Hungry Yet?

Spicy Black Bean Burger

Local Red Snapper with a Tamarind Glaze

Bananas Foster

Grilled Eggplant on Focaccia with a Lemon Aioli

Recently renamed "Dead Zebra Cake"

Strong Soil!

They grow em bigger in Texas.... and Dominica! On the left is regular
parsley bought on one of the french islands (Antigua maybe?). On the
right is Dominicia parsley-- HUGE!

Another Good Book

Not that we have too much time on our hands, but during a long sail it's nice to have a book to read. I've had my nose stuck in food books lately, just finished a book called Ratio. The idea is to get away from using a recipe and begin using basic ratios instead. Great idea for the dyslexic chef... memorize lots of sets of numbers and ingredients...hummm.


I've moved on to Food Matters. This one was sent to us by Sasha's father. Great read, but it's dense with information so it has been slow going in order to absorb. So far it's a very close look at how our abundant eating habits are not only bad for our health but bad for the health of our planet, too. There are lots of tips for eating in a way that will also help you save money, calories, and the planet! A win all around.

Cleaning Dorado

It's become a new trend to find a fresh fish before each charter because... well, why not? This is one of the perks of living in the islands! Our buddy Nate who takes his fishing boat up to the North Drop brought this cow back for us. Because I've never cleaned a dorado before I bribed another charter captain with the offer of pizza to teach me how. (Jay will do anything for good food!)
Step 1: Catch the thing & get it on ice
Step 2: Find a good spot to make a mess on the dock.
Step 3: Cut along the dotted lines, rip off the skin, then cut down the spine to remove meat.
Step 4 : Poke the eyeballs and throw carcass in the ocean.
Step 5: Cut out bloodline & bones to leave nice fillets.
Step 6: Rinse fillets in SALT water to remove bits of dock & store in freezer.

After some hands on coaching I'm ready for a chance to clean my own! **For anyone at home cooking saltwater fish remember that if you are going to rinse it always use salted water, fresh water will make it mushy (because of osmosis).

Holy Mackerel!!

BIG FISHY!Check out my fancy knife! Thank you Uncle Jeff-- it works like a charm :)


Yesterday we had a huge catch-- King Mackerel!! We don't have a scale on the boat but if we had to guess it was almost 10 lbs. It made for a great dinner and because I had never cooked kingfish before I did it up three ways (we like to spoil ourselves). First way was cubed and simmered in a Thai-Peanut sauce, second way was cubed then wrapped in bacon dipped in BBQ sauce and grilled, third way was marinated in a light herb mix and grilled. I figured one of these ideas would flop-- but all were amazing! We were all stuffed!
This was great practice for the summer-- we're hoping to catch lots of fish on our trip down island. I've been a little nervous about the idea of having to prepare whatever we happen to catch on any given day. I'm from Indiana- the fish I grew up with was very much dead and usually breaded before I ever saw it (yeah for Crispy Crunchy Cod). The good thing about fresh fish is that there's no good way to screw it up. It tastes so wonderful any way you choose to prepare it (especially to the person who caught it).

Super Berry Brownies

Box brownies have never tasted so good! Topped with extra berries leftover from making fruit pizza last night these were a real treat. I started with my brother Matt's secret of adding Karo to brownie mix to keep them soft. Piled on the berries (fresh strawberries, frozen blueberries, frozen red raspberries) then drizzled some fresh Creme Anglaise to finish it off.

The magic of folding and rolling

Another food that I've been putting off actually making on the boat are flaky biscuits. Sometimes I just get it in my head that something won't work here and that's it! It takes me 7 months to try. Needless to say, things actually went really well. We had biscuits (and Ramen) for dinner one night between charters (this is when I try food I'm not expecting to turn out well) and I fried up some eggs for the leftover biscuits for breakfast the next morning.

I just finished a book titled "Ratios". It's all about the basic cooking ratios that I need to memorize to make any food I could ever dream of. It has given me new found energy and ideas-- both of which are important as we make our push through our 20th week of charter (and are still looking at a minimum of 10 more to come before we haul out). Phew.

Fresh Fish

I've been a little nervous to do sushi on the boat, but we came to a happy compromise and did a little chirashi for lunch a few weeks ago. I was nervous that I wouldn't have enough food, or that the colors wouldn't balance, but in the end it all worked out great! (it usually does) Above we have a bowl of tuna, salmon, and eel. We finished things off with some julienned carrots, sliced green onion, toasted nori, fresh wasabi, and pickled ginger.

Berry Healthy Crepe

Yummy Breakfast.. or dessert !! You can eat crepes almost any time of day because you can put just about any combination of food inside. I remember as a kid we always did some combination of fruit, yogurt, and chocolate. I left out the chocolate here... but for kids I'll always add it in :) The sweetened ricotta can easily be subbed out for low-fat yogurt for a lighter choice and I usually use some type of frozen mixed berry for the fruit.

Basic Crepe
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup low-fat 1% milk
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons butter, melted
2 large eggs

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Combine milk, water, melted butter, and eggs in a blender. Add the flour mixture to milk mixture, and process until smooth. Cover batter; chill for 1 hour.

