Cooking at sea and cooking at home often share the same priorities – fresh, fast and flavorful. This is a great dish to use fresh summer peaches and apricots and make your meal preparation easier without sacrificing flavor thanks to bottled sweet chili sauce. Recently, I discovered Grama’s Sauce from Taste Nirvana and it is yummy, however, any bottled sweet chili sauce will work.

6 – 8 boneless pork chops, thick cut
Wondra/kosher salt/black pepper to season/coat pork
T unsalted butter + T of EVOO for searing pork
3 peaches, sliced in wedges, pitted, skin on
5 apricots, same as peaches
2 large shallots, sliced into thin rings
T fresh chopped Italian parsley
1 bottle of sweet chili sauce

Lightly coat chops with Wondra and salt and pepper and heat butter and EVOO in pan until very hot but not smoking. Pan sear each side of pork until lightly brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Lay seared chops in a baking pan, such as a 9 x 12 pyrex dish. Combine fruit, shallots, parsley and whole bottle of chili sauce. Pour mixture over chops and bake, uncovered for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees until pork is done to a medium temperature.

Serve with a basmati and wild rice blend and a nice green veggie. Try a nice, crisp rose wine with this meal and you will be very happy!

Dinner the other night was a pineapple-curry glazed ham with brown-butter, parsley egg noodles, salad with a maple cider vinaigrette and a root vegetable bake. The bake was made of layers of roasted red beets and a saute of celery, red onions and garbanzo beans which was topped with toasted pine nuts and goat cheese before baking. The beet dish was the big hit.

Cooking at sea for long stretches of time demands creativity in the vegetable department. You have to be able to mix it up and you have to be able to work with root vegetables in a variety of ways since they hold so well over time. I am a big fan of roasting as it allows me to reduce the number of pots on the stove. Boiling water and rolling seas can be a bad mix. Roasting can easily be done ahead and allow for fast veggie combinations just before meal time. I also believe roasting vegetables gives you the tastiest flavors.

Roasted Red Beet and Goat Cheese Bake

12 medium, fresh red beets
heavy drizzles of EVOO and balsamic vinegar for roasting beets
pinches of kosher salt and black pepper
6 large celery ribs, medium slices on a bias
1 large red onion, large chop
1 can of garbanzo beans
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted with a touch of olive oil, salt and pepper
10 – 12 oz. of goat cheese

Trim beet tops (reserve for a saute in another meal! – they are great mixed in with kale or spinach), clean and place in roasting pan. Drizzle a light amount of olive oil and balsamic vinegar in equal parts. Sprinkle a few pinches of kosher salt and just a bit of black pepper. Cover with foil and bake until tender, usually about 90 minutes, check with a skewer. Allow to cool and peel/trim off skin of beets, then slice into thin half-moon pieces.

Toast pine nuts in saute pan and reserve. Prepare the celery, onion and garbanzo bean saute in the same pan with a touch of olive oil and salt and pepper. Saute until veggies just begin to become tender, keep them a bit crisp as they will be re-baked.

Prepare another roasting pan with a touch of pan coat and place half of the sliced beets in a layer on the bottom. Add the celery saute mix and then the next layer with the rest of the beets. Top with pine nuts and goat cheese and bake at 350 degrees until the dish is warm all the way through and the goat cheese just starts to brown on some edges. Bubbly goat cheese, yum!

At sea, vegetables such as cabbage, peppers(when purchased very fresh and kept refrigerated) and onions hold for a long time. When cooking, you have to be able to constantly change flavor profiles to reduce boredom. When you are at sea for a long time, you can pick up bulky staples such as sugar and flour from port to port. So, when you are provisioning for you initial departure load up on specialty items, things such as agave nectar or agave syrup are useful in your tool box along the way during a long voyage.

You also have to keep in mind that although being at sea can be punishing, life on a boat is limiting in cardio-vascular activity and you have to be health conscious in your general food preparation as much as possible. Agave nectar, as a carbohydrate has a low glycemic index, making it a great substitute for sugar or artificial sweeteners. I keep a bottle in are coffee and tea area.

