Mouthwatering Boat Recipes (mainly plant based)

[Seaworthy Lass]

Extract update

Lemon/Lime extract (= Lemon Liqueur):
I taste tested this "enough" to determine it had had "enough" after 5 days, primarily because I wanted to use it without picking out bits of rind . It was not completely unjustified - after about day 3 of soaking I really could not find any difference in flavour and the rind at this stage was just tasting of alcohol and nothing more.

This final filtered result is scrumptious. It also serves as a fantastic Lemon Liqueur (in my opinion better than Limoncello as it is not sweet and not watered down). I have used it already in apple crumble and creamy rice (I'll post the recipe for this next time I make it) and salad dressing. I bought vodka and more lemons in town yesterday and will make up half a litre of this shortly. NornaBiron, thanks for this fantastic suggestion .

Everything I have read suggests the essence improves with months of standing. This may be the case when long wide strips of rind are used, but I really doubt this is so with very finely grated rind. The rind was pretty tasteless after only three days. I will divide the next batch in two and leave one for a week before filtering and one for two months and check the difference.

In the meantime as a quick check I have poured a bit more gin into the leftover rind and will see how this tastes after a week. So far (unlike the instant huge boost with fresh rind) the rind is lending little colour or taste to the gin.
Edited to add: I strained and filtered the 'dregs' after a week. Pale colour and minimal taste of lemon. I doubt the extra time is doing much when the rind is grated very finely. Simply sitting is more likely to be the biggest factor in the improvement gained with maturity.

Vanilla extract:
Vanilla pods were astronomically priced, so I just bought two for this trial. I cut these lengthwise, scraped out the seeds (recipes say to skip this, but it is irresistible as the smell is divine ), chopped up the pods very finely and added them to half a cup of vodka.
This one will take time. Quite likely months to get the best out of it. The vodka stayed only faintly tinged yesterday, although has taken on a tea colour today. The fragrance is also developing slowly. I will hold off tasting until at least the week stage, otherwise there won't be much left by the time it is usable .

The vanilla after a day, the five day old lemon rind after a day in extra gin and the filtered lemon essence. I need to find small containers though, so that the air space is reduced:

[NornaBiron]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Essence update

Lemon/Lime:
I taste tested this "enough" to determine it had had "enough" after 5 days, primarily because I wanted to use it without picking out bits of rind . It was not completely unjustified - after about day 3 of soaking I really could not find any difference in flavour and the rind at this stage was just tasting of alcohol and nothing more.

This final filtered result is scrumptious. I have used it already in apple crumble and creamy rice (I'll post the recipe for this next time I make it) and salad dressing. I bought vodka and more lemons in town yesterday and will make up half a litre of this shortly. NornaBiron, thanks for this fantastic suggestion .

Everything I have read suggests the essence improves with months of standing. This may be the case when long wide strips of rind are used, but I really doubt this is so with very finely grated rind. The rind was pretty tasteless after only three days. I will divide the next batch in two and leave one for a week before filtering and one for two months and check the difference. In the meantime as a quick check I have poured a bit more gin into the leftover rind and will see how this tastes after a week. So far (unlike the instant huge boost with fresh rind) the rind is lending little colour or taste to the gin.

Vanilla:
Vanilla pods were astronomically priced, so I just bought two for this trial. I cut these lengthwise, scraped out the seeds (recipes say to skip this, but it is irresistible as the smell is divine ), chopped up the pods very finely and added them to half a cup of vodka.
This one will take time. Quite likely months to get the best out of it. The vodka stayed only faintly tinged yesterday, although has taken on a tea colour today. The fragrance is also developing slowly. I will hold off tasting until at least the week stage, otherwise there won't be much left by the time it is usable .

The vanilla after a day, the five day old lemon rind after a day in extra gin and the filtered lemon essence. I need to find small containers though, so that the air space is reduced:

My update on the same:

The lemon essence is a beautiful colour and smells wonderful........but the taste of the cheap, c****y gin has become more pronounced over the last few days and is spoiling the lemon.

The vanilla also smells divine but again the gin is spoiling the flavour.

I'll leave them both steeping and see what happens but I don't think they will improve.

Moral of the story - the cheap, c****y, chemical tasting, Egyptian gin is really only any good with lots of tonic and ice!

I'll have another go when I can access vodka and more vanilla pods.