Heat an 8-inch nonstick crepe pan or skillet over medium heat. Pour a scant 1/4 cup batter into pan; quickly tilt pan in all directions so batter covers pan with a thin film. Cook about 1 minute. Carefully lift the edge of the crepe with a spatula to test. The crepe is ready to turn when it can be shaken loose from the pan and the underside is lightly browned. Turn crepe over, and cook for 30 seconds or until center is set.

Sweetened Ricotta Filling
1 c. part skim ricotta cheese
4 T. powdered Sugar
1½ t. vanilla

Spiced Blueberry Topping
1 c. water
¾ c. sugar
1 c. blueberries
1 t. butter
1 t. lemon juice
½ t. vanilla
¼ t. scant nutmeg

Combine water and sugar in a small pot, boil until dissolved. Add blueberries and other ingredients, return to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until berries pop (4 minutes more). This makes a lot, but chills to keep for at least a week and is great on ice cream, too!

Putting it Together
Lay the crepe on a plate. Spread one spoonful of ricotta or yogurt in center. Top with about 1/4 c. of just slightly frozen berries. Wrap the crepe in a way that keeps the filling inside (creativity is fine here). Top with the spiced blueberry sauce. Eat! Enjoy!!

Well... we made it!

The latest charter was a great success. Only one night of "Breaking bad" per person... unless your name was Jo JO :) We started at Trellis Bay, hit the Baths and North Sound before heading down toward Norman Is. and the Bight. We finished up the week partying at Jost Van Dyke. The family was a great group from Chicago-- we even had our first IU grad aboard... unfortunately we also had a current PU student as well(JK). We were in a flotilla which meant we tried to meet up with 3 other boats every evening, but by the end of the week we were pretty much on our own (for better or worst). This week we went through -- 3 cases Bud, 3 cases Bud Light, 2 cases Carib, 2 cases Red Stripe, 1 case Presidente, 1 case Amstel Light, 2 btl. Grey Goose, 2 btl. Tanqueray, 2 btl rum, 1 btl. Absinthe, 1.5 gallons of wine, 1 case cigarettes, and 3 nights of drinks on shore!! Who knows how to P-A-R-T-Y?? We also caught 2 fantastic tuna and enjoyed some fresh sashimi. Yummie!

African Chicken/ Plum Basil

I participated in a cooking contest during the boat show... and I'm still not sure how I placed. We were in the middle of preparing the boat for out first charter and didn't make it to the party where they announced how everyone placed. BUT I did make in onto the official CD of contest photos. I made my African Chicken Peanut Soup and Plum Basil Salad. Most people can't even repeat the name of the soup so I was sure it would be the only one of its kind. (and it was)

African Chicken Peanut Soup
(serves 4)
2 cooked chicken boobs, diced
3/4 c. white onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. dark sesame oil
2 t. yellow curry powder
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
4 c. chicken stock (2 cans)
1/4 c. tomato paste
1 can whole stewed tomatoes, drained
4 T. chunky peanut butter

In a large pot saute chicken, onion, and garlic in sesame oil for about 10 minutes- until onion is tender. Add curry powder, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Saute for 1 minute. Use scissors to cut stewed tomatoes into bite size pieces. Add stock, tomato paste, stewed tomatoes, and peanut butter. Stir until well combined. Heat almost to a boil and serve with crusty bread or salad.

Plum Basil Salad
2 T. olive oil
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. fresh orange juice
1 T. balsamic vinegar
1 t. grated orange zest
1 t. grated lime zest
pink sea salt
coarse black pepper
10 oz. baby spinach
2 c. basil leaves, torn
2 black or red plums

In a small bowl whisk together oil, lemon juice, orange juice, vinegar, and zests. Season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl toss the basil and spinach -add dressing and coat well. Top with sliced plums, salt, pepper, and any extra zest for color.

Amazin' Flamin' Dinners

Current Location: The Baths, Virgin Gorda

Lat/Lon: 18°25.89' N 64°26.74' W

Air Temp: 79°F Sea Temp: 79°F

Weather: Sunny, Clear

Last night's dinner was quite an event.  The captain helped out by making his famous Columbian/French/Puerto-Rican Rice & Beans while Tara broiled some local Red Snapper, which all looked and tasted amazing!  Tara finished by with her famous flaming coffee (without setting herself or the boat on fire)!!  Everyone was pleased and impressed.

 

Lots of Cake

Our last charter was a birthday celebration for the entire family. Four people = four cakes?!? My first thought was to make one huge cake and call it quits. BUT if you know me, you know that I could not be that lame when it came to birthday cakes! So, every afternoon I could find a way to kick our guests off the boat while I worked on another surprise cake I went for it. The Dad had German Chocolate (his favorite), Mom had Pavlova (thank you Allison), older brother had Funnel Cakes and Ice Cream, and younger brother had my trademark Pirate Cake. The baking tested my "new to me" oven as much as my nerves. But I've learned that I can turn out a cake in just under 2 hours. (We're never even trying a roast on this boat.)