Mouthwatering Boat Recipes (mainly plant based)

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Wotname

I couldn't help myself, I just had to add a 1/4 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes; perhaps I should try to leave them out next time.

I was planning to try adding some heat. What were the flakes like? I loved biting down on the peppercorns (they had softened), but it may a bit much for some, so I thought rather than chilli flakes I would give a teaspoon of harissa a go. I don't have any on hand at the moment to try, but will report back when I do.

Stand by for my raspberry vinegar recipe. I am making a fresh batch . It wasn't made often on board, as the fruit was hard to source, but the recipe is so divine and so easy to make that it is worth sharing here.

SWL

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

I was planning to try adding some heat. What were the flakes like? I loved biting down on the peppercorns (they had softened), but it may a bit much for some, so I thought rather than chilli flakes I would give a teaspoon of harissa a go. I don't have any on hand at the moment to try, but will report back when I do.

Stand by for my raspberry vinegar recipe. I am making a fresh batch . It wasn't made often on board, as the fruit was hard to source, but the recipe is so divine and so easy to make that it is worth sharing here.

SWL

Yep, biting those peppercorns is truly great .

The chilli fakes (1/4teaspoon only) didn't really add much heat (depending I suppose on one's chilli tolerance) but added (IMO) a "little lift". I think the harissa is worth trying (or maybe a pinch of cayenne) but a teaspoon??? The harissa I'm familiar with is fairly hot and the trick to my way of thinking is not to overload the base flavour of red onion, rosemary and thyme. YMMV.

What I would like to know is how to keep the taste of the onions "static" in the marinade? Probably not a problem for those who must eat it all at once but I like to "hoard" homemade food for week or so.

Looking forward to the raspberry vinegar

[Meanderthal]

So, I've had success in temperate climates with long-term (several months) storage and ripening on board of green tomatoes. So, in the right season or from a local grower, you could provision for fresh tomatoes and get them to last 6 weeks.

The key is air circulation--I lay them out on kitchen towels in shallow bins. No wet surfaces. The bins stored on the top shelf over the settee.

Last year, tomatoes in various stages of ripeness kept from September 15th until I ate the last one in December. None needed to be discarded, because we ate each as they ripened. In interior AK, we HAVE to go through this process, because usually most of our tomato plants won't ripen before first frost. We average less than 90 frost free days there *shrug* so ripe tomatos usually involve high tunnels or greenhouses and lots of extra work, plus careful cultivar selection.

Get them green just after the skin moves from dull to glossy or just as the first red blush appears, rinse with very mild bleach solution(optional), dry completely, store in bins as described, and put in your coolest nonrefrigerated space with adequate air circulation.

My top 3 ways to eat these tomatoes:

1) Mixed with the marinated onions and maybe some feta (which is stored in brine, of course ;-) )

2) Mixed with diced onions and sambal oelek for a really passable salsa imitation. (Can rehydrate dried toms to make same salsa imitation).

3) Babies/cherry toms sauteed in oil and garlic and served whole.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Meanderthal

So, I've had success in temperate climates with long-term (several months) storage and ripening on board of green tomatoes. So, in the right season or from a local grower, you could provision for fresh tomatoes and get them to last 6 weeks.

The key is air circulation--I lay them out on kitchen towels in shallow bins. No wet surfaces. The bins stored on the top shelf over the settee.

Last year, tomatoes in various stages of ripeness kept from September 15th until I ate the last one in December. None needed to be discarded, because we ate each as they ripened. In interior AK, we HAVE to go through this process, because usually most of our tomato plants won't ripen before first frost. We average less than 90 frost free days there *shrug* so ripe tomatos usually involve high tunnels or greenhouses and lots of extra work, plus careful cultivar selection.

Get them green just after the skin moves from dull to glossy or just as the first red blush appears, rinse with very mild bleach solution(optional), dry completely, store in bins as described, and put in your coolest nonrefrigerated space with adequate air circulation.

