FOOD BLOG – ATLANTIC CROSSING
Cooking on a long voyage can be quite difficult on the boat, you have to plan carefully, have reserve meals in mind if the weather gets worse, and merely getting the pans and food out can be hazardous when everything is crashing around! On board we have a gas cooker with 3 hobs, an oven and a useless ‘grill’ the size of half a slice of bread which we don’t bother to use. We also have a microwave (with no turntable so works when we are heeled over) which can be used when generator is on, and for the first time a Remoska, also used when we have power. The generator is run for about an hour a day to cool the fridge & freezer and top up the batteries. We run it in conjunction with cooking so that while it is on I can use the Remoska or microwave. We use sea water for washing vegetables, rinsing rice, boiling eggs, washing up (then rinse with fresh) and for bread making. It’s too salty to cook food in. We eat most things but Harry is vegetarian.
Remoska.(From Lakeland) This is a mixture of a small oven and slow grill and this is the first time I have used one on the boat. When we were in port I used it for many meals, and it sat safely on the worktop, leaving the cooker free. The heating element is in the lid, which is heavy, so my concern at sea is that the hot lid may fly off. Also there has to be a safe place to put the lid when it is hot – luckily it fits in one of the sinks! The Remoska fits onto the cooker top, with the legs held in place by the metal rack on the cooker top & I also use the pan clamps to add extra security. When it is on the cooker I can use one small hob at the same time. The cooker is gimballed, so it swings to stay horizontal as the boat rolls, but it will jerk when the swells are erratic and the boat lurches. Once we start making bread I will use the Remoska for baking , so we will have the generator on in the mornings. Last time we sailed around the world I did all the baking in the oven, but heating up the whole oven uses a lot of our precious gas and it really heats the boat up.
Green bags. These are called ‘Stay fresh longer’ bags (Lakeland). Last time I bought these in America but now you can get them in lots of places. They can be washed & reused, and keep fruit & vegetables fresh for weeks.
Sunday 15th January 2012, left Tenerife at 1430 and rough seas by supper time so Charlotte peeled potatoes in salt water for mash and I made a veggie shepherd’s pie with carrots, onion, courgette, peppers and a tin of chopped tomatoes with mixed herbs and seasoning. All gentle food to sooth seasick stomachs.
Monday 16th. Rough seas. Had marmite sandwiches for lunch with crisps & oranges. Supper – Macaroni Cheese and fresh pineapple with squirty cream for pudding.
RECIPE One Pot Macaroni Cheese. My Mum has always made it this way, so we all do too. Put milk into a pan, add the pasta and bring to a simmer, stirring. Cook until pasta is tender, adding more milk if needed. Mix 2 teaspoons of cornflour in a cup with a little cold milk then add some hot milk from the pan to it and mix well. Pour cornflour mix into pan and stir well so it thickens up. Add grated cheese and seasoning. If you have a grill then you can toast the top too!
Tuesday 17th. Eggy bread (French toast) for breakfast with maple syrup. Sandwiches with cheese, pate, tomato & cucumber for lunch, plus bananas. Supper - Harry had home-made veggie burgers, we had pork steaks marinated in soy sauce, chopped fresh ginger & garlic and then fried with a little oil and onions & red peppers, served with rice. Fresh tropical fruit salad with mango, pineapple & oranges, with squeezed limes and a dash of sugar.
Wednesday 18th. Fresh paw-paw (papaya) with lime juice for breakfast, and I managed to make fresh coffee mid morning. Lunch was bought Margherita pizza cooked in the Remoska shallow pan for 25 minutes, followed by tangerines. Supper – Harry had macaroni cheese from Monday. We had small, thin steaks. Chopped 1 onion, fried gently for a few minutes then added 2 cloves of chopped garlic, the steaks and some Moroccan Ras-el-Hanout spices, cooked for a couple more minutes then added some chopped fresh tomatoes (the ones that were a bit squidgy) and simmered for about 30 minutes – very good they were too. Served with mashed potatoes and a weird veg that we thought would be sweet potato but is some sort of yam that goes a dirty green as you peel it. Pudding was trifle made with the remaining fruit salad, Canarian cake (a bit like Madeira cake) and ‘long-life’ custard.
