getting the most out of your boat kitchen
I have a few boat-friendly recipes here on The Boat Galley. If you’d like more that I consider great on a boat — whether you’re cruising for an afternoon or a lifetime — please take a look at The Boat Galley Cookbook and download a collection of 33 sample recipes from it for free.
Here are the recipes that are on The Boat Galley:
by Carolyn Shearlock and Jan Irons
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Manual Drip Cone CoffeeWhile a manual drip cone takes more attention than an automatic one (such as a Mr. Coffee), it doesn’t require electricity or a glass pot. And the coffee is great!
Trash ManagementTrash, trash and more trash . . . what to do with it all??? Check out these ideas.
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Cockpit Light or Night LightWhether it’s for a romantic evening in the cockpit or a middle-of-the-night trip to the head, sometimes all you want is a little bit of light. Here’s a great solution with no drain on the boat’s power supply, no fire hazard and no heat in the cabin!
Don’t Burn the Dinghy!Your dinghy is your car when you’re on the boat. You really don’t want to see it go up in flames because of a careless mistake!
Stung by a Stingray?Cruisers in the Sea of Cortez are all abuzz about a quick way to stop the pain of a stingray sting.
Hi Carolyn,
Just a quick note to let you know again how much I appreciate The Boat Galley.
I made creamed chicken over biscuits the other night using 2 cans of Kirkland chicken. I chopped and sauteed 1 medium onion, 2 stalks of celery and 2 carrots in olive oil. Then I made a white sauce using 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup AP flour, 1 14-oz can of chicken broth plus the liquid drained from the canned chicken and the 2 4-oz cans of mushrooms I used, plus 1 cup of Nido dry whole milk. I made the biscuits using dry buttermilk powder—I’ve been using that for years. It was all really good. We like leftovers (and there were plenty!) but the recipe would be easy to cut in half.
I sure am glad I discovered The Boat Galley because I never would have thought of using dry milk for cooking or using the liquids from the canned chicken and the canned mushrooms in my sauces—I never even heard of Nido and I have always drained vegetables, etc into the sink. Now I always keep the liquid from mushrooms, etc and they add so much flavor to everything.
Your tip about the Nestle’s Nido dry whole milk has been fabulous for us. I’ve always used whole milk for making white sauces and cream soups (I don’t use canned cream soups) but our little galley refrigerator can only handle 1/2 gallon containers of milk so we only buy gallons of 1% for drinking (the gallons are so much cheaper per ounce than half gallons), then split it up into Rubbermaid half gallon containers; I have Sanalac dry skim milk for backup if we run out of milk for drinking.
Oh, and I finally figured out how to keep baked goods from overbrowning in my oven. I checked the temp and the oven runs true, so I tried reducing the temperature 25 degrees and checking for doneness 15-20 minutes before the time specified in the recipe and that combination is working just fine.
Sometime very soon I need to use your defrosting suggestions and get at the 1/2” or so of ice that’s built up in our frig!
MaryJo
Hi Carolyn —
Just discovered your site. We are newbies, never owned a boat before, but bought one in Amsterdam last year when my husband retired and spent the summer on it this year – learning. Really appreciate your information on baking without an oven (we’re ferocious about conserving electricity when not on shore power) and wondered if you’d tried making pita bread on a griddle? Basically, you use whatever bread recipe you’d usually make. After it’s kneaded (or possibly not, I haven’t tried it with no-knead recipes but who knows??) let it rise twice, then divide into balls. Flatten slightly & rest. Roll out ¼”+/-, then let rise/rest 20min or so. DO NOT PRICK WITH A FORK TO DEFLATE. Bake on a hot preheated [cast iron is best] skilled till puffed but not brown. [If it does brown, no problem, but if you object to crispy bits you can dab them with a little water before you] Place the bread under a towel to cool. As with all bread baking, everyone will have a little different situation, but I’ve been doing it for years this way at home. I’m adapting my son’s favorite chocolate cake recipe as I type. We’ll see, but so far all experiments are working well and we certainly appreciate not having to reinvent the wheel for what you’ve make available.
Thanks again, Carol
Hi Carol!
Welcome to The Boat Galley! Hope you’ll join us on Facebook for all the discussions and tips there, too!
I’m a little confused here, though — your oven is electric, but your stove is not? And that’s why you bake on the stove? If that’s the case, be sure to check out the Omnia Stove Top Oven — it really produces fantastic results for breads, cakes, and everything else you’d otherwise do in an oven. Last night, I even roasted a chicken (cut up) in mine!
Propane stovetop, no oven — yet. When we get one, it will probably just be a small electric countertop model, so will only use it on shorepower.
Okay, now I get it!
-Carolyn
I love your articles, tips and recipes. We cruise In the San Juan Islands of Washington State. Our time afloat is not nearly as extensive as yours and thus our provisioning and storage needs are somewhat different than yours. Climate factors make a huge difference. Most of our excursions are limited to a few weeks at most though we are usually provisioned for more extensive adventures.
We have been posting a few cooking ideas on our website, http://sanjuansufficiency.com
Many of our ideas and approaches are similar, and I totally agree with your approach. Fair Winds and Calm Seas!
Ken