Meat & 3 Vege.

Never again will we take the basic "meat and 3 vege" meal for granted.
First job when we get to a new , inhabited destination, is to clear customs. Next stop is usually a coffee shop, in search of the perfect cappuccino (Cotton Tree is still the best so far) ... Our first meal in a new location is often a "local" meal out as we have usually depleted our meat and produce supply, or we just want to check out the local food. After a grocery shop our first on-board preferred meal is cold meat and salad or meat and 3 vege.

Chicken breast and pork fillets have generally been quality cuts, inexpensive and in good supply throughout the Caribbean. We haven't been adventurous enough to try some of the unidentifiable meats (to us) yet...in fact, probably isn't going to happen. We are happy enough with our international culinary sampling to date without going overboard (no pun intended).

Jazz up the basic:

• Add a big squeeze of honey to carrots whilst cooking, then serve with butter and dill (from our new herb garden).
• Mashed potatoes are creamy with a good dollop of sour cream and grated cheese.
• Add garlic, leek, mushrooms and onion to pan while frying meat, add creme fraische upon completion.

Herbs!

The time has come to try growing a herb garden on the boat. I bought some of the more hardy herbs today, parsley, basil, dill and mint. Will nurse these for a month before I try others.

Also, did you know....

Captain James Cook had his sailors eat sprouts, limes and lemons for their Vitamin C content to aid in curing scurvy. So if it is good enough for them, it is good enough for us!

Am dashing out to buy some mung beans to sprout as soon as I finish my margarita!

Mung bean sprouts are easy to grow, supposedly, we don't need anything special...seeds, fresh water and a jar with drainage holes drilled into the lid. Let's see if that does the job.

Recipe....Easy Pasta

This is a favourite...quick, easy and tasty.

Sautee onion, diced bacon, capsicum & garlic in olive oil. Add tin of tomato & dollop of tomato paste. Season with italian herbs, pepper & a little fresh lime juice. Add white wine & a little water (if needed). Simmer a few minutes to reduce.
Serve with pasta and parmesan....and crusty bread (from new breadmaker!)

Variations....
omit bacon....add a tin of pink salmon or tuna at water & wine stage.
omit bacon & water... add cream instead.
omit bacon, water & tomato...add cream & mushrooms
add sliced carrot, mushrooms & zucchini (or whatever vege I have)
add sliced carrot and celery at sautee stage
omit italian herbs and stir basil through prior to serving

Recipe....Fish and chips

Doesn't get much easier than this....

Prepare a green salad.
Dust fresh fish fillets with flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper
Wash and chip potatoes.

Heat olive oil in saucepan, just enough to almost cover a good layer of chips in oil.
Heat frypan with a little olive oil and butter for the fish.

Start cooking chips first, moving chips so they cook evenly...after a few minutes....panfry the fish fillets so both are ready together.
Serve immediately with salad and wedges of lime.

Variation: season flour with a little chilli or curry

Recipe...Curacao Sweets

Popular local sweets bought from a street vendor for about US$2.

Kokada

½ fresh coconut, grated or 1½ cups dried unsweetened coconut
¼ cup water
½ cup sugar
Juice of ½ lime
Food colouring (optional)
Boil the water and add sugar, one spoonful at a time. Cook until it becomes a thick, pliable syrup. Add the coconut and continue stirring until the mixture hardens. Stir in the lime juice and food colouring. Let cool slightly, and then form into patties. Serve on broken pieces of coconut shell.

A Breadmaker!

We bought a breadmaker today. Everthing from electric fondues to foot massagers were in electrical stores in Willemstad, Curacao . Are breadmakers that much "old hat"? It took 8 electrical stores before we found a store that practically gave us their last (old stock). We are happy!

Recipe...Easy Chicken & Vegetable Soup

Quick easy and tasty......
Ingredients:
large chicken breast fillet or thigh fillets, olive oil, 2 to 3 cloves garlic, 2 to 3 chicken stock cubes, large onion, washed potato, peeled sweet potato, carrot, any or all of these green vegetables - celery, leek, cabbage, broccoli, silverbeet. Salt and cracked pepper.

Dice chicken and vegetables. In a large saucepan brown chicken, onion and garlic in olive oil.
Add diced vegetables and stock cubes and a few cups of water. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer, cooking until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and cracked pepper if desired.

Variations to recipe: add pumpkin and a little curry powder
add chinese noodles
add a good swig of white wine (and a swig for the galley slave)
add a little grated cheese or parmesan or sour cream

*you could also substitute chicken with bacon or beef (beef needs to be cooked for min. 90mins before you add vegies)

We are presently at Curacao, Dutch Antilles.....the supermarket has bags of diced vegies...I just add the potatoes, garlic and onion....makes the recipe even easier.

Recipe.....French Omelette

I have always known it as french omelette but recently in a french cafe in St Martin in the Caribbean, the omelette Steve ordered came out flat. So if this recipe isn't a french omelette then I'll call it a "light and fluffy" omelette.

Separate 2 or 3 eggs and whisk egg whites in a large bowl with a pinch of sugar & salt until light and fluffy.
Gently fold through the broken yolks.
Pour egg mixture into heated frypan that has enough olive oil and butter to lightly cover the base and sides. Gently spread egg mixture over base of pan and top with a sprinkling of grated cheese (if preferred).
When browned on base you will be able to easily fold omelette in half to enable the middle to cook. Take care to turn again without flattening or overcooking the omelette.
Result is a light and fluffy omelette (or variation of classic French omelette?)...good for brekky, lunch or light dinner.

Recipe....Potato & Bacon Pot

Quick & Easy......

Wash & dice potatoes
Heat a well olive oiled heavy frypan. When hot add potatoes and place strips of bacon (eye of bacon is best, not fatty) on top, put on heavy lid. Do not turn potatoes as the plan is to have a crispy, brown bottom. You will need a good egg flip/lifter (metal) to remove crisp base with the potatoes in tact when cooked.
When potatoes are almost ready......In a separate pan sautee onion. Add beaten eggs and stir quickly until eggs are just cooked (do not overcook eggs). Serve immediately with potatoes and bacon. Great with icy cold milk!

Sometimes I cheat and turn the potatoes after they are crisp in an effort to crisp up some of the top layer....everyone wants the crispy spuds, it isn't as presentable though as the top layer of spuds do not hold their shape and the bacon gets shuffled aside.

Variation......include peeled and diced sweet potato

Sunset drinks

aka sundowners
Usually anytime after 10 is acceptable but usually occurs after 4pm.

Favourites:
Steve...never changes....wild turkey and coke and only ever 1!
Maria...varies...fave is margarita....but spirits are so cheap in the Caribbean, especially Puerto Rico . Rum is cheap everywhere and there is so much variety. ...I change my fave drink often.

We also sample the local beer at most of our stops. Dominican Republic has midi bottles to share. Venezula, the norm is 227ml ....always seems to be a few sips short to us. We had our bottom scraped (the boat and barnacles). At the end of the day we offered the diver a cold drink. He was overwhelmed by the size of the DR 'midi' and took a coke instead.

Most food outlets throughout the Caribbean sell alcohol, even the local take-way store.