Thursday 19th. Had the generator on for toast this morning so had bacon butties for breakfast with toast! Tomato (Heinz) or chicken (Spanish cup-a-soup) soup for lunch (in mugs as rolling a lot) with bread & butter. Charlotte cooked vegetable curry for supper with cauliflower (one half we had in fridge green bag) carrot, onion & chickpeas in the one jar of Korma sauce we had. Rice, peanuts, sliced banana, mango chutney & lime pickle to accompany. Remains of trifle for pud. Very rough.
Friday 20th. Very rough and stormy day, with the boat crashing around and waves hopping into the cockpit it is horrible. We were back to marmite sandwiches & tea for the day, and ‘storm stew’ for supper. Storm stew is the last resort when it is almost impossible to cook. As I don’t get seasick I managed to chop an onion and fry it in a deep pan, before adding a tin of peas & carrots, one of potatoes, 1 of baked beans & some mixed herbs. Once heated, I took out a bowlful for Harry, & added a tin of stewing steak to the rest of it for us. Served in bowls with bread & butter, it is the perfect meal to settle those queasy stomachs. I keep a set of these tins in the deep pan in the pan locker so that in rough weather we don’t have to start unpacking the tin locker.
DORADO is an ocean fish with firm, sweet, white flesh, a bit like cod. It has beautiful gold and turquoise scales and is sometimes called ‘Dolphin fish’.
Saturday 21st. We are still crashing around, and everyone is tired.. Had boiled eggs & toast (served in bowls) in the cockpit, for a late breakfast. Supper was vegetable pasta sauce – chopped one onion, into pan with olive oil, diced an aubergine & courgette then added to pan, cooked for a bit then added chopped garlic, oregano, tin of tomatoes and some balsamic vinegar. Simmered, seasoned & served with pasta. Tangerines.
Sunday 22nd. John caught a small Dorado so we had it fried in a little butter with fried courgettes and jacket potatoes done in the microwave.
One filleted fish!
Monday 23rd. Used the Remoska for baking this morning with a loaf of bread in the deep pan (cooked for 40 minutes in a metal loaf tin) & then brownies in the shallow pan. The Brownies were too ambitious as even with the Remoska on the gimballed stove top (so swinging when the boat rolls) the mix just fell out of the mould and all over the pan base! Had our typical lunch of fresh bread, cheese, pate (we have jars of pate), chorizo, sliced tomatoes & cucumber. Followed by fresh fruit.
Bread. I use 500g flour with about 300ml of sea water, 1.5 tsp yeast and a bit of olive oil. Put it all into a shallow, wide, bowl and mix then take it up to the cockpit and sit in the sun to knead it for 10 minutes. Good physiotherapy for my right hand! All ‘weights’ are done by volume as scales don’t work on moving boat. One litre of sea water contains 5 teaspoons (25g) of salt so 300ml has 1.5 tsp of salt. It makes good bread, saves on the salt & is one less item to measure out.
Tuesday 24th Baked bread rolls in the Remoska deep pan, & fruit buns in the shallow pan. Had a disaster when the milk I’d measured for the buns decided to leap off the worktop in the few seconds that I took my eye off it – very much an ‘I hate sailing’ moment. John caught a Dorado so we had fresh fish for supper which Charlotte cooked. Chopped an onion, cooked gently in olive oil, added oregano & mixed herbs, and cooked a bit longer, then added two chopped cloves of garlic, fresh lemon juice, fresh chopped tomatoes and some red peppers from the stash in the fridge. Simmered for 15 mins then added fish fillets and cooked until the fish was done. It was delicious with mashed potatoes. Harry had baked beans with his mash.
