33 Degrees

Still Here & In St Tropez

2012-10-01T17:49:00.000+01:00

I feel bad. I haven't written a blog in ages (you may or may not have noticed) due to a number of factors; I'm getting married, I've been distracted with my new house and the dog ate my homework...

If you were hoping for a far more juicy list of excuses, I'm afraid I can't even make any up, I'm too honest you see - apart from the bit about the dog and his dietary choices.

The truth is, I've been bamboozled by my approaching wedding and the excitement of it. And then obviously, we on Mariquita are between regattas, Cannes and St Tropez, always a very busy time of year.

We came 4th in the Cannes regatta! That might not sound all that successful but we raced very well and in pretty windy conditions. In fact one day we had over 45 knots of wind howling through the rigging. That's a day when we simply hang on, clip on the harnesses and life jackets and stay calm. It's incredibly exciting to be honest. I love it, the adrenaline rush on board from (most of) us is palpable (the rest - fear).

Now we are in St Tropez and we race tomorrow. I can't quite believe it's the last regatta of the season. And I can't believe it is October!

Two and a half months to the wedding - did I mention I was getting married?

If you have been following my blog you may already be aware that I was marrying the 1st Mate of Mariquita. Well, now I will be marrying the Captain of Mariquita. That's right Ladies and Gentleman, by Christmas I will be a Captain's wife.

It's not that I've decided to callously ditch my 1st Mate fiance in favour of the higher rank of Captain; Jim is a happily married man and I'm still engaged to George the 1st Mate. But George will be made Captain after St Tropez regatta as Jim is moving on to pastures new, Mariquita will have new owners and well, it's all change folks.

It's very exciting and sad in equal measure. Jim has been our fearless leader for 8 years, a truly brilliant Captain. But he is moving on and George is moving on up and I'm obviously incredibly proud of him.

And I have decided that this will be my last racing year. I know! how scary. But I'll be a Mrs, have a beautiful cottage in the Suffolk countryside and well, I'm now 35 years old and I've been living in the confines of boat quarters and on the high seas for long enough. It's time to move onto Tera-firma for good. My own kitchen, my own bathroom, my very own garden. Which I am utterly clueless about, but am very willing to learn. I'll be brave.

This blog may well turn into 'From Surf to Turf', by about the spring of next year. My ambition is to grow my own vegie's, herbs and fruits and I have absolutely no idea how to do any of that. I'll be stripping off the sailing gloves to become green fingered. How exciting. Any tips will be greatly appreciated. Pretty cool that my future plans will mean that I'll be able to keep up my strict 'whats-the-point-in-filing-my-nails' regime. Silver linings and all that.

So I hope you'll understand my absence, we've had a lot on in the last few weeks. I'll be here for a while though. The recipes and Mariquita stories will keep coming until I wave them off from the dock without me.

In the mean time...

St Tropez regatta here we come, with bells on! My last regatta (there could be tears) and Mariquita's last with Captain Jim Thom at the helm. We won it last year, can we do it again?

I'll keep you informed.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers.

　

　

　

　

Barcelona!

2012-08-19T16:44:00.002+01:00

The coast of Africa and laundry

Now before you all start to panic, I'm okay and Mariquita is happily sailing/motoring down towards the Gibraltar straights as I type this. Of course in real-time, and because you're reading this, we're probably already in Barcelona and with any luck, I'm sitting in a nice little bar with a cold, clinky Mojhito, a large umbrella keeping me cool and my lap-top screen visible whilst the handsome Spanish waiter brings me another of those tasty little tapas numbers.

As we left Brest

However, as I write this I am in my cabin having just finished my watch and we haven't quite reached the Gibraltar straights yet. So my tapas fantasy is still quite a few days off.

All-in-all it's not been a bad trip. It certainly beats the trip going to the UK earlier in the year. But it has most definitely had its ups and its downs. We had to sit in Brest, France for 6 days before we could really get going. Then when we did, the rocking and rolling was pretty unbearable.

Though bare it we did all the way across the bay of Biscay until the fog came in just as we reached the other side. Now boy was that some fog. It swamped over us like a cotton wool blanket and would not thin out, no matter how much we peered into it and blew on our fog horn. We had a look-out at the top of the mast as the collected fog literally rained down on us from the rigging and from our eyelashes.

It was most eerie; a silencing, swirling web of water. And then it happened, as the darkness fell and the fog became even more blinding; we ran over a bloody fishing pot.

Now bare with me whilst I have a small but I feel, legitimate little rant here; how are fishermen/people (P.C?) allowed to plant small, un-lit, fishing pots in the middle of shipping channels? How is this legal? How do they sleep at night? This particular pot wrapped itself beautifully around our prop in the middle of the night in thick fog with a ship we could see on the radar stealthily coming up behind us. No wind for sailing and nowhere to go!

And it was my Fiancé who had to jump in with scuba gear, a knife and with a rope wrapped around him for safety to cut us free - what a hero he is. But if I ever get my hands on the fisherman who put it there, ooh! he'd get a piece of my mind.

Rant over.

And now to finish; happily I am sitting in a quaint cafe here in Barcelona. The waiter is in fact a waitress, the Mojhito is a glass of fizzy water with ice and lemon and I've had way too many tapas already to contemplate having any more. I am far from cool, in fact I am absolutely boiling and am lusting over the thought of a long, cold shower at the Barcelona yacht club. After 10 days of 10 second boat-showers, I feel I can leave the tap running for a few moments over my hot head. I feel it's justified.

I shall leave you with the usual chain of photos and a quick, fantastic recipe for a line-caught fish carpaccio with hot sesame oil, lime and soy sauce. Ever so easy but ever so delectable and even better if you have only just plucked your fish from the sea like we did.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers!

For fish carpaccio with sesame you will need;
1 fresh fish or a largish fillet such as swordfish, we had a stripped Bass
5 tbsp of sesame oil
5 tbsp soy sauce
juice of 1 lime and one lime cut into wedges as a garnish for folk to squeeze their own

Method;

The best way to achieve lovely thin slices of fish carpaccio if you don't happen to be a 10 year trained sushi chef is to wrap the fish fillet tightly in cling film and put it in the freezer. It is a whole lot easier to cut your thin slices with a sharp knife and a solid piece of fish! Also, if you're keen you can sprinkle some fennel seeds, fresh cut dill or saffron strands onto the cling film and then wrap the fish up with this to 'marinade' it whilst it's freezing.

When you are slicing the fish, lay the pieces on a lovely big flat serving platter or on individual plates as you wish. Lay the pieces so that there are no gaps, the edges of the fish very slightly over-lapped.

In a small pan, gently heat the sesame oil, soy sauce and lime juice and add a small pinch of salt. Don't let it come to the boil but make sure it is hot. Then just before you serve the fish, using a large spoon, drizzle the hot oil over the carpaccio.

Garnish with sesame seeds, Norri flakes (seaweed) and lime wedges. And can I add that being presented with a large plate of this with a chilled glass of wine and some fresh bread to mop up the juices is just what life is supposed to be all about? In my book at least.

Although that isn't how we ate it as we popped into the Med through the Gibraltar straights on a very dry boat. But it was still splendid with a jug of iced water!

Caterina taking her watch on the fog horn.

All excitement as we arrive in Barcelona

Arriving in Barcelona as the sun set.

A bit of Samphire Magic

2012-08-18T19:24:00.000+01:00

I was supposed to send this in the beginning of the month whilst we were still in Brest. I had it all typed up and ready to go, pressed send and the internet failed... So here it is. A few weeks late and from our destination of Barcelona. Enjoy a little bit of home before we get all hot and sticky.

And there went July.

So here we are in Brest, back in the world of France. I know, we didn't get very far did we.
I was becoming nicely used to being in England despite the rain. And having had quite a few supermarket shops in France to replace food eaten and to thankfully fill my mended freezer, I am starting to miss it already.

We leave here tomorrow after lunch and will aim for Sanxenxo which will take approximately 4-5 days. Looking out to sea today, one is hoping that all those lumpy looking waves will have gone elsewhere by then. Oh I do dread a lumpy sea for deliveries...

