...must be SOMETHING we can eat..?

[dancrane]

Apologies in advance, if this subject has been covered many times and your eyes are closing at the revival...

Leaving aside refrigerated and deep-frozen products, does anyone have some really reliable recipes for hearty dinners that can be made only from things left in tins and packets, at cabin-temperature, for months on galley shelves?

After time away, often arriving aboard too late to have shopped for fresh ingredients, I've wondered what I should keep in stock, which might have made something really good.

I'm thinking here of something more substantial and, frankly, more impressive, than a pie in a tin. (Though, those are great, too. When there's really nothing else.)

Any favourite solutions?

 

[SHUG]

This might get you started
http://howtocookonaboat.com/

You must carry pasta and rice and stock cubes and then you can add tins of minced beef, tinned chicken and tinned tuna...sardines ....just go to the supermarket and buy tins!!!.

 

[Katouf]

Staple food supplies

Things left over on the store shelf and hidden in a locker in Katouf after the last 2 mini (3/4 day) cruises:-
Tins of: Stewing steak, garden and processed peas, new potatoes, rice pudding, custard, peaches, pineapple chunks, cream, condensed milk.
Packets or similar: Oxo cubes, Shreddies, cup-a-soup (tomato, mushroom, oxtail)
Tuppaware containers: Sugar, coffee, tea.

Oh how everything tastes better when at sea!
PS when it said left over, it was a case of over-ordering, not because they weren't appreciated.

Alan

 

[dancrane]

Thanks for the link, SHUG. Actually I lived on things from tins in London, fifteen years ago, and learned to not-much like what they meant, in terms of flavour and texture. I guess it's a question of the tins' contents...some things are better than others. Anchovies! But I can't live on anchovies alone.

Is there any solution to bread, or rolls, that doesn't require their being chilled?

 

[lustyd]

I keep a few of the "look what we found" meals on board. They are meatballs, chilli, bolognese and one other I think. They will keep for a year at room temperature and use fresh meat etc. The meatballs are best, then chilli but I wouldn't touch the bolognese

 

[lustyd]

Here we go, these are in most of the supermarkets:
http://www.lookwhatwefound.co.uk/Page/Index.aspx

 

[MonniotC]

I agree about pasta, boil-in the bag rice, almost anything in a tin, also pasta sauces - some are very good, especially if you put an extra tin of chopped tomatoes in. I also keep a stock of this stuff - http://www.lookwhatwefound.co.uk/Page/Index.aspx - they say it lasts up to 12 months, but it lasts a lot longer than that really.

Rats - I've been beaten to it. Would you be the Vivacity on A pontoon in Emsworth Marina by any chance?

 

[adpmijs1]

Is there any solution to bread, or rolls, that doesn't require their being chilled?

You can get packets of part-baked bread rolls which keep for weeks, and just need a few mins in the oven to "cook" them.

We get ours from Aldi / Lidl...about 50p I think for either a packet of 4 submarine rolls or 2 baguettes.

Taste pretty good too...and great when hot!


Andy

 

[Sometime]

What about the army ration type sealed packets of food?
They sell them (quite expensive) in places like Millets but I am sure they can be sourced cheaper

 

[dancrane]

Pardon me, Katouf, but is 'stewing steak in a can', ready to eat, or ready for its necessary time stewing? Not that I mind if it takes a couple of hours.

I've no sweet-tooth at all, so my choices are diminished. It was a good, big, main-course, a feast, worthy of opening an expensive bottle, I was thinking of.

Damn right about things tasting better on the wave. Ah...anchovies on toasted fresh bread, drizzled with garlic-infused olive-oil and sun-dried tomato...and feta! Does feta need refrigerating? There'll be a foul smell on board by next time, if it does.

 

[lustyd]

Rats - I've been beaten to it. Would you be the Vivacity on A pontoon in Emsworth Marina by any chance?

I would, and whatever it was I promise I didn't do it!! are you based in Emsworth then?

 

[doug748]

A tin of cut green beans can be nice, billied up with a bit of garlic powder, wine and a tin of tomatoes. Tin of meat, or dried pretend meat, optional

Ratatouille (tins are very salty though - lets have tins with no added salt, please) makes a quick curry. Add curry powder and whatever else you have esp Tobasco sauce, wine and a tin of chicken. Just throw in the easy boil rice if you are stuck for time.

Chilli con carne - made with whatever beans you have + whatever meat. Toss in a bit of dried veggi stuff to simulate meat. Serve with rice and, if poss, salad.

Stuff I always keep on board (aside from the usual pickles, mustards biscuits etc) includes:
Pickled gherkins, olives in oil perhaps with feta cheese (large bottle), mixed herbs, green cardamon seeds in their own mill, 2 types of salad dressing, Heinz sandwich spread (great with salad and on butties), any salami type meat (put into any of the above).

All this stuff keeps a full Uk season on board, as do eggs.

I never leave on a trip without taking fresh salad, natural yogurt, bread and sheese.

PS,
I also have a container of ready stuff for making soda bread. Just mix with water and put in the oven on a tray for 25mins or so. (add a bit of dried milk + Flora + egg for luxury):

Ready stuff for soda bread:
1/2lb plain flour
1/2 teaspoon Bicarb of Soda
1 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
Mix well

 

[MonniotC]

I would, and whatever it was I promise I didn't do it!! are you based in Emsworth then?

