StatefulSpoonfuls's recent activity
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Comment on What’s the one item you make for get togethers that everyone loves that is secretly super easy to prepare? in ~food
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Comment on Help me prep food provisions for a sailing trip in ~travel
StatefulSpoonfuls (edited )Link ParentI'm glad you're doing a test run of your plans. Honestly, when I read your original post about sandwiches, I got a little concerned. For a cooler, you want to fill up as much of the space as...I'm glad you're doing a test run of your plans. Honestly, when I read your original post about sandwiches, I got a little concerned.
For a cooler, you want to fill up as much of the space as possible with cold contents and/or ice. Air is the enemy in the case of a cooler. As the cooler empties, it will become less efficient and things will become warmer faster. Also, dry ice works better than water ice if you can get it. Just be careful you don't hurt yourself with it.
If you're using a cooler, you should also think about packing things together in layers so that you can reduce the number of times you're opening and closing the thing. For example, pack a meal and a drink nearby so you can take them out at the same time. Every time you open and close the cooler, you're letting heat into it.
You could even have two smaller coolers instead of one big cooler. Then you can have one for more sensitive items, like meal proteins. And the other can be used for drinks, etc. You'll maximize the cooling you'll get that way. As long as they have a bit of headspace in the bottle and aren't carbonated, you can also freeze bottles of water or juice, etc. before putting them in the cooler. Then you can have them later on or thaw them out before drinking.
I think it's important to not rely on a cooler to keep all your food cold. Still have a few MREs around. They can be eaten cold if needed and they will reduce the number of times you're opening the cooler. In the event that your food systems fail, you'll appreciate that you've kept a few other options around.
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Comment on What do you look for in cooking related YouTube content? in ~food
StatefulSpoonfuls (edited )LinkChef Jean-Pierre I remember watching him on TV with my dad. I rediscovered him a few months ago on YouTube. He's doing his own YouTube stuff now and it's great. He's clear, simple, and pretty...Chef Jean-Pierre
I remember watching him on TV with my dad. I rediscovered him a few months ago on YouTube. He's doing his own YouTube stuff now and it's great.He's clear, simple, and pretty entertaining. He ran a cooking school and restaurants in the past, so he has good technical knowledge of how things work. Not exactly to the same calibre as, like, a molecular gastronomist. But he explains why he does things a certain way and teaches principles well.
His style of cooking is very relaxed. He shows his mistakes and how you can recover from mistakes. Or adapt a recipe to fit what's on hand. I think those are two of the most important skills for home cooks to learn in the kitchen.
Glen and Friends Cooking
This is a great channel full of a variety of cooking, baking, and mixology. The recipes are always interesting, well-presented and clear. The presenter has a long history as a kitchen professional. He actually films his videos from a professional kitchen videography set in his backyard.Most of the recipes he makes are pretty simple, and his presentation style is always easy to follow. My favourite series he does is called The Old Cookbook Series. He takes a recipe from a vintage cookbook and prepares it. Most of these are inherently quite simple. But he also goes into why the recipe works -- what each ingredient is doing, etc.
AwareHouse Chef
The presenter, George, owns a restaurant and has been a chef for 30+ years. He also used to be some sort of engineer and it shows. His videos are clear and technical, but still accessible. He makes recipes, but also deep dives into specific ingredients or tools. The production value of his videos is always very high and he really enjoys engaging with his community.I disagree with some of his personal opinions. For example, he's a huge proponent of non-GMO, organic foods, avoiding possible trace amounts of metals leaching into foods from cookware. "Clean cooking" in general. I'm just not so concerned with such things. However, his opinions are well-reasoned and he's never overbearing. You can tell he's very genuine and well-intentioned.
Mobile Home Gourmet
The presenter, Dennis, is calm and clear. He's pretty knowledge and comes across as a pleasant person. His recipes are usually pretty simple in their execution, probably because he doesn't have that much room to work in. But his technique is good. If you watch a few of his videos, you'll start to see variations on the same core techniques. I think that's a great strength of his content.He hasn't uploaded new videos in a while. I think I remember him saying that his health was declining a bit. Hope he's okay...
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Comment on Help me prep food provisions for a sailing trip in ~travel
StatefulSpoonfuls (edited )LinkThat sounds like a great adventure for you and your friends! A lot of great advice has been given already. I think your main challenges will be: Food safety, 2) Food and liquid Intake; 3) Variety....That sounds like a great adventure for you and your friends! A lot of great advice has been given already.
