Let's Cook on the Boat,, Eat in the Cockpit

Do you know what is shown at left? If not, it's possible you're a goldurn mule kissin' landlubber but we'll love you anyway.
















Cold Cornbread Salad

The cornbread can be bought, baked ahead of time at home or baked on board. This hearty salad makes a main dish meal for lunch in the cockpit or a cold supper on a hot night on charter in the tropics.

Your favorite batch of cornbread OR
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix, baked according to package directions

2 cans, 15 ounces each, red beans, rinsed and drained
3 large tomatoes, chopped and drained
Medium green sweet pepper, seeded and diced
Small Vidalia onion, peeled and diced
6-ounce package grated Cheddar cheese
15-ounce can whole grain corn, drained
4 to 6-ounce packet real bacon bits
1 packet ranch dressing mix
8-ounce container plain yogurt
1 cup low-fat mayonnaise

Crumble cornbread and toss lightly with beans, tomatoes, sweet pepper, onion, cheese, corn and half of the bacon bits. In a bowl whisk dressing mix with yogurt and mayonnaise and fold into cornbread mixture. Pile into a container and sprinkle with remaining bacon. Chill 8 hours. Serves 6 to 8.

Serving suggestion: Use an ice cream scoop to serve in a bowl or on a bed of shredded lettuce. Pass the salsa.


See more of Janet's galley-read recipes at
http://www.CampAndRVCook.blogspot.com

Marina Potluck
Recipe of the Week

Janet Groene's Buttermilk
Batter Chicken-in-a-Blanket

It’s easy to whip up this recipe in the small galley. Potluck guests love this creamy mixture with its buttery topping.

2 or 3 cans, 10 ounces each, chunk chicken
15-ounce can diced carrots, drained
15-ounce can kitchen-sliced green beans, drained
Water
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups biscuit mix
1 stick butter, cut into bits
1 ½ cups buttermilk

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9 X 13-inch casserole.
2. Drain chicken and add water to make 1 1/2 cups liquid.
3. Arrange drained chicken and vegetables in casserole.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 ½ cup liquid, soup and cornstarch. Pour evenly over chicken mixture.
4. Wipe out the bowl with paper towels and whisk together biscuit mix and buttermilk. Fold in butter bits. Pour batter oven chicken mixture.
5. Bake about 40 minutes until center is bubbly and a golden crust forms on top. Let stand 10 minutes, cut into squares and serve with a pancake turner (chicken will be on the bottom). Makes 8 to 10 potluck portions.

Do you eat at the helm or on the trail? Find scumptious gorp recipes at
http://www.CreateAGorp.blogspot.com
Save by making your own trail mix and you also cut out the excess salt, sugar and fat.
I was ticked off after paying $2.49 for 6 ounces of trail mix consisting mostly of little marshmallows, a few salted peanuts and almost no protein. Now I make my own.

We love Winter Boat Shows

What is your favorite winter boat show? What did you find there? Even in years when we aren’t in the market for a boat, we spend a couple of days at a boat show to see what’s new in accessories, to hobnob with factory reps and other boaters and, of course, to see if this year’s hot dogs are as good as last year’s.








If you're a galley chef or will soon be one, here's a recipe to knock their socks off.

Creamy Cheese Grits

The creamiest of grits, these can be topped with almost anything from the grill. Shrimp kebabs? Grilled chicken or a chop? This recipe is even rich enough to go under a medium-rare filet mignon. It’s perfect for the team galley, where one crew works the grill while another tends the galley stove.

½ stick butter
2 to 3 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup heavy cream
1 ½ cups water
1 chicken bouillon cube
½ cup quick (not instant) grits, (yellow or white)
4-ounce package grated Cheddar cheese

Melt butter and sizzle garlic until it’s fragrant. Stir in cream, water and bouillon, bring to a boil, and stir in grits. Stir over kow/medium heat until thick. Fold in cheese and spread grits on six plates. Top with grilled meat, seafood or poultry.

Marina Potluck
Recipe of the Week

Ravioli Lasagna

Yes, you read it right. The noodles are stuffed, adding to the fun and flavor of this unusual lasagna. This makes a deep 8-inch square pan to cut into 9 squares. The recipe is easily doubled to fill a larger pan if your oven is large enough.