The unfortunate incident of the freezer not working has now passed with huge sighs of relief, but as a consequence I have no bad-weather frozen food ready to hand. So I shall just have to grit my teeth and keep it simple if the weather doesn't improve much. They'll understand, they're a jolly nice crew. (So nice in fact that Billy is cooking dinner for everybody to give me a night off. He makes a fine Spag Bol does our Billy)

But really, I mean we are heading south! It should be getting warmer by the hour and sunnier and flatter and lovelier. Bikinis should start to emerge, the smell of sunscreen and Mediterranean food...
I finally have a recipe for you today! I know, It's been ages and I am sorry. After my little holiday I was on full-speed-ahead getting the boat ready for the delivery. I've been pretty busy with that and also with my wedding plans. It's funny how they start to sneak up on you and anything to do with a wedding seems to require you to book 6 months in advance. I struggle to plan my life a week in advance. I'm still trying to get over the fact that it's now August.

But none of that has anything to do with my recipe.

And back to missing the UK. You see, you can buy such lovely things like Samphire in the UK. A 'sea vegetable' with fresh crunch and charming saltiness that perks up a dish in all the right places. Samphire was named for the patron saint of fishing, Saint Pierre, because it grows in salt sprayed coastal areas and originally known as Sampiere, it is now largely known as Samphire although In Norfolk it is known as Sampha and in Northern Wales it is known as Sampkin.

And it is delicious! and well worth finding if you can. I bought two punnets in the Asda in Falmouth, so it can't be that hard to find!

Lightly steamed and tossed in some butter and black pepper is the easiest way to enjoy it, a little like you would asparagus and there is no need to cook it with added salt either, it really doesn't need it.
I added it to some gently cooked leeks, chopped fresh dill and lemon just before tossing it into a pan of al denté spaghetti and parmesan cheese. It was delicious and very easy and I'd love for you to have a go if you've never cooked with Samphire before.

And it isn't seaweed by the way. I might have over-heard a little converstaion between a pair of curious Asda customers having just bagged my little stash. He was all for trying some and she was definately not keen on eating what she was convinced was seaweed...

So for a right good little pasta with Samphire, leeks and lemon you will need;

1 packet of good spaghetti
About 200 g fresh Samphire, washed (1-2 punnets)
3 leeks finely sliced
1 bunch fresh dill, finely chopped so that you have 2 tbsp.
juice and zest of 2 lemons
3 cloves crushed garlic
lots of extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese

Method;

Put a very large pan of water on to boil for the spaghetti. Then in another pan gently saute the leeks in some olive oil and a very small knob of butter and half a tsp of sugar for about ten minutes. Add the crushed garlic and 1 tbsp of the chopped dill and some salt and pepper to taste and saute gently for another 5 minutes.Turn off the heat and add the chooped dill, lemon zest and juice and then toss in the samphire. The heat from the leeks will cook the samphire through enough and you definately still want a little crunch there.

When the water for the pasta is boiling well, add salt. Bring back to a good boil and then cook the spaghetti according to the instructions. When the spaghetti is ready to drain tip into a colunder but make sure you keep one ladleful or a half cup of the cooking water. This will help make your sauce.

Tip the spaghetti back into the pan with the saved water and the add the leek and samphire mixture. Grate in lots of fresh parmesan cheese and a good dollop of olive oil. When I say good dollop, I mean like 150ml.

Garnish with the remaining chopped dill and some lemon slices and serve with lots of yummy bread and salad and a nice cold glass of white wine... If you like.

Told you it was easy. The samphire works so well with all the flavours here to make a beautifully light lunch dish, but if you'd like you could add some fresh salmon and a dollop of creme fraiche and that would be pretty good too.

Well I might go for a little wander around the streets of Brest before we head out to sea again. Not huge scope for excercise on a boat at sea. Mind you if it is rough then cooking in that galley becomes an amazing little work-out.

So see you again in 5 days hopefully! With any luck we'll have attractive tans, we'll be all relaxed from lovely calm seas and lots of catching nice fish for lots of healthy fresh sushi.
And then again...

Panic!

2012-07-28T20:07:00.000+01:00

The fridge.

Panic!

And breath....

I had a lovely holiday, thank you. You may or may not have noticed my absence, but if you did then I am back from Suffolk (our beautiful home in beautiful Suffolk) and back on the boat in Falmouth, Cornwall. But not for long.

Due to the weather we are leaving for Barcelona a little earlier than expected. So I have had 4 days to get back into the swing of living on a boat, provisioning for 10 days at sea and cooking bad-weather meals for the freezer. The very same freezer that has just decided for no apparent reason to no longer freeze and is sitting at a balmy 3 degrees.

Hence the panic. Why oh why of all days would it do that to me? And I do indeed take it personally! I'm not rude to it, I never kick it or fill it with the usual bottom dwelling layer of frozen peas. I defrost it when I can and how does it repay me!

We've had one guy here already who couldn't fix it, our engineer is still on holiday and I have cooked 6 meals that need freezing.

Breath girl, breath.

Okay, it's fine really. We'll just eat our way systematically through the bad weather food until the engineer gets back and (hopefully) fixes it. Then if we could all together now pray especially hard for flat calm seas, absolutely no bad weather what-so-ever and most of all for fish, that would be great, I thank you once again.

So I have shopped for all the usual delivery friendly fruit and veg. Green bananas, white and red cabbage for when the lettuce runs out in two days. Did you know that delicate lettuce leaves like rocket gets seasick? It really does. A day at sea and it has turned into a smelly green sludge in a bag. Yuk. So I buy a few hardy icebergs to keep us in salad and then we resort to coleslaws and cucumbers and tomatoes and celeriac remoulades...

It'll be fine. it'll all be fine. Nobody will be going hungry. I can't fit anymore food in the cupboards and bilges. The fridge is fit to burst and the sun is shining.

And if I buy one last batch of Cornish pasties tomorrow morning before we leave, they'll love me forever.

Fingers crossed. So wish us luck and ! I'll let you know how it goes at our very next stop which will probably be Brest, beautiful Brest and their delicious crepes.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers!

Drag two trolleys round a supermarket and fill up with groceries.

Take everything out of the trolleys and load onto a conveyor belt. Check-out person beeps it through the till which you then catch on the other side and load into bags in some semblance of order.

Return groceries to trolley with eggs sitting on top.

Load huge bags of groceries into van, so they don't fall and crush all the eggs.

Unload the van, piling all bags into trolleys warning crew not to crush the eggs.

Unload the groceries from the trolleys to the deck..

Get the groceries down the forward hatch into the crew mess.

Take 3 hours to unload the groceries and put away in various fridges, broken freezers, cupboards and bilges, wiping out all the broken egg and shell from that bag.

Repeat entire process in next port because all the buggers have eaten everything

Pendennis Regatta in Falmouth, Our Favourite.

2012-07-11T13:59:00.003+01:00

I am writing this whilst sitting on a train heading North East for Suffolk from Falmouth in Cornwall. It's an exciting journey of five hours to London then all change, a predictably stressful tube ride to Liverpool Street then on the final train to take us home for a little holiday. Eight hours in total it takes to get to Suffolk from Falmouth; eight hours. You can get to America in eight hours, all be it on a plane.

I say a stressful tube journey because I may have picked up a few bits and bobs for our new house on our travels. George has been remarkably calm since he discovered, after our early start this morning that he will be carrying a full length mirror and woven hearth rug along with his own luggage. And will no doubt be required to assist me and my burden of ceramic jug, non-stick wok, collapsible shelf thingy and a couple of picture frames along with my own ruck sack. It all seemed like such a good idea at the time.

However a five hour train ride is a great excuse to sit and do nothing after a very busy Pendennis regatta. As predicted, the regatta brought challenging weather and sailing conditions, fantastic social events and friends from afar. The first day of the regatta was the wettest race I have ever sailed in and with strong, gusty winds meaning many sail changes and incredibly heavy loads, I was basically done in right from the start. The weight of three strand lines and sails triples when they're full of water and lets be honest - I'm getting too old for all of that.

My staysail team were awesome, heaving on sheets and jiggers on the leeward side, often waist deep in strong flowing water as the boat powered up and until I was happy with the staysail's trim. Our harnesses came in pretty handy, keeping us on the boat with its lack of safety rails. But what an adrenaline rush it is. I can't help but love it.

