Now I'd have to be the worlds worst cook, according to the Admiral. She can't quite fathom my fascination with onions. I was wondering if any of you would like to share what you eat while under sail. I heard a good one a while back where you half cook an omelette in a non-stick pan, throw a wrap on top, finish cooking it, roll it up and hand it out the companion way to the crew. No mess and easy to eat. I never could quite get my act together to precook meals before hoisting the anchor.

When the going gets rough the galley is not a nice place to be especially with the potential of getting burned and Mr Heinz normally helps out on these occasions. But you can only eat this type of food for a short while before a mutiny of the crew is ensured.

Tinned peas, dehydrated veges, powdered mash potatoes and steak with cask flat red ( chateaux de mud flat)

Or..coral trout with garlic prawns on top and verve cliquot?

Depends if it's the missus or the Secretary.

This one is easy when under sail, Boil up some rice, when cooked, empty the can of Stagg in and simmer for a bit.

Bean chilli:
Fry a diced onion in some olive oil with some pre crushed garlic pur?e from a jar. Saut?ed until translucent. Mix in ground cumin seeds and chilli powder as desired. Add one can of diced tomatoes and one of red kidney beans or butter beans, I prefer kidney. Stew for a while to reduce the liquid. Serve on rice. Ideally with sour cream, cheese and guacamole. However these items are luxuries I don't possess.

Thai green/red curry with fish:
Fry an onion in some veg oil and then don half a jar of your store bought valcom curry paste (red, green or yellow). Pour in canned coconut milk or cream, bring to simmer and add diced pumpkin. Once pumpkin is just about done, add your fish of choice. Cook until fish is delightful. Serve on rice, remembering your rice will take about 20minutes, so start that before your pumpkin.

Pumpkin risotto:
Arborio rice, onion, olive oil, chicken stock, pumpkin and dried peas. Throw a heap of that dried packet pregrated parmesan on it after serving.

That should get you going ;)

a lot of people say vacuum cooking is the way to go to save on fuel..

this wikii page explains the principle. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_cooking

you can buy a pot for about $150 off ebay.

principle is .. bring it to the boil and then seal it and let it sit for 8 hours. then it slowly cooks.

nswsailor said..
Damn it!

I have been known to open a can of baked beans and slap the tin straight on the stove until luke warm,

and at that time I LOVED IT!

You might be spoiling it. The thing with the tinned ravioli is that it's probably better cold, very savoury flavour. The ALDI spaghetti [99cents] is also very good cold. Its interesting when at sea how hungry I get and how taste buds vary. I drink black coffee at sea and a different brand than when I'm ashore.

I found a new sort of beans at woollie's they come packet in soft pockets and can be boiled fast in the pocket in hot water, I tested the spicy Mexican mix, the chunky tomato and beans and the pumpkin bean and they are delicious and hit the spot, I like the packaging as the do not roll around and are easy to store. the live in the "ethnic" food shelf of Woolie's and are about $3.50, I like to chop a boiled egg in the mix and a couple of frankfurts.

We had some of these on our trip up from Lake Macquarie. The beef stroganhoff and others like it were good. Avoid the ones with pasta in them.

http://easymeals.net.au/

Very long shelf life is the main advantage.

The preprepared meals available in supermarkets are better value but not as long life.

A pack of ramen noodles with a tin of sardines thrown in is not a bad feed.

Take some meat (pork, beef, veal, chook) sliced inch thick, wash spuds, quarter them, carrots, pumpkins or what you fancy. Get a plastic bag, put all in bag, add lots of chilli, salt and spices to your taste and virgin olive oil. Mix thoroughly in bag, empty into oven dish add a glass of white wine or beer cover with alfoil and slow cook it until ready.
This is standard fare for me, love it. Adding vine or beer is NOT wastage! Never drink cask vine. It is gross. Would not touch it with a sixty feet barge pole. The extra weight of the bottles are sweet burden.
Also dried goods from the local ethnic's shops (Spanish, Italian,Greek, Hungarian,Croatian,Portuguese) like Csabai, Chorizo, rods of Salami's or anything NOT in vacuum pack but hung and dried, no refrigeration needed, lasts ages if kept dry, tastes like haven too. Hand it to any crew with a piece of cheese and REAL bread, Italian, Greek or such and you be revered. This type of bread you can keep in your freezer for months.
Also beef jerky, take a piece of beef, slice it into 1.5 inch long snakes. Get 1/2 cup white vinegar and add to app. 2 litre water. Soak beef over-night. Tap it dry with a rag, cover it with very c o a r s e ground black pepper, and coriander seeds and rock salt ( use large rock salt for you have to remove it later to stop the salt soaking up moisture and making everything soggy!) hang it up to air dry in a shady spot. Because of the vinegar pepper and salt, flies could do no harm to it. When dry, shake the salt off and store it in a dry place. Lasts for years, at the end it will be bone dry, good to chew on during late night watches alone on deck. Keeps you awake when you bite on your tounge, too.