Pepper and Cabbage Slaw with Agave

1 medium head of green cabbage, chopped to your liking for size and slice/chop all vegetables the same size
1/4 head of red cabbage
1 medium onion
1 fresh red pepper

2/3 c. of cider vinegar
splash of rice wine vinegar
a few pinches of white pepper and kosher salt
4 T of agave nectar

Mix the last four ingredients and adjust for personal taste. Combine with chopped veggies and let rest for one hour before serving. There are no rules for a good slaw. Use what you have and need to use up and make it as savory or sweet as you like! This dish will keep for a good 5-7 days and it is really good as a leftover to add to a sandwich like pulled pork or a grilled chicken breast.

This recipe was something I created quite a few years back in my restaurant days to serve as a vegetarian entree at a special event in which I needed to fire it quickly and be able to pull off a nice presentation. It can be made ahead of time and re-heated for service. Now, I have re-worked it to include some roasting and balsamic vinegar for extra flavor and zing.

When you are cooking at sea it is important to stock lots of root vegetables and items such as butternut, spaghetti and acorn squash. The length of time these ingredients hold allows you to create fresh food throughout the duration of a long journey. Ratatouille is a classic French dish, usually containing tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, onions and zucchini. The great thing about it is that you can use up any veggies you have that may be “on their way out”. Typically, ratatouille is simmered down like a stew or marinara.

In this version, the eggplant has been quickly roasted. The rest of the veggies were lightly sauteed and then all were combined and ladled into the acorn squash. Since the squash will be roasted for 45 minutes to an hour, these steps keep the veggies from getting too mushy.

These portions served 20 people.

10 acorn squash, cut in half and seeds removed
3 large eggplant
1 large onion
3 peppers, 1 each green, yellow and red
12 large cloves of garlic, sliced
1 bunch of asparagus, cut to 1″ pieces
2 heads of broccoli, stalks sliced and florets made to be 1″ chunks
5 cups of canned, diced tomatoes and juice + 2 cups for bottom of pan
Balsamic vinegar
kosher salt and black pepper

3 lbs. of linguini, cooked al dente
Parmesan cheese
3-4 T chopped fresh Italian parsley
crushed red pepper
olive oil – for saute and for pasta
Balsamic glaze – such as Roland, for finishing drizzle

Prep the eggplant by trimming the skin and slicing the eggplants lengthwise into 1″ slabs. Salt each side of the slices with kosher salt and lay on a paper towel for about 30 minutes. This will bring moisture out of the eggplant so that a firm, meaty texture is maintained. Pat the slices dry and cube the eggplant into 1″ pieces. Toss with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, about 2 T of each. Add a few pinches of salt and pepper and lay out on a flat sheet pan. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until edges start to brown.

Saute the rest of the veggies, starting with onions and garlic in a touch of olive oil. Use high heat and add the rest of veggies, cooking until just tender. Combine with the 5 cups of tomatoes and the roasted eggplant and remove from heat.

Before ladling the ratatouille into the acorn squash, slice just a bit off of the bottom of the ridged side so that the squash will stand upright during cooking. Be careful not to slice off too much. Add the 2 cups of tomatoes to the bottom of large roasting pan. Use two pans if needed. Add a few splashes of water to the pan as well to help in steaming the squash. Ladle the ratatouille mix into the acorn squash, cover the pan with foil and bake for 45-60 minutes at 375 degrees. Use a skewer to check squash for tenderness.

To prepare pasta to serve, heat 2 T of olive oil in a large saute pan, on medium-high heat. Add cooked linquini, crushed red pepper, parsley and Parmesan cheese. Saute until pasta is heated through and begins to crisp.

Place a small bed of pasta on a plate with the acorn squash in the center. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and top with more Parmesan cheese.

If all else fails, make the ratatouille and eat it with a hunk of crusty bread and bottle of wine. After being at sea for 35 days, that sounds like the way to go to me!

What do you do when someone catches a 50lb. plus halibut? Eat halibut, of course.

Start with a putting together a nice halibut ceviche as soon as they bring you the cleaned meat. My deal is they catch it, they clean it and I cook it. There is nothing like the smell of ocean lingering on the fish when it comes to you and ceviche is a respectful way to begin to enjoy the bounty of fresh caught fish.

Halibut Ceviche

Keep in mind, I am cooking for twenty people. I prepared about five pounds of halibut for this dish, so if you are not throwing a party, cut this down in half and half again, as needed.

