BVI –BERMUDA-CONNECTICUT (prepared on board) Chicken Vegetable Bake (Serve over Uncle Ben’s Ready Prepared Rice) Broccoli Scallop Linguini** (Serve with rolls) Linguini** with Ground Beef & Sausage Sauce* (Serve with Italian Bread) Mango Chicken (Serve over Uncle Ben’s Ready Prepared Rice with peas on the side) Chicken Cacciatore with Linguini** (Serve with Italian Bread) Beef Stew (Serve with rolls) Penne with Ground Beef & Sausage Sauce* (Serve with Garlic Bread) Not-too-hot Chili (serve over Microwaved baked Potatoes) Meals requiring some cooking: Zanigers Jambalaya Mix (Cooked Sausage & Vegetable Packet in Freezer) Hamburgers (Serve with Carrots from freezer & make up Mac & Cheese Mix) Strip Steak (Serve with peas from freezer and microwaved baked potatoes) Hot Dogs in rolls (serve with baked beans or canned chili) Rough seas: Microwave a selection of individual soups. PBJ, deli meats, cheeses, cereal bars. *One batch of sauce made 8 servings, so I used it twice. Nix on hot sausage; use only sweet. ** 1-1/ |
Who Wants to Cook?Try this for a challenge. Take four galley-shy men and send them out to sea without a cook. My husband dropped the guilt trip on me last year, when he planned a sail to the Caribbean and I wasn’t going along, nor was anyone who liked to cook. Okay. The lunches, snacks and breakfasts were no big deal to set up. But, for dinner--why, they expected hot, home cooked meals that could be ready to eat with little or no work on their part. My solution was to provision with frozen, ready-to-microwave (or boil) vacuum-sealed meals packed in individual portions. The individual portions eliminate waste, should a crewmember turn down a meal, and make heating and serving easy. There is virtually no cleanup, as hot meals can be squeezed directly into the serving bowl. I should mention here that there are companies who will deliver such meals to your boat, packed in dry ice. I chose to prepare my own, as it afforded me control over the degree of seasoning--too much spice can aggravate sea-going tummies—and it was cheaper. Last fall, when my husband sailed south with the Caribbean 1500, it was fairly easy to meet this challenge, as I was able to do most of the preparation at home, where I had a full size oven, an upright freezer and unlimited access to food supplies. The trip involved two legs of 3 and 6 days. I doubled each recipe, providing the same meal once during each leg, and filled in with such more intricate meals, such as meatloaf and gravy with mashed potatoes and sliced turkey with stuffing, yams and cranberry sauce. The real challenge came this spring, when I was faced with doing the preparation on board in Tortola, BVI for the northbound passage, this time via Bermuda—a 5 days and 4 day split. In my galley, I had a mini-vacuum sealer, a separate freezer, a refrigerator, a standard Force 10 stove and limited access to ingredients. Here’s how I managed it. Plan a workable menu Learn your crew’s dietary need and preferences. If a crewmember were allergic to seafood, it would be tragic to offer a shrimp scampi meal without having an alternative available for that person. Hot weather begs for lighter meals, such as seafood or chicken, while beefy stews are welcome when it’s cold. Our trips between the northeast and the Caribbean called for a mix of both. I usually serve something bland the first night, such as a chicken and rice dish. Once the crew is attuned to the movement of the boat, their digestive systems should become tolerant enough for spicier meals. Gather ingredients and organize tasks Once you’ve selected workable recipes, go through each and shop for any missing items. If you plan to do the preparation over a short space of time, as I did, keep canned and boxed items handy to your work area. Work sensibly I made all the chicken recipes one day, and those requiring pasta sauces another. Pasta to be added to several dishes can be cooked al dente in advance, and chilled until the go-withs are ready. Rinse pasta and mix in a small amount of olive oil to prevent sticking. Put the pasta in a in a gallon-size zippered plastic bag and refrigerate until needed. I drew from the same batch of linguini to complete a scallop dish, chicken cacciatore, and to accompany a meat sauce. When chopping onions, garlic, peppers or other vegetables, figure out how much you’ll need for your cooking session, and do it all at once. I use only precooked rice packets, such as Uncle Ben’s Ready Prepared Rice. One packet suffices as a side dish for four and takes only 90 seconds to heat in the