Wednesday 25th January. I toasted sliced fruit buns in a frying pan for breakfast, as no power for the toaster. Just put them into a dry non-stick pan and ‘cook’ until toasted. Cheese Dreams in Remoska for lunch and tangerines. Rice with peppers, courgette, onions and seasoned with garam masala, with Dorado fish fried in a little oil & sweet chilli sauce. Harry had the rice with peanuts. Finished the courgettes.
CHEESE DREAMS My Mum used to make these for us -These are cheese toasties cooked in a frying pan & are much, much nicer than ones done in a special machine. Butter the bread & put butter side down into pan. Put the cheese on top (plus anything else you want) then put the top slice of bread on, butter side up. Fry until golden, pressing down occasionally so it all sticks together, then turn & do the other side. I did these in the Remoska for the first time, so didn’t need to turn them & they were excellent.
Thursday 26th. Baked bread rolls. Fresh melon for breakfast. Made the lentil/veg burgers for Harry and Antillean fish burgers for us. With cole-slaw* & fresh bread rolls.
*The carrots have kept brilliantly for 2 weeks in the green bags in the fridge. Couldn’t find white cabbage in Tenerife so I used firm, green cabbage - this has kept well wrapped in newspaper and in a basket with the potatoes. Now it has been cut I have put the rest in a green bag in the fridge.
Antillean Fish Burger (from ‘The Antilles Cook Book’)
Makes 2 large or 4 small burgers. Delicious served with coleslaw and fresh bread.
½ pound Dorado, Wahoo, or any firm white fish
1 egg, beaten 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 small onion, chopped 1 tablespoon Worcester sauce
½ cup breadcrumbs 1 oz butter
Briefly poach fish in water to cover. Drain and flake. Mix together egg, mayonnaise, onion & Worcester sauce and half the breadcrumbs. Add flaked fish & season to taste. Form into patties and coat with remaining breadcrumbs. Fry in butter until crisp & golden brown each side.
Friday 27th. Made bread rolls in the Remoska shallow pan, 35 minutes. For lunch we had the last Margherita pizza for lunch with tomatoes, cucumber & cole-slaw. Made some Greek yoghurt in the ‘Easy-Yo’ yoghurt maker, hope it works with the boat rolling. Supper: the last piece of Dorado cooked in the fry pan. Made an onion & cheese sauce (as I had half an onion left from the fish burgers), and had it with potatoes (diced, par-boiled, drained then fried in olive oil until crispy), fresh carrots & tinned peas. Harry had veg burger. Fresh fruit salad with oranges, apple and melon.
Saturday 28th. John not fishing today, as we are having a day off fish. Had the last bit of cucumber with lunch – they have kept really well in the green bags in the fridge for over 2 weeks. Supper: chicken curry in Remoska shallow pan. Diced an onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves & a knob of ginger, all into pan with oil and cooked 5 minutes. Added 4 teaspoons of curry powder & cooked 5 more minutes. Then a big dollop of tomato puree, about 400mls of Greek yoghurt and half a chopped beef tomato, stir then added chicken drumsticks. Cooked about 35 mins until bubbling and the chicken a bit charred on top. Rice, chopped egg, tomatoes, nuts and pickles with it plus popadoms as used the microwave to cook a jacket potato for Harry.
Sunday 29th. Toasted bacon butties. Dorado caught in afternoon and cooked half of it with onions, peppers, garlic and the last large tomato. Added some sweet chilli sauce at the end. Had with mash and Harry had his veggie burgers. Finished the fruit salad with Greek yoghurt.
Monday 30th. Cooked the last aubergine in a pasta sauce for supper, and made cheese sauce to make a pasta bake in the Remoska (didn’t bake bread today so had the generator on in the afternoon). Cooked the pasta & sauce first then put the Remoska on top of the stove and cooked the sauce in it before adding the pasta & pouring over the sauce, then cooked for 20 mins.