[Seaworthy Lass]

I made up three more batches of lemon essence with Stoli yesterday (one to be ready to use in a week, and two batches to put aside for a trial) and so I ended up with a pile of rindless lemons. Making lemonade or a Daiquiri mix where the only things I could think of. Coin tossing wasn't needed - Daiquiri won .

Martinis are generally my winter sundowner, Daiquiris (or G&T or Pimms) in summer. I have never premixed Daiquiri, but don't see why it wouldn't work. About to find out .

My version is a reasonably low alcohol one:

DAIQUIRI / Preserved lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
Juice of two limes/lemons
Two shots (60ml) white rum
(I often use cane sugar and darker rum)

I upped this accordingly:
6 teaspoons cane sugar = ⅓ cup, dissolved in ⅓ cup boiling water
3 cups lemon juice (12 lemons), strained
1.5 cups (375ml) Havana Club rum

This just filled a litre bottle nicely with a generous serve left over for testing .
Refrigerate and serve on ice.
It will be interesting to see if this stores well.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for what to do with this much lemon juice next time? I suspect this will happen reasonably often - I will run through the lemon essence pretty quickly.

SWL

Raining heavily today, so a dark indoor shot:

Edited to add: I have changed the title to include "preserved lemon juice". It is an excellent method of storing lemon juice long term. I will leave a cup or two on the bottle and see how long it lasts .

[bfloyd4445]

You have really jumped into this alcohol thing....te..he...I'll bet you are having a terrible time with that pesky alcohol just up and evaporating on you huh? You should try buying it with SL proof caps. T
The thing with infusions is that they all progress at an exponential rate which means after a certain point there is no perceptible gain and there can be damage from other chemical reactions degrading flavor. Tasting is ok, the loss in finished product will be more than made up in future batches because of the knowledge you have gained from tasting.
By now you know my motto, taste two or three times before adjusting recipe and then add a little and taste again. You have got it down, and I am confident you are a fantastic cook!............well at least were alcohol is involved....chuckle

[weavis]

Coffee and cake in my house.......

[Buzzman]

Try 'whisky sour'. Add the lemon essence to whiskey - or even just the lemon juice.

Serve chilled or not,as per preference.

Can be warmed in winter for a hot toddy, especially good when the nose is blocked, head aching and running a fever, and 'you dust fee' awfoo'.....

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Buzzman

Try 'whisky sour'.....
Can be warmed in winter for a hot toddy, especially good when the nose is blocked, head aching and running a fever, and 'you dust fee' awfoo'.....

I almost enjoyed colds (never had any cruising, but get hit within days of returning on each biannual trip home), as I got to snuggle down with numerous mugs of tea with lemon, honey and slurps of Scotch added and lots of TLC . Made me "dust fee' betta" .

Never actually had a hot toddy as described. Does heating the whisky evaporate much of the alcohol?

SWL

[Seaworthy Lass]

Update: DAIQUIRI / preserved lemon juice.

I am hopeful this is a good way of preserving lemon juice. Time will tell .

It was never a problem back home. I would simply freeze ice cubes of juice, then bag them. Here in Greece lemons in winter are readily available often by bagfuls at no charge from friendly locals. For years I have been at a loss what to do with them - there is only a certain amount of marmalade or lemon syrup I need.

The idea of making extract from the rind and alcohol preserved juice from the rest may work absolutely brilliantly.

We have had a wonderful sail today - flying along on a broad reach with 20+ knots of wind. I am windblown and exhausted and now that we are snuggly secure at anchor I have made up a batch of stewed apple pouring in few slurps of the "daiquiri mix" instead of reaching for lemon juice. It worked well!

Freshly showered I have collapsed with an early sundowner of a relatively low alcohol daiquiri. I will leave a cup or so of the batch I made (a litre is actually only 6 drinks) to see how it lasts long term.

I hope to get more lemons here at this new spot before the season ends.

SWL

[bfloyd4445]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

I almost enjoyed colds (never had any cruising, but get hit within days of returning on each biannual trip home), as I got to snuggle down with numerous mugs of tea with lemon, honey and slurps of Scotch added and lots of TLC . Made me "dust fee' betta" .

Never actually had a hot toddy as described. Does heating the whisky evaporate much of the alcohol?

SWL

alcohol boils at about 170 degrees F and water at 212 F. Keep in mind it does so on the same curve mentioned in the previous email so the closer to the boiling point the faster it will go. My advice would be to; not let it drink outa your sight and drink it fast!. Especially if that certain lady is around who seems to have a fondness for spirits ......