The ravioli needs to remain frozen until you’re ready to use it, so this recipe isn’t for galley chefs who don’t have a freezer.

25-ounce package frozen cheese ravioli
4 or 5 large Italian sausage links
6-ounce package spinach
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
24-ounce jar spaghetti sauce
4-ounce package grated mozzarella cheese

In a nonstick skillet with a little water, bring sausages to a boil and cook until water is gone and sausages brown all over. Set aside to cool. Heat the oil in the pan with the browned bits and stir-fry spinach until it’s limp.

When sausages are cool enough to handle. slice into thin coins. Spray the baking pan and make layers with the frozen raviolis, sausage mixture, spinach and sauce, ending with a layer of ravioi topped with sauce.

Bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees, sprinkle with grated cheese and cook 5 to 10 minutes or until lasagna is bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes, then slice with a serrated knife. Serve squares with a pancake turner.

Cook's note: Sausages can be fried ahead at home. Cool and refrigerate up to three days.

See more of Janet's Galley-tested recipes and potluck ideas at
http://www.CampAndRVCook.blogspot.com

Can't leave the helm? Eat at the wheel? Find nourishing, smart recipes for homemade trail mixes at http://www.CreateAGorp.blogspot.com

Great Recipes for the Galley Chef

If you know the name of the fuzzy stuff on the ladder at right, you're my sailing sister. If not you're a stinkpotter but you're loved anyway, especially if you read my Living Aboard column in Houseboat magazine.


If you’re not sailing the Grenadines this week, I bet you wish you were! Anybody out there ice sailing? Underway or at rest, everyone needs to eat so here’s one for the galley chef.

Have you discovered FoldTuk, the bakeware than can stand oven temperatures yet it squashes flat for compact stowage? It's amazing.

Kedgeree

This exotic dish originated in India and spread to the entire British colonial world. It’s often served for breakfast but it also makes a substantial Smoked salmon in vacuum packs keeps well in the ice chest. You can use any smoked fish or tinned salmon and a drop or two of smoke flavor.

1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
Large onion, diced
4 cups water
2 fish- or chicken-flavored bouillon cubes
2 cups long-grain white rice
4 hard-cooked eggs, diced
10-ounce package smoked salmon, cut in bite size
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
Mango chutney

In a large pot, stir curry powder into canola oil with the onion until onion is coated and curry is fragrant. Add water and bouillon. Bring to a boil and stir in rice. Cover and cook over very low heat until rice is tender. Stir in eggs, salmon and peas and heat through. Serve chutney on the side. Serves 8.
* If using tinned salmon, drain it and use the liquid as part of the water measure. Bones can be mashed and left in. They’re a good source of calcium.

Galley Chef shortcut of the Week
Make hard-cooked eggs a dozen at a time and use them in so many dishes including Kedgeree. . When you're passage-making and weather is dirty, an egg or two in your pocket will feed you at the tiller and keep you going through the night.


Marina Potluck
Recipe of the Week

Strawberry Squish

I bet your guests can't guess what's in this sweet, toothsome dessert. Your secret ingredient is a store-bought angel food cake, thoroughly squished and soaked in strawberry goo. It needs to be chilled overnight in the refrigerator, reefer or ice chest.

Large, round angle food cake (about 10 ounces)
10-ounce package strawberries in syrup, thawed
1 can sweetened condensed milk (e.g. Eagle Brand)
18-ounce can strawberry pie filling
1 quart whipped topping, thawed
Spray a 9 X 13-inch dish or pan. Tear cake into bite-size pieces into a large plastic bag. Add everything else, seal the bag and knead gently until everything is well squished and mixed..Cut a large corner off the bag and squeeze the mixture into the sprayed dish. Cover with plastic wrap and chill all day or overnight . Cut into 12 squares.

Cook's note: strawberry pie filling in a can does exist but if you can't find it use cherry pie filling instead.

For more of Janet's galley-ready recipes (she is also an RV-er) go to
http://www.CampAndRVCook.blogspot.com
She also develops healthful trail mix recipes for eating at the wheel or on the hiking trail. See
http://www.CreateAGorp.blogspot.com

Galley Success for the Boat Cook

Cooking on the boat today or every day? Let's make it delicious but easy to cook, easy to clean up. Non-stick skillets are great time savers, but be sure to use utensils that won't scratch the surface or they won't be non-stick for long.