Tuesday 31st. Made ciabatta bread and flapjacks this morning in the Remoska, My flapjack mix wasn’t enough to cover the base of the pan but they were fine, just put some ‘magic cake liner’ in the bottom to prevent sticking. I didn’t put them into a tray as we are still rolling a lot and they would have escaped like the Brownies did. Made coleslaw for supper with packet Rosti potatoes (long-life packs – these from Waitrose) and the fish dipped in flour, egg and breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan and fried in olive oil. Harry had egg & beans with his Rosti. Tinned fruit salad with fresh oranges and the juice of a lemon added.
The rack on top of the cooker used as a cooling rack & Remoska-holder.
Flapjacks. These are always soft & chewy, and once again a recipe from my Mum.
6oz margarine or butter, 3 oz Demerara sugar, 3 tablespoons golden syrup,
8oz rolled oats, a pinch of salt.
Melt margarine, sugar & syrup in a pan. Stir in rolled oats. Tip into tin, press down with back of spoon. Bake at 180C/Gas 4 for about 30 minutes until golden brown.
Wednesday 1st February. Charlotte made Chilli today, with beef mince, Chilli Plum Sauce and the last peppers from the cooked ones in the freezer. We ate the chilli with wraps, grated cheese & a jar of guacamole. It was messy, especially with the constant rolling, but tasty. Harry had the aubergine pasta bake. Made bread in the morning.
Chilli Plum Sauce (Australian Women’s Weekly on preserves) This recipe was given to me by Katherine, on yacht Finale, after we had eaten a delicious chilli on board.
1 kg chopped plums 1 ¼ cups sugar 2 cups white vinegar 2 small fresh red chillis, chopped
1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground ginger ½ tsp cayenne pepper 8 cloves
Put it all into a pan, stir over heat without boiling until all sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes or until mixture is pulpy. Strain.
Return mixture to pan, bring to the boil, simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes or until mixture has slightly thickened. Pour into hot, sterilised jars. Seal when cold.
To make it easier, put stones in a muslin & remove at the end. Then puree the mixture as straining takes ages.
1 cup = 250ml
Thursday 2nd. Seemed to spend most of the morning making a pizza. Made dough with 250g flour, lightly oiled the shallow Remoska pan with olive oil & spread the dough to cover the base. Made the sauce: one chopped onion, cooked over low heat in olive oil for 10 mins, then added chopped garlic & oregano, cooked a bit longer. Added a tin of chopped tomatoes, bit of salt & sugar & a splash of balsamic vinegar then let it all simmer & reduce to a thick sauce. Grated the cheese (we still have some cheddar) then everyone chose their toppings. We ate the rest of the chilli for supper.
Friday 3rd. Made bread rolls in Remoska deep pan and fruit buns in the shallow pan. John caught a big Dorado, over 4kg, so we have a lot of fish steaks in the freezer now. I made a curry with onion, butternut squash & christophenes (a knobbly, green, pear-shaped vegetable that keeps for weeks) and cooked Dorado in some tandoori masala paste to go with it.
Fruit Buns 500g bread flour, 150ml water, 150ml milk, one beaten egg, 1.5 tsp yeast, 1.5 tsp salt, 2 tbsp sugar, 150g dried fruit. Mix all except the fruit, then knead for 10 mins. Add the fruit & knead it into the dough. Makes 8 large buns, shape, prove & bake for about 20 mins. Almost as good without the milk and egg.
Saturday 4th January. Our last day at sea and, as Charlotte is really not very fond of fish, we had sausages for supper. Roasted the last potatoes & some butternut squash in the Remoska and cooked some ‘long life’ vacuum packet corn-on-the-cob & peas to go with it. Made the lentil burgers for Harry, with butternut squash and extra cheese.
Sunday 5th. As we did not get anchored until lunchtime & I had no time to make bread, we had pasta with tomatoes, garlic & onions for lunch while gazing at calm, turquoise seas fringed with palm trees and decorated with pelicans– lucky us!