Juice from 2 lemons and 2 limes
Equal amount of rice vinegar as the citrus yield, plus 2 T of cider vinegar
1 bunch of scallions, sliced thin
3 jalapeno peppers, fine chop
4 Roma tomatoes, small chop
2 T Italian parsley, fine chop for all herbs
1 T fresh oregano
1 T fresh basil
2 T of blackening seasoning
A few heavy pinches of kosher salt
5 lbs. of fresh halibut, cut into small pieces

Mix all of the ingredients together and at the end, fold in the halibut. Chill for at least 2 hours, stirring every 20-30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips. Ceviche will hold for 5-7 days.

The next day I moved onto halibut as the entree. For dinner tonight, I cooked up pan-seared, cornmeal crusted halibut fillets topped with a fresh peach and yogurt salsa. The dish was served with salad, with a lemon goddess dressing, basmati rice and a saute of mixed vegetables. We had a happy boat.

Cornmeal Crusted Halibut with Peach and Yogurt Salsa

For the salsa, I mixed all ingredients and then folded in two, individual sized containers of Chobani peach, greek yogurt. The Greek style yogurt works best for this type of dish. You could easily change the fruit in the salsa and the yogurt flavor and be successful. Serves 20 people

8 fresh peaches, small dice
1 large red pepper, small dice
2 bunches of scallions, slice thin
2-3 jalapeno peppers, fine chop
1 T minced garlic
3 T chopped parsley
1 T chopped basil
2 T rice vinegar
A few heavy pinches of kosher salt and white pepper
2 small containers of Chobani peach yogurt

Mix well and let stand for 1 hour.

For the halibut, I made a cornmeal mix of 2 cups of yellow cornmeal, 1/2 cup of blackening seasoning, 1/2 cup of Wondra or regular flour and 1 T of kosher salt. Just rinse the halibut and shake the excess water off and then dip right into the cornmeal mix, top-side only. Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan, enough to give the pan a heavy coat – 1/4 inch max. On medium-high heat, sear the cornmeal side only for 3-4 minutes until it just starts to brown. Have an oven set on 400-425 degrees. Flip the halibut onto a pan-coated baking sheet and place in oven for addition 6-9 minutes, depending on desired temperature. I love halibut cooked to a medium temp. Serve immediately with salsa topping.

When you are cooking at sea, leftovers are critical. When you are at sea for over sixty days, one must be the queen, or king, of leftovers and a master at clever shortcuts. Leftover royalty means you can take all of those tasty bits from previous meals and add a gourmet twist to please a palate all over again. One of my new favorite product lines is from More Than Gourmet. Spend time on their website learning about everything they do and make sure to check out their collection of recipes…and, have your credit card handy.

More Than Gourmet has an awesome line of concentrated stocks and sauces with taste straight out of a classic, French kitchen. One of my favorite stocks is a blend of chicken and duck stock, which I mix with their seafood stock to make a killer batch of jambalaya. Another great, masterful shortcut is their new red wine demi-glace and white wine sauce. These sauces have a never-ending list of applications. The red wine sauce was a key ingredient to making the ultimate leftover creation….Gourmet Shepard’s Pie!

For this dish, I used lamb stew meat instead of ground beef or ground lamb. Plan to make this on a week that you make a batch of mashed potatoes for another meal. For the veggies, I had leftover fresh, sauteed sugar snap peas and carrots, which I added a bag of frozen mixed veggies to in order to fill out the pie. The best part of this dish is you can use whatever you have in the fridge. The finishing touch is the gravy a la More Than Gourmet.

Brown 2-3 lbs of lamb stew meat in a touch of vegetable oil, after dusting the meat with a bit of flour and seasoning of your choice.
De-glaze the pan with 1 cup of red wine and cook down until the wine is almost gone.
Add enough stock to cover the meat by about an inch. I used equal parts of lamb stock and beef stock from MTG and it was about a quart and a
half. Simmer for 2 hours or until desired tenderness.
Saute 1 large, sliced onion, 1 T. of minced garlic and 1 lb. of sliced mushrooms with one tablespoon each, oil and butter.

To build the pie, strain the meat, reserve the stock and place it as your first layer on the bottom of a pan-coated baking dish.
Top with the sauteed mushrooms and onions, next the vegetables. Pour some of the stock over the layers just to moisten them, about a cup.
Finish the top of the pie with a hefty layer of mashed potatoes. Pop the pie into a 350-375 degree oven, uncovered and cook until the potatoes brown on top. (Hint: I heat the potatoes and veggies so the whole pie is fairly hot before going in the oven. This reduces bake time and does not overcook the ingredients.)

