I guess it don't matter what you use as long as you can have a full meal aboard. Lately we have gone into precooking food at home, vacum sealing and freezing. Just heat in boiling water, open bag and voila. I'll admit it helps having a refrigerator/frezzer and microwave. We still have a 22' Starwind but only keep a 1 burner butane stove in it. You have a good set up in yours.
Cruise and eat well on a small boat
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Hey Benny,
That sounds like a great idea. I'll have to give that a try. I have to admit that I'm very fortunate that we have a large ice maker in our club house, and I haven't had to buy any ice in two years. When I get back to the club from a sail, I'll fill one of my ice chests and bring some ice home to store in my freezer to transport my food from the house to the club for the next trip. Usually when I go for an overnighter or a two day trip, I carry a 50 quart cooler and an extra 25, just in case I catch a fish. I probably carry way too much gear on my boat for a trip, but since I've had my friend Walter's fold up tote-cart, I only need to make one and sometimes two trips down our 110' dock to load my boat, instead of the five trips that I use to make. It's really ridicules for people to think that they can sleep four people in a 22' boat just because the manufacturer claims that the boat can sleep four. Where the heck would everyone stow their gear for an overnighter? My wife and I used to bump into one another on the boat all the time, and she used to get mad at me when I needed to get something out of the settee that she was sprawled out on. Sound familiar? Maybe that's why some guys go to larger boats, but I solved that problem by bringing my dog with me. :dance:
Joe
Don't overlook the versatility of home canned soups and stews and pancakes. Pancakes aren't just for breakfast with maple syrup. Make them with half flour and half corn meal with finely chopped onion and jalapeno peppers for a wonderful bread with chilli. Try half flour and half oatmeal with diced ham and cheddar cheese for bread with your soups. try 3 parts white flour and 1 part rye flour with little bacon bits for bread with the stews. Make regular pancakes and roll them around meat salad made with canned chicken, or ham, or corned beef. Eat them cold spread with peanut butter and jelly. Make a hash from home canned meat, potatoes, onions, and carrots and bind it with an egg. Biscuits can be baked on top of the stove in a covered skillet, as can English muffins.
For me there's nothong better than catch and cook.
If the fish aren't biting I'll throw on the mask and fins, grab the pole spear and get some. And if lobster are around and in season even better.
Most of the cooking I do like most guys is grilled. I usually take veggiess like egg plant and squash to slice and grill. I also like to take corn on the husk for grilling. Half of our meals are eaten in restraurants. If ther is one within 50 mi mywife will find it. During the day we are happy with snacking on fruit, chips and salsa or crackers and cheese. I usually like to wake her in the morning with the smelll of eggs, bacon and coffee. This is all done on a little one burner propane stove.
Come to think of it, we eat better on the boat then at home.
If the fish aren't biting I'll throw on the mask and fins, grab the pole spear and get some. And if lobster are around and in season even better.
Most of the cooking I do like most guys is grilled. I usually take veggiess like egg plant and squash to slice and grill. I also like to take corn on the husk for grilling. Half of our meals are eaten in restraurants. If ther is one within 50 mi mywife will find it. During the day we are happy with snacking on fruit, chips and salsa or crackers and cheese. I usually like to wake her in the morning with the smelll of eggs, bacon and coffee. This is all done on a little one burner propane stove.
Come to think of it, we eat better on the boat then at home.
Steaming veggies on grill and other tips
Most green veggies aren't suitable for grilling...but you can still cook 'em on the grill:
Double wrap in heavy duty foil and put ice cubes in the packet with 'em. Turn often.
Save room in the fridge or cooler by freezing everything you can--juice, meat etc--and letting the food provide the chill. Put what you'll use first on top, what you'll use last on the bottom. "Blue ice" packs take up a lot less room than ice too...and you don't end up with soaked food when they thaw.
When fridge space is tight, or when you have to use coolers instead, keep food in the fridge and drinks in the cooler. The less often the food storage box is opened, the colder it will stay.
Most green veggies aren't suitable for grilling...but you can still cook 'em on the grill:
Double wrap in heavy duty foil and put ice cubes in the packet with 'em. Turn often.
Save room in the fridge or cooler by freezing everything you can--juice, meat etc--and letting the food provide the chill. Put what you'll use first on top, what you'll use last on the bottom. "Blue ice" packs take up a lot less room than ice too...and you don't end up with soaked food when they thaw.
