I like recipes. I like to read and discover new ones, follow them as you would carry out a science experiment, and more importantly be inspired by them. Occasionally I would even create some, when I can’t find anything in my dozens of books on board and saved webpages in my computers. How does the saying go? Necessity is the mother of invention.
This came true a few weeks ago ( yes, it has taken me that long to sift thru my notes and find the recipe I had scribbled at the back of a book…). The kids wanted spaghetti bolognaise, Terry wanted a curry and I had a nice bottle of red Bordeaux wine to pair with something worthy. The main ingredient was diced lamb. I cooked it with tomatoes and Italian style herbs, added mint and cayenne pepper for a spicy note, served with spaghetti and a generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese…it made such a good substitute everyone asked for seconds. And it was a perfect match for my bottle of 2005 bottle of Listrac Medoc!
Pasta with Lamb
Serves 4 people
Ingredients
250g spaghetti
1 onion, peeled and sliced thinly
½ cup pine nuts
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
½ bunch of mint, leaves washed, dried and chopped
500g diced lamb (from the shoulder or the leg)
1 can (400g) of crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp dried Italian herbs ( thyme, basil, oregano…)
1 bay leaf
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup of chicken stock
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve
1. Heat a small pan over medium heat and roast the pine nuts without adding any fat, until golden ( this will only take a few minutes, keep shaking the pan to prevent the nuts from burning and watch them!)
2. In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil and brown the onion then the lamb for a few minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, garlic, dried herbs, bay leaf, pine nuts, cayenne pepper and stock. Season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, until meat is tender. The sauce should be a little thin, if you like it thicker, continue simmering uncovered until reduced to the desired consistency. At the end of cooking time, add the mint.
3. In the meantime, cook the spaghetti as per packet instruction and keep aside.
4. To serve: scoop the meat sauce over the spaghetti, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Accompany with steamed broccoli (or any other green vegetable of your choice) and don’t forget a nice red wine! Enjoy!
I never used to like November. When I was growing up in France, it meant the gloomy period between October and trees offering their last display of glorious leaves and December, the start of the festive season and the anticipation of Christmas and New Year’s eve celebrations. A bit like a grey, dull and damp waiting room, only endured with the promise of something better to come.
Moving to Australia, gradually changed my impression. In Sydney, the damp waiting room shifted to the months of July and August, and November became the most anticipated time with spring finally settled, the weather warm enough to enjoy the outdoors without the scorching summer heat and the festive season still a while away. Over the years though, the festive season has somehow crept up on us, as our cruising thru the USA and Mexico introduced us to the local traditions of Thanksgiving and the Day of the Dead. We are not religious people in any way, nor do we celebrate any particular event for its own sake. However, I have always been interested in food and the significance of certain dishes in many cultures. And it is thru food that I have learnt, and tried to teach my kids, about other people’s cultures and beliefs.
Soooo, back to November cooking, delicious smells of cinnamon, all spice and chocolate have wafted into the galley. Having just made landfall in Cairns (Australia), meant a profusion of fresh produce, unseen since the USA and I embarked in a roasting and baking frenzy. We have enjoyed juicy roast chickens ( making up for the turkeys ), splendid salads (heirloom tomatoes and olive oil, that’s all you need), potatoes mashed to perfection, pumpkin caramelised to a crisp…but what my kids most remember ( and keep asking for ) are the sweets: one is a sweet Mexican Chocolate Bread which I baked for breakfast on All Saints day ( instead of the traditional Pan de los Muertos, being at sea and lacking the proper ingredients…).The other is a dessert I made a few days ago, a Cranberry Nut Tort which reminded me of Thanksgiving dinner with friends in Florida a few years ago.
Mexican Chocolate Bread
I have adapted a recipe from Beth Hensperger’s the Bread Machine Cookbook, a fabulous collection of bread recipes designed for breadmakers. I changed a few things like using less egg, and substituting tapioca flour for gluten ( a very common ingredients in the Pacific, it adds a structure similar to gluten in breads….besides, I have not been able to find gluten anywhere since the USA!) The result is a very fluffy, moist and succulent sweet bread, much enjoyed by the children.
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients:
½ cup milk
½ cup orange juice
1 large egg
3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 ½ cups bread flour
¼ cup light brown sugar
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp tapioca flour
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 tsp instant espresso powder
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips
2 tsp SAF yeast
1. Place all the ingredients in the bread machine pan, liquid items first, solids second.
2. Set crust on medium and program for White Bread.
3. When the baking cycle ends, remove the bread from the pan and let it cool on a rack.
4. I have not yet tried this recipe by hand, but it is on my list of things to do. Might make it a holiday baking project and report then!