I also cant help but love eating much fresh local lobster and crab whilst here in Cornwall. It's such a treat and a great way to explore the local fisheries and seasonal produce. And if you'd like a simple recipe for a very tasty crab and chili linguine dish then just watch this space... I'll be back.

So I won't selfishly bore you to death just because I have five hours on this train to kill but I will leave you with a few piccys. Don't they tell a thousand stories?

Thanks for reading. Note I didn't talk about the weather too much. But lets hope Sunny Suffolk is just that...

Cheers!

Tidying the decks and wooling sails after a long day racing

Bowsprits in the fog of Falmouth

That there is blue sky. I dont have photoshop I promise. It was real....

Finally getting a sandwich on the rail after the last long race

The forepeak full of wet sails, my bunk in the background. Nice.

And some of beautiful Cornwall;

The Heads

2012-06-25T22:23:00.001+01:00

I once before, a little more than a year ago, wrote a story on this blog about a particularly bad case of gastric flu I managed to pick up from somewhere and quite cleverly - I thought - wove it into a simple recipe involving barbecued bananas with dark, melted chocolate. It was a necessary introduction, I believe, to the grunt of the story and ensuing recipe. I did apologise profusely for any offence caused, it being a food blog and all.

With that in mind, if I may just slip in an additional apology, for I am about to tell you all about our 'heads' on Mariquita. The loo. The dunny. The bogs.

As you may already know, the nautical term for the loo's on boats, the 'heads', comes from the days of large, down-wind sailing ships. The crew were obliged to go all the way forward to the bow sprit (the long pokey-outy stick on the bow of ships and classic boats like ours) to relieve themselves. As this was at the head of the boat, the term for the toilets on a boat stuck and even now they are know as the 'heads'. There were two un-deniable benefits to the loos being there in those times; firstly the ships were mostly down-wind sailing vessels so any smell would drift away from the boat in the following breeze. Handy when you don't have a bottle of Febreeze within reach. Secondly, the natural motion of the water against the hull at the bow of the boat would act as a natural flusher, conveniently washing everything away.

I can't imagine though how depressing your day would have become if you were suffering from a bit of a tummy ache and Mother Nature was throwing a force 8 at you with heavy rain and a massive, rolling sea. That's quite a bidet...

Our crew heads on Mariquita are really quite lovely aesthetically speaking. No, it's not at the bow of the boat or over the open sea as thankfully in this day and age we have the convenience and sophistication of pumps and valves. So although our heads are definitely up forward, they are also behind a nice door, inside. Nice door.

Sea water is still used to flush our Blakes loo though. Flushing the thing after you have 'finished', requires you to pump up and down on the big handle until the bowl has emptied, turn on the tap to let the sea water in and flush with the second little handle. Repeat a few times before you finally turn off the tap. Now this bit is the most important bit to remember. If you forget, the boat will sink. Well, it would take a while but there is always the odd day when a gentle trickling sound is heard from the crew heads and the loo is discovered to be overflowing with, basically, the sea.

So spare a thought, all you house dwelling, simply-push-the-handle folk out there when you next flush. At least you're not committed to your toilet for another 2 to 3 minutes, manually pumping away, with the little added excitement that your responsible for your house not sinking.

I shall leave you with that thought and with some photos of our more historic guest heads (the posh loos), modelled on toilets that were actually used back then in 1911. Yes, that is a lot of polishing to be done but they are beautiful. As heads go.

I couldn't bring myself to follow this one with a recipe I'm afraid. I think it wise just to leave it there.

Cheers!

A Moroccan Crew Lunch in Cornwall

2012-06-22T21:36:00.002+01:00

It's been an age since I did a crew lunch recipe. What with all the Queen stuff and the weird Westward Cup, (it was weird and I would rather not do a regatta based on politics and money again) I've been a bit out of sync.

But here we are in Falmouth, Cornwall with a good week or so before the Pendennis regatta which in huge contrast, is the best regatta ever! The Pendennis organisers throw a great event, give the best of Cornish welcomes and have the correct understanding that if it wasn't for us little crew folk, there wouldn't be a regatta because there wouldn't be anybody to sail these great big, beautiful classic sailing boats. It is the crews who have the skills, the know-how and the passion for it. It is the crews who work incredibly hard, set the tone of the atmosphere, the evening vibe; and boy do they know how to drink. Being a professional sailor often means being a dab hand at the bar too, a skill that merely encompasses all the wonderful traditions and ancient history of a life at sea. Pendennis understands all this and throws a damn fine regatta ensuring boats come back here from far and wide to race again and again.

Bravo!

And back to lunch.

So I made for my hard-working, highly skilled, beer-swilling crew (just kidding - some of us prefer Gin), a little Moroccan number which I always find has a nice lunch-time ring about it. Moroccan is easy enough to make without having to buy one of those expensive Moroccan spice-mixes you get at supermarkets these days. Basically for Moroccan I always work ground cumin, ground coriander, paprika, and cinnamon together. Get some flaked almonds and dried apricots in there somewhere and bish-bash-bosh, you have a Moroccan meal!

Obviously there is a teeny-weeny bit more involved and I have never been to Morocco but I have on more than one occasion considered taking belly-dancing lessons...

However for now I shall give you the recipe for a very easy butternut and chickpea couscous served with a light, fantastically tasty chicken in yoghurt and tahini with mint and lemon. Serve with hot pitta breads and salad and your crew will not go hungry.

Soaks it up too. (Really I'm just kidding, we're not a bunch of piss-heads, we're all highly professional here)

So for a quick and easy Moroccan lunch for 6 you will need;

For the Couscous;
400g couscous
1 butternut squash, chopped into bite sized bits and peeled (which is optional)
1 tin of chicpeas
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cinnamon
150g dried apricots, roughly chopped
toasted flaked almonds to garnish
hot chicken stock or water
knob of butter or a dash of olive oil

For the Yoghurt, Tahini and mint chicken you will need;
4-6 chicken breasts
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp black sesame seeds (optional)
1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds (optional)
2-3 small pots of natural yoghurt
2 tbsp mint sauce
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp tahini paste (if you don't have this then use peanut butter, yum)
1 clove of fresh garlic, crushed
fresh mint leaves to garnish

Method;

To begin, pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5, 190C, 375F. Slice each chicken breast into 4-5 pieces and fry in batches in a hot frying pan until very lightly golden but still a bit pink inside. When each batch is done, set aside on a baking tray. When you have browned all the pieces, drizzle over the lemon juice, season well with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and yellow mustard seeds. Pop into the oven to finish cooking for about 30 minutes.

In a large non-stick pan saute the onions in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes till translucent and starting to colour gently. Add the chopped butternut, stir fry on high for a few minutes and then cover with a lid. Turn the heat down to low.

Meanwhile, put the couscous into a big bowl. Pop in the butter or olive oil and a good pinch of salt. pour over the hot chicken stock or boiling water from the kettle to just about cover the couscous and give it all a good stir then put a large plate or cling film over the bowl so that the steam is trapped, cooking the couscous perfectly.

And whilst the butternut is softening now is also a good time to mix the yoghurt, tahini paste, lemon juice and zest, mint sauce and garlic in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Check to see if the butternut has cooked. If it has stir in the chic peas, tomato pure and all the spices and season with salt and pepper. Let it have a bit of a sizzle then add about 300 ml hot water from the kettle. Stir and cook this for another few minutes then add the chopped apricots. Continue cooking until the butternut is completely cooked through and the apricots have softened a little. Check the seasoning. At this point I added a tablespoon of mango chutney but that's just me.

With a fork, fluff up the couscous. Add about two thirds to the butternut and chickpeas and stir to combine. To serve, spoon the last third onto a serving dish and make a well in the centre. Pour the mixed couscous and butternut mixture into the well. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds and some chopped fresh coriander or parsley.

Once the chicken has cooked, remove from the oven. Let it cool for a few moments and pour off any excess juices. I kept about 4 to 5 tbsp to add to the yoghurt but ditched the rest. Once the chicken has cooled off slightly, stir into the yoghurt mixture along with the saved juices. Pour into your chosen serving dish and garnish with lemon wedges and lots of torn fresh mint leaves.

So that might look long but its all pretty straight forward and do-able on a hob. If you don't have the oven just turn the heat down on the chicken when it's in the frying pan and make sure you fry it till its fully cooked. Oh and pop the pittas in the toaster.

