The Boat Galley Cookbook: 800 Everyday Recipes and Essential Tips for Cooking Aboard : 800 Everyday Recipes and Essential Tips for Cooking Aboard

No matter what anyone tells you, boat cooking IS different from cooking ashore. The space is smaller, there's no grocery store 5 minutes away, you have fewer prepared foods and electric appliances, and food storage is much different. Despite cruising different oceans, we—Jan and Carolyn—both faced the same challenges: eating well while having time to enjoy all the other great aspects of cruising. We love to snorkel, swim, kayak, explore—and just sit and admire the view. We learned with the cookbooks we both had aboard, and wished for information that wasn't available—like when Jan ended up with a frozen chicken complete with head and feet and no instructions on how to cut it up. When we couldn't get foods such as sour cream, English muffins, spaghetti sauce or yogurt, we adapted recipes to make our own. Other times, we experimented with substituting ingredients—maybe the result wasn't identical, but it was still tasty. We ended up with over 150 substitutions and dozens of "make it yourself" options. As we traded recipes and knowledge with each other, we realized we were compiling information that became __The Boat Galley Cookbook__: - 800+ recipes made from readily-obtainable ingredients with hand utensils, including numerous choices to suit every taste: not just one cake but 20, 16 ways to prepare fish, 10 regional barbeque sauces, and so on. - Step-by-step directions to give even "non-cooks" the confidence they can turn out tasty meals without prepared foods. - Detailed instructions on unfamiliar things like making yogurt and bread, grilling virtually every food imaginable, preparing and cooking freshly-caught fish and seafood, cutting up and boning meat, cooking in a Thermos and baking on the stove top, as well as lots of tips on how to do things more easily in a tiny, moving kitchen. - All this in an easy-to-navigate format including side tabs on the Contents to help you find your way and extensive cross reference lists at the end of each chapter. Quick Reference Lists provide idea starters: suggestions of included recipes for such categories as Mexican, Asian, and Potluck. __The Boat Galley Cookbook__ is designed to help you every step of the way. We hope it becomes a trusted reference on your boat, and a source of many enjoyable meals. Excerpt CHAPTER 1A GALLEY FRAME OF MINDWe each faced a huge learning curvewhen we first began cruising—everythingfrom what gear we needed to howto provision and even how tocook in a limited space. In thesechapters, we've tried to pass onall the things we wish we'd known!BOAT COOKING IS DIFFERENTNo matter what anyone tells you, cooking on a boat is different from cookingashore. That doesn't mean it has to be difficult, though. We want to give youthe information you need for success—information we both wish we'd hadwhen we began cruising.In this chapter we explore the following challenges in cooking aboard:• What's On Board Is What You Have• Limited Space• Cooking from Scratch• Few or No Electrical Appliances• Small or No Refrigerator/Freezer• The Motion of the Boat• Limited Water• Heat in the BoatAlso be sure to read our chapter "Special Galley Cooking Techniques."WHAT'S ON BOARD IS WHAT YOU HAVEOnce you leave the dock, you're generally not able to run to the store if yousuddenly realize you're missing something—or to the Internet if you needto find out something. Whether it's provisions, pans, tools, or recipes, youhave to make do with what you have until the next time you are at a store.To some, this is scary: what if I forgot something? I (Carolyn) prefer to see itas a chance for innovation: what can I do with what I have? I've developed someof my best "recipes" simply because I was making do. Now they've become familyfavorites!I have three basic coping strategies for dealing with the challenge of beingaway from stores:• Planning and list-making—these make it less likely that I'llforget something I really need. You can download my free Inventory andProvisioning Spreadsheet from TheBoatGalley.com. Some cruisers constantly updatetheir inventory so they know exactly what's available; we both prefer to just doan inventory before a big provisioning run.• Innovation and creativity—substitutions don't have to perfectlyre-create the original recipe; they just have to produce a good meal. Our FoodSubstitutions chapter can give you lots of ideas for alternatives. And most ofour recipes list alternative ingredients. Where you see "(page XX)," thereference is either to a substitution or a recipe to make the ingredientyourself.• Prioritizing—would we rather spend more time in a greatanchorage, or reprovision? Usually we opt for more time in the anchorage, but atsome point the balance tips in favor of reprovisioning.LIMITED SPACELimited space refers not just to stowing provisions but also to limited spacefor food prep and for pans and utensils, fewer burners on the stove, less spacein the oven (if you have one), and a smaller sink. You're likely to have lessequipment than when you're ashore.Our ways to cope:• Buy versatile items. This is obvious with things like a can opener that alsohas a bottle opener on it, but how about using a wine bottle as a rolling pin?And buying basic ingredients that can be used in lots of different recipes,instead of single-purpose prepared foods?• Many kitchen gadgets aren't really necessary. You can do the same thing withmore basic, all-purpose tools. See our gear substitutions in the sectionEquipment Substitution: Making Do (page 7).