microwave. Plump up meals with nutritious veggies. A meal that does not already include vegetables may require a side dish of peas, broccoli or whatever. For simplest offshore preparation, use frozen vegetables. If they are not in microwave-ready packets, such as Green Giant brand, repackage them in a sealer bag for easy heating. Prepare food Preparation aboard is trickier than at home because large pans will not fit into the oven and take forever to cook, usurping valuable propane. Using a 12-inch skillet with a tight fitting lid, I can make portions for four of almost dish. Convert most oven recipes for stovetop cooking using this technique. Brown meats and sauté vegetables. Stir in the liquids. To allow for evaporation during the cooking process, add a little extra of whatever liquid the recipe calls for; i.e., increase 1/ Vacuum sealing Prices have dropped on vacuum sealing units, making them accessible to more people. Food packaging is only one of many uses. No-frill sealers work just as well as fancier, more costly models. Vacuum sealing preserves the original flavor and consistency of foods, as all air inside the bag has been removed. I keep a regular size sealer at home ($100), and a mini-sealer aboard ($50). I suggest individual portions, as opposed to larger quantities, to reduce freezing and reheating time and simplify serving. If you are not certain how much to apportion, fix a sample dish that looks about right, and then ladle it into the sealer bag, counting the number of spoonfuls. To keep the bags open and standing upright, fold back the tops. It also helps to corral the bags in a shallow casserole pan. For a meal requiring the addition of pasta, such as chicken cacciatore with linguini, place the cacciatore mixture in the bag first, and add the chilled, cooked pasta on top. This way, when served, the pasta will be on the bottom of the dish, where it belongs. When filled, roll down tops and temporarily affix with masking tape. Freeze to solidify liquids To vacuum seal, all liquids need to solidify so they won't be sucked out during the sealing process. At home, it’s easy enough to transfer the dish holding your portioned bags into the freezer for a few hours to ready them for sealing. On the boat, doing so will raise the temperature of the freezer, putting other foods at risk. I resolved this issue by removing items already in my freezer to a cooler bag for the short time it took to soft-freeze meal bag contents. Pre-cool bags by surrounding them with ice to prevent bacteria formation, before placing them in the freezer. For fastest freezing, allow space in between bags, when setting them in the freezer. Seal, Package and label Once the meal bags have solidified, seal each using the vacuum sealing unit. If the sealed bag is soft-frozen, flatten the contents using the palm of your hand to make it easier to stack in the freezer. Hard frozen bags will be fist-shaped, thus lumpier to store. With a permanent marker, label each bag with the recipe name and serving size. Consolidate meals Make it easy on the crew by placing all portions for a meal, plus any frozen side vegetables, into a single, larger bag (a one-gallon size, zippered plastic bag usually works fine) and label it, including any special heating and serving directions. Now, review your menu and arrange dishes in a logical serving order. Stack meals packets in the freezer in order of use, with the last meals to be consumed at the bottom. Post menu and supply list Hang in there. You’re almost done. Remember, you won’t be there to direct the crew, so post the finished menu in the galley, along with the location of any breads, potatoes, rice or other items needed to complete specific meals. I tack a supply list near or inside or each food cupboard to prevent fruitless searches. Reheat and serve Vacuum sealed bags can be reheated in boiling water or in the microwave. As a pot of boiling water can be hazardous underway, I recommend microwaving. To microwave poke a small hole in the each bag to vent, and heat bags separately for a couple of minutes each. Stack hot bags. They will keep each other warm, while others heat. Defrosted meal bags will reheat more quickly than hard-frozen ones. After supper, relocate the next day’s meal to the refrigerator for thawing. To serve, simply squeeze contents into individual bowls and toss the bag in the trash—never overboard. To prevent slopovers, the classic offshore serving dish is sided—I use the vegetable bowls that come with marine dinnerware sets. |
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