I used to be on a swinging mooring outside the marina, then over by the Hayling Bridge. I moved into the Marina two weeks ago temporarily so I can get some work done. I noticed your Vivacity the other day as I used to have an Alacrity so it jumped out at me as I walked down the pontoon. I am Spray, an Achilles 24, also on A pontoon - berth 36.

 

[dancrane]

Gentlemen, we were talking of FOOD!

I used to add ox-tail soup to those curious little pellets of pasta, round things with tasty fillings - can't remember the trade name, but quite good in a hurry.

Is there such a thing as a roasted half-chicken, (or whole!), vacuum-packed so it can remain in edible condition longterm, at room temperature? If not, poultry-producers everywhere are missing a great business chance.

Cheese. How about cheeses, are any not in need of fridging? Aren't there some Mediterranean ones that survive in oil? Or was that my feta again?

Excellent thoughts, Doug748

 

[prv]

You can get packets of part-baked bread rolls which keep for weeks, and just need a few mins in the oven to "cook" them.

Seconded. A good thing even when keeping qualities aren't needed - I take them on daysails to make warm sandwiches.

I usually keep a couple of packs on board.

I made a good dish out of tins a while ago - a tin of ratatouille and a tin of spicy mixed beans (intended for chilli, I think), including all the brine. Then plenty of various herbs and spices (I never remember exactly what) and probably some worcester sauce. To this I added a pack of Tesco's posh sausages, cut into chunks, and simmered it till the sausages seemed cooked. Then serve with rice. Obviously fresh sausages don't meet your keeping criteria, but you could probably replace them with something dried or smoked.

Pete

 

[DanTribe]

When our kids were little, their favourite on-board meal was "Boat Stew" and lots of it!. Basically open lots of tins into a saucepan & heat. We had no fridge and a two burner cooker. After a day in the open air it would be hoovered up.
Serve the same thing at home and it was "yeuch, I can't eat this stuff!"

 

[BAtoo]

If you have a cool dry airy locker you can keep veg quite well for several days so you can do veg curries, stir frys etc and all you need is some rice.
Vegetable lasagne is pretty straightforward - especially if you cheat and use a prepared jar of sauce.
Part-bake rolls as mentioned above are great.
Chorizo and other air-dried sausages (small whole finger sized ones are the best) will also keep for some time in cool cupboard and can be added to veg and beans for a decent "sausage and bean stew" type concoction.

As a cheap tip for beans to go into a stew use the cheapest "value" baked beans from Tesco etc - they are too hard and have a too watery sauce for beans on toast but when added to a stew they are brilliant - and only 15-20p a tin !!

One of my favourite recipies of this type is Caldo Verde - or Portugese Green Soup - which I make a bit thicker as a stew.
Fry some sliced onions in oil till soft, dice some potatoes and add to pan, add some chopped Corizo or other air-dried sausage and continue to fry for a bit, add some veg stock and simmer till potatoes are cooked. Mash some of the potatoes into the stock to thicken it; leave some whole. Season to taste. Add some finely sliced green cabbage and simmer for a few minutes. Serve in a bowl. If wanted can serve with hot (part-bake) bread.
Can add other things to it if around - red peppers/chillies/cheapo beans, etc etc.

 

[dancrane]

My real name's Robinson. Heath...

I’m still thinking of meat and dairy items that might be stowable (or at least, have their shelf-life lengthened significantly) if the cabin temperature were lower. I know 25 centigrade is quite normal in mine, on a sunny day. Much hotter, midsummer.

Lots of food products are labelled with ‘Store in a cool dark place’, and while dark is no problem, cool is. How about...a solar panel, driving a very small bilge pump, drawing water from a hose with the other end held beside the keel...and pumping the cool water into a cistern (a 20 litre coolbox?) which then continuously drains over the side? The panel and the pump only work when the sun's out...which is when you need the coolness most.

Or maybe it would be possible to wrap such items in a watertight bag, then tape or wax-seal or ziplock it, then find some kind of modern chainmail-equivalent, to prevent the contents being nibbled, weight it, and hang the whole thing over the side? Even in June, sea temperatures are often only in the middle teens centigrade, in the Channel.

Or, during long absences, it could hang round the propeller, if there’s a risk of thievery. Just don’t forget it’s there.

Cue the food-safety bods, to remind me of the maximum safe temperature for storing meat/cheese...

I wonder what kind of person would swim out to a yacht, to see if the cord hanging over the side had a leg of lamb attached?

 

[prv]

Lots of food products are labelled with ‘Store in a cool dark place’, and while dark is no problem, cool is.

The bottom of my food locker is the top of the ballast (steel and dense resin) and the side of it is the (uncored) hull, below the waterline. It's not a fridge, but it stays fairly cool in there.

Pete

 

[Gordonmc]

As a rule of thumb anything on an unrefrigerated shelf in a supermarket will keep reasonably well in a cool-ish locker. As others have said, air-dried Chorizo and Polish Kabanos sausages will keep for ages (experience). Just chop em up and heat in sugo sauce. I don't bother with spag - plain chow mein noodles are ready much fasta than pasta.
I wouldn't bother with biltong - very expensive and pretty unappetising.
Vac-pack lamb-shank will be fine for a few days.
Lidl pitta bread will keep forever - the plastic it comes in is thicker than normal. Just a few minutes in the oven is fine.
If the fish aren't running salt cod will keep in an airtight container for an impromptu chowder/bacalhau.
Another staple in my galley is crisp-fried onion from asian supermarkets. It makes any pot-mess edible.