• Think about stowing equipment when you buy it. Read more about this in thesection Buying Galley Equipment (page 6). Nesting pans and bowls will help;there are also collapsible bowls, colanders, and measuring cups that take upless space than their traditional counterparts.• Don't give space to things you don't need. For example, throw away the cerealbox on the dock—it takes up more space than the bag inside. Buy bonelessmeat, or bone it before freezing it (see page 256 for details on boning meat).One caveat, though: sometimes things that seem to be just "taking up space" areactually protecting something from breakage, so don't discard things withoutthinking about their purpose.• Check out our tips for storing provisions in the limited space available inour "Food Storage" chapter.• Think beyond the galley when you're looking for space to prepare food. I usedthe engine cover as an extra counter, and sometimes the nav table, too. Manygalleys have covers that can be put over the stove or sink to make additionalcounter space when needed.• Plan ahead for space limitations. If you have only two burners on the stove,don't plan a menu that requires three. Don't buy a turkey that's bigger thanyour oven, or if you do, plan to cut the turkey into pieces so it will fit.• If one of your "space limitations" is no oven, learn to bake on the stove top(pages 74-79) or on the grill (page 78).COOKING FROM SCRATCHIf you usually use prepared food and package mixes, the idea of cooking fromscratch can be intimidating. Few of us cook from scratch on a daily basisanymore; cooking from scratch is seen as something that "foodies" and gourmetsdo. But it doesn't have to be that way: you can cook simple meals from scratchevery day, without spending forever in the galley.As we wrote this book, we tried to keep in mind the cruiser who, like Jan,tended to just heat up prepared food when living ashore. We've worked to providedetailed directions for making everyday dishes to give you the confidence thatyou, too, can create good meals without a lot of fuss. Start with simple thingslike chili and spaghetti sauce. With some basic ingredients aboard—andthis book—you can make anything you want.FEW OR NO ELECTRICAL APPLIANCESMany cruisers find the idea of no (or few) electrical appliances to be even moreintimidating than the idea of cooking from scratch (and many find thecombination overwhelming). But virtually anything that you can do with anelectrical appliance, you can do by hand.There are two critical keys to success:• Good tools. Sharp knives and a grater can replace a food processor, and a goodmixing spoon and a potato masher can do the work of an electric mixer. You don'tneed a lot of tools, but don't skimp on quality. See the section Buying GalleyEquipment (page 6).• Recipes designed to be made without electricity. That's where this book comesin. We don't assume that you have a microwave, blender, food processor, orelectric mixer, although you certainly can use them if you have them. We giveyou the step-by-step directions you need to prepare food by hand, even if you'venever done it before. And our recipes are designed to be made with hand utensilsso you won't be exhausted by the process.SMALL OR NO REFRIGERATOR/FREEZERYour boat may not have a refrigerator and/or a freezer. If it does, it's likelyto be much smaller than what you're used to ashore, yet you're likely to golonger between trips to the grocery store than when you're ashore.The obvious way that cruisers cope with this is to use less prepared frozen foodand cook far more from scratch. But there are many other ways to meet thechallenge, and we've included a lot of information to help you in other chaptersof this book:• Tips on using a boat refrigerator and freezer in the sectionCoolers/Refrigerators/Freezers: Using and Troubleshooting (page 20).• How to use a cooler for food storage (page 22).• Storing produce without refrigeration (page 41).• Making tasty meals from canned meat, which doesn't need refrigeration (page303).• Lots of recipes for canned goods and foods that don't require refrigeration.THE MOTION OF THE BOATEverything you do is affected by the motion of the boat—some days morethan others!Things like standing (or needing a hand to hold on with), pots sliding on thestove, bowls and cutting boards sliding on the counter, bottles tipping over,and holding a knife are all affected by the motion of the boat. Then there arethe stowage issues: produce bruising, pans and plates clanking in lockers, itemsbreaking or becoming missiles. It's all a challenge!The first week is a huge learning curve, as is the first bit of rough weather.But it's not that bad once you get the hang of a few coping techniques. Withtime, these come naturally.• Always assume that the boat is going to move erratically, so use stove gimbalsand pot restraints (see page 14) no matter what the conditions are. Even in acalm anchorage, a fishing boat can come flying by and put up a big wake.• Never set anything down where it's not restrained, particularly items thatcould cause injury if they fell (knives, boiling water) or could break (anythingin glass).• Use non-slip materials liberally—cutting boards with non-slip edges,knives with non-slip handles, dishes with non-slip materials on the bottom, andso on.• Sit down to work when you can. And when you can't, find ways to brace yourselfso that if the boat rolls, you won't lose your footing. This is particularlyimportant when you're doing something that could result in an injury, such asusing a knife or pouring boiling water.