Skillet Chicken ‘n Cornbread
Pick up a fully cooked chicken at the deli, then pick its bones to make this one-dish, stove-top supper.
1 deli-roasted chicken, 4 to 5 pounds
2 stalks celery, diced
Small onion, diced
4-ounce can or jar sliced mushrooms, drained (optional)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 ½ cups water
1 box cornbread stuffing
Small can whole kernel corn, drained (optional)
About 2 tablespoons liquid oleo

Dice chicken. In a big, nonstick skillet, saute chicken, celery, onion and mushrooms in hot oil until onions are tender. Add water and bring to a boil. Stir in stuffing mix and corn. Drizzle with liquid oleo. Cover the skillet and cook over a very low flame about 10 minutes or until everything is heated through.
Spoon onto serving plates. Serves 4 to 6.

Marina Potluck
Recipe of the Week
Curry Cheese Spread for a Crowd

This makes enough to serve 20 as a snack, so bring loads of crackers or veggies to go with it. Make it in one big mold or two or three smaller ones.

2 packages, 8 ounces each, cream cheese
½ cup white wine or grape juice
1 tablespoon curry powder (more or less to taste)
½ cup chopped pecans
1 cup golden raisins
8-ounce package shredded Cheddar cheese
Chopped parsley, cilantro or finely chopped pecans for garnish

Let cream cheese warm to “room” temperature. . Use a fork to work in the wine and curry then fold in the ½ cup of pecans, raisins and Cheddar. Line a bowl(s) with clear plastic wrap and press in the cheese mixture. Keep cold until serving time, then turn out onto platter (s) and remove plastic wrap. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, cilantro or nuts and surround with crackers and veggies. Provide a spreader or butter knife for serving.

Galley Cooking for the Hungry Boater

Looking forward to some houseboating next spring!


















This winter reminds me of the long walks from the shower to the boat when we wintered in Key West. Some cold fronts plunged into the 40's. Here's a hot meal to warm you up.

Stove Top Tortilla Scramble
Use canned chicken, leftover chicken or fully cooked chicken bites from the meat counter. Easiest of all, grab a deli roasted chicken on your way to the marina and cut it up for this recipe.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 stalks celery, cut up
Medium onion, diced
Medium green bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
About 5 cups bite-size pieces cooked chicken
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
15-ounce can sliced carrots, drained
2 cans, 10 ounces each tomatoes with green chiles (e.g. Rotel brand)
1 teaspoon each dried oregano, cumin, chili powder
12-ounce bag grated Cheddar cheese
12 corn tortillas, 6-inch diameter, cut into ½-inch fingers
In a large, deep skillet frazzle onion, pepper and garlic in the oil until limp. Stir in carrots and chicken to coat. Stir in undiluted soup. Fold in remaining ingredients. Cover skillet tightly and bake over low burner until it’s heated through. Stir and spoon onto serving plates. Pass the hot sauce.

Marina Potluck
Recipe of the Week
Bean ‘n Berry Bulgar

Swish the cilantro clean at home, wrap in a dish towel and carry in the ice chest. Then snip it into tiny flakes with scissors. A big bowl of this fluffy pilaf makes about 10 potluck servings. Choose ripe, but firm, strawberries.

2 tablespoons canola oil
Large onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 ½ cups water
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 ½ cups water
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups bulgar
2 cans, 19 ounces each, large white beans
2 cups fresh strawberries, cut in quarters
1 bunch cilantro, finely snipped

Heat oil in a small, nonstick skillet and stir-fry onion until it’s soft, gradually stirring in the curry powder. Set aside.

In a large, stove-to-table pan or casserole heat water and broth with the garlic salt. When it boils stir in bulgar. Reduce heat, cover and simmer over very low flame about 12 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork. Drain, rinse and drain again the white beans and fold into the bulgar with the onion, strawberries and finely snipped cilantro to taste. Sere warm or at “room” temperature.
Cook’s note: substitute 1 to 1 ½ cups Craisins or dried cherries for strawberries. If you prefer a less pungent herb than cilantro, use fresh parsley.

Galley Cook Tip of the Week: To cut lots of tortillas into strips for soup or a casserole, make into stacks and cut with scissors.