My top 3 ways to eat these tomatoes:

1) Mixed with the marinated onions and maybe some feta (which is stored in brine, of course ;-) )

2) Mixed with diced onions and sambal oelek for a really passable salsa imitation. (Can rehydrate dried toms to make same salsa imitation).

3) Babies/cherry toms sauteed in oil and garlic and served whole.

Thanks for the very useful tips. So many skills for extending the life of fresh food need to be aquired and I am continually learning.

I general, on board for longevity I store fresh fruit and vegetables in a single layer on fresh paper towel somewhere dim with plenty of air circulation. Items like potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, beets seem to keep much better in brown paper bags.


SWL

[Meanderthal]

Hope they are useful. How do you maximize storage volume with your veg? Do you have shallow ventilated drawers? I mostly use the bench in the aft cabin, but I'm not satisfied.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Meanderthal

Hope they are useful. How do you maximize storage volume with your veg? Do you have shallow ventilated drawers? I mostly use the bench in the aft cabin, but I'm not satisfied.

The guest cabin was the main spot, followed by floor occasionally on non skid matting.
Edited to add: In shallow bins, not loose on the floor

Ventilated drawers would be awesome in combination with a small fan. I think the ethylene produced by ripening would cause accelerated deterioration if not removed rapidly, so a fan would be necessary.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Fruit vinegars were all the range at the time mission brown paint was slapped on everything. Don't let that put you off . Raspberry vinegar plus extra virgin olive oil and some freshly cracked salt and pepper is my all time favourite dressing for plain greens. It may sound strange, but is it also excellent over ice with soda water. The vinegar itself, that is, not the dressing .

The sugar quantity can be varied to suit your taste (anything from zero to triple the quantity given below).

This recipe is super easy and super good. It works equally well with frozen berries, which I generally use, as they are about a quarter of the price of fresh ones.

RASPBERRY VINEGAR

500 g raspberries (fresh or frozen, no need to defrost)
750 ml apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
⅓ cup (70g) sugar

- Put berries in a litre sized glass jar.
- Top with vinegar (there will be some left over).
- Mash well with a fork. If you don't mash the berries the liquid is not very murky, but also it lacks richness in flavour.
- Leave 3 days.
- Strain. I do this coarsely first to remove the solids (I pour any excess vinegar over the solids just to extract the last good bits), then through double layers of coffee filter paper. This is a slow process, but worthwhile to remove any murkiness. The last thicker cup or so only drips through agonisingly slowly, so I simply put that aside and use it first.
- To the rest add sugar, bring to the boil and simmer 10 minutes.
- Pour into a sterilised bottle (I use an unrinsed ex 750ml scotch bottle, sterile enough for me ).

SWL

[Meanderthal]

Great recipe! Vinegars are culinary unsung heroes.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Meanderthal

Great recipe! Vinegars are culinary unsung heroes.

I need to explore this more. Vinegar has such good keeping qualities (the expiry is typically about 5 years) and it both enhances and preserves. I haven't really explored the options much though. Apart from this recipe I tend to use it mainly for salad dressings and when making chutney.

What else do you do with it?

By the way, I did as you suggested and used the vinegar from a freshly finished jar of gherkins for my marinated onions tonight (it was time to start afresh with the mix). The dill and mustard seed flavours were good with onion .

SWL

[Meanderthal]

Well, one really tasty way to use vinegar is kind of a two-fer--I tried this again last week and really liked it--boil potatoes in vinegar, the potatoes are sliced thin, dusted with seasoning and salt, sprayed with oil, and baked into chips. They could be fried into chips instead...

The leftover vinegar is both reduced and thickened by potato starch and can be turned into an amazing vinegar based reduction for pasta, seafood, chicken, vegetables...

I used the thickened reduced vinegar and mixed it with sauteed garlic, black olives and rehydrated tomatoes for a tasty pasta sauce. (There was chicken involved, but not required.)