[Buzzman]

If you can source other citrus fruits, you could make marmalade with th al the lemon rind, some of the juice, and loads of sugar or even hney if that's also available.

Try adding ginger and cinnamon to the lemon marmalade.

Then you'd have a product you could trade with homesick Poms, or even with locals, perhaps..??

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Buzzman

If you can source other citrus fruits, you could make marmalade with th al the lemon rind, some of the juice, and loads of sugar or even hney if that's also available.

Marmalade is a good option. I only have excess lemon juice/flesh (the rind is used up in making lemon extract), but combined with the juice and rind of a sweeter citrus like mandarin it should work well.
I am chock-a-block full of marmalade at the moment though (see an earlier recipe here for easy grapefruit and mandarin marmalade - that is to die for ).

SWL

[weavis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scrWF7I9cL0

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by weavis

Video link .......

Weave, the spices in this recipe sound absolutely lovely. It is similar to what I have used before, but I will try this particular recipe out the next time I come across aubergines.

Here is the transcript of the recipe for those that don't want to spend 10 minutes looking at the video:

RED PEPPER & AUBERGINE CURRY

2 aubergines, wrap in foil and bake until soft (45-60 min) @ 180°C
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 red onions, chopped
4 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 red peppers, seeded and cut in squares
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon asafoetida
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 red onions, chopped
½ teaspoon hot chili powder
1½ teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1½ teaspoons turmeric
½ pint vegetable stock

- Heat oil gently in a good quality non stick pan
- Add cumin seeds and asafoetida and stir a couple of minutes (don't allow the seeds to blacken)
- Add garlic and stir until golden
- Add onion and sauté about 5 minutes, stirring frequently
- Add salt and rest of spices (except garam masala)
- Add half of stock
- Increase heat and bring to a vigorous boil
- Cover, turn down heat to moderate and leave 2-5 min
- Stir in peppers and tomatoes
- Add rest of stock and turn up heat and simmer 3-5 min
- Meanwhile discard tops of aubergine and in a bowl cut up roughly using a knife and fork
- Add to the curry
- Cover and simmer around 5 min, stirring occasionally
- Add garam masala

Note : Weirdly, apparently "asafoetida has a fetid smell, but in cooked dishes it delivers a smooth flavour reminiscent of leeks". This is the only ingredient I don't have on board, so my take on this will have to be less than sublime .

I have added this to the index in post #1 .

[Seaworthy Lass]

I was running low on vegetables last night and needed to find something inventive to do with cauliflower and potatoes for dinner.

This recipe inspired me with its title of "The best cauliflower bake you’ll ever eat":
The best cauliflower bake you'll ever eat. - Amy Chaplin

CAULIFLOWER CASHEW TOPPING FOR CASSEROLES

Base:
Any vegetable mix (steamed, sautéed or roasted) or casserole/stew.
I sautéed six cloves of finely chopped garlic in a couple of tablespoons of oil (sounds like a lot but they mellow completely, as they do when roasted) then added 2 onions and 6 diced potatoes and fried until soft, stirring lots to scrape the browned bits of the bottom. I seasoned with a heaped teaspoon of dried thyme, freshly cracked pepper and salt. I then threw in a drained tin of corn kernels for a bit of colour and crunch.
You can let the base cool or use while hot.

Topping:
1 cup raw cashews
1 cup extra water
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets and the stalks finely sliced
Optional: ½ cup nutritional yeast (or a cup of grated cheese if eating dairy)
Himalayan rock salt
Black pepper
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp fresh or dried thyme

- Soak cashews for about 4 hours in a couple of cups of water, drain and rinse
- In the meantime steam the cauliflower and cool
- Puree the cashews and extra water with a stick mixer
- Tip into a bowl with the cauli and continue pureeing until smooth
- If using nutritional yeast or cheese mix it in
- Season to taste
- Spoon on top of the base, drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle with thyme
- Bake moderate oven about half an hour

This had the "You can make it again" seal of approval from my food critic .

[weavis]

150g black olives

30g tinned anchovies, drained of oil and halved

1 medium orange, peeled and segmented

4-5 small sprigs rosemary

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Mix the olives, anchovies, orange and rosemary together and leave to marinate for 2-3 hours
Season with a little pepper before serving