Cranberry Nut Tort
Cruising down the east coast of America in the fall, I could not resist buying fresh cranberries. So sweet and tart, we had them in smoothies, turned them into sauces and relishes, even froze them for future use. This recipe, originally found in The Junior league of Annapolis’ A Thyme to Entertain, is my favourite way to cook cranberries straight out of the freezer (or fresh, if you’re lucky to find them in Australia). It is perfect served warm with a dollop of ice cream, or cold as an energy snack.
Serves 8-10 people
Ingredients:
For the crust: 2 cups walnuts, 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp melted unsalted butter
For the filling: 1 cup granulated (caster) sugar, ¾ cup plain flour, ½ cup melted unsalted butter, 2 eggs, 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract, ½ cup walnuts, 1 cup cranberries, icing (confectioner’s) sugar
1. To prepare the crust, process the walnuts in a food processor until finely ground. Combine the walnuts, sugar and butter in a bowl and mix well. Press the walnut mixture evenly over the bottom of an 8” spingform pan, as you would do for a cheesecake.
2. To prepare the filling, combine the sugar, flour, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract in a bowl and mix until combined. Process the walnuts and cranberries in a food processor until coarsely chopped and stir into the filling. Spread the filling evenly over the crust. Bake at 180C (350F) for 1 hour. Let stand until cool. Remove the side of the springform pan and dust with icing sugar.
3. Enjoy!
A few weeks ago, we were fortunate to have Malcolm, my husband’s middle son, staying with us for a while on the boat. He is a keen fisherman, and unlike us, who just drop a line and trawl hoping for the best, he takes the job of catching dinner very seriously. You should see the gear he brought with him, he would sharpen the hooks, select the lures, drop the lines out…and watch! If we’ve learnt anything from him, it is to WATCH the water. We sailed around northern and eastern Fiji, inside and outside reefs, and I am pleased to report that the cruise turned into a fishing trip as indeed the fishing was very good! We caught mostly pelagic fish (wahoo, mahi mahi, tuna…) and released the smaller reef fish.
Of course, it has meant a lot of cooking fun in the galley, trying to come up with different ways to eat fish. Recipes have included raw fish recipes such as:
Kokoda of wahoo (Fijian poisson cru)
Wahoo Ceviche with homemade tortilla
Wahoo carpaccio with garlic ginger sauce
As well as cooked dishes like:
wahoo fish terrine
grits and mahi mahi stew with tomato broth
nama (Fijian fern) pasta with Wahoo panfried in garlic butter.
But the favourite dish of all must be spicy fish tacos, cooked twice during Mal’s stay and proved just as popular with the guests that followed. It features regularly on the dinner rotation and having been asked for the recipe a few times, I thought I’d share it here with you. The fish is served rolled onto a tortilla with a variety of garnish and a side salad (or even a hot dish like rice, as they do in Mexico). It can be snack size, or a more substantial meal. And it definitely tastes better if you eat it with your fingers!!!
Spicy fish tacos
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
For the spice rub: 2 tsp each of paprika, cumin, salt, thyme, oregano, black pepper, cayenne pepper. 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed.
1.5 kg white firm fish fillets ( I used trevally but wahoo, mahi mahi, or even tuna is fine) cut into 5cm pieces
¼ cup olive oil
12 flour or corn tortillas
Sauce suggestions: guacamole, chili mayonnaise, tahini yoghurt, black bean sauce …
Garnish suggestions : tomato and onion salsa, thinly shredded cabbage, grated carrots, lettuce, grated cheese, sour cream…
Sides suggestions: corn and bean sprouts salad, chickpeas and mango salad, Mexican rice…
1. In a Ziploc bag, place spice rub, olive oil and fish pieces. Mix/rub the fish with the spices, ensuring all pieces are covered. Keep in the bag, refrigerated for 1h or so (can keep overnight)
2. Grill, BBQ or pan fry om high heat in batches, about 5mn or until the fish flakes easily.
3. To serve: spread 1 tbsp of sauce on a tortilla, add 1 tbsp of garnish, top with fish and roll up to form a wrap.
4. Enjoy!!!
Same fish, different sides and garnish!
Back in July, one of our stop over was in the Vava’u group of islands, part of the Kingdom of Tonga.
Our stay was brief, only 2 weeks, as we had spent longer than planned on French Polynesia (too much of a good time!) and we had guests to meet the following month in Fiji. A rough sea voyage and a spell of bad weather with strong winds, meant that our crew didn’t feel like venturing too far among the islands and preferred to stay safely anchored close to town most of the time.