To make the final gravy, uhhh, I mean gourmet finishing sauce, mix one container of the red wine demi-glace from MTG with an equal measure of the reserved stock. Bring to a simmer and let cook down for 10 minutes or so, just long enough to make a salad and warm some bread to go with the meal.

Well I have to say that when you start off your trip on the open sea you hope for a couple of days of easy sailing so that you can acquire your
sea legs. When you head out and quickly enter a washing machine, you are at the mercy of the gods to settle things down. That was the case at the start of this trip.

Regardless of the weather, as the cook you must put out three meals a day on time, all the time. The seas had swells coming in three different
directions. If you think about the spin cycle of washing machine and add the fact that the clothes are “swimming” inside a swell of water, you
will begin to get the picture of our conditions on the outset.

This is when you must have premeditated plans of attack for fast, fresh and tasty meals. Meals that you can make while getting lifted off you
feet and bounced around that will also be easy for those a bit queasy to keep down. This is when I, as a cook, am thankful for Costco and a
company such as Roland Foods. Roland products make you an instant gourmet. I highly recommend this line and I stock my pantry chock full of their wide variety of products. (One of my latest favorites is their oven roasted tomatoes in a pouch with olive oil, garlic and seasonings. You can eat them like candy.)

Whalllaaaahhh……. a caprese salad with a balsamic glaze twist.

Nice, beefy tomatoes, fresh basil, a touch of extra virgin olive oil, a dash of sea salt and cracked black pepper, a product such as fresh mozzarella
rolled with basil and prosciutto (ala Costco) and a drizzle of fine balsamic glaze from Roland. In three minutes you have a delicious salad and in
the midst of going through a spin cycle you look like a star!

After three days of what I now call “Maytag moments”, we hooked into the Inside Passage of British Columbia and began an entirely different kind
of journey. Flat, calm and gorgeous. Now we’re talkin’.

Happy Easter. Easter makes me think of one thing…eggs. I think of of rabbits as well, but this recipe is for eggs. I love deviled eggs and in my family they have been a cherished item on a celebratory occasion. My mother would always have to carefully guard her tray as my Uncle Jerry would see how many he could eat before a party even began, causing a giddy game of cat and mouse.

In this recipe, I made use of my standard formula for the yolk filling. However, I backed way off of the salt I used in the filling because I finished the eggs with two flavors of Secret Stash Sea Salt – Bloody Mary and Nicoise Olive. I will give you a list of other topping ideas at the end of the recipe.

Start with a dozen eggs. Hard boil them. That sounds so easy, yet when you go on-line and look up how to boil an egg, you will be amazed at what seems to be an endless list of possibilities. How to hard boil an egg may be one of the most controversial culinary conundrums that exists to this day.

Here is my final choice method on how to hard boil eggs:

Gently place the eggs in a pot, in a single layer. Use a pot that fits the single layer of eggs comfortably and doesn’t leave two much rolling room. Cover the eggs with water that goes a good inch above the eggs. Bring the pot to a boil on medium-high heat. Boil for 1 minute if using large eggs and 2 minutes if you are using extra-large eggs. Shut down the heat, move the pot to a cool burner and cover. Leave eggs in covered pot for 20 minutes. Immediately rinse with cold water and leave in an ice bath until cooled completely.

Peel eggs and slice in half, removing and reserving yolks. Don’t throw anything away. Broken whites can quickly become egg salad when chopped and mixed with extra filling!

For the filling you will need:
mayonnaise (1/2 a c. to start)
horseradish (T)
Creole or cracked mustard (2 T)
apple cider vinegar (T)
cayenne and white pepper
a touch of kosher salt
hot sauce (5 good dashes)

Note: I place the measurements as a starting point in parenthesis. No batch is ever the same…the amount that the yolk yield always vary. You have to feel this one out and keep adding until you get the right zing in the mix that is right for you.

If you have one, run the yolks through a potato ricer. This gives them a nice texture. Mash with a fork or small potato masher and do not over mix as the mix can easily become too runny. When your mix is complete use a pastry bag or a ziploc bag to pipe the filling into the eggs.

