Tuckernuck Beach Picnic Menu
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Buttermilk Herb Dip
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Yellow Tomato Gazpacho
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Grilled Cumin Shrimp
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Sarah Leah Chase’s Corn Salad
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Rum Cake with Fresh Berries
Recipes for Tuckernuck Beach Picnic
Author’s Note: These recipes are my own, except for the corn salad, which is a recipe of Sarah Leah Chase, who is perhaps Nantucket’s most famous at-home gourmet and domestic doyenne. This picnic serves six to eight people.
Buttermilk Herb Dip
Serve with potato chips or crudités-celery sticks work especially well.
1½ cups sour cream
1¼ cups buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 4 hours. The dip will keep, and the flavors will continue to blend, for up to 4 days.
Yellow Tomato Gazpacho
I make this soup in August, when the yellow tomatoes make their appearance at Bartlett’s Farm here on Nantucket. Sautéing the onion and garlic and adding fresh orange juice and cream make this gazpacho mellow and luxurious.
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
8 medium to large yellow tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, diced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
Juice of 1 Valencia orange
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
½ cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Ripe avocado chunks or ½ cup toasted pine nuts, optional
Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft, approximately 6 minutes. Place the onion and garlic in a food processor, and add the tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, orange juice, and vinegar. Blend until nearly smooth, then add the heavy cream and salt and pepper to taste. Process until smooth.
Serve chilled or at room temperature. If you’d like, garnish with ripe avocado chunks or toasted pine nuts.
Grilled Cumin Shrimp
These shrimp can be made on a hibachi on the beach or made at home, then transported and served at room temperature.
2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined (21-25 shrimp per pound)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Place the shrimp in a large shallow dish. Combine the rest of the ingredients and pour the mixture over the shrimp to coat well. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or up to 1 day. Thread the shrimp onto wooden skewers that have been soaked in water (or metal skewers) and grill over medium coals until the shrimp are opaque, about 4 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Sarah Leah Chase’s Corn Salad
Sarah Chase is the author of the Nantucket Open-House Cookbook, which can be found on the bookshelf of every true cook here on Nantucket.
8 ears of corn, preferably freshly picked
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh chives, snipped
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Strip kernals from the corn cobs and place them in a large bowl. Add the next 6 ingredients, combining well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow the flavors to meld at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours.
Rum Cake with Fresh Berries
You’ll need a Bundt pan for this recipe. It is, absolutely, the most delicious rum cake ever, and the packaged ingredients make it a snap to prepare.
The cake:
1 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Butter Recipe Golden cake mix
1 package French vanilla Jell-O pudding mix
4 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup water
¼ cup dark rum
The glaze:
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
¾ cup rum
The garnish:
Confectioners’ sugar
Fresh berries, washed and dried (I like a combination of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the Bundt pan.
Mix the cake ingredients in a large bowl until well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the sugar and water, then bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, then pour in the rum, mixing well. Cool slightly.
Poke holes in the bottom of the cake while it is still in the pan. (I use the end of a wooden spoon for this.) Pour the glaze evenly over the base of the cake. Let the cake cool in the pan for 3 to 4 hours.
Carefully invert the cake onto a serving dish. Dust the top with confectioners’ sugar, then fill the center with your choice of fresh berries.
Enjoy!
Tuckernuck Beach Picnic Playlist
“Here Comes Your Man,” the Pixies
“Do Ya,” Neil Nathan
“Iko Iko,” the Belle Stars
“Girls in their Summer Clothes,” Bruce Springsteen
“Halfway Gone,” Lifehouse
“Maybe,” Ingrid Michaelson
“Fourth of July,” X
“Hang Fire,” the Rolling Stones
“Let’s Twist Again,” Chubby Checker
“Hey,” Mitchel Musso
“Island in the Sun,” Weezer
“California Dreamin’,” Shaw Blades
“Change Your Mind,” the Killers
“Sky,” Joshua Radin
Photos by the Author
