Monday, February 18, 2013

Thermos Cooking.....the coolest thing since sliced bread!

Starship's galley is sometimes filled with a very mixed assortment of provisions, especially when we are away from cities and towns. After a big provisioning run, we'll always eat what will go bad first, and then after a few weeks I'm left with a somewhat odd supply of food. At these moments I always wish that I'd have the internet to search for a recipe to use my random ingredients or a phone to call my Mom for advice, but both are usually impossible. I really wanted to find a good cookbook for cruisers....and stumbled upon the "The Boat Galley Cookbook". I'm totally in love with this cookbook. It has lots of simple meals geared towards boat living and has given me lots of cooking inspiration.

One of the neatest things in the cookbook is the "Thermos Cooking" chapter. Who knew that you could make yogurt, beans, rice and soups in a thermos? Following the cookbook instructions, I've used my thermos often to make beans (usually black or garbanzo). The beans go great in salads, tacos, stir-fries and chilies. In using a thermos to rehydrate dried beans instead of the stovetop, we save our propane and don't heat up the galley (a HUGE advantage in the tropics). The only downside is you need to plan ahead, because it takes at least 6 hours to cook the beans. Here are some of the results:



Yogurt has been my other thermos adventure. I was amazed at how easy it was to make. Here are the instructions in short:
 - preheat the thermos by filling it with very hot water
 - heat a mixture of powered milk and water to 110-120 F
 - add a "yogurt starter"* to your mixture and let sit in thermos for ~5 hours
 .....then voila.... thick and creamy YOGURT!
*I had a lot of success using Yoplait yogurt drink as the culture.

Here are the full length instructions.


Nothing beats delicious fruit and home made yogurt for breakfast. I'm hoping we will be eating homemade yogurt all throughout the Pacific.

In short, The Galley Cookbook and thermos cooking are awesome!

Location:
Punta de Mita
Latitude:
20.7665333
Longitude:
-105.5172

1 comment:

  1. I get hungry just looking at this tasty and healthy food. What a wonderful skill you share with us. Looking forward to try the yogurt and beans.
    So proud of you as you accumulate so many great skills. I know Oma Ulla would have loved to read this blog. She was such a terrific cook and the source of many good times around a good cooked meal.
    Great you keep her spirit alive through you.
    Love from your MoM

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