The Trauma When a Foodie Goes Liveaboard

[weavis]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Bugga that.. I liquidise a couple of red onions and simmer them for a while in ghee/oil then add the first few spices like cloves, cardamoms, bay leaves etc.. then fresh ginger n garlic then finally my ground spices which have been soaking as a paste with some water (stops them burning).. coupla mins later its add tomato's a cook till oil starts to separate.. then toss in meat and stir till well coated, add water and lid up.
If a recipe that needs yoghurt I cook the required time and then de-pressure and stir it in a spoonful at a time till well blended.. then toss in fresh coriander and serve.

I will go looking in the new year sale for a pressure cooker.

[icedog11]

Originally Posted by Sunsetrider

Do you freeze the cooked protein in the plastic wrap before searing, then thaw and sear to serve? Or what?

you can do both refrigerate or freeze then thaw and finish. I have made some recipes that you want to cool the meat totally before an oven finish so as not to over cook the interior of the meat. Proteins cooked sous vide are far more tender than any other method. I have cooked a brisket for 3 days with an immediate ice bath to stop cooking and then a several hour oven finish to brown the exterior of the roast. the beauty here is once the water is hot in a cooler type environment it takes very little energy to keep it warm. Also it it impossible to over cook, if you set a steak for medium rare it will be medium rare after one hour or after four hours. It will however change the texture of the steak. you can actually make them too tender. It takes playing with it and understanding the texture you like. I do BBQ ribs shorter and hotter so it still has some tug when you bite it. I have made them with the texture of filet mignon, I did not enjoy it that way the wife did.

In theory you could put a meal on hours before you want to eat and then just pan sear it when you drop anchor to finish it, in a matter of a few minutes. or sous vide you protein refrigerate it, let it rest before the days end to bring it up to room temp, then sear it off.

[icedog11]

truth be told it's my desire to be a live aboard that attracted me to sous vide. Its a low energy consumption cooking that requires very little attention to achieve superior results. I am a foodie who would not wish to surrender high quality food in exchange for a live aboard lifestyle. Fish/ chicken/fowl, is impossible to over cook or dry out cooked using sous vide as the cooking method. The only down side is the plastic needed to vacuum pack the food in to cook and its disposal. freezer bags could get multiple uses I would assume.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Sunsetrider

..what the hell do all you guys cook in a pressure cooker?

...I am really tempted to try out sous vide here at home as a trial run, but that's a different story.

What the others have said + beans and conch steak.

Sous Vide is a great way to do beef ribs. Probably good for conch too, but I havent tried it.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by Sunsetrider

Lots of good inspiration and info here. I don't think a small cooler (the smaller the better) would be an inconvenient item on a small boat like mine. ut one thing keeps popping up - I have mentioned this once already: what the hell do all you guys cook in a pressure cooker? So I understand that you could do a pot roast, for example, in super-quick time - but what other thongs by way of example? We have never used one, we use a slow cooker for stews and curries. I am looking for ideas to replace the fact that I do not have an oven, just a 2-burner alcohol stovetop and a rail-mounted BBQ. I am really tempted to try out sous vide here at home as a trial run, but that's a different story.

If nothing else it's a fully spill proof pot when the lid's in place, & as such is handy when Neptune gets cranky. Though you can even use them for baking on the stove top. But it's handy for making chili in, along with the dishes mentioned by boatman 61. Stews, veggies, bean based dishes, as beans sometimes require extended cooking times in order to tenderize them. Particularly the dehydrated/dried types. It's also handy for rice dishes, especiially things like wild rice, that have long cook times. Since with the lid on, your cooking times can be reduced a lot. A thing that's handy when it's hot, so that you add a minimum of heat to the boat's interior.

I even once used one to bake scones on the engine manifold, as the boat had bleeping CNG stove fuel, & it was in short supply. So the heat from the engine filled in for it, unbeknownst to most of the crew. Who were pleasantly astounded come breakfast time. And another fav is oatmeal bannocks on the stove top. Though conventional pots work great too.

Do a bit of searching online for recipes, & then come back & share some of your finds & fav's with us.

[JPA Cate]

Piggybacking on what UNCIVILIZED wrote, what else you can do with a PC is remove the gasket and it becomes a stove top oven. I have baked numerous loaves of bread in ours; but also, with the addition of a rack, you can bake cakes in one, too.

