THE SKINNY ON DOCKING AND DIPPING

We went sailing on the lake a few days ago.  The wind was light, but there was enough to actually sail.  It was a very peaceful day, few people on the lake, the water was smooth and it wasn’t ghastly hot.  Coming back into the dock provided a bit of excitement.  I had decided to come in under sail, tricky sometimes at best.  The trick is, you have to use the sails to keep moving but at a certain point you have to douse the sails and the momentum of the boat will carry it to the dock.  First, you drop the foresail and keep the mainsail up.  Then, when you judge that the momentum of the boat will just carry it to the dock, you release the mainsheet, the line that controls the main.  Then, the wind will carry the sail to a downwind position and will no longer drive the boat.  It’s kind of like letting go of the string when you fly a kite.  At any rate, I had forgotten that I had tied a line to the boom for something.  That line kept the boom from swinging away from the wind and the sail continued to drive the boat.  OK, go around, drop the sail.  That really didn’t work, the sail refused to fall!  OK, pull the sail down and start the motor.  Aaagh!  The ancient beast refused to start.  Even with the sail down, we were being driven toward the shore and the trees and and other nasty stuff.  (The first rule of boating is, “Don’t hit anything hard!)  Finally, at the last minute the motor fires up.  Then, when we were on the way to the dock, it died.  Oh, no!  Here we go again.  Now, it wouldn’t start at all.  I pulled off my pants, jumped into the water with a line and started swimming toward the dock.  I figured that if I could reach the dock before we drifted too far, I could pull the boat to safety.  Much to my surprise, I was able to pull the boat while swimming.  Wow!  My scrawny 150 lbs pulling 2500 pounds of boat!  I really hadn’t planned on going swimming (especially not in the buff!) but we finally got the boat tied up.  I found the problem with the motor was a leaky line to the carburetor.  While we were enjoying a pleasant sail, all the fuel in the tank leaked out.  The only fuel left was the tiny amount in the float bowl on the carburetor, just enough to run for about half a minute.  As I like to say, “A bad day on the water is better than a good day anywhere else.”

                       

A few days earlier, we cooked for the monthly meeting of the Port Oliver Yacht Club.  We opted to cook Chicken Kabobs with Moroccan spices and a dewishus yogurt-mint dipping sauce.

CHICKEN KABOBS W/MOROCCAN SPICES

For the chicken:

1 ½ pounds chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cut into 1 inch pieces (about 40)

2 lemons, juiced

2 t ground coriander

2t ground cumin

1 t salt

1 ½ T oregano

1 t ground black pepper

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

40 seedless red grapes

For the yoghurt sauce:

1/3 cup plain yoghurt

1 lemon, zested

1 T lemon juice

½ t cumin

3 T fresh mint, chopped

½ t salt

¼ t black pepper

Combine chicken, lemon juice, coriander, cumin, salt, oregano, pepper and EVOO.  Marinate

Combine yoghurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, cumin, mint, s & p.  Refrigerate

Alternate grapes and chicken on skewers, grill.

Serves 4

FIREWORKS AND GARLIC

           

It’s that time of year again.  Gotta get the garlic out of the ground before the 4^th.  I planted it last October like I have for 35 years.  I know that garlic is readily available wherever and anywhere you go and that it is relatively cheap.  Still, there’s a great deal of satisfaction knowing that I don’t have to buy it--my own little declaration of independence.

            Actually, garlic is one of the easiest and most trouble-free crops to grow.  Only once in 35 years have I had any problem.  One year, the crop was partially infested with the larvae of some kind of bug.  I didn’t lose the whole crop, but many bulbs were affected.  This year I anticipated good results from the usual variety and from the Italian variety that I wanted to try.

            The process started last October when I prepared the soil and planted the cloves of garlic.

            People ask, “What do you do with all that garlic?”  I can’t imagine cooking without garlic.  Then, too, I never have to worry about vampires! 

Julia Child’s Garlic Soup

This is an absolutely wonderful dish with none of the effects of raw garlic.

16 cloves garlic

2 quarts water

2 teaspoons salt
2 cloves
1/4 teaspoon sage
 1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/2 bay leaf

 4 sprigs parsley    

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 egg yolks

pepper to taste

grated parmesan or Swiss cheese for topping if 

                                                                                desired

                                                                               

 

Drop garlic cloves in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds.  Drain and run under cold water, peel.  Place the peeled garlic in a 3 quart pot with all ingredients except the egg yolks and 3 Tablespoons of olive oil.  Boil slowly for 30 minutes.

In a soup tureen beat the egg yolks and whisk in remaining 3 Tablespoons of olive oil drop by drop.  Just before serving beat a ladleful of hot soup into egg mixture.  Slowly strain the rest of the soup in   ladle into individual bowls and shredded cheese on top and serve with rounds of toasted French bread. 
pressing the juice out of the garlic.

               So the garlic was harvested and my culinary independence guaranteed.  Time to hit the road and head for Brunswick to spend a few days on the boat and to celebrate our nation’s independence.  We met up with many of our friends whom we hadn’t seen since winter. 

There is always a big party at the marina for all the major holidays.  This year, we had live entertainment from Tom Edwards, our resident musician on Dock 6. 

The customary huge spread on the picnic tables was a declaration of independence from hunger. 

  My contribution to the feast was a mango salad.

2-3 ripe mangoes, ½ inch dice (this is the season for them)

1 green onion

½ sweet red pepper, ¼ inch dice

1-2 t minced fresh ginger

Juice and zest of 1 lime

Salt, pepper & ground cayenne to taste

Olive oil

¼ - ½ cup chopped cilantro (reserve until shortly before serving)

Mix all the ingredients except the cilantro. Drizzle with olive oil.  Mix in the cilantro just before serving.  This year, I added some diced pineapple.

               The fireworks show went off without a hitch.  The rain held off until after the last rocket was fired.