New Ideas for Feeding a Hungry Crew

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by sarafina

I did lovely raspberry crepes the other day... pancake mix very thin with extra egg and fresh berries... yumm...

How about Galettes? (savoury crepes) - no milk needed.

[Astrid]

When I went to school in Arizona, I became a big fan of Navajo fry bread. One can use it for just about anything from deserts to main meals. It is simple to make, though since one fries it in oil, its best to do so at anchor and then store what you make for when you are out at sea. With shredded BBQ pork or beef, it makes an easy meal by itself, or with crambled eggs and bacon it makes for a nice breakfast taco. With some fresh berries and a bit of powdered sugar, its a fine desert, or with a bit of honey or treacle, a nice snack.

1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup water
Vegetable oil for frying

The dry ingredients are sifted together and then the water added. Stir with a fork until it is well clumped together, and with floured hands finish mixing and forming into a ball. Do not knead the dough. Cut into quarters and roll out flat, then fry in oil turning once when the underside is browned. It will puff up in places and look rather lumpy, but that is what it is supposed to look like. It can be used in the same manner as tortillas, pita bread or indian flat bread.

[johnnyrocket]

Frittata's are one pan meals that are quick, easy, and yummy. Just mix all your left-over meats and veggies with some eggs, pour into a greased oven-proof pan and bake it in the oven until fluffy and lightly brown on top!
Say it with me: FRIT-TA-TA !!
Check out this page for provisioning help. Pretty useful.
http://www.pacificsailors.com/p/checklist-project.html

[Curmudgeon]

I usually eat the leftovers from last night's dinner. If there are no leftovers, any omelette will do.

[Mariness]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

I picked up the following from another site some while ago.
...
Partially zip up the bags and the squeeze to remove any air and zip the rest of the way. Then, drop the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. (A mid-sized pressure cooker pot with a loose lid can normally cook 6-8 omelets.)
eggs.[/SIZE][/FONT]

Sounds good but: Seems like this method could lead to damp eggs and a lot of scrubbing to get that pot usable again! How do you keep the bags from melting in spots when they bump into the hot metal of the edge of the pot?

[svHyLyte]

Sounds good but: Seems like this method could lead to damp eggs and a lot of scrubbing to get that pot usable again! How do you keep the bags from melting in spots when they bump into the hot metal of the edge of the pot?

With the water boiling, the bags just bubble around and don't rest against the side of the pot, nor do they get hot enough to melt. We did have one bag where the top was not fully sealed but the egg's simply poached, akin to "egg drop soup". Poured the water off, added a touch of Tabasco and all was well. For the sake of the exercise, boil up a pot of water on your home stove and then crack and egg into it. You'll see the effect. No scrubbing required.

FWIW...

[Mariness]

OK I can see the poached eggs effect working...no problem there. I was more envisioning just a little water getting in and kind of mixing into the egg, making it runny.
I might have to test it at home, I just can't get past the image of plastic coating on the edges of the pot. This happened once before with trying to heat something up, but that wasn't a rolling boil so maybe like you say, it wasn't moving enough.
Definitely curious enough to try an experiment! I think we have Sunday breakfast planned!

[sarafina]

instead of zip bags try a vacumm bag if you have one of those food savers.

If ya wanna sound fancy them eggs is
Sous Vide

[Mariness]

We have one of those . But seems like a lot of trouble, not to mention noise early in the morning, just for breakfast.

[fishwife]

It's been a holiday weekend in the UK and we've been entertaining with eleven people sleeping on board.(never again, but that's another story ) The Sous Vide eggs worked as advertized but failed to win much praise. Fritatta went down well but the novelty of Huevos Rancheros for a UK based hungry mob, was the clear winner.

Thank you everyone who contributed, any more ideas are very welcome.

P.

[svHyLyte]

Watch the video at Freezer Bag Omelettes

[canuck dennis]

Best ones ????

[Entlie]

Sorry in advance for the length of this posting.

Fishwife, I have a good provision list for a six month cruise, and if you will pm me I will email it to you. BWT, UHT milk is fine if it is extremely cold. ice cubes can cure this (removed before anyone sees them).

