Tag Archive for: food

HOW TIME FLIES… AND OTHER NEWS…

Celebrating Father’s Day and our twelfth anniversary

As they say in the social media vernacular, OMG! It has been since April that I have not written a blog… Time to catch up with the Med Sailing Adventures Team…

So, for those of you who have not followed our Facebook postings, the Admiral went to Peru in March to visit her parents in Lima and to celebrate their birthdays with them. Little did she know that the virus would strike so fast and, before she knew it, she was stuck in Peru with a very strict stay-at-home policy. Meanwhile, I drove to Florida to our house in Punta Gorda. Sick and tired of the cold and the snow.

Being in sunny Florida, while there was still the occasional snowfall in Chicago, helped me a lot coping with the solitude caused by Mila’s absence.

She finally made it back on June 6 and we are now staying on our sailboat in Burnt Store Marina. We sold our house here as we wanted to downsize but have not decided on a new property yet. In the meantime, we celebrated Mila’s half century and our twelfth anniversary and we are enjoying our stay in the marina.

A beautiful SW Florida sunset

There is something to be said for staying on a boat in a marina. It is so peaceful and we sleep so well at night. The fellow liveaboards are very nice people, always willing to help, and the sunsets as seen from a boat are spectacular.

While I was still in the house here, in solitary confinement and with Mila south of the Equator, my therapy was mainly cooking and enjoying a good wine. I would post what I called food-porn pictures on Facebook but, ever since she came back, I have not posted too many. So here is one to wet the appetite of the ones who are gastronomically adventurous.

Anticuchos de corazon… Que bueno!

I brought our small Weber gas grill on board and prepared a typical Peruvian dish called Anticuchos de Corazon. They are skewers with pieces of beef heart marinated in a spicy mixture made of Peruvian peppers and herbs. It is a finger licking delicious dish. If beef heart makes you a bit queasy, you can also make it with chicken.

Today, we received a notice that the European Union countries will probably ban entry for U.S. citizens and residents for fear that they might re-introduce the virus in Europe. The crazy part is that they will allow visitors from China. Go figure but, in the meantime, we will not be able to return to the Med until 2021. Our trip to the Seychelles is still on for October of this year.

Although we will miss sailing with our friends in the Mediterranean, we are looking forward to 2021. Most of this year’s participants have already committed for 2021. Unless a new plague, revolution or out-of-space alien invasion hits us, next year should be a banner year. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

We will probably stay a few more weeks in Florida and then drive back to Illinois to see the kids and the grandkids and all our friends up there. Hopefully, we will be able to do some sailing on Lake Michigan as well.

More news in a few days!

Stay healthy and safe.

Capt. Jean De Keyser and “Admiral” Mila.

CEVAPCICI IN KOMIZA

It was Monday, September of 2013 and we were docked at the seawall of Komiza on the island of Vis. The weather was great and life was good.

Picturesque Komiza with its waterfront and fortress

Komiza is this “beyond-adorable” fishing village on the southwestern side of the island. It is located at the end of a large bay and at the foot of the imposing Hum mountain. A fort built to protect the village from pirates is one of the main tourist attractions and houses a fishing museum.

One of our regular destinations in Croatia, Komiza is also my favorite place for excellent pizza and beer in one of the several affordable restaurants on the waterfront. I should also not forget to mention the unbelievable gelato’s…

Overlooking the bay of Komiza

So, here we were docked at the seawall and next to us was another charter boat with an all-male Croatian crew. They had set up a small grill on the quay and were grilling tiny sausages that smelled mouthwatering deliciously. While they were preparing their food, they were taking numerous shots of a clear liquor from a bottle that contained a fully grown pear.

Needless to say, we had to strike up a conversation. Two of them spoke perfect English and told me that they were high school friends who had left Yugoslavia when, in the mid-nineties, the country was falling apart. Some of them left for the United States, others to Germany or Italy and, after all these years, they had decided on a reunion in their old country, which is now Croatia. As they always had sailed together when they were young, they wanted to make their get-together a sailing vacation.

Of course, we traded many shots of their pear schnapps with ones from our vodka bottle and they had me taste the finger licking good little sausages called Cevapcici (Che-vap-chi-chi). I order them at restaurants when in Croatia and I love them accompanied with ajvar and fries. Sometimes, when I get an uncontrollable urge for them, I will make them here in the USA and put them on the grill or on the plancha.

If you want to get an idea of how good these cevapcici sausages are, but if you do not have a Balkan-style restaurant close to you or (even worse) you cannot accompany us on our next trip to Croatia, here is my recipe.