A great, easy and filling lunch for a group of hungry people. And fun to try out the spices and go all Moroccan.

Falmouth is great fun, Pasties are so delicious and I must regulate my consumption of them to a max of one a day...

I'll try.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers.

Leaving the Solent and heading for Falmouth

Lemon, Custard and Crumble Cake

2012-06-17T11:12:00.001+01:00

Ah, the Anchor capstan cake stand! well, what do you do with yours? A blustery day on the Thames and you couldn't find a finer cake stand. Or a finer cake, I mean look at that beast. As long as no one presses the 'on' button, which would send the cake spinning round in a whirl of custard and crumble spray.

This was my birthday/pageant cake I baked for myself and the Queen. Except she seemed to be a little busy so I shared it with the crew instead. It was well deserved after a day standing in the rain and cold, saluting the Queen, Mexican waving and cheering the boats that went passed us in the Avenue of Sail. What a Birthday it was. And what a cake. I chose some of my favourite sweet flavours and put together what would work best. And work it does. Splendidly. Lemon drizzle cake topped with strawberry jam, custard and crumble. Ace.

The other great thing about this cake is that considering I had a busy day, what with it being my Birthday and the Queen coming to visit along with 999 or so boats that rowed or motored by, I had to make the sponge the day before. But it was still perfectly airy and fresh and would definitely have survived a few more days in tip-top-taste (if we hadn't demolished the entire thing). All I had to do on the day was smear it with jam, custard icing, crumble and strawberries. Which was the fun, bowl-licking bit and perfectly easy to do even after a few glasses of bubbles. And a Pimms.

Or two.

Moving on. So as you can see, in accordance with the grandness of the event, I made this a 4 tiered cake. You don't have to and I'll give the recipe for a normal 2 tiered cake. But by all means double the recipe next time you have the Queen and 999 other boats coming to town.

So for the most delicious cake ever, incorporating all the best of flavours; lemon-drizzle, custard and crumble cake you will need;

225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
200g Castor sugar
200g softened butter
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
zest of two lemons
strawberry jam
Strawberries

For the drizzle;

The juice of two lemons
30g Castor sugar

for the icing;

150g butter, room temperature
250g icing sugar
5 tbsp or 60g or 1/4 cup thick pre-made custard. I used Ambrosia or you could make your own.
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the crumble;

25g flour
25g porridge oats
25g ground almonds
35g butter
40g sugar

Method;

Preheat your oven to 180C/160F, gas mark 4. Then grease and line the base of two 20cm/8inch sandwich tins. Then, this is how good this cake is, bung the flour, baking powder, butter, sugar and eggs, vanilla and lemon zest into a bowl and mix together using an electric hand whisk. Once everything is incorporated, add the milk and then beat again for a minute. Nice and easy.

Spoon the mixture into your baking tins and using a spoon level the mixture as much as you can. Pop in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes, checking after 30. You'll know it's done because a sharp thing when inserted into the cake will come out clean and the edges of the cake will have started to come away from the tin a bit. And leave the oven on for the crumble.

Now whilst the cakes are still pretty warm and in their tins, poke a load of holes in them using a fork. Mix together the lemon juice and sugar then pour the mixture over the tops of the cakes. Leave them to cool a little and to absorb the syrup then turn out onto a cooling rack until you need to decorate. (Which could be the next day)

Make the crumble by putting all the ingredients into a blender and pulsing until you have a crumb-like texture. Or rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your finger tips which may take a wee bit longer but you'll feel very Julia Child. Then sprinkle the crumble in an even layer onto a baking tray lined with a bit of greaseproof paper and put into the oven for about 15 minutes but check after 10. The crumble should be lightly browned. This too can be made in advance and stored.

Now for the icing, cut the butter into small bits, add the sieved icing sugar and vanilla extract and beat with an electric hand whisk until you have a thick paste. Add the custard and beat again on the slow setting until it has all mixed. Don't beat for too long or too hard when the custard is added, in case it splits. Chill this in the fridge until needed.

Now the building bit. Place one of the sponges on your chosen and bestest serving dish or cake stand. Smear generously with some strawberry jam then over that spread on a thick layer of the custard icing then sprinkle on a good few handfuls of the crumble. Top with the remaining sponge and repeat the process. Then halve some fresh strawberries and arrange these over the custard and crumble. Finally top it all off with a garnish of any left over crumble.

You can then use a hot, damp, clean cloth to clean the serving dish up so you can then pose suitably with your cake for the cameras as shown...

And I know the whole thing looks a bit long-winded but if you make the sponge the day ahead or even just the crumble and icing then it really is very easy and definitely worth a try. If you do - let me know how it goes!

I'm sorry to say that the last day (today) of the Westward cup was cancelled due to uber strong wind. So although we're off to the prize-giving tonight at the Royal Yacht Squadron, we won't be winning anything. But we, the crew of Mariquita don't mind at all. We sailed three races and got line honours for two of them. So we know we are the winning boat really. With a brand new crew and very little training, we went out and gave it our best; sailed hard and with passion.

And that's what it's all about.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers.

The Westward Cup

2012-06-15T14:52:00.002+01:00

We've almost come to the end of the Westward Cup here in Cowes and I haven't told you a dicky bird about it. How on earth did I do this last year? - I ask myself. I managed to get through 8 regattas and blog about all of them. I'm getting old. That must be it, for we've raced 3 days in a row and I'm shot. Mind you yesterday was blowing gusts of 21-22 knots and we raced for over three hours in the rain and windy-cold with a reef in the main, no tops'l and no jib top. Also we were short tacking out of the tide and up the coast (pulling us out in front of the big schooners) and when your heaving in your sheets and jiggers by hand, let me tell you, it's bloody exhausting. By our last tack yesterday I had a serious lack of power in my arms.

We had a 'man overboard' just to top off the stress levels, although thankfully Marta was clipped on to the boat with her harness. Although that did mean that she was dragged along underwater for a short but horrible few seconds before she was dragged back aboard to safety. Situations like that make us all realise the potential risks involved when racing in such conditions. But also the adrenaline rush, when your down on the leward rail, clipped on and heaving on lines is admittedly pretty cool too.

Then there are guests to look after and sandwiches to make every morning and dinners to cook and 'do's' to attend.

Well, then it's no wonder, but still I do apologise for not updating you. Also I have neglected to share my custard and crumble Birthday/Jubilee cake recipe and I promise I will soon. Just as soon as I have brain cells enough to do it properly. I might have to sleep for 24 hours for that situation to occur.

And how about the red, blue and white muffins I made? OK, I promise, soon come.

For now I am on standby. The wind had built to a crescendo and was too much for us today so Mariette and Eleanora, the competition, raced by themselves without us. It's not that we're wimps I assure you. But they are big, strong schooners with power winches, high bulwarks and multiple masts where we have our one fragile mast and top mast that really shouldn't go out and play in any more breeze then we had yesterday. She managed to make it to 101 years old on the high seas. No point in breaking her now. Or the crew for that matter.

Eleanora (right) and Mariette (left) going over the start line in front of the Royal Yacht Squadron

The last race is tomorrow followed by the prize giving at the Royal Yacht Squadron (darlings), how posh. Best find something smart to wear.

Loving Cowes by the way! Shame about the continual rain, it's hindering my shopping.

Thanks for reading! I'll be back soon with those recipes, promise...

Cheers.

About to fire the start gun at the RYS

The Pageant - A Reflection

2012-06-08T21:23:00.000+01:00

Well now that was an experience. Looking back on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant, it's rain and Champagne; atmosphere and crowds, the cheering and row boats, it's enough to make you one proud little Brit.

It whizzed by! I have been looking forward to the Pageant on Mariquita since we were first invited to attend and there it is, gone and done. It was a fantastic few days on the Thames of London. Saw the Queen and her family. Got some heat inducing, blood moving Mexican waving in and good deal of cheering. The guys and gals rowing ahead of the Royal barge were fantastic to behold, dripping wet in the rain but most grinning from ear to ear and managing to pause enough to wave and cheer back. What sports everybody was! The fanfare, the orchestras and opera singers, all had the power, despite the oppressive weather, to send a shiver down ones spine. Awesome stuff and what a day to have a Birthday.