Full discosure--one of my top 5 favorite meals is a big leafy salad topped with tomatoes and those marinated onions, focaccia, chicken balsamic over penne, a big glass of ice water with a wedge of lemon, and a square of tiramisu for dessert. I've now described almost all of the major elements of that meal. Not gonna try to make tiramisylu vegan, though. Sounds abominable😨

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Fruit vinegars were all the range at the time mission brown paint was slapped on everything. Don't let that put you off . Raspberry vinegar plus extra virgin olive oil and some freshly cracked salt and pepper is my all time favourite dressing for plain greens. It may sound strange, but is it also excellent over ice with soda water. The vinegar itself, that is, not the dressing .

The sugar quantity can be varied to suit your taste (anything from zero to triple the quantity given below).

This recipe is super easy and super good. It works equally well with frozen berries, which I generally use, as they are about a quarter of the price of fresh ones.

RASPBERRY VINEGAR

500 g raspberries (fresh or frozen, no need to defrost)
750 ml apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
⅓ cup (70g) sugar

- Put berries in a litre sized glass jar.
- Top with vinegar (there will be some left over).
- Mash well with a fork. If you don't mash the berries the liquid is not very murky, but also it lacks richness in flavour.
- Leave 3 days.
- Strain. I do this coarsely first to remove the solids (I pour any excess vinegar over the solids just to extract the last good bits), then through double layers of coffee filter paper. This is a slow process, but worthwhile to remove any murkiness. The last thicker cup or so only drips through agonisingly slowly, so I simply put that aside and use it first.
- To the rest add sugar, bring to the boil and simmer 10 minutes.
- Pour into a sterilised bottle (I use an unrinsed ex 750ml scotch bottle, sterile enough for me ).

SWL

Quicker way if in a hurry.. Crush them with a fork or masher and cover with the vinegar. Bring to the boil then simmer for fifteen minutes. Strain off the fruit and discard. Return the vinegar to the pan with the sugar and slowly bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Let the vinegar simmer gently for 10 minutes before bottling and sealing in sterilised jars. You can make this vinegar without sugar too. It is fine in salad dressings as is, without maturing.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Meanderthal

Well, one really tasty way to use vinegar is kind of a two-fer--I tried this again last week and really liked it--boil potatoes in vinegar, the potatoes are sliced thin, dusted with seasoning and salt, sprayed with oil, and baked into chips. They could be fried into chips instead...

The leftover vinegar is both reduced and thickened by potato starch and can be turned into an amazing vinegar based reduction for pasta, seafood, chicken, vegetables...

I used the thickened reduced vinegar and mixed it with sauteed garlic, black olives and rehydrated tomatoes for a tasty pasta sauce. (There was chicken involved, but not required.)

Full discosure--one of my top 5 favorite meals is a big leafy salad topped with tomatoes and those marinated onions, focaccia, chicken balsamic over penne, a big glass of ice water gin and tonic with a wedge of lemon, and a square of tiramisu for dessert. I've now described almost all of the major elements of that meal. Not gonna try to make tiramisylu vegan, though. Sounds abominable😨

There, I fixed it for you

I must try this vinegar reduction the way you have described, sounds very interesting.

[Sailor g]

Originally Posted by Meanderthal

So, I've had success in temperate climates with long-term (several months) storage and ripening on board of green tomatoes. So, in the right season or from a local grower, you could provision for fresh tomatoes and get them to last 6 weeks.

The key is air circulation--I lay them out on kitchen towels in shallow bins. No wet surfaces. The bins stored on the top shelf over the settee.

Last year, tomatoes in various stages of ripeness kept from September 15th until I ate the last one in December.