• When pouring boiling water or other hot liquids, put the container that youare pouring into in the sink and wedge it in, rather than hold it in your hand.Make sure the stream of liquid is going fore and aft, not athwart-ships. Thisway, spills and splashes won't burn you.• For tips on stowing provisions so they won't be harmed by the motion of theboat, see the chapter "Food Storage."• Keep pots, pans, dishes, silverware, cans, and all noisy gadgets quiet withlots of padding. See the chapter "Equipping a Galley" for tips on stowingparticular items.LIMITED WATEREven if you have a watermaker, chances are that you don't have as much water asyou'd really like due to the power it requires. And without a watermaker, you'relimited to what your tanks will hold.The two biggest things that you can do to reduce your water consumption:• Don't waste water. Don't run the faucet longer than it needs to, don't cookfood in more water than it needs, and don't make more coffee or other drinksthan people will drink. When washing dishes, make a small bowl of soapy water(in one of your dirty dishes) rather than a sink full. Use a small houseplantwatering can to rinse dishes.• Re-use water when you can. For example, use the pasta water to rinse dishes ormake bread, use leftover coffee to rinse dishes or soak a pan. When you drainliquid from canned food, save it to use in other dishes (it will add flavor,too).The topic of conserving water always turns to whether or not you should useseawater in cooking and washing. Neither of us does. The question is whether itis sufficiently pure that it won't make you ill. I would never use seawaterwhile coastal cruising; it's my understanding that there are pollutants that arenot totally removed by boiling or treating with bleach. Having said that,veteran circumnavigators Lin and Larry Pardey use seawater for cooking regularlywithout boiling and with no ill effects.If you do decide to use seawater in cooking, it should be boiled and used in a1:2 ratio with fresh water, even for foods that you would otherwise add salt to,such as when cooking pasta or vegetables. To use seawater to wash dishes, eitherboil it or add bleach (eight drops per gallon of clean-looking water; double thebleach for "dirty" water). Again, we don't recommend using seawater. You do soat your own risk.HEAT IN THE BOATThe biggest source of heat in the boat is the galley. On a hot day, you'retrying to keep as much of that heat out of the boat, and on a chilly day, you'retrying to keep it in. Without air-conditioning or an auxiliary heater, managingthe heat from cooking plays a big role in staying comfortable.On hot days, use the stove or oven as little as possible. Eat cold foods, cookon the grill, and, if you do use the stove, choose foods that cook fast or canhave a large part of their "cooking" done in a thermos. A couple of good 12-voltfans and a wind scoop will help, too.Cold days are the time to indulge your cooking desires: make soups and stewsthat need to cook for a long time, and bake bread and cookies. You can eat welland stay warm!EQUIPPING A GALLEYEquipping a galley is different from setting up a home kitchen. There's a lotless space. You won't have as much—if any—electricity. You'll haveto conserve water. It's a moving platform. You may be doing a lot more cookingfrom scratch, and there may be fewer options for buying new gear.We'll assume you're not designing your boat from the keel up or doing a majorrefit. As we both did, you're probably going to use your galley with the fixeditems—the overall layout, the stove/oven, and thecooler/refrigerator/freezer—more or less unchanged. Instead, we'll focuson choosing other galley gear and in using the stove/oven and thecooler/refrigerator/freezer. Specifically, this chapter covers:• General things to think about when buying galley equipment• Safety considerations• Ways to get by with less gear• Tips on specific items, based on our experience and preferences• Ways to get the most out of your stove/oven and cooler/refrigerator/freezerand solving common problems with eachBUYING GALLEY EQUIPMENTWhat gear should you have in your galley? There's no one-size-fits-all list.Every boat and every person is different. What works on a 60-footer with afamily of five heading out for three years wouldn't be appropriate for asinglehander on a 25-foot boat who spends occasional nights on board.Your style of cooking, and what you like and dislike, won't change just becauseyou're on a boat. If there is something you really feel you can't live without,you'll find a way to take it. Conversely, if you didn't use it on land, you'renot likely to use it on a boat.That said, you need less than you think. Great meals don't depend on lots offancy equipment. If you're starting from scratch, don't buy everything at once.Buy the true essentials first, then add items as you're frustrated by not havingthem.Before buying anything for the galley, and in determining whether a particularitem will work well aboard, ask yourself these questions:• Do I really need it, or can I use something already on board? Thinkabout how often you'll actually use a piece of gear and see the sectionEquipment Substitution: Making Do (page 7). At the same time, trust yourjudgment. You know what you consider critical gear, so don't worry about whatsome "expert" (yes, even us) says you do or don't need.• Can I stow it in the space available? Carefully measure your stowageareas and potential purchases. Many times, product specs don't include handles,so measure items yourself.• Can I use it in the space available? Most galley counters, sinks, andovens are smaller than their "house" counterparts. For example, a standard-sizecookie sheet won't fit in many boat ovens. Measure carefully!