I am now 35 years old. It's proper official now that I'm a few days in. Oh well, onwards and upwards. We are about to embark upon our first regatta of the year on Mariquita, The Westward Cup , in Cowes. Today the wind howled and shoved the boat around on her mooring but I fear, having seen some forecasts, the actual regatta may be a light wind event. Not great when the courses have been set at around 30 miles each day. Exhausting.

Now I have posted pictures of my Jubilee/Birthday cake but will send the recipe another time. You'll only get bored, all the photos and then a whole recipe. However, I apologise because it was a very good cake. It was a lemon drizzle, custard and crumble cake with strawberries... have you heard of such a thing!? You have now. It was fab and four tiered and boy, did we deserve it having stood all day in the rain, soaked through, lips blue, calories burnt away in all that excitement, cheering and dancing. It took a good few slices to make up those lost calories I tell you. And much tea drinking.

So I shall leave you there with a few more pics of the Pageant. Tomorrow race crew will start to arrive for the regatta and the boat will be looking tip-top. I'll keep you informed.

Thanks for reading,

Cheers!

Lemon drizzle sponge topped with jam...

Topped with custard-icing and crumble...

Repeat 3 more times and top with strawberries.

Serve by Tower Bridge, Thames.

The Royal Barge opposite us.

Still Smiling Girls!!

Having Huge Fun on the Thames!

2012-06-03T13:13:00.000+01:00

And a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Rosie too!!! (you know who you are!)

I will never again complain about my cooker...

There we are looking beautiful!!

Raspberry, blueberry and white chocolate muffins...! Red, White and Blue.

In the Avenue Of Sail

2012-06-02T17:18:00.000+01:00

There I was down below making a cheeky Birthday/Jubilee cake, when would you Adam and Eve it (cockney rhyming slang that), the sun went and got his hat on.

So I've taken some shots for you of the scene thus far. I have to say that it is very good to be here. The crowds are out enjoying the many boats all dressed overall with code flags, crews polishing and titivating the bronze and varnish and there is a general feeling of huge excitement and enjoyment in the air. Which is better then the feeling of heavy rain in the air...

We shall see.

The crew of Mariquita have been practising our salute to the Queen which was fairly amusing and though many suggestions were made as to how to Mexican wave or moonwalk down the deck Michael Jackson style, we decided on a good old fashioned 'Hip-hip hooray'.

I'm off ashore now. My Fiance is taking me out to dinner in the Big Smoke. Lovely. Best go now whilst the sun is still out.

See you soon!

Cheers!

Moored up by Tower Bridge

2012-06-01T00:30:00.000+01:00

Tower Bridge. Nice.

Mariquita has moored up by Tower Bridge. We've arrived! Tea has been served, Digestive biscuits scattered around the deck and we're all off to bed now. How terribly British (apart from the two Italians, two Americans and the Ozzy).

Cheers!

Mariquita's Mission To The Thames

2012-05-31T13:33:00.000+01:00

Sitting on the port deck after dinner on a Wednesday evening sees me motoring slowly towards the white cliffs of Dover. Not me personally; I'm chilling out having just cooked dinner for our crew of 11 (normally 12). Mariquita is on her merry way towards the Thames and the crew are holding their watches, eating chocolate, taking sights on the sextant and generally reverting back to the sort of deep and highly intellectual 'conversation' that watches tend to encourage such as, 'If you could be any alien from outer space, what one would you be?'.

I've only once before sailed this way and I think I recall it wasn't quite so pleasant. But here we are honking along with the tide, the sea all calm and friendly and the sky clear and glazed.

We're hoping to arrive in London by tomorrow night, moored up by Tower Bridge in what has been named the 'Avenue of Sail'; where a collection of some of the world's most beautiful and historic boats will be congregating, most of which are too big to pass under the 17 bridges the Pageant will parade under on the 3rd June.

And we are so excited! How lucky are we to be moored amongst such beautiful vessels, witnessing first hand one of the biggest flotilla of boats ever assembled on the River Thames, celebrating Her Majesty the Queen's 60 year reign.

Talking of rain, I hope the sun comes out soon. It will be my Birthday too - did I mention that? - and I like a sunny Birthday. But I won't be feeling too old, quite the spring chicken in fact; the oldest boat attending the Jubilee Pageant was built in 1740... Now that's proper old.

Anyway, I shall retire to my bunk for the night as it's getting cold and there is fog rolling in. I'll leave that to the rest of the crew.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned!

Cheers!

Banana Cake Pre-Pageant

2012-05-30T08:41:00.001+01:00

Well now this is exciting. Tomorrow we head off from stunning Gosport and turn east for the Thames and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant. If you haven’t already read about it, I am a Silver Jubilee baby and my 35th Birthday (that was brave) will fall on the day of the pageant on the 3rd of June. And Mariquita will be there, moored up in the ‘Avenue of Sail’. I couldn’t dream of a more exciting way to spend one’s Birthday; I bet the Queen’s with me on that one.

Cake. That’s all I can say about it; lots of cake.

(And possibly some Pimms...)

George and I have just returned from a short trip to our new home in Debenham, Suffolk where we were lucky enough to become more acquainted with some of our new neighbours. The good people of Debenham will be holding a street party in our beautiful village and if I could split myself in two like a scone in preparation for jam and cream (see, cake on the brain), then I would be there too with bells on. I dreamt for so long of one day owning my own country cottage. Having lived and worked on the high seas for some years now, I am very ready for the life of a land-lubber. (What does that mean do you suppose; ‘land-lubber’? What’s a lubber when it’s at home? ...)

Gosport, early evening

Anyway, the last time I wrote about my craving for life on land, almost a year ago, the accompanying recipe was for barbequed bananas with chocolate. Today I have decided to blog my most favourite recipe for banana cake. I like when things come full circle and link up; blogging Feng Shui.

You see, I’m getting a little excited about baking my ultimate Birthday/Jubilee cake for me and the Queen – Sorry, the Queen and I. How rude. So I had a quick little banana cake experience today despite being pretty busy getting the boat ready for departure and having to stock up with loads of supplies for the trip and our stay in London. We have no idea how easy it will be to food shop once we’re in the Thames, so best to be prepared.

This cake is the easiest but most deliciously moist loaf of nutty banana-ness that it is the only recipe I will ever use when making a banana cake. Why would I look elsewhere when I have the ultimate recipe? It takes about 5 minutes to put together and about 45 minutes to cook – And 2 minutes for a hungry crew of twelve to demolish.

It is a vaguely adapted version of Gary Rhodes Banana cake from his ‘Great British Classics’ Book. I hope he doesn’t mind but I’ve made it a little healthier and a little more – moreish. If I do say so myself.

So for the quickest, best banana cake recipe you will need;

225 g wholemeal self raising flour (Must be wholemeal for the denseness and nuttyness)
100 g softened butter
4 tbsp pure maple syrup or golden syrup
4 beaten eggs
4 mashed ripe to over-ripe bananas
150g roughly chopped walnuts (optional)
A good grating of fresh nutmeg

Method;

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C, gas mark 4, 350°F. Grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

Put all the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix with an electric hand whisk till all the ingredients are well incorporated. But not too long, a few lumps are fine. Pour into your prepared loaf tin and put into the oven for about 45-50 minutes. Check on it after 40 minutes depending on how good your oven is. Mine on the boat is rubbish so it needed an hour.

When a sharp knife inserted into the middle of it comes out clean, the cake is done. Leave to set for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Best eaten warm smeared with proper butter.

Is that it?

Just to let you know, I forgot to put the butter in once and it was great! So it is a very versatile and forgiving recipe. The wholemeal flour really makes this cake and if you’d like to use pecans or hazelnuts instead of walnuts then do it. A lemon cream cheese topping raises the yum factor by about a million but for a relatively wholesome mid-week cake it’s not entirely necessary.

However for a Birthday/Pageant cake you can bung it all on!

Stay tuned for our trip up to the Thames and Mariquita’s experience in the Jubilee Pageant. I’ll be back shortly.

Thanks for reading,

Cheers!

Race Training and Thai Curry

2012-05-25T21:05:00.000+01:00

Putting in the top mast.

