I don't think that there are such things as "final touches" on a boat. No maintinance or polishing is ever final on a yacht this size. BUT she is really coming together. Sasha spent about an hour on the mast connecting the spreader speakers and adjusting the deck lights. He decided to leave this project for the evening when the sun was not blazing down. The one thing we did not take into consideration was the ferry schedule. Sasha was hanging onto the mast with his toes because he was swaying so much from the evening rush hour ferries and water taxies. Frustrating? Yes.
I've been testing a lot of the galley equipment. There is a learning curve to every stove, oven, and counter configuration. We had Kris and Lizanne over for a "thank you for helping us straighten out the boat" dinner. As we sat down Lizanne commented that it looked like a small bomb had gone off the the galley!! I told her to cut me some slack as that was the first real meal I had cooked in my new space. We both had a good laugh while doing dishes.
Above I am making a balsamic reduction in preparation for our upcoming charter. This season I'm really focusing on plating and general meal presentation. Bring on the garnishing youtubes!
Ah, poor Capt. Sasha with the evil ferry wake!
ReplyDeleteJez is sending me up the mast tomorrow morning, I told him the fee was a glass of bubbly afterwards.
That balsamic glaze of yours must have been so blissfully sticky and delicious when it finished boiling down...
The balsamic reduction is good. Next step is finding the best brand to use! I like what I have, but I remembered (after making this) that quality counts SO much more for reductions. This one has a definite berry taste.
ReplyDeleteI've been tweaking (Caribbean-ising?) the flavour of the balsamic reduction I drizzle on my crisp-skinned pork belly & mango salad with a glop of tamarind pulp and a touch of chilli.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of quality for reductions, I really miss Cindy at Charterport—her frozen veal stock was such a great resource. I've been doing alternate saucings for a lot of my dishes now, because we don't usually have enough time between charters (HA) for me to do my own stock from bones up, but I do so dislike the taste of commercial stock bases... all that dehydrated onion powder, hydrolysed chicken fat etc. Bleurgh.
I never used Cindy's stocks, but I've heard about them. With the Sous Vide, I have bags full of gorgeous stock leftover from cooking meet under vacuum, all the fat and other giggle bits are fantastic!
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