When fridge space is tight, or when you have to use coolers instead, keep food in the fridge and drinks in the cooler. The less often the food storage box is opened, the colder it will stay.
Baked coffee
Saildog
The only issue I have with using the oven to make coffee is it tends to burn the handle on the pot. My girlfriend suggested that I use the stove top instead of the oven. It does taste better, slightly. She is a genius when it comes to cooking as you might have guessed. She showed me how the percolator is designed to work. Pretty neat IMHO. Now I know what to do with all those extra parts. Boiling coffee as a pump. I wonder if I could use gas to pump my bilges.:dance:
Other things we enjoy:
7 layer dip with sausage and black olives
Pancakes
eggs and bacon with hash browns
Pizza, home made of course
Fresh bread!!!
Burgers and fries
Tacos
Soups, grilled cheese, spaghetti,......
The list is truly endless
I'd not have another boat without an stove and oven.
I jumped right into a bigger boat and bypassed the life without an oven period. I've heard that you can use a pressure cooker as a mini oven. These folks where talking about "baking" bread in a pressure cooker??? Hey, who am I to judge. If it gives you the smell of fresh baked bread while on the hook it is good enough for me.
Anybody know of a good web site that has gas conserving menus? The girlfriend can go through a bottle of CNG in about 5 days. That means I either have to settle for a 10 day max cruise (I have 2 bottles) or squelch the girlfriends galley activities. Looking for a third solution that keeps me out of trouble and lets me cruise farther.
Saildog
The only issue I have with using the oven to make coffee is it tends to burn the handle on the pot. My girlfriend suggested that I use the stove top instead of the oven. It does taste better, slightly. She is a genius when it comes to cooking as you might have guessed. She showed me how the percolator is designed to work. Pretty neat IMHO. Now I know what to do with all those extra parts. Boiling coffee as a pump. I wonder if I could use gas to pump my bilges.:dance:
Other things we enjoy:
7 layer dip with sausage and black olives
Pancakes
eggs and bacon with hash browns
Pizza, home made of course
Fresh bread!!!
Burgers and fries
Tacos
Soups, grilled cheese, spaghetti,......
The list is truly endless
I'd not have another boat without an stove and oven.
I jumped right into a bigger boat and bypassed the life without an oven period. I've heard that you can use a pressure cooker as a mini oven. These folks where talking about "baking" bread in a pressure cooker??? Hey, who am I to judge. If it gives you the smell of fresh baked bread while on the hook it is good enough for me.
Anybody know of a good web site that has gas conserving menus? The girlfriend can go through a bottle of CNG in about 5 days. That means I either have to settle for a 10 day max cruise (I have 2 bottles) or squelch the girlfriends galley activities. Looking for a third solution that keeps me out of trouble and lets me cruise farther.
Hey Peggie!
Those are great tips. Thank you for sharing them with us. My Penelope was born in Little Rock, don't sha' know.
Joe
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We have had two couples spend a week on the Starwind 223 without major problems. The secret is that you need to move things around depending on the activity being conducted. For sailing most of the stuff goes in the V-berth but for sleeping half goes out to the cokpit and half to the cabin sole. With 4 people to do the moving is not a bad task. You learn tricks as you go but that would be a theme for another posting.
That sounds like a plan Benny, but I think that I'll stick with my dog. She dosen't carry any baggage.
I've got you covered on that one Ross. I buy all my can goods comprised of soups, meats, pancake and muffin mixes in the spring and store it all in these 2.2 gal. plastic containers w/lids, to store under my settees in the cabin. I have everything that one would need to cook a meal, right in that boat at all times. I love these recipes that you guys are describing. This whole conversation is making me hungry.
Cayguy
I'm with you on cooking my catch. A lot of times I don't catch anything with my spinning outfit, but I know some places out in the bay where I can sneak a few small cherry stones, or hard shell Quahogs. This recipe can work with oysters or mussels I think. You simply steam them open or cut them open with a knife and throw the top shell away. Then place the clam shells with it's meats and juice on a cookie sheet and add a 1" piece of bacon to each one, a little ketchup, Worcestershire, and hot sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. This recipe was handed down to me by my great great great great grand uncle who was head bartender on the Mayflower. So please guard it with your life!