If you are not moving, a Dutch Baby puffy pancake is wonderful. I have modified the recipe from Joy of Cooking to a 9x13 ceramic pan, and serve it with lemon wedges, powdered sugar, and maple syrup. You don't need extra butter because it cooks in butter. Spectacular breakfast. You can put apples, bananas, whatever in the bottom, or nothing at all, and you can experiment with the measurements so you get thicker or thinner for your preference. Sometimes a Dutch Baby is a two step method, part on top of the stove, then in the oven, but I do mine all in the oven.

Kuchen is another terrific 9x13 pan idea. It's basically a half box of yellow or white cake mix, mixed with butter and baked to a crust, then add fruit (apples, even canned pears, whatever) to the bottom, and cover with a custardy thing. There are many kuchen recipes on the internet - mine is from an old Ship to shore cookbook and I will be happy to share it with you.

I make up ziplock bags of individual oatmeal before we leave, and include oats, nuts, dried fruits, cinnamon, whatever. Enough for a hearty bowl, just add boiling water, stir, and add milk, cream, butter to your taste. When the weather warms up, I use the leftover hot cereal bags in lieu of part of the flour for muffins. Turns out very tasty.

George's favorite (he's Sunspot Baby on this forum) is either breakfast burritos or Bacon, egg and cheese "McMuffins". While we are getting weather, doing morning chores before upping anchor, I turn on the oven, cook some eggs, sausage, bacon, cheese, whatever. Tear off two squares of foil, and make either a burrito or an english muffin sandwich (nice to slightly toast the sandwiches first in the broiler if you have one - it's the best way I have found to toast - our "broiler" is just a narrow space beneath the flame of the oven - it has taken some practice but we can toast nicely there). Anyway, wrap up your burritos or mcmuffins in a square of foil, one for each, turn off the oven, and put the items in there. Then, once underway and things are calm, pour some cold juice, a fresh cup of coffee, and get your mcmuffin out of the oven. A nice, hot breakfast underway. BTW, we use the sugar free breakfast juices (like Crystal Lite, but cheaper from Wal-Mart). You get used to the taste and they are quite nice, especially the peach.

If you don't have a sourdough starter, get one. Ours is wonderful for homemade bread - we make two regular sized loaf pans at a time. It makes the best toast, wonderful french toast, with sliced apples, and syrup with a little rum in it is always a hit. The bread is great for sandwiches, and also very versatile for pizza dough, the most wonderful grape and rosemary focaccia, and now I have a recipe to try English muffins but haven't done that yet.

We also love lox and bagels. Bagels keep a long while on the boat, and cream cheese can be frozen - just mash it up with a fork until it loses its "sawdust" consistency - a little cream helps. Lox freeze well, a little red onion, some sliced tomatoes, and you have an elegant breakfast. We sometimes throw in a bloody mary if we aren't moving that day, and that is a terrific treat.

If you'd like to have the sourdough recipes, you'd have to get or make your own starter, or any of the others, let me know by pm and I'll email them to you.

My point? Breakfast can be delicious, elegant, and not boring. And BTW, I love the omlet in a ziploc idea.

Entlie
Sailing Catamaran Sunspot Baby

[perchance]

Oatmeal, aka porridge, with raisins brown sugar and cinnamon if the weather is cool. Lasts about four hours because of the slow release carbs. No milk? no problem, condensed milk cut with water is a good substitute. I like to use it as a creamer for my coffee right out of the can

[Mariness]

If you have a microwave aboard...in the winter, I make up a week's worth of steel-cut oats and put them in the fridge. They take a longer time to cook but are SO MUCH better than regular oatmeal.
Then when I need breakfast, just scoop some into a bowl, reheat in microwave, add in whatever (I like dried fruit, some nuts, and a little brown sugar) and it's good to go. Sometimes helps to add a drizzle of milk - it dries out a little from sitting in the fridge.
On days I work, I get it hot, then into the thermos, and it's ready to eat when I get to the office. Even gives the fruit a chance to soften up that way.