Quest for the One Can Meal

[pbiJim]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Ever eaten out at a Restaurant specializing in British cuisine? Me neither, is there even such a place?

It's called a pub.

Classic specialties include:
Bangers & Mash
Shepard's pie
Fish & Chips
Sunday Roast.

[pbiJim]

Back to the OP,
About the only thing that I keep around to eat directly out of the can is Ravioli. I store that with my hurricane supplies. It isn't gourmet, but it does get the job done. I've even heated it up by placing the unopened can on the exhaust manifold of a running engine when better implements were not available.

I prefer canned soups, canned vegetables, canned tuna & even Roman noodles as stash away supplies, but if you want to stick strictly to something that you can eat right out of the can, then ravioli probably fits the bill better than most other things.

I also jar my own home-made pasta sauces & find that they keep for at least 6-months in mason jars. Going that route give you a much better meal, but it requires you to boil the pasta.

I've never tried jarring the pasta with the home made sauce already on it. That might be worth investigating.

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Ever eaten out at a Restaurant specializing in British cuisine? Me neither, is there even such a place?

Indeed. Quite a few. Even with Michelin stars. St John has been considered one of the best restaurants in the world for some time.

Also have to credit them with global favorites:

- Shepherd's pie
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- Macaroni and Cheese
- Cheddar Cheese

But generally, I have to agree with you. Best thing that ever happened to British cuisine was invading India.

[RainDog]

As others have noted, I have eaten tuna right out of the can for most of my life. Usually on crackers, but still....

Corn is good right out of the can too. Of course one of these really fit the bill as "meals in a can".

I would say try:

Celtic Lamb Haggis: Buy Celtic Lamb Haggis Online, Read Reviews at igourmet.com

[mr-canada]

Best bang for the buck? Military Rations. MRE (Meal Ready to Eat)

$12 a meal in low volume, $10 per meal in cases of 12. Less if you buy more.

Comes with a main entree, secondary starter (like a soup or bread), coffee, tea, creamer, sugar, moist wipe, even the spoon or fork that's needed. You can cook it all by putting it in boiling water or leaving it in the sun. Entrees for dinner like beef ravioli, mac and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, etc and breakfasts like hash browns with bacon and maple flavored pork sausage with bread, peanut butter, pop tart even chewing gum.

I stopped buying food for camping at the grocery store years ago now after a nasty bear eating everything I brought except military rations experience. Now I eat like a king bring food back home and leave behind no garbage because the rations come in bags. Lasts forever 15 year shelf life because its all irradiated to kill any remaining bacteria after the canning process, no BPA from cans.

the list goes on and on. every meal even comes with a soldier bar which is an extra kick of calories and protein and its way better than a powerbar

Cant beat MREs for solid good tasting food. Thats why the soldiers march with it - best bang for the buck and tons of calories

[Rhapsody-NS27]

It may be made by Campbell's but I like some (not all) of their Chunky brand of soups.

Campbell's Chunky Soup

[sailorchic34]

And thus meals are one area, where the single handed female sailor excels over the more macho guy sailor.

Wow canned meals. You poor things. OK I do use canned chicken, ham and roast beef, plus canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, but I generally start with onion's, garlic, potato's, celery, cashews, curries, pasta's, spices, etc, etc. Yes even rice and beans. Most of my meals are cooked in 10-15 minutes, using whats cheep at the markets. Real basic cooking too. Sort of "diesel engine bleeding" of the galley.

The key is the spices of course. I do a lot of curries and gumbo's and many times make enough for a second meal the next day. Of course I have a small fridge too.

Sailorchic's basic starter meal:

put a pot of water 1/3 full for rice or pasta on stove with heat on high. Toss in two small handfuls of rice (not minute rice) or pasta. Add one handful extra per added person. cover and stir now and then.

Once water starts to boil over, turn down heat to simmer and leave lid part off.