Just like any Polynesian country, Tonga is famous for its gargantuan feasts (known here as Lovo). The most spectacular ones mark special events like the King’s coronation or a chief’s daughter’s wedding, featuring a whole suckling pig for each of the guests. Literally tons of food are piled and spread on long platters for the occasion: taro, yams, cassava, sweet potato, breadfruits, fish, lobster, octopus, chicken, corned beef, cooked taro leaves and fruits. Cooking is done in an underground oven (umu) where each parcel is wrapped in taro leaves, and buried under banana leaves, coconut husks, rocks and soil. Terry and I once attended such a feast. It was during our first visit to Vava’u 15 years ago, and put on for visitors at Hunga, one of the villages. While not as earth shaking as what I described above, I still remember how 20 of us sat cross legged on the ground, in front of leaf mats loaded with roast chickens, breadfruits and green drinking coconuts. Each of us were presented with “mystery-bags” filled with stuffed capsicums, pork slices mixed with vegetables, tender corned beef stewed with onions…all smothered in coconut milk and with a smoked aroma. Dessert was baked papayas with grated coconut and little balls of tapioca flour and coconut cooked in brown sugar caramel ( not unlike the coconut candy I learnt to make in the Tuamotus recently)
The memory of this dinner was so great, that we wanted the kids to experience it as well. A few villages around Vava’u organise “cultural shows” for the sake of the yachties, the one on Lape sland being famous for not only its feast, but also the traditional dancing and the handicraft display. Unfortunately this week’s show was cancelled due to bad weather as was the following show because of the King’s attendance to the Agricultural Show! We could have gone to any of the other island feasts that seem to be on a few nights a week, but since the children did not exactly jump with excitement at the idea, we decided to hold on to our memories and make new ones instead: whale watching, snorkelling, and enjoying beach bonfires fires with friends…cruising life at its best!
Provisionning:
Tonga may be a Polynesian country, but without the French rule there is no mistaking the end of the French influence. After Papeete and Bora Bora, the cost of living here is cheap.
The ‘Utukalongalu farmer’s market is busy with fruits and vegetable, some local (bananas, pineapple, green peppers, cabbage, bok choy, coconuts, green beans, pumpkins, manioc, onions, tomatoes, papayas, taro, yams, cucumbers and watermelons), some imported “direct from the weekly ship” (carrots, apples, pears, zucchinis, potatoes and oranges) Everything costs T$3 a bunch no matter the size ( could be 3 tomatoes or a 5kg pumpkin)! As any island market, to be assured of a fair selection one has to arrive early, which is not easy in my case. Instead I opted to visit the market daily, not because we needed food that often, but because each visit yielded its own surprise in newly discovered produce. On Monday, looking for coriander, I stumbled upon big and healthy bunches of dill. A herb I normally associate with northern climates (think Sweden or France) I was assured it was grown locally, in the tropical gardens of Vava’u! On Tuesday, one of the ladies sitting on the pavement outside the market hall, introduced me to the ai nut: a hard green outer shell which needs cracking and reveals a thin pale green kernel tasting very much like a green almond (Marc and I became addicted, and would go back to the market each morning for a new bag!) On Wednesday, I had another surprise, this time in the shape of a herb I had last seen in Mexico and called Cuban oregano. The Tongans call it plain oregano, even though the thicker and wider leaves smell more like sage. By now, you’re probably wondering why all the excitement. Well, for me, the discovery of familiar food grown in unfamiliar environments means infinite cooking possibilities. The same way I paired dill and freshly caught wahoo with a creamy sauce, I married Cuban oregano and chicken in a revamped apple sauce.
Cuban oregano found in Tonga
Ai nut from Tonga. The kernel is the only edible part, not unlike a green almond.
That is for the fresh food and the only good news. There is no supermarket in Neiafu, but there are lots of medium sized grocery stores carrying NZ and Aussies foodstuff, some limited American products too. Whatever you can’t find in one, you may find at another’s… All meat and chicken is sold frozen, the condition of the packages depending on how many power shortages the shops had to endure. Looking at the cows and pigs allowed to roam freely around the streets of Neiafu, you would think there would be a butcher selling fresh meat. Except we were told fresh pigs and beef are only available for feasts. And sadly, no baguettes or French cheese!
Having said that, a dozen cafes abound around town, some like the TROPICANA sell take away bread and pastries (not as good as what you can bake yourself I’m afraid), others like ROOSTER BISTRO offer yacht provisioning, but I have not checked that yet. Some enterprising locals will row to your boat and offer fresh bread, even lobsters. I bought 6 good sized ones from a guy called Alofi for T$125 (and I think he overcharged us when he saw our boat!). And since, we still have lockers full of food from Panama and French Polynesia, there is hardly anything to complain about is there?
Lobster delivered fresh in Neiafu
Our office for a week: the deck of Aquarium Cafe overlooking the harbour
Early morning bread delivery, by the same guy who delivers the lobsters!