As I said, I used some flavor infused sea salts from Secret Stash – Bloody Mary and Nicoise Olive. Here is a list of other great toppings:
- Toasted capers
- Smoked salmon and red onion
- Chopped bread and butter pickles
- Crispy bacon
- Sliced green or black olives
- Chopped arugula
- Cured balsamic tomatoes or sun dried tomatoes

Enjoy and Happy Egg Day!

Here is a flavorful one-pot meal of a soup which won’t break the piggy bank and should be made when you have leftover ham and/or bacon. Approximate budget = $13, serves 10-12, freezes well.

• 3 carrots, 1/2 pieces
• 1 small green pepper – small dice
• 1 medium onion – small dice
• 2 celery ribs – small dice
• 4 cloves of garlic – minced
• 2 T chopped fresh parsley
• 1 T chopped fresh cilantro (more for garnish)
• 1 large can, crushed tomatoes
• 1 14 oz. can black beans
• 1 14 oz. can cannellini beans
• 1 can of sweet corn
• 1 1/2 qt. each of veggi stock and chicken stock
• 1 c. of choped ham or bacon, or mix both!
• 1/4 c. oil for saute of fresh veggies
• To taste: your favorite hot sauce, worchestershire, cayenne pepper, white pepper, salt, chili powder

Secret ingredient: 1/2 c. plus of sherry. You can leave this out and end up with great pot of soup. However, using it to de-glaze the pan after you saute the veggies will give your soup a more distinctive flavor profile.

Heat oil in a large stock pot on med-high heat. Add all of your fresh veggies, except the herbs. Saute until well-browned and add sherry to de-glaze the pan. Cook down the sherry for 2-3 minutes and add the herbs and the stock. Add the canned tomatoes and meat and all of your seasoning. Bring to a low boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the rest of your canned veggies. You want to add these last since they are already cooked and do not need to simmer for a long time. They will only break down in the soup.

Adjust seasoning for taste and simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve with a nice loaf of crusty bread, maybe a small salad and you have a whole meal.

Black-eyed peas, rice, salsa and a zesty lemon creme. As I worked to finish off my collection of New Year’s supper recipes, I realized this would also make a great Super Bowl party one-bowl dish. Call it comfort food to bring luck for your favorite team. Southern tradition calls for eating a Hoppin’ John to bring you good luck for the year to come. I say, anytime of the year will not hurt!

Whenever you choose to eat it, this is a heart-healthy and affordable meal. My preparation does not call for ham, though you can surely add it. Many recipes call for you to cook the rice in with the black-eyed peas. I do this separate in a rice cooker – I believe the rice holds better this way. The salsa and creme for topping will pull together the whole dish.

Black-eyed Peas

1 lb. dried black-eyed peas – soaked overnight
3-4 ribs of celery – small dice
1 sm/med onion – small dice
1 T minced fresh garlic
1 T each oil and butter for saute
3 c. each of beef and vegetable stock
3 T tomato paste
A few dashes each of hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt, white and cayenne pepper, to taste.

Place the peas in a large pot and cover with two inches of water. Allow to soak overnight. Drain and pick through, checking for any foreign material. Yes, these are field peas, but you don’t want to serve any other gifts from the field besides the peas.

Heat oil and butter in a stock pot on med-high heat and saute the garlic, onion and celery to sweat. Pour in the stock and add the tomato paste and other seasonings. Bring to a low boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 35-40 minutes and check peas for tenderness. Adjust seasoning as needed.

While the peas are cooking, make your rice and toppings. For the rice, I used a Tilda basmati and wild rice blend that was excellent. I prepared the rice in a rice cooker.

Tomato-Jalapeno Salsa

1 c. chopped fresh tomato
4 scallions – sliced
1 jalapeno, small dice
1 T chopped Italian parsley
2 T champagne or cider vinegar – more to taste
a pinch of kosher salt and white pepper

For my batch of salsa, I used an orange-muscat champagne vinegar I had from Trader Joe’s. You can easily use an apple cider vinegar. To prepare the salsa, simply combine all of the ingredients.

Herb Lemon Creme

1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1 t. lemon zest
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T chopped Italian parsley and a pinch of chopped thyme and basil
a pinch of kosher salt

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

And, here it is….a final farewell to the New Year’s Supper of 2009. A final look at the plate with the Hoppin’ John, rice, Daube and greens with all the trimmings. For those of you who have followed along all of the stages of this recipe collection for the last few weeks, starting with the Daube, you know why I will probably make a dinner reservation next year!