Boaty cookbook thread

[Victoria Sponge]

Any meal is improved with flavour. If you're using tinned stuff fry off some onions first with a pinch of salt, add some garlic and black pepper then add this to your mince or whatever with an oxo cube and some tomato puree.

Eggs are brilliant for making meals. Fry your onion with a salt and pepper, add garlic. Crack your eggs and whisk, add this to your onion and garlic mixture. Add in whatever you've got, potatoes, ham/bacon, cheese, mushrooms, sorted.

 

[Roberto]

oops, meant to be First brown 500g cubed beef...

thank you John

 

[Ru88ell]

• Tin of ratatouille
• Tin of mixed beans in mild chilli sauce
• Pack of six decent sausages, preferably strongly flavoured ones eg "Toulouse style"
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Nutmeg
• Paprika
• Chilli
• Pepper

Cut the sausages into quarters, throw everything into a pan, and heat on a high simmer until the sausages are cooked.

Put some couscous in a bowl or jug, pour boiling water over it until slightly more than covered, leave for ten minutes to cook.

I do this from time to time at home; realised it would be good at sea and did it for the first time on the way back from Cherbourg last night (though I used meatballs rather than the usual sausages). Seemed popular.

Pete

Did this one for the family at home tonight. Rave reviews!!

 

[prv]

Did this one for the family at home tonight. Rave reviews!!

Excellent!

My German housemate thinks it's awful and I'm crazy for making it. She calls it "that horrid stuff" - imagine that said with conviction in your best East German accent . Not that she's ever tried it, just seen me emptying cans of stuff over good sausages.

Pete

 

[VicS]

It works fine, tho I suspect I have invented the saut'e chip. The pan can be used for your omelete after doing the chips - grand.

The way I'm doing them in the oven is no differnt to the way we do roast potatoes so i suppose I'm doing roast chips.

Turned out exceptionally well yesterday lunch time.

When I make an omelette I sometimes dice a potato and fry that first then just chuck the eggs and other filling all in the pan with it

 

[2nd_apprentice]

Excellent!

My German housemate thinks it's awful and I'm crazy for making it. She calls it "that horrid stuff" - imagine that said with conviction in your best East German accent . Not that she's ever tried it, just seen me emptying cans of stuff over good sausages.

Pete

Can't see why it's not that different to German "Currywurst" apart from all the beans.
During my stay in Berlin I had some exposure to East German cuisine and that was horrid stuff indeed. They had an obsession with (cheap) meat, usually three times a day, considered Ketchup to be tomato sauce and used margarine for frying. Being a vegetarian their eating habits didn't appeal to me.

 

[prv]

considered Ketchup to be tomato sauce

That's definitely familiar. Spaghetti with a few shreds of onion and lots of heinz ketchup considered a suitable meal with friends round for dinner

She does cook some very good food as well though

Pete

 

[wklein]

As you guys were talking about recipes without an oven, on my previous boat i lived on i only had two burners and grill. I bought an http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/cookers-galley-equipment/omnia/oven.bhtml omnia oven which was absolutely brilliant. Allows you to cook all sorts of things you wouldn't think of like shepherds pie. It also has a dedicated cookbook online. Only problem is the price and it is a real bitch to clean.

 

[tonybannister]

Great thread. Looking through the recipes I realise just how many of the ingredients are difficult to get here in Turkey - like pork products, decent sausage, tinned meats etc. Still the fresh fruit and veg are to die for but they are seasonal. We use a pressure cooker a lot. Great for preparing in the morning as it is sealed with no air in the cooker and keeps until ready to use it in the evening. We do have a fridge and a Waeco fridge freezer that we use as a freezer. Since the pressure cooker holds too much the surplus is frozen for future use. We live aboard so have a 4 burner cooker with grill and oven too.
Bulgar wheat has become a favourite since being here too, so easy and quick to cook and lots of stuff can be added to it. No we do not have a big boat - Achilles 9 metre.

 

[Roberto]

considered Ketchup to be tomato sauce and used margarine for frying. Being a vegetarian their eating habits didn't appeal to me.

A friend of mine once asked me: roberto, I put a pack of spaghetti, an onion (not chopped), a tin of tomatoes and a chunk of raw beef in cold water, then brought the whole lot to boil, I boiled and boiled it but I could not get that nice plate of Spaghetti Bolognese I see in the pictures, how come ?


I won't say which Nationality he was

 

[harry potter]

Haven't tried this yet but it sounds promising - quick and easy

Bread in a can

450g (3 cups) plain bread flour
1 tbs (12g/2 sachets) dried yeast
2 tsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
250ml (1 cup) warm milk
2 tbs melted butter
1. Combine the flour, yeast and sugar in a large bowl. Stir in salt. Make a well in the centre. Add the milk and butter.
2. Use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture until well combined, then use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3. Brush a large bowl with olive oil to grease. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place to prove for 45 minutes to an hour or until the dough has almost doubled in size.
4. Punch down the centre of the dough with your fist. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 2 minutes or until the dough is elastic and has returned to its original size.
5. Preheat oven (to 200ºC?). Spray three 400g washed cans with olive oil. Divide the dough into three even pieces. Push each piece of dough into a can. Cover with a tea towel and set aside for a further 30 minutes to prove or until dough has risen to nearly the top of the cans.
6. Place the cans on a baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 180ºC. Bake for a further 25 minutes. Cool in the cans for ten minutes. Run a knife around the cans to loosen the bread before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
http://www.taste.com.au/good+taste/article/good+life/bread+in+a+can,1655

 

[Giblets]

Some of us little boats don't have ovens!