After waters warming on the pot above, Dice 1/2 onion and place in a pan with some oil on medium heat, Dice in garlic, celery, potatoes, bell peppers as needed. Cook 2-3 minutes or so, stirring it a bit now and then. Add 1/3 pound hamburger or other meat diced. Or add a can of meat. Add in a can of diced tomato's after meats browned. If you want add 1/2 a can coconut milk and or tomato sauce too. simmer on low 5 to minutes.

If you want to get fancy (and have not added curry or other spices to the skillet above), then in a small skillet make an Alfredo sauce (TS flour, cup milk, Oz or so butter, TS or two of parmesan cheese.) mix and stir off and on 3 minutes till thicken on low heat. This is where a three burner stove is really handy, BTW.

if your cooking rice, You can drain the rice before its done and add it to the skillet and it will absorb some of the juice in the skillet. reduces the sauce faster that way too.

In about 15 minutes, a meal fit for a king, or queen... And far better then a can of stew or spam. Serves two or three, or refrigerate leftovers and reheat in a pot the next day with a oz or two of water in the bottom.

Alternate by throwing in some shrimp, fish, sausage, etc. Very quick and easy to do and better for you too. You could do it all in one pan, by adding rice or pasta to the skillet after everything else is simmering, though might need to add a little water, tomato sauce or beer to the mix.

I did take a can of beef stew and add in a can of roast beef once and that was tasty, if somewhat salty. But that was two cans.

BTW, I do quite nicely on $5 a day per person for meals.

Ok so I once again got just a little off track again....

[StockholmSailor]

Thanks again everyone for your posts. I am looking into canning my own food, but I doubt that my pressure cooker reaches 120 degrees C, which seems to be the minimum for killing off butulin bacteria. There are designated canning cookers, but importing them from the US is very expensive.

[StockholmSailor]

Thank you Sailorchic34 for that recipe.
And I do do a lot of cooking on board, but i suspect some posters miss out on the original topic, expressed in the film in my first post; when you DO want to resort to cans - where are the good and nutritious ones and why do they have to add modified food starch?
Although I have got a lot of interesting tips and will investigate as to which are available in the EU.

[ArtM]

Originally Posted by syd spray

Winner!



Notice the PBR in the lower right to balance the sodium blast.

I'm counting two cans, unless a "tin" is not considered a "can".

But I suppose that a good, cold PBR might actually be considered the ultimate "one-can meal"

[s/v 'Faith']

An excellent option;

Hormel-Homestyle-Chili-With-Beans-15-oz

Available from the foremost purveyor of culinary excellence on the planet.

[nimblemotors]

Hormel Tamales are also pretty good as cans go. But can't beat refried beans as canned food.

[JPA Cate]

Stockholm Sailor:

If you're willing to combine cans of stuff, the world will open up a lot. From the US, not yet mentioned, comes the ability to combine one can chile beef with one can chile beans, which makes a very filling "meal". You can add rice to stretch it.

Canned black beans can be the basis for salads and main dishes. Beans plus rice does make a complete potein, if that matters to you.

Cabbage keeps well unrefrigerated, and can be the basis of a number of vitamin "C" rich vinaigrettes, with freeze-dried green beans added. Anything freeze-dried is very light weight for storing.

Some of the French tinned fruits are quite good, make nice desserts.

Obviously you have a reason for owning a pressure cooker. Tell us about that. We have two aboard, use them a lot.

Still, for passage making and times when you are exhausted, I think the one can meal, if findable, is a reasonable arrow for one's quiver.

However, the pouch meals and the freeze-dried backpacking meals taste better to me.

Ann

[rebel heart]

Trader Joes canned chicken or beef chili.

I could eat it every day.

[onestepcsy37]

hormel compleats meals in a package.

although they're intended for microwave heating they also provide instructions for heating in boiling water, which is what we do. just drop the package in for 8 minutes. can use sea water as the water never enters the package. just like canned food, the contents have already been cooked and the heating process is only for warming the contents and not for cooking them.

they come in many varieties; we prefer the ones with beef or turkey. we also add a small can of peas to them but it's not necessary.

they're also relatively cheap. we've paid as little as $1.67 and as much as $2.49. they have a long storage life and occupy little space.