That is impressive! Thanks for the tips!! I have not had that much success. Do your tomatoes touch each other? I am trying to separate them and it seems to help. I do wipe them at the store with disinfectant wipes. Mostly, because in Hawaii there is a rat lungworm where the eggs are carried by snails or slugs and when they go across veggies, etc. they transfer eggs. The parasite goes to the brain and I hear it's horribly painful. The tomatoes last longer that I've wiped-plus they are vine ripened so I get different ripeness. So far they are just sitting on a table but I need some bin when we leave.

I love sautéing cherry tomatoes too. It adds a great flavor and I guess the Lycopene needs heat to be absorbed by our bodies. My favorite way to save a basket of grape or cherry tomatoes that are starting to wrinkle is to mix with garlic and oil and scatter on a baking sheet and bake until soft. They are addicting! Baking would make them last longer but they get eaten almost immediately!

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Items like potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, beets seem to keep much better in brown paper bags.

SWL

I can't wait to try the brown paper bag thing for those veggies! Have you tried broccoli?

Also, thanks for the Raspberry Vinegar. Can't wait to try that! It is a bunch of raspberries so I bet the flavor is wonderful!

What surprised me about vinegars preserving properties is keeping cheeses. I didn't have cheesecloth so used paper towels soaked in vinegar around Parmigiana and it kept it forever and the taste was surprisingly not affected. Now, I keep cheesecloth for that as well as making ricotta.

[Meanderthal]

Originally Posted by Wotname

There, I fixed it for you

I must try this vinegar reduction the way you have described, sounds very interesting.

Lol. Still a great meal 😍

[Meanderthal]

Originally Posted by Sailor g

That is impressive! Thanks for the tips!! I have not had that much success. Do your tomatoes touch each other? I am trying to separate them and it seems to help. I do wipe them at the store with disinfectant wipes. Mostly, because in Hawaii there is a rat lungworm where the eggs are carried by snails or slugs and when they go across veggies, etc. they transfer eggs. The parasite goes to the brain and I hear it's horribly painful. The tomatoes last longer that I've wiped-plus they are vine ripened so I get different ripeness. So far they are just sitting on a table but I need some bin when we leave.

I love sautéing cherry tomatoes too. It adds a great flavor and I guess the Lycopene needs heat to be absorbed by our bodies. My favorite way to save a basket of grape or cherry tomatoes that are starting to wrinkle is to mix with garlic and oil and scatter on a baking sheet and bake until soft. They are addicting! Baking would make them last longer but they get eaten almost immediately!




I can't wait to try the brown paper bag thing for those veggies! Have you tried broccoli?

Also, thanks for the Raspberry Vinegar. Can't wait to try that! It is a bunch of raspberries so I bet the flavor is wonderful!

What surprised me about vinegars preserving properties is keeping cheeses. I didn't have cheesecloth so used paper towels soaked in vinegar around Parmigiana and it kept it forever and the taste was surprisingly not affected. Now, I keep cheesecloth for that as well as making ricotta.

Hi Sailor G! I think the only way in Hawaii is to get green toms straight from a grower. Or friend. Store bought, you've already lost precious storage days to transport and handling. Once they reach perfect ripeness and you know you can't eat them all, you have other options to salvage--sun dry, freeze, pickle, can, reduce to paste and can, dehydrate past sundried and turn into powder, transform into salsa (which can be canned or fermented for a few days).

If passagemaking, choose the easiest available option, lol.

Brain eating tomato pests, wth?!! Crazy.

The toms did touch, but plenty of air circulation, coolish location, and a moisture absorbent microfiber cloth plus almost daily cursory visual inspection (bc I eat tomatoes frequently) works well. Btw--those yellow microfiber cloths from Costco are everywhere on my boat and I love them.

Vinegar IS amazing, and so are roasted cherry toms. Yummm.

I have not tried storing broccoli on the boat because it is so porous when it comes to nearby odors. On land, I had a root cellar and a chest freezer. Mostly broccoli went in the freezer for peak flavor.

I think it will remain in my "enjoy near land and first few days at sea" list. However, if anyone else has an awesome trick, I am all eyes!!