 

[Solent sailer]

It doesn't quite fit the spec for this thread as it needs an oven but it is quick and easy.

We use a small roasting tin in the oven, put onions, carrots, sliced potatoes tin of tomatoes, oxo, black pepper and sausages (sometimes a bit of garlic) in the oven for the last 1 or 2 hours of a passage and have a hot casserole when we arrive, if it cooks for another hour due to over optimistic passage planning no problem and minimal washing up, no splashing from the frying pan when cooking the sausages.

 

[prv]

We use a small roasting tin in the oven, put onions, carrots, sliced potatoes tin of tomatoes, oxo, black pepper and sausages (sometimes a bit of garlic) in the oven for the last 1 or 2 hours of a passage and have a hot casserole when we arrive, if it cooks for another hour due to over optimistic passage planning no problem

I don't do that exact recipe (though it does sound nice) but I certainly share the idea of putting something in the oven before arrival that can slowly cook away unattended and be ready once the anchor's down and the sails are stowed. Only problem sometimes is the nice smells can make that last 45 minutes (which you expected to be 15) seem like it's taking even longer

Pete

 

[Giblets]

I don't do that exact recipe (though it does sound nice) but I certainly share the idea of putting something in the oven before arrival that can slowly cook away unattended and be ready once the anchor's down and the sails are stowed. Only problem sometimes is the nice smells can make that last 45 minutes (which you expected to be 15) seem like it's taking even longer

Pete

For those without an oven how about one of these these. It does what it says on the tin!

 

[ronmarson]

This should be a 'Sticky' It shouldn't be allowed to drop off the end.

 

[CliveG]

Chips

No idea if it will work as well in a frying pan but how I describe is how we always do them at home.... oven is usually on for something else anyway.

I think the idea probably came from children's television as a safe way of cooking chips.

BTW we always use King Edward potatoes.

Why not deep fry them?
We use solid oil in a chip pan that can be stowed away once to oil has cooled.

One should use Maris Piper spuds for the best chips
Take them out of the pan just as they are starting to brown to cool while heating the fat a bit more and then cook them to golden brown and crispy.
Yum - I will have to go and cook some now.

 

[sailorgirl]

For those without an oven how about one of these these. It does what it says on the tin!

+1 - we have an oven but our thermal cooker is the bees-knees... prep the food before the bad weather arrives and you can look forward to a nice hot supper. We bought the cover for ours so it can sit safely in the galley sink doing it's stuff and doesn't rattle around.

 

[charles_reed]

I have used a wide-mouth vacuum flask for the last 20 years to do exactly what the "thermal cooker" does.

Here are a couple of recipes, one for top-of-stove and one for oven.

1. Pork cubes, fry in a mix of butter and olive oil until brown, add sliced onion, brown those, then thin sliced mushrooms, garlic (crushed or sliced) lots of black pepper. Finish with cream (tinned, fresh, soured or fraiche) and put in the "thermal cooker". I use equal quantities by volume of the 1st 3, adjust the others to suit your taste - serve with rice (I cook mine the oriental way involving no draining, but cumin seed, browned onion and chicken stock)

2. Chicken breast fillets, wrap in streaky bacon (pancetta or bacon), into the oven and cook for about 45' at the top and hot enough to crisp the bacon. Served with rice, potatoes or pasta (French fashion buttered).

Several other boat recipes have been converted to landside use - I also do all the cooking ashore and have a wife who complains that I'm the causative agent for her having to buy new clothes.

 

[goosewing]

Chicken Curry.

half a teaspoon of, chillie powder, fenugreek, coriander, garamasala.
I or two onions chopped
two cloves garlic chopped
two tomatoes chopped
Chicken or turkey breast, enough for two, cubed.
I/2 stock cube
clove of garlic
1/2 inch of ginger chopped or grated.
Approx 1/4 pint of water

I like to put my chicken in the pan to slightly brown in I/2 tablespoon of oil then take out and put aside.
The other 1/2 tablespoon of oil in pan and fry off onion and garlic till soft and transparent.
Add spices and swish around a minute then add toms, ginger and stock and simmer for a minute. Now add chicken and simmer for about 30 mins. Add more water if needed. Take off heat leave for one or two mins then stir in some Crème fraîche or if you want to be healthy some zero Greek yogurt, stir in a little at a time so it doesn't curdle. Serve with rice. Tip...for just one burner..... start cooking your rice in a pan about 15 mins later and put the simmering curry pot on top as a lid. This will keep it still cooking then when the rice is ready put the curry back, turn up the heat a bit while you dish up the rice and all should be hot together. I know it's a bit of a juggling act but the other way is to cook the rice and reheat the curry. Rice will stay hot if wrapped in foil while you reheat the curry. If you are a weight watcher this is a good meal especially if you use the zero yogurt. I like to put in some fresh coriander at the end too. I froze some Home grown coriander and it's worked a treat. I tried to suck all the air out of the bag before I pit it in the freezer, not sure if this helped but it's retained it's aroma and flavour.