You will need:

  • half a pound of ground lamb
  • about one and a half pounds of ground pork or mild Italian sausage
  • one pound of lean ground beef
  • three or four garlic cloves to taste, minced
  • about one teaspoon salt or more to taste
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • cayenne pepper to taste
  • a dash of paprika
  • one finely chopped onion
  • one egg white

Mix all the ingredient in a large non-reactive bowl and let rest for a few hours in a cool place to have the mixture thoroughly absorb all the flavors. Form the meat mixture in little sausage of about two and halve inches long and three quarters of an inch think. Cevapcici sausages do not have casings and are really easy to make.

Grill them on a BBQ or on a plancha griddle at medium-high heat for about 30 minutes, turning them frequently and eat them with ajvar, a typical Balkan spread that you can find in the international food sections of major grocery stores, like Pete’s Market and Caputo’s in the Chicagoland area. If you can’t find it, you can easily make it yourself.

Mixed grill with ajvar (the red paste) and cevapcici (the small casingless sausages on the upper right plate). Croatia is for sailors and foodies.

You will need:

  • six red bell peppers
  • one medium eggplant
  • three generous tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  • at least three chopped garlic cloves (but more if you really like it garlicky)
  • freshly ground pepper and salt to taste
  • a dash of vinegar
  • cayenne pepper to taste (if you like your ajvar hot)
  • a tablespoon of red wine vinegar
  • one teaspoon of sugar

Cut the bell peppers and the eggplant in half and put them face down in a hot oven (450F / 232C) until the skins are roasted and blistered. Let them cool down then peel the peppers and discard the skins, scoop up the flesh out of the eggplant and discard the skin. Put all the ingredients in a food blender until well mixed and voila! Your ajvar is ready…

Ajvar is often called the caviar of the poor man. It is healthy and tasty. You can eat it with your cevapcici while dreaming that you are in Croatia, cruising the crystal clear waters with us, or you can also use it as a dip, spread it on a toast, try it as a pizza sauce. Whatever way you use it, you will love it…

More flotilla food stories and travel adventures to follow in my next blog.

Fair Winds and Bon Appétit.

Capt. Jean De Keyser

Med Sailing Adventures

INDEPENDENT PURSUIT ATLANTIC CROSSING 2018 (Part 4)

SEPTEMBER 3:

My big mistake last night when I was on the bridge was to have a cup of coffee before heading back to my cabin and I paid for it with a fitful and restless sleep.

Container ship artwork

During the night I had the impression that they were revving up the engines and, at one point, the noise was very loud.  Yesterday the ship switched from expensive low sulfur fuel to regular fuel. Because of environmental regulations only low sulfur fuel can be used in coastal and near coastal waters and, in order to save costs, the engines are not pushed at maximum performance.  Once the switch to regular fuel is done, the engines are revved up to gain more speed.

We are now cruising at 17.5 knots COG and have about 3 knots of current against us.

Overnight, we entered another time zone, two hours ahead of Chicago time which meant getting up earlier for breakfast.  Poor Emilio, the cook, must also have been suffering from a bad night as I only got a hot dog for breakfast.  Thank Goodness there is always Nutella to fall back on.

I already sent my Spot position out for the morning and checked my emails.  The “Admiral” confirmed that she does indeed receive my Spot positions.

One of my fellow members of the Rotary Club of Wheaton, IL, also receives the position and shares it with all the other members on a daily basis.

Current position as I write this is 3924.938N and 63◦14.799W.

Back from breakfast and the bridge but really tired from that lousy night, I decided to go back to sleep and woke up right before lunch, which consisted of some watery vermicelli soup followed by a rice and meat dish.  The meat reminded me of a bastardized version of Mila’s delicious Peruvian lomo saltado.

Back to my books and computer for the afternoon and time to think about doing the laundry.

Laundry done, I go up and down the stairs a few times to keep in shape followed by some more reading, trying in vain to access my emails and, after giving up on that, I go down for dinner.

What’s happening, Emilio?  Some dried out pieces of pork on a skewer with some potatoes swimming in olive oil?  It may end up being a forced diet after all.  I will have some salad and an orange, thank you!

Up the stairs to the bridge for the last Spot transmission of the day and a brief evening chat with the First Mate who wants to know everything about hiking the Inca Trail, which is on his bucket list. Having hiked the trail twice and being a regular visitor to Peru, where my lovely wife, “The Admiral” is from, I was able to share lots of useful information.  Back to my cabin trying to check my emails again and finishing the last few chapters of my first book of the trip.

I have been swearing and muttering all afternoon long because of the unreliable internet connection that prevents me from getting and sending emails.

Finally, around 23:00 local, I was able to get my messages.

Time to hit the sack.  Tomorrow is day four…….

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