• Will it work when I need it to? Items that break are a pain anytime,but they're even worse when you won't find a store for a month or more.• Is it likely to break or rust? Boat life is hard on standard kitchengear. High-quality items are often cheaper in the long run. Stainless steel andsoft plastic are least likely to have problems, but we both have some carefullyconsidered breakable items in our galley—just not critical items.• Is it non-slip? Will I be able to hold on to it? With the motion ofthe boat, it's important that things stay where you put them on counters andwon't slip out of your hand. See the following section, Galley Safety, for waysto make items non-slip.• How hard will it be to clean? Everything has to be washed by hand onmost boats, and lots of little nooks and crannies take time and water to clean.Opt for things that can be completely disassembled. Nonstick pans take much lesswater to clean.• Does it take power? How much? It's fine to have some electricalappliances aboard if your setup can handle it, but realize they are luxuries andhave manual backups.GALLEY SAFETYThe galley has the potential for accidents, but many of these can be avoidedwith some thinking as you're outfitting your galley and deciding where thingswill go.• Have a working fire extinguisher and a fire blanket; arrange your galley soboth are located where you could quickly and safely grab them if there was astove fire.• The stove and its fuel are potentially the most hazardous items on theboat—not just for burning the cook, but the risk of explosion and/or afire. Read the owner's manual, follow all safety precautions, make sure thestove is installed correctly, and perform any necessary maintenance and fuelleak testing at the recommended intervals.• When planning where you'll stow items, never place things behind the stovethat you'll need when the stove is on. Reaching over a lit burner is asking fora disaster if the boat moves just a bit. (Continues...) "No matter what anyone tells you, boat cooking IS different from cooking ashore. The space is smaller, there's no grocery store 5 minutes away, you have fewer prepared foods and electric appliances, and food storage is much different. Despite cruising different oceans, we--Jan and Carolyn--both faced the same challenges: eating well while having time to enjoy all the other great aspects of cruising. We love to snorkel, swim, kayak, explore--and just sit and admire the view. We learned with the cookbooks we both had aboard, and wished for information that wasn't available--like when Jan ended up with a frozen chicken complete with head and feet and no instructions on how to cut it up. When we couldn't get foods such as sour cream, English muffins, spaghetti sauce or yogurt, we adapted recipes to make our own. Other times, we experimented with substituting ingredients--maybe the result wasn't identical, but it was still tasty. We ended up with over 150 substitutions and dozens of "make it yourself" options. As we traded recipes and knowledge with each other, we realized we were compiling information that became The Boat Galley Cookbook: 800+ recipes made from readily-obtainable ingredients with hand utensils, including numerous choices to suit every taste: not just one cake but 20, 16 ways to prepare fish, 10 regional barbeque sauces, and so on. Step-by-step directions to give even "non-cooks" the confidence they can turn out tasty meals without prepared foods. Detailed instructions on unfamiliar things like making yogurt and bread, grilling virtually every food imaginable, preparing and cooking freshly-caught fish and seafood, cutting up and boning meat, cooking in a Thermos and baking on the stove top, as well as lots of tips on how to do things more easily in a tiny, moving kitchen. All this in an easy-to-navigate format including side tabs on the Contents to help you find your way and extensive cross reference lists at the end of each chapter. Quick Reference Lists provide idea starters: suggestions of included recipes for such categories as Mexican, Asian, and Potluck. The Boat Galley Cookbook is designed to help you every step of the way. We hope it becomes a trusted reference on your boat, and a source of many enjoyable meals"-- Provided by publisher "No matter what anyone tells you, boat cooking IS different from cooking ashore. The space is smaller, there's no grocery store 5 minutes away, you have fewer prepared foods and electric appliances, and food storage is much different ... The Boat Galley Cookbook: 800+ recipes made from readily-obtainable ingredients with hand utensils, including numerous choices to suit every taste: not just one cake but 20, 16 ways to prepare fish, 10 regional barbeque sauces, and so on. Step-by-step directions to give even "non-cooks" the confidence they can turn out tasty meals without prepared foods. Detailed instructions on unfamiliar things like making yogurt and bread, grilling virtually every food imaginable, preparing and cooking freshly-caught fish and seafood, cutting up and boning meat, cooking in a Thermos and baking on the stove top, as well as lots of tips on how to do things more easily in a tiny, moving kitchen. All this in an easy-to-navigate format including side tabs on the Contents to help you find your way and extensive cross reference lists at the end of each chapter. Quick Reference Lists provide idea starters: suggestions of included recipes for such categories as Mexican, Asian, and Potluck. The Boat Galley Cookbook is designed to help you every step of the way. We hope it becomes a trusted reference on your boat, and a source of many enjoyable meals."--Publisher's description