We had a lot of leftover chicken and rice after the other night’s meal. So last night, I turned our leftovers into chicken fried rice.
First, I scrambled a couple of eggs, and put those on the side.
Then, I sauteed some onion and zucchini in olive oil for a couple of minutes, and then added the chopped chicken. At this point, you can really add anything you want to clear out of your cooler. Stir for a minute or two to heat up.
Then add the rice, the scrambled eggs, and a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce. Saute as long as you want - either to heat up, or to get the rice a little crunchy.
I’ve been a little out of sorts for the last couple of days. As Scott has mentioned, we’ve both spent the last several years living alone and now, we’re together in a space no larger than about 150 square feet. We’ve had a lot of errands to run before we leave Baltimore next week, and so have been running around for much of the day. On top of that, I was still living out of my duffel bag, and feeling not at all settled in. Most of you that know me would also know that this is a recipe for crankiness.
Scott alleviated some of my crankiness by cooking a most spectacular dinner last night - I’ll refer you to his post. Let me just add that Scott is one of those cooks who can walk into a supermarket and see what looks good and come up with a dinner like this. I am getting better at it, but am still pretty reliant on recipes and planning.
Today, we fixed the rest of my crankiness - Scott cleared out some space in the front of one hull. Meanwhile, I went to Walmart and bought some plastic bins, and came back to organize. Voila! I have a closet! Hard to get a good picture, but I’ve got three crates of clothes, a couple plastic drawers full of stuff, and a box full of books that I’m working from this summer. It’s almost embarrassing how much this small thing has lightened my mood.
This first week, we are still at the marina in Baltimore. I think of it as a bit of a warm-up. We have access to stores and more fresh food, but are restricted to the same cooking and storing methods that we’ll have when we’re out at anchor. Even when we’re at anchor, we can sometimes tie up to a dock or kayak to shore and pick up whatever food we can carry in our backpacks.
Two nights ago, we were able to get some frozen salmon fillets and an eggplant and I made dinner out of that. I marinated the salmon in a teriyaki-style glaze - equal parts olive oil, honey and soy sauce - while I grilled the eggplant slices.
I threw some salt on the eggplant and then drizzled it in with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Once the eggplant was done, I grilled the salmon. Pretty good.
Yesterday we had the treat of a big Memorial Day barbecue at a friend’s house, where we gorged ourselves on everything, including our first Maryland crabs of the season (Thanks, Glen and Maryanne!). Tonight, it’s back to boat food: we’re having macaroni and cheese with ground beef.
The move was pretty painless, and now I’m moved aboard the boat. I will have a real boat food post soon, especially since I’m cooking dinner tonight. There is a Walmart within biking distance of the marina and we picked up some frozen salmon filets which are marinating right now.
For my first night on the boat we made our way into town for our birthday/cohabitation celebration. We walked around Federal Hill for a while and stopped at a pub called the Ropewalk for $2 drafts and a game of pool. Then we made our way to the Bicycle for a spectacular dinner. I had a roast corn and spicy crab soup followed by crispy skinned duck. I do like a good game bird. (Scott keeps threatening to shoot a duck at the marina so we can grill him for dinner. I’m not in favor of this.) Scott had a tuna tartare with avocado and spicy peanut dressing followed by lobster ravioli. Dessert was a belgian chocolate cup stuffed with creamy peanut brittle and topped with merengue. I only got halfway through it and Scott wasn’t much help on this.
We left at 6am on Friday for a whirlwind trip to Richmond to meet my moving truck at a storage facility, and run other local errands to prepare for our arrival. Looked at houses too, but we may slow down on that process for now and find an apartment. Getting back yesterday, I vowed that we would not go anywhere today, and we’ve spent most of today doing repairs. Really, Scott is doing the repairs, but I hand him things. And occasionally I drop things in the water.
Pic is of Scott taking out the window in our sleeping berth. We re-attached and sealed it (and I really did help with this) so that maybe it won’t leak on our bed when it rains.
Just a quick update while I take a break from reading student papers. The packing is underway, the movers are coming in three days. I’m pretty sure that anything I eat in the next few days will either be prepared by someone else or microwaved by me.
Look away; this is not going to be pretty.
My menu plan for today includes a combination of those two “techniques” - heating up leftover lo mein I picked up yesterday.
First things first, it’s someone’s birthday today, and while I’m sad to not be with him, I’m looking forward to celebrating when I move aboard next week.
In a recent email, a friend asked me what cooking on the boat was going to be like, and I realized I had never given any real picture of the set up. I mean to fix that today, by stealing parts of a guest post I did on Scott’s blog while I was there over Spring Break:
As the Cap’n mentioned, this week’s trip is a trial visit for me to test my boat-living skills. I am considering spending a good part of the summer living aboard. One of the few reservations I have left about this is the cooking-and-eating situation.
Here’s the challenge. Without refrigeration, most of our food is coming from cans and boxes. Add the humidity, and even onions don’t last long. And our cooking appliances are one propane grill and two propane burners, and it’s tough to get the heat very high on them. No working oven. A very limited amount of space = limited supply of staples also.
These have been our top meals this week:
Spaghetti with sauce from a jar, with roasted red peppers (also from a jar).
Cheddar sausages with onions and peppers
Steamed clams (picked up from a seafood shack within kayaking distance from our anchorage today)
Scott’s famous egg sandwich
Grilled brats with a side salad of black beans, canned tomatoes and avocado.
It hasn’t been too bad and I think it will be better this summer. We’re going to try to get Scott a 12-volt fridge (an early birthday present) while I have the rental car tomorrow, which will help somewhat. I think I also need to do a little more research on stove top meals, good recipes using non-perishable ingredients, and figuring out a stretch of menus that use the same (short) list of ingredients. If anyone has a reference for a good “sailboat” cookbook, let me know.
Post Spring Break Update: I did get Scott an early birthday present of a thermoelectric cooler which plugs into the 12-volt outlet.
A variation on the desert island question, only for real: If you were moving yourself to a boat for two months and knew you had limited kitchen space, what items in your pantry would you not be able to do without? I have a pretty standard cupboard of condiments and spices, and have to decide what to pack and what to give away/throw away.
I don’t need to bring any cookware, since we already have the basics on board: cast-iron fry pan and a couple of sauce pans. There will be no baking, and we have limited and erratic refrigeration. So far, my list contains:
-cornmeal (for frying fish and other things)
-bouillon cubes
-any pasta, beans and canned goods I have in my pantry
I had the pleasure of being treated to a goodbye dinner with my best girls this weekend, with spectacular food and unbeatable company. I had my camera with me, but had so much fun, I never remembered to take it out. But to make anyone jealous, this was the menu (none of which I prepared):
Fresh watermelon to start
Crabcakes with aioli
Grilled steaks and asparagus
Strawberry cupcakes
I did bring the wine!
I’m gonna have to try this. Maybe tonight.
Update:
I couldn’t pass on trying something that sounded so easy. Unlike my usual experience, this actually was that easy. I had the popovers in the oven as soon as it had pre-heated. One other tip - don’t open the oven door to peek at them until they are really done (30 minutes). I’d like to pretend that I didn’t eat all three of them last night, but that would be a lie. They were perfect and delicious. Talk about an optimal ratio of deliciousness to effort/time.
