Dining In, Dining Out

Dining In...

Every year it seems the end of the cruise arrives too soon. We still have unexplored territory to investigate, wildlife to photograph, seafood to catch... Nevertheless, I appreciate having some final days/weeks in town at the dock. Tied up in our usual winter moorage slip we have time to clean and reorganize the boat, time to work on several of the smaller boat projects that remain on the never-ending To-Do List, and time to grab a few hours here and there to relax and visit with local friends. It's an enjoyable way to transition between life afloat and life ashore.

Dockside socializing is more about connecting with people and less about fussing over food, so this week I relied on some favorite old recipes choosing familiar dishes that are easy to prepare and tasty enough to garner a few compliments for the cook, but don't require spending long hours in a hot galley during hot summer weather. Win! The meals were good, and reconnecting with friends was a welcome treat. 

Warm Summer Night Menu for an early dinner aboard

Guacamole and Lime Tortilla Chips (no photo)

Puff Pastry Cheese Straws

BBQ Grilled Salmon

Wilted Cabbage Coleslaw

Greens with Potato Salad

and Fresh Corn Kernels with Butter, Lime, Parmesan and Basil Shreds (no photo yet)

Broiled Nutty Nectarines with Greek Yogurt

Friends are always welcome aboard, not just at dinnertime. Friend G occasionally joins us for breakfast, arriving by boat for coffee and sourdough pancakes before heading uphill to the office. Last week I changed up the menu and served a couple of my non-traditional favorites. Dessert for breakfast? why not when it's fruit? Cheese grits and sausage? Mmmmm, I love cheese grits for any meal!

Weekday Early-Morning Breakfast

Broiled Nectarines

Cheese Grits with Andouille Sausage Coins and a splash of Maple Syrup

Dining Out...

We often meet J and D at a local restaurant to celebrate summer birthdays and anniversaries. For years a local sushi spot drew us for every occasion, but now we head to Imagine Thai Food for special events... or any time we crave amazingly good Thai food. We have relished every dish we have tasted so far, and enjoy visiting with the husband-and-wife team that operate this small gem of a restaurant. Impeccably fresh ingredients, sauces made in-house, layers of flavor accented with a zing of heat, each dish beautifully plated - what's not to love?! Most recently we ordered...

Choo Chee Goong

Stir fried prawns, in a red curry coconut milk sauce, carrots, green beans, peas, bell peppers & served with rice. 

Pad Thai Goong

Stir fry rice noodles in a tamarind sauce, with chicken, prawns, tofu, egg, bean sprouts, chives, herbs, lemon & crushed peanuts. 

Thai Ice Tea and Singha beer

...and the dessert that was so tempting that we ate it all before I thought to take any photos. Yes, it was that good!

 Guay Tord Ice Cream (no photo)

Deep fried bananas & coconut, topped with vanilla ice cream and covered with home-made caramel & toasted coconut. 

Now it's time to get creative with family meals and use up more of the fresh ingredients I can't take back across the border into the U.S. Meals are often... interesting... at the end of a cruise.

More Views From the Galley

August 2015

Welcome to my galley as we cruise in SE Alaska, most recently between Sitka and Petersburg. The views from the galley reflect change. Most noticeable is the change in weather, moving from unusually warm and sunny days to those more typical in SE Alaska - cool, gray and damp. There are some positive sides to this cooling trend. Many people and some small settlements rely on catchment for their water supply, and the recent dry stretch has been a challenging problem for them. Returning salmon require a substantial stream or river outflow before they will run upstream to spawn, so fish and fishermen alike welcome the rain. Myself, I don’t mind viewing the world through a misty filter, bathed in an amazing assortment of soft gray tones… for a week or two anyway. My camera isn’t quite so fond of the moisture.

Berry production certainly benefitted from Alaska’s long hours of summer daylight and several months of sunny weather. We ate berries by the handful, by the bowlful, by the bucketful; blackberries, multicolored salmon berries, huckleberries and blueberries. Here’s a caution to share before someone is tempted to nibble while berrypicking: huckleberries and blueberries may contain protein! I’ve learned to toss my harvested berries into a sink full of water after picking. Tiny green worms will wiggle and wriggle their way out of many of the ripe berries, making it easy to separate fruit from critters once they’re all submerged.

Our July onboard boat guest has flown home, but this photo of her scrumptious hostess gift remains. We ate all of the other chocolates before I remembered to grab a photo! Sinfully rich dark chocolate… toasted almonds… buttery caramel… oh my! Need I say more, other than “Thanks, Laci.”?!

Two other food gifts paired perfectly this month. This freshly-baked round of Adele’s Norwegian Rye Bread, flavored with orange zest and fennel, is our newest favorite loaf, scrumptious plain or toasted. Add a dollop of tangy, citrusy sweetness from Tanya’s homemade Yuma Orange Marmalade and it’s a heavenly slice. Alaskan Bread and Arizona Marmalade didn’t last long in this galley – I need these recipes, girlfriends. Thank you, Adele and Tanya, we loved every single bite!

Two people need all of those mugs? Well, yes we do. When friends visit the galley it helps to have different designs available to keep straight which mug belongs to which person… just don’t touch that blue salmon mug! It’s always mine -- I set the galley rules and some days I just don’t need one more challenge.  

A recent addition to boat cookware has performed admirably on the new cooktop. This heavy aluminum griddle heats more evenly than expected, nearly eliminating the hot spots and cold corners of previous skillets and electric fry pans. Fluffy sourdough pancakes and thin Swedish pancakes never looked or tasted better. An unexpected bonus has been the thawing feature; solidly frozen steaks, chops and fillets defrost in much less time when set atop the griddle instead of on the counter. Something about heat transfer, or rate of transfer, or temperature equalization… or maybe it’s just magic. Whatever the scientific explanation, I like it.

The herb garden fights for survival against heavy odds. Whiteflies took an early toll, wiping out indoor basil and mint and outdoor oregano and chives. Birds pecked away at something and uprooted the Italian parsley. Now the rains threaten to wash out sage, savory and replanted oregano. Rosemary continues to sulk, and remains the same size it was months ago. Only the heliotrope thrives in any weather, somehow repelling insects and destructive birds. Too bad the hummingbirds seem to have disappeared now that the rains have returned.    

Early in the morning, when I’m not cooking or baking or gazing out the galley windows, you might find me sipping a cup of Jasmine green tea and knitting away on the latest project. This month it has been colorful wool socks. With the current 50ish degree days, I won’t have to wait for winter to wear this latest pair!

I ‘m still working on new ways to cook our salmon catch. There’s always a batch of lox underway in the galley, but dinners invite more creativity. The latest new preparation was a savory Salmon roasted with Puttanesca Sauce and served on pasta. link It may be  is a weird-sounding combination but was actually quite delicious. The sauce and seafood pairing was tasty enough to try it again, with salmon and with halibut. Leftover salmon, sauce and pasta make a scrumptious frittata as well. Definition of scrumptious: the Capt. requested I make it again.

And… one last photo from this month that I couldn’t resist sharing… just because. Don’t you love the expression on this youngster, perhaps last year’s grizzly cub? Do you suppose he ever tires of salmon? He doesn’t look too eager to share his just-caught salmon, or to pose for the camera. (Safety note: I was safely distant, well up the bank on the opposite side of the stream, and used a long camera lens to get this shot and many others. link I don’t get too close to any bear, ever!)

Thanks for joining me for a peek In My Galley this month, and a big thank you to Celia at FigJamandLimeCordial who organizes this monthly roundup of visits to kitchens all over the globe. Drop by for a visit. You meet such interesting people in busy kitchens, and every month the cast of characters changes a bit.