Eating out:
Considering the amount of food onboard, we have been eating out a lot while in Neiafu. There is an amazing number of cafes and restaurants for such a small town, all catering for the aussie and kiwi crews. While I miss the French food, Terry and the kids loved being back in the land of burgers, fish&chips, pizzas and meat pies offered by the likes of BELLA VISTA CAFÉ, TROPICANA and AQUARIUM CAFE. The food is good and pretty much what you’d find on an Australian menu but prices are on the high side for what you get though: T$35 for a main course of fish & rice, T$45 for steak & chips, T$26 for pizza or a burger, …beer is T$7. The worst I’ve had is a take away sausage roll for T$7 and it was inedible! Still, we do go out because we need internet and the only way to connect is in these cafes where some offer free WIFI and others charge even if you eat there…( We have tried to pick up signals from the boat, but the passwords are changed daily to prevent people logging in for free) Our favourite hangout was no doubt the AQUARIUM café, where not only did we enjoy Mike and his staff’s hospitality but also the best pizzas in Vava’u.
Pizza haven at the Aquarium Cafe
Delicious octopus salad at Bella Vista Cafe
Money: exchange rate is T$1=A$1.65 (not sure about US$) Plenty of ATMs around town.
Wahoo in creamy dill sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 wahoo fillets approx. 200g each (or other white firm flesh fish like mahimahi, Spanish mackerel or cod)
1 onion sliced thinly
1 bunch of dill, chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
½ cup white wine
300 ml pouring cream ( I use UHT whipping cream on the boat, a good standby for fresh cream)
1 tomato sliced thinly (for garnish)
1. In a large skillet, heat the butter and the olive oil over high heat. Pan fry the wahoo fillets , 2 minutes on each side, until the fish is slightly opaque. Remove from the skillet and keep warm.
2. In the same skillet the fish was cooked, add the onion slices and cook over medium heat until soft and translucent. Add the dill, the white wine and let it reduce by 1/3 . Once reduced, add the cream, warm up without bringing up to the boil (watch it!) and turn the heat off. Season to taste.
3. Serve the fish on a bed of rice, garnish with a slice of tomato and spoon sauce generously on top.
4. Enjoy!
Chicken and apple sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 chicken cut into 8 pieces, or 4 chicken marylands
1 tbsp dried thyme
2 apples , peeld and chopped very roughly
2 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped finely
2 tbsp Cuban oregano, chopped roughly
½ cup white wine
1. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, sprinkle the thyme all over. In a large skillet, brown the chicken in the butter and olive oil until golden.
2. Pre-heat oven to 200C. In a large baking dish, place the chopped onion, apple chunks, and Cuban oregano. Transfer the chicken pieces to the baking dish, along with any juice from the skillet where the chicken was browned in, making sure that the pieces cover the vegetables. Bake for 45 minutes or until the juices from the chicken run clear. The chicken should be golden brown and the apples should be soft , having been stewed in chicken juice.
3. Remove the chicken pieces and keep warm. In the meantime, transfer the apple/onion mixture to a saucepan, add white wine and bring to the boil. Simmer for a few minutes until the alcohol evaporates and the sauce is glossy but still chunky. Season to taste.
4. Place chicken pieces on a plate with the sauce on the side. Serve with roasted potatoes.
5. Enjoy!
Sometimes after a busy eating schedule or hot day on the boat, we only want to eat something light. I love salads, especially the “kitchen sink” type where a quick survey of the fridge’s content meets with my imagination. On a quick passage from Tonga to Fiji recently, the crew felt like something light and fresh for lunch. I came up with this salad, which I called “salade fraicheur”, French for “freshness salad”. I found that the combination of cheese and vegetables was enough for myself, but feel free to add grilled chicken or beef and serve with bread rolls if like me, you have bigger eaters around. Simple, fast and yummy!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 small head of lettuce, washed and trimmed
1 bunch green beans, washed and trimmed
3 tomatoes, washed and cut in wedges
¼ cup black olives, roughly chopped
1 french shallots (red) thinly sliced
1 block (200g) haloumi cheese, cut into 4 portions
½ cup pine nuts
French salad dressing (1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp mustard, salt and pepper, all whisked in a small bowl)
1. Steam or boil the green beans, until just tender. Drain and plunge in ice cold water (to stop the cooking so they retain their nice green colour). Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine lettuce leaves, cooked green beans, tomato wedges, olives and shallots. Add salad dressing and toss.
3. Heat a non stick frypan on very high (do not add oil), place haloumi cheese slices and grill/pan fry about 2 minutes on each sides (you want it crisp and brown on the outside, just warm and soft on the inside, not melted!)
4. Divide the salad evenly in 4 bowls or plates, place the grilled cheese on top, sprinkle with toasted pine nuts. Add grilled chicken or beef, if using. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Enjoy!
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