Seriously, you have to lose one meal at sea because the pot jumped off the stove and the lid flew off to realize yet another benefit of the pressure cooker. You don't have to use the steam to cook *whatever*, it's a pot, to cook *whatever* that cannot come undone by itself once closed.

Ann

[UNCIVILIZED]

Yes, when I said "bake" in reference to a PC, cakes, muffins, & bread was running through my mind. But I thought that such would be self explanitory. So thanks Ann. And to add to what you said about having a pot for heavy weather. One BIG advantage to a PC is in the safety realm. Since the (boiling) food can't leap out of the pot & on to the chef. Which would do more than just ruin the food, it'll also ruin the chef. Concerning which... It's a good habit (rule to make) to get into to wear a chest high, splash proof apron when cooking at sea. Always! One which extends from neck to shin. Either that, or wear foulie bibs, typically in cooler weather & climates. As burns at sea, well, you can't go to the ER, and... well, it ain't a pretty scenario.

[Sunsetrider]

Thanks folks - the picture is now clear!

[weavis]

As stated, I have been averse to pressure cookers from childhood as mother made stews in them... everything has the same taste and consequently I didnt care for stews.

However... When I was in the States, one of my favourite dishes, Italian beef at a local restaurant, It was perfect. I only saw it in a tray and shredded easily with 2 forks, slightly spicy with a fabulous gravy... I just found out from a friend it was made, depending on the chefs time, in a slow cooker OR a pressure cooker.... who knew!

Dean is going to send me the pressure cook recipe. Im looking at pressure cookers at the weekend.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

Yes, when I said "bake" in reference to a PC, cakes, muffins, & bread was running through my mind. But I thought that such would be self explanitory. So thanks Ann. And to add to what you said about having a pot for heavy weather. One BIG advantage to a PC is in the safety realm. Since the (boiling) food can't leap out of the pot & on to the chef. Which would do more than just ruin the food, it'll also ruin the chef. Concerning which... It's a good habit (rule to make) to get into to wear a chest high, splash proof apron when cooking at sea. Always! One which extends from neck to shin. Either that, or wear foulie bibs, typically in cooler weather & climates. As burns at sea, well, you can't go to the ER, and... well, it ain't a pretty scenario.

About burns at sea, on passage, one friend got an ankle scald from a flying cup of tea. They carried pharmaceutical honey, and dressed the burn with it, and by the time they got to land, the burn was healed.

weavis, I hope you like your PC; sometimes you can find them in op shops, so you don't HAVE to spend hundreds.

A.

[Paul54]

Throw in an extra beater from an electric mixer. Use it it in your handheld battery powered drill.

[icedog11]

another plus for sous vide the water temperature is never hot enough to scald. A steak is cooked between 129 and 140 degrees F. I cook mine at 133 f. Eggs are another great meal made using sous vide. I would suggest looking at the technique as it seems like many are not familiar with it. Pressure cookers are hot and fast, sous vide is low and slow. different approaches to the same problems energy consumption, food quality,saftey, and convenience.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by icedog11

another plus for sous vide the water temperature is never hot enough to scald. A steak is cooked between 129 and 140 degrees F. I cook mine at 133 f. Eggs are another great meal made using sous vide. I would suggest looking at the technique as it seems like many are not familiar with it. Pressure cookers are hot and fast, sous vide is low and slow. different approaches to the same problems energy consumption, food quality,saftey, and convenience.

Cook the meat nice and slow using SV then sear on the grill for a great finish. This is my favorite way to do beef ribs, and other challenging meats. Awesome results.

[Alastair A]

Hi to all CF. I'm so glad to see a good and encouraging cooking dialog stream. "Go CF" team. Does anyone have any good "salt water" baking recipes to share. I assume yeast and other easy dry stored ingredients on board. Please lets cook and bake nicely on whatever we each have. Pressure cookers and dutch ovens do this also, . Let's share and encourage good eating. A.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Alastair A

Hi to all CF. I'm so glad to see a good and encouraging cooking dialog stream. "Go CF" team. Does anyone have any good "salt water" baking recipes to share. I assume yeast and other easy dry stored ingredients on board. Please lets cook and bake nicely on whatever we each have. Pressure cookers and dutch ovens do this also, . Let's share and encourage good eating. A.

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