I think your main challenges will be: Food safety, 2) Food and liquid Intake; 3) Variety. Probably in that order of importance.
1) Food Safety
Hot and cold foods must be kept hot or cold. Otherwise, they will make you sick. And you really, really don't want to be sick on a sailing boat with a group of people. Once food is warming/cooling into the range of 40-140 °F, it cannot sit out for more than two hours.You might be able to stretch this a bit, but I really wouldn't since you're on a boat. Proteins, moisture, and low-acid foods are more likely to quickly cause food poisoning. Especially on a boat, keeping things dry will be important. Even foods that wouldn't normally spoil quickly, like crackers or nuts, will go off quickly in a wet and humid environment.
Look for small packages of factory sealed / vacuum sealed, shelf-stable products. Like crackers, canned goods, powders, etc. Small packages will make sure that you won't compromise an entire supply of something if you only want a few units (i.e. many small packages of nuts vs. a big bag).
You can buy a cheap vacuum sealer to make individual, serving sized packets of shelf-stable foods like powders and dry goods. I think they sometimes sell FoodSaver sealers at Costco.
If you use MREs, I would get the ones with flameless heaters instead of the older style chemical flame blocks. They just seem like they would be safer on a boat. You don't want a live flame and fuel to accidentally pitch themselves onto the deck in rough waters.
2) Food and liquid Intake
You need to make sure that everyone will have enough food. Actively working on a boat will probably burn a lot of calories, as will trying to withstand the cold/humid/muggy environment. Apparently, the average sailor in the 1800s consumed up to 4,000 calories per day. A current US solider is expected to consume around 3,700 calories per day. Those numbers are a bit high, obviously. But remember to aim for something more than the 2,000 calories per day average.You don't really talk about drinking liquids. But those are equally important. Men doing hard, athletic work should consume about 5.7 liters per day. Usually, some of that will come inside of foods. But that's going to be less likely if you're eating a lot of dry foods. Also, a lot of the foods that will be safe to keep around are high in salt, so you'll need to compensate by drinking more liquid.
Keeping everyone well fed and watered will help to improve morale, safety, and concentration. You're more likely to make mistakes when dehydrated and underfed.
3) Variety
I agree with a lot of the other posts here already. Commercial camping-style MREs would be a good way to add variety. And they're shelf-stable and pre-portioned. It depends on the size of your crew and your budget. If you're on a budget, I would aim for at least one MRE-style meal per day per crew member. They will boost morale and give people something to look forward to.For the rest, the easiest thing to do would be to get a variety of carbohydrates and proteins you could mix and match. For example, crackers+tuna spread, melba toast+peanut butter, canned pasta salad+white bread, canned chili+pouch of shelf-stable prepared rice.
Keep a selection of single serving snacks around as well. For example, small packages of nuts, shelf-stable pudding cups, little boxes of sugary cereal, beef jerky, M&Ms or similar chocolate. Stuff you can just tip into your mouth directly from the package if you need to would be ideal.
Keep some options for flavouring and fortifying water around too. For example, Cup of Soup powder packets, instant iced tea powder, pre-sweetened Kool-Aid powder, full-fat milk powder, isotonic drink powder.
To save money, you could buy some of this in bulk, then split it into smaller packages, as long as those packages are also water-tight (e.g. Ziploc bags, vacuum sealer bags). Smaller packages will help keep things dry and easier to handle. It would be horrible if, for example, somebody accidentally soaked the only can of instant coffee on board 12 hours into the first day.
One of my neighbours is from Atlantic Canada. I once had this cold bean salad at his house that reminded me of the side dish they used to serve on plane and train trips back in the 90s in Canada.
I make it really often. It's good by itself over some rice or as a side dish for barbecued or stewed meats. It's basically beans in a seasoned vinegar. All ingredients are to taste.
Marinade / Dressing for Cold Bean Salad
You can take all the ingredients above and combine them well. The original instructions tell you to heat the mixture to dissolve the sugar, but I find that unnecessary. You can just agitate the mixture really well. Sometimes, I substitute the dried herb mixture with Herbs de Provence.
Take any mixture of canned beans and/or corn. Drain and rinse. Add them to the cooled dressing. Chop up some onion and add that to the dressing too. That's it.
I like to use enough dressing so that it's practically a pickle. It's better if it's left in the fridge for a day. After about four days, the texture becomes soft and kind of unpleasant. When you serve it, you drain away most of the liquid.