Joe
Trinkky , You BUY mixes? A set of measuring cups and spoons allows you so much more freedom to cook no more than you need. One third cup of flour and of corn meal a teaspoon of baking powder a little salt and a medium egg and a half cup of milk makes pancakes for two for about a quarter. Better than crackers with a bowl of soup.
I am just finishing a six quart batch of split pea soup with ham. Processed in pints for a cost of about five dollars. The best part is I KNOW what is in it.
I am just finishing a six quart batch of split pea soup with ham. Processed in pints for a cost of about five dollars. The best part is I KNOW what is in it.
Ross,
You must be more domesticated that I am.
I buy complete pan cake mix and add water. I have all the measuring spoons, cups, and I even have a rolling pin on board, but I rarely ever whip up any fancy stuff anymore. Actually, when I go on a cruise, I'll bring a frozen chicken pot pie, frozen French Fries, franks, left over pork chops, or steak, and heat these up in my oven. I keep plenty of dog food on board for Penny. I'd love to cook a boiled dinner on board, like a corned beef or smoked shoulder with potatoes, carrots and cabbage, but who's going to eat it all? That gives me an idea though! Maybe I'll try to talk my wife into going with me for a short cruise up the river this summer, and try to cook a small boiled dinner just for the two of us in my pressure cooker! That sounds like a plan Ross! Thank you for stimulating my brains, --and to think,--I used to sit on them! :dance:Joe
Trinkky, One left over pork chop, a potato. a carrot, half an onion, a stalk of celery will make a meal for two people if you know how to make gravy. Dice the potato, the carrot, the onion and the celery and the pork chop. put them in a skillet and cook the celery and onion in a little fat add the pork chop bone and the potato and carrot and a cup of water and cook until the potato is fork tender. Add the diced pork and mix one tablespoon of flour with a 1/4 cup of water and stir that mix quickly into the pot add salt and pepper to taste. cook until thickened. Serve with a small batch of biscuits. feeds two.
Ross,
I have a sneaking suspicion that you are a chef at some big fancy restaurant.-- Right? I detect some culinary knowledge here!
OK,--You got me. As a cook, I classify myself as being a little bit above, below average. We've got to get the recipe section back on this forum. See if you can coax Phil into adding one. I'm serious. I really miss it. :cry: I've asked him about it, 4 or 5 times and he told me he would. He just didn't say what year.
Maybe you have more pull than I do.:dance:Bon Apetit'
Joe
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Trinkky, I repair houses for a living and I cook as a hobby. I can make a curried pork meal for four people with two small pork chops and bits and pieces of veggies from the garden and fridge.
Phil, if you are keeping watch over our chatter the receipe section couldn't hurt and it could help. Thanks.
Phil, if you are keeping watch over our chatter the receipe section couldn't hurt and it could help. Thanks.
Ross,
That recipe sounds tempting and mouth watering, but I'm a simple guy. I like to just heat up a large pork chop in my oven and throw in a small can of beans or left over rice, and have it with a little cranberry sauce. I like those Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade recipes. Cooking is one of my hobbies too,----and at a height of 5' 9" with a weight of 227 LBS, it shows. Thank you for putting in a good word for the recipe section on this forum. Of course,--- you know that if he does put it in, he's going to ask one of us to head that department, and I sincerely hope that you'll take the position.
I don't generally take on too much responsibility, for fear of spreading myself too thin. Joe
I am with you, Ross.. I cook as a fun thing!.. A good Jambalaya or Gumbo is pretty easy and folks will stop when walking by the dock and sniff a while! Those can be frozen in "boil bags" and are mighty fine on a cool evening.. Redfish on the half-shell on the grill, Beaucoup Bon !! Fresh tuna as sashimi or as quick seared with sesame oil.. Outstanding..
Joe your cooking style is reflected in your girth. I am 5'6'' and weigh 160. More veggies and less meat in small pieces will make abig difference . We are satisfied when we have eaten a certain number of bites. A one inch square of meat is twice as big as a three quarter inch square piece. So if you feed just your self on a pork chop with some beans you can feed two people on the same chop if it is cut into small pieces and served with some buttered carrots and green beens and a sliced apple. Add some rice and make a gravy and you can stretch it to each person having seconds.
That's a great suggestion Ross. I'll have to give that a try, because I need to lose some weight so that I can start wearing some of my old clothes that no longer fit me.
Joe
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