Mariquita went out for her first race-training sail yesterday in the Solent. And the day went excitingly well which, with 7 months since our last race in St Tropez and a very new crew, is never a guarantee. My team-mate and staysail 2 for the last two years, Matty, is now bowman and I have with me instead the brand new Mr Johnny Rogers, who coincidently, is another lovely and softly spoken American and yes, that really is his name.

But all went well, nothing and nobody broke and it was, as usual, a joy to once again discover that I hadn’t forgotten what I’m supposed to do on deck. So I can relax and ease back into the full swing of a race season onboard a classic racing yacht – chef and staysail 1.

HECTIC! It has already begun. 3 training days in a row, 40 odd sandwiches a day to make, a team building session, guests to be pampered, the interior to be turned into a 5 star hotel, accounts to be done and then I have to cook dinner every evening and that’s all before Monday. On account of which I haven’t blogged for ages. Apologies.

Maybe I didn’t quite remember everything from last season then – the sheer madness of it all. So a nice easy dinner menu ensues naturally. And at the top of the ‘easy dinner’ list is always a curry is it not? I mean, let’s face it, some chicken breasts, a can of coconut milk and some spices and Bob’s your Uncle, a tasty chicken curry...

Ok, maybe there’s a little more to it than that but basically that’s the essence of it. That and this next recipe is a fish curry. So it’s not at all like that now is it...

A salmon and butternut Thai fish curry is the most pleasing curry ever. It tastes outrageously good and you can make the sauce in advance if you are a busy bee and then just pop the fish into the heated sauce to cook just before you serve.

I’m surprised I haven’t put a Thai curry recipe on the blog yet considering I make them quite a lot. It makes a great boat meal as it all cooks on the hob and everybody likes them. Now I know the list of ingredients looks long and if you are unfamiliar with some of the ingredients then you might not bother but please, please give it a go! There is always a substitute if you can’t get all the ingredients and anyway if you leave anything out it will still taste awesome. Trust me.

So for a great salmon and butternut Thai curry for 6 you will need;

3 large onions, sliced
5-6 fresh salmon fillets, cut into chunks
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
1 large bunch of fresh coriander
2-3 red chilli’s – hot or mild depending on your taste
1 large knob of fresh root ginger, grated
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
8 kaffir lime leaves, fresh if possible or dried
1 tsp finely chopped lemon grass (from a fresh stalk or from a jar of ready chopped)
12 whole green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 tbsp whole cumin seeds
1 tbsp whole coriander seeds
2 tsp of yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp turmeric
2 cans of coconut milk
8 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 limes, zested and the juice squeezed

Method;

Begin by slowly sautéing the sliced onions in a little oil and butter in a large non-stick pan. This creates the perfect base flavour for the curry with all its lovely, naturally sweet oniony flavours. This can take 20 minutes or so of very, very gentle cooking so that the onions begin to turn a lovely golden brown.

Once the onions are looking nice and golden stir in the cubed butternut squash and continue to cook on a gentle heat.

Now this is the fun bit where you can pretend to be a TV chef with your neat little piles of spices all ready and lined up... or is it just me who does that? Firstly finely chop the stalks from your bunch of coriander. Always use the coriander stalks in a curry and the leaves later at the end. Now put the finely chopped stalks into a nice little pile on your chopping board. Next finely slice your chilli’s and proudly put the little pile next to the coriander stalks. Then grate the fresh root ginger and crush the garlic, adding these to the TV chef display of spices along with the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Now how good does that look!?

Next bit is also pretty fun. Get a frying pan nice and hot but with no oil. Add the coriander seeds, the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and the cardamom pods which have been slightly broken open by thwacking them with the flat of a blade or just crushing them with your palm. Let these roast for about 2 minutes in the pan. The smell will be amazing. Then tip the seeds into a pestle and mortar. You will need to open the cardamom pods and take out the little seeds which is a bit fiddly but sooooooo worth it. Then give all the seeds a good grinding until they are pretty much a powder.

Turn the heat up a little under the onion and butternut and pour the ground spices in, giving it a good stir. It should all start to have a nice little sizzle and the smell will be making anyone within smell shot, extremely hungry.

Now tip in to the pan, in your best TV chef impersonation the chilli’s, lemongrass, lime leaves, coriander stalks, ginger, garlic, fennel seeds and the turmeric. Stir it all in well and cook for a few minutes.

Pour in the coconut milk, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar, the lime juice and zest. Season with some salt but not too much because the fish sauce and soy sauce are salty too. Bring to a gentle boil then turn the heat down and let the sauce simmer until the butternut is cooked through.

When you are pretty ready to serve, add to the simmering pan the fresh salmon. Cook for about 5-8 minutes making sure the salmon is cooked through. Now most importantly taste the curry and adjust the seasoning. It may need a bit more salt or a little bit of sugar. Close your eyes and really figure it out.

Stir through the fresh coriander leaves and serve with lots of wedges of lime. Serve with perfectly cooked rice and naan breads (even though they are Indian, have them anyway. I love naan).

Now I know that was pretty long and only a small percentage of you have made it here, Hi Mum, but really once you have made this a few times it becomes easy and better every time. And experiment! That’s the beauty of a curry. If you don’t have all the spices or ingredients it doesn’t matter a jot.

Now I’m off to bed because we’re training tomorrow and I can hear the wind start to pick up and have a little howl through the halyards. Should be fun tomorrow. I feel the wet weather gear and harnesses may become useful.

I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks for reading.

Cheers!

Adam's brilliant gold leafing on the top of the top mast about to be hoisted.

Thats my Fiancé up there! What a hero...

With A Serving Of Hot Custard

2012-05-13T23:37:00.002+01:00

We’re here! We made it!

After 3 weeks and 1 day, we have arrived in Gosport, England. It’s a good thing. It’s a very good thing. In fact, I’m so pleased that the trip is over, as is everybody else onboard, I am even finding Gosport a joyous place to temporarily reside in despite it being less then idyllic with its weird purple flats, its industry and kebab shops. Very young girls wander round in next to nothing with babies in pushchairs, cigarettes and foul mouths long overdue a bar of soap and I’m finding it all very quaint.

For now.

That was a long and uncomfortable trip and I’m not going to sugar coat it. It is easy to forget once you’ve landed how bad it was but maybe as I get older the rose coloured glasses are beginning to lose their tint a bit. I’m looking back on the delivery as I sit, nice and still in a quirky little bar on an old Light Ship called – ‘The Light Ship’ – with some lovely poached eggs and a cup of English Breakfast Tea and I am in no way looking back with fond memories to regale you with.

I lie. And how ungrateful of me. We did see a large pod (pod?) of whales very early one morning with one swimming very close to the boat. One night we had around 15 dolphins laughing their heads off whilst playing in the slip- stream of our bow, an awesome sight. Dolphins never fail to amuse.

And also on the plus side, I suppose, the Bay of Biscay was a doddle. However we didn’t catch one fish.
So it had its ups ‘n’ downs in all sorts of senses; as well as the kind that makes you want to dangle your head over the side of the boat and never eat again.

But now here we are in sunny Gosport and ‘pop’, the crew are already up in numbers to twelve. The boat is being de-rigged of her delivery gear and is now looking rather more like the beautiful racing boat that she is. Her top mast went in today, always an exciting event involving a crane and my fiancé up the mast in a harness.

I’ve been buying and cooking all things English to show off to our Italians and Americans and the Australian. Cream teas with fresh strawberries, toasted crumpets and proper mature Cheddar cheese, roasted Gammon with parsley sauce and Jersey Royals, Bangers ‘N’ Mash with free range organic pork and apple. Jammy dodgers and Elderflower cordial, curly kale and Brambly Apples!

I am really enjoying myself.

So I’m pretty convinced my next recipe to share will be heartily English followed swiftly by the odd Diamond Jubilee/my Birthday cake experiment. The crew have been very forthcoming with their suggestions for that one having had much time to ponder over happy cake memories whilst sitting in dripping wet weather gear and harnesses on cold, rough dark watches.

Ah, home and cake. It doesn’t get much better than that. Unless of course, it comes with a side serving of hot custard...

Thanks for reading.
Cheers!

