large jug and stir to dissolve the sugar.
2. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, 
3. Top with ice, mint, cucumber and lime before serving.

Leila’s tip

Keep the lemonade cool and transport in flasks. Serve the lemonade with pretty striped straws.

Scotch picnic eggs

Makes 5-6 large Scotch eggs

A LITTLE  EFFORT 25 mins + 10 mins to chill

6 pork sausages

45ml (3 tbsp) fresh chives, chopped

15ml (1 tbsp) fresh coriander, chopped

2,5ml (1/2 tsp) dried chilli flakes (optional)

5ml (1 tsp) ground coriander

2,5ml (1/2 tsp) ground cumin

80ml (1/3 cup) dried breadcrumbs

sea salt and freshly ground black

pepper, to taste

6 large free-range eggs, boiled

60g (1/2 cup) cake flour

1 large egg, beaten

500ml (2 cups) breadcrumbs

Cayenne pepper, to taste

vegetable oil, for frying

creamy dipping sauce, to serve

lime cheeks, to serve

fresh coriander, to serve

1. Remove the sausage meat from the casings and place in large bowl.
2. Combine the chives, fresh coriander, chilli flakes, ground coriander, cumin, 80ml (1/3 cup) breadcrumbs and seasoning. Mix well and set aside.
3. Remove the shells from the boiled eggs dust with flour.
4. Divide tne sausage meat into six portions. Mould each sausage portion around each egg. Dip the sausage-coated egg into beaten egg.
5. Place 500ml (2 cups) breadcrumbs in a large bowl and season well with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne pepper.
6. Dip the eggs into the breadcrumb mixture. Dip for a second time in the beaten egg followed by another coating of breadcrumbs. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 10 minutes.
7. Heat the oil over medium heat and, when ready, fry the eggs in batches until the eggs are golden and the sausage meat cooked through, about 7-8 minutes. Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper.
8. Serve with a creamy dipping sauce, fresh lime cheeks and coriander.

Scotch eggs are great for picnics. A perfect tasty package on its own, add a fresh and creamy dip and hearts will flutter

Cook’s tip

Replace the pork sausages with beef, lamb or even chicken meat. Flavour the meat mixture with a variety of spices – cayenne pepper, dried thyme and even grated lemonn zest are all fab additions.

Strawberry and nectarine crumble pots

Makes 4 pots

EASY 30 mins

150g strawberries, chopped

2 large nectarines, chopped

110g (1/2 cup) dark brown sugar

Crumble topping

100g unsalted butter, softened )

150g cake flour

90g (1/3 cup) soft brown sugar

fresh cream, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Place layers of the chopped fruit into small, ovenproof glass jars and sprinkle with dark brown sugar as you layer.
3. For the crumble, combine the butter, flour and soft brown sugar in a bowl and rub together to form fine breadcrumbs.
4. Sprinkle the crumble over the top of the fruit and place the remaining crumble mix in an ovenproof dish.
5. Bake the crumbles and crumble mixture in the oven until the fruit has softened and the crumble is golden about 20 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and cool. Serve with plenty of pouring cream.

Sweet, delicious and so cute – perfect for that special picnic

Leila’s tip

Use a fruit of your choice – a variety of berries are super yummy – and add 2,5ml (1/2 tsp) vanilla extract to 250ml (1 cup) lightly whipped cream, together with 15ml (1 tbsp) castor sugar for Chantilly cream.

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