The moon and the lighthouse

The beautiful Benodét - The home of sailing

It Aint all Rock 'N' Roll

2012-05-04T08:30:00.000+01:00

I'm so glad thats over! I just crawled into my bunk having cooked and eaten lunch. And I am exhausted. As we crawl our way up the Portugese coast, finally out of the Med and heading North, the seas have a distinct Atlantic 3 meter swell topped with added 2 meter, choppy waves from which a cold salt spray treats us regularly to a surprising faceful. And it's about to get alot worse according to the latest weather report. Splendid.

It took me 2 whole hours to make a minestroni soup with potato gnocci. This boat was designed excellently for racing - for open sea passages it was not. She rolls like a pig in a mud and worse. Hense our average speed of 5 knots. My Dad's plastic 38 footer can go faster than that.

The unpredictable motion of the sea caught me off guard more than once sending me flying. You can't just get a couple of onions out of the drawer and chop away in a sea like this, everything has to be done one at a time, slowly and systematically whilst 'brace-bracing' up against the cupboards. Either that or play an endless game of 'chase the onion around the boat'.
The crew are pretty knackered and very fed up with living in this exagerated, continuous rolling. If you're not on watch, the only other place you can be is in your bunk. But a short kip is a tense affair when one is wedging oneself into the confines of a bunk and lee cloth in the attempt to stay in one spot long enough before the next big wave and bow-slammer catapault you skywards. For the partially dozing, finding your body airborne above your bunk is most odd. And the landing will put an end to any idea of sleep.

And here I am holding on tightly in my bunk about to attempt the impossible. So here we go, wish me luck.
Cheers!

The Buisness of Cooking

2012-05-01T18:17:00.001+01:00

I really love being the cook onboard. Yes, I'm aware that a week ago I was praying for tera firma as we bashed into a nauseating swell whilst also being solely responsible for providing good food for 9 others; friends, Fiancée and comrades at sea. But now that my sea-legs are confident, my strong urge to please them with tasty, sustaning meals is navigating my motivation towards the UK, fully floating my boat, the wind in my sails.

I love a good sailing cliché.

That all makes me sound like a lovely, caring person in the buisness of giving; The Florence Nightingale of the wave-riding, gimballed-oven, galley collective. But trust me, there is massive selfishness lurking behind every proffered dish. Compare it to being the one at the party who chooses the music (never me). The folk who are so sure and confident that their taste and knowledge of music will be enjoyed by everybody else without the fear of ridcule, that their Ipod holds the key to the nights ambiance and above all, so that they can listen to what they want to listen to. Thats like me and cooking. If I really fancey Italian meatballs and spaghetti then thats what I cook and thats what everybody else eats. The trick is making them all think that that is exactly what they would have cooked themselves if they'd had the choice.

Reading your audience well in the given situation is a strong asset to cooking for the same people twice a day or indeed if you happen to be DJ'ing for a large group of expectant party-goers ready to unleash some moves. And when the praise comes your way, tummies are being rubbed, lips licked, depending on the skill of the dancers; or if you're the cook and folk are full and happy, possibly a little satisfied belch being stiffled under a napkin, you can sit back and feel pretty good about yourself. Not only have you just enjoyed the meal of your dreams for that day, you made everybody else feel just the same.

So, on reflection maybe the buisness of cooking is only a little bit selfish. Maybe it's also about sharing your love of food with 9 other people and enjoying the added bonus of being paid to do it.
On a clasic wooden yacht about to pop through the Straights of Gibralta, out of the Med and into Atlantic stuff.

Now lets all pray together for a nice little South Westerly please...

Cheers!

Washing Off The Damp

2012-04-29T08:00:00.000+01:00

It's peculiar how you have to wash damp off. I have just come down below from my evening 7-10 watch and I've had to wash a clingy layer of damp from my face and hands. It's not enough to just dry it off with a towel. Hot water and soap and then you're sweet.

The wind has gone from a lazy 10 knots to a dashing 21 in the 3 hours of my watch, the sea from oily flat to 3 foot waves and although that's not huge cause for concern we're headed for port to hide from bigger things happening the other side of the Gibralta Straights. And as usual it's all coming to us bang on the nose. Bummer.

We had the sails up today. Wow (with sarcasm attached). It was a beautiful day on the water, a good breeze, sunshine and we all had a bit of excitement pulling on some halyards. There wasn't quite enough speed to turn the engine off however. This has been the story so far on our journey to the UK; massive sea's and robust winds so that we can't put the sails up or the boat will break, or not enough wind and when there is an acceptable puff, it's coming at us bang on the nose so we can't put the sails up.

Boats.

Or, old wooden boats, more to the point.

The Spanish Coast

So I'm crawling into my bunk which is situated just starboard of the engine. It's a bit like trying to sleep underneath the bonnet of your car ('lid' for the Yanks), with the engine at about 3000 revs. Funny though, you do just sort of accept the noise and manage the miracle of sleep. I did have a dream last night though, I was shouting and shouting but nobody could hear me...

I guess the anchor being lowered will wake me around 4 in the morning and then we shall see where I get to go shopping for food supplies tomorrow. How exciting. New Spanish port, new shops and a bit of an explore. The Thai fish curry I made today went down very well. But I'm running out of fresh veg and have no fresh herbs left. The crew are at no real risk of getting scurvy as yet but I'm pretty pleased for the opportunity to stock up on some fresh vitamins.

Well I'd best close my eyes now and think exceptionally quiet thoughts in an attempt to drown out the noise.

Billy doing something pretty nautical...

Goodnight!

You have no idea how many of these sunset shots I had to sift through to decide which one to put on this blog

A Bit of Calm After Lots of Storm

2012-04-26T08:39:00.000+01:00

The sun is finally out as we cruise past Spain on our passage to the UK on Mariquita. The sea has a definate attitude about it but compared to the last 24 hours worth of behaviour, it's quite pleasent really. Foulies are hanging out to dry and the salt chucked at us during last nights assualt is emerging as encrusted white swirls of a gentle reminder as to who's boss.

I had to use one of my rough weather meals last night as it was physically impossible to cook in the galley. That and I felt absolutely sea-sick. Which happens once in a while but thankfully not that often. Never let sea-sickness beat you! I Just about managed to spoon one of my pre-made meals, a chilli-con-carne in a pan, added extra kidney beans and served that with nachos, hot baguettes and grated cheese. Apparently it was delicious...

Turns out we leak like a sieve when water is flooding the deck at the rate of yesterdays show-down. The water didn't just drip through into the interior of the boat - it poured. Layers of putty and cat-wrap have since been applied to suspected areas of leakage, the bilges pumped and with any luck, we wont be doing any more impressions of a boat thats in strong danger of sinking.

And I am feeling a whole lot better after a good bowlful of chicken, fennel and noodle soup. I filled it with tarragon, garlic, fennel seeds and leeks and life is good once more. It's funny how quickly you can forget how crap it was, bashing into a huge sea slowing us down to sometimes only 2 knots of speed, the constant spray and cold, wondering when the old sea-legs might decide to kick in. But they have and Spain looks lovely from here but I hope we keep plugging on so that we can make up for lost time and get to the UK as soon as possible.

A brief stop into Barcelona for some fresh stocks and fuel. I made me hasty way to the Barcelonetta market. Awsome.

I need to dive into my vegetable stocks whilst the sea is not too huge and I can actually prep real food in the galley. So I think tonights dinner will be a huge cauliflower and broccoli cheese with a good mustardy sauce, some gruyer cheese and crispy fried lardons served with some hot freshly baked bread. And ketchup. Gotta have ketchup with cauliflower cheese.
Thanks for reading, hope your floor is nice and still.
Stay tuned.
Cheers!

Jim, our fearless leader.

Give Peas a Chance!

2012-04-23T15:20:00.002+01:00

I arranged this blog to be posted whilst I am otherwise engaged in the gruelling process of sailing an old wooden boat in hefty seas (forecast) with strong wind on the nose as we head West towards the Gibralta straights on our way to the UK. Whoopee! I do hope that my sea legs are not failing me in the galley as I attempt to cook for ten hungry (or not) crew. And before you turn green at the thought, here is the besest, tastiest, easiest, cheapest and most wonderful recipe for soup that should make you smile, with a little poem to serve it with. Calorie free (the poem that is).

This poem must be read out loud with a frightfully-frightfully British accent to your kids or your partner, or whom ever is around you to enjoy it, right before you dive into a bowl of pea and mint soup. Serve this wonderfully green pea soup with some warm soda bread straight out of the oven and some feta cheese marinated in chilli and lemon zest and rejoice that spring is here and that means it’s almost summer...

The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are, you are, you are,
What a beautiful Pussy you are."
Pussy said to the Owl "You elegant fowl,
How charmingly sweet you sing.
O let us be married, too long we have tarried;
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows,
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose, his nose, his nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling your ring?"
Said the Piggy, "I will"
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon.
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand.
They danced by the light of the moon, the moon, the moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

Edward Lear 1812-1888

For Pea and mint soup you will need;
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp of fresh mint, roughly chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 cloves of garlic
500 ml/1 pint of chicken or vegetable stock
500g, ½ bag frozen or fresh garden peas
200ml crème fraiche
1 lemon, zest and juice
Mince and slices of quince (but only if you have a runcible spoon)
Method;

Sauté the onion in a little butter and olive oil in a good sized saucepan. Sauté gently until they are starting to lightly colour.

Add the fennel seeds to the pan. Turn the heat up then add the frozen peas with the garlic. Stir well as it all starts to have a good sizzle.

Now pour the stock into the pan and bring to the boil. As soon as it comes to the boil, turn the heat down so the soup simmers gently for ten minutes.

Turn the heat off then add the mint the lemon juice and a few tablespoons of the crème fraiche. Use a hand blender to puree the soup till it’s nice and smooth and the most vivid and pleasing green.

Mix in the rest of the crème fraiche and add the lemon zest to garnish.

The mint goes in at the end to maintain its fresh flavour and colour. This is one of my most favourite soups of all time and is full of the flavours of a sunny garden on a weekend. Lush. And what a vibrant pea-green it is – the soup, not our boat, or us for that matter. Although Mariquita is hopefully as you read this, dancing in the light of the moon, the moon. Dancing by the light of the moon.

Thanks for reading,

Cheers!

Ready to Go...

2012-04-14T19:51:00.000+01:00

All aboard and ready to go. Dying to get going in fact. Funny how when you’re supposed to have left a place and you’re still there, it doesn’t feel right somehow. Like being in school after everybody else has gone home.

Monday is the big day. The Captain comes on board tomorrow night and Monday morning we’re off. The weather does not look ideal but we have a plan. Basically we will hug the coast so that if we need to, we can dive into a port and cower somewhere or other. Then as soon as the weather allows we will hop across to Majorca or Menorca and see how we go from there. It’ll do for now. The crew are itching to leave.

Living in the crew quarters in the forepeak. Cosy...

Good job we didn’t go when we planned to though. Good decision. We’ve heard rumours of braver boats then us, who have broken quite important parts of boat in the very weather we are hiding from. Ouch.

My food stores are ready and distributed around the boat wherethey will fit. The owners shower has been a great spot for storage. Having limited fridge and freezer space means I have to be inventive with where it all goes and how to circulate it. Fingers crossed I dont have too much wastage. Hate waste and rotten food, especially in rough weather. A situation of GET ME OUT OF HERE proportions. Mind you last time my freezer kept defrosting...

Full to the brim

Anyway! Im sure it’lll be sweet. I’ve stocked up the sea-sickness pils.

So for now it’s checking out time and hope to blog soon in pastures new. Wish us luck with the weather and stay tuned for adventures at sea. An old wooden boat with ten crew battling to get to the UK. Bon Voyage!!

Cheers!

The Big Heave-Ho

2012-04-10T23:00:00.000+01:00

This is it. This is my last night in the double bed. Tomorrow we move onto the boat and into the small cabin with its small bunk. I know I should be better person and not mind. But I do. One shower, 'heads', for ten people, no privacy, no space.

What we do have lots of is weather! In fact we have so much weather, we're not sure when we can leave now, which really sucks. Our Thursday departure has been set back to possibly Monday due to an incoming Mistral the experts are calling 'full blown'.

I need to start praying to Neptune and the weather Gods. And maybe cook some extra bad weather freezer food.

So instead we shall be living on a boat going no where for now, listening to the rain which has been at it for a while. Which is one upside; sleeping on a boat in the rain is pretty soporific and makes one feel all warm and cosy. Which reminds me, I must go and buy me some tights...

Will keep you informed. For now I shall snuggle up and starfish whilst I still sort of can.

Goodnight!

Chicken, Leek and Tarragon Casserole. For sea.

2012-04-08T15:13:00.000+01:00

It's hard to imagine that in one weeks time I will no longer be sitting cross legged upon my lovely double bed with the view all flat and stationary out of the window. We will be all at sea, slowly discovering our sea legs and adjusting to the routine of watches and life aboard. As the ships cook, I only have the one 3 hour watch to do, usually after dinner and the rest of my time will be spent preparing meals for the crew. Now if the weather is fine and the seas are calm then, to be frank, it's a pretty cushty job. But if the weather is not so favourable, the responsibility to feed the crew lies with me alone as nobody else on board would volunteer.

I've been pre-cooking these last few days at the house and taking the prepared dishes down to the boat to stuff in my tiny-wee, little freezer. These are my rough weather dishes. If it all starts to get a bit gnarly out there, then I am prepared for it. Take out a frozen meal and slap it in the oven. Easy. Otherwise it can take literally hours to make the most simple of dishes and it's exhausting.

Mariquita has been transformed from her stripped winter maintenance bareness, to her fully geared and accessorised passage coat. Complete with life rafts, passage sails and stanchions. Ooh , it's all starting to get very exciting. That feeling of impending change. A journey is afoot!

Now, before I start getting all poetic on you, let me give you a little recipe. It's a little recipe but with the potential to feed lots of hungry mouths and tastes delicious, is simple and economic, hearty yet elegant. Its the tarragon you see. Its a clever little herb that has an air of sophistication. It's grace can turn any run-of-the-mill dish into a charmer. Even a frozen chicken and leek casserole, emancipated from its tin foil and bunged in a gimballed oven swinging willy-nilly in a stuffy galley that's bucking like a bronco, will taste like it's heaven sent and all because (I reckon) of that most debonair of herbs; tarragon.

A great family sized dish served with mash, or rice or pasta! And will freeze splendidly.

For Chicken, Leek and Tarragon casserole to serve 6 you will need;

8-10 chicken portions, a mix of thigh and breast.
6 large leeks, washed and sliced but not too thinly 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 stalks of celery, washed and roughly chopped
1 large bunch of fresh tarragon, the leaves stripped from the stalks and chopped
500ml white wine
500ml chicken stock
2 tbsp plain flour
1/2 tbsp clear honey or sugar

Method;

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4. In your largest nonstick frying pan, fry the chicken pieces in some oil so that they are a gentle golden brown on both sides. This might take a few batches. Place the browned chicken into an oven proof casserole dish with a lid.

Once the chicken is browned and resting in its dish, add a little more oil to the frying pan and start to saute the leeks and celery. This shouldn't take too long, around 5 minutes, before adding the garlic and half of the chopped tarragon. Add the honey or sugar and saute for another couple of minutes, stirring frequently. The honey balances out the acidity of the wine.

Add the leeks to the chicken pieces in your casserole dish.

Add a little more oil or butter to the pan and use a wooden spatula to stir and loosen any remaining leeky, garlicy goodness from the pans bottom before adding the flour. Over a very gentle heat stir the flour in to make a roux, which will look like a paste. Take the roux off the heat and begin to very slowly add the stock and wine, stirring well between additions to get rid of any lumps before adding more of the liquid.

Once all the liquid has been added, let the sauce come to a gentle simmer then season with salt and pepper before tipping into the casserole dish with the chicken and leeks.

Add the remaining tarragon, give it all a good stir and pop into the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes. Check the seasoning before serving.

This is delicious served with mashed potatoes but also goes beautifully with pasta or rice, so it can suit any taste, occasion or weather condition and angle at which you are serving it. Handy.

If the wind we have at the moment dies down a little, tomorrow we go out for our first sail of the year.
It’ll be a learning curve for everybody with such a new crew and it feels like its been ages since the last race at St Tropez!

Hope I remember how it all works...
Thanks for reading,
Cheers!