EGGS BENEDICT WITH ALSASIAN CHRISTMAS SAUSAGE

Back in the early 2000’s, I delivered a Viking 72 from San Diego to the Panama Canal with the owner, his fiancée and several guests and crew. On Christmas Day we pulled into one of my favorite stops along the Mexican Riviera, Barra de Navidad. Rather fitting because Navidad in Spanish translates to Christmas. As a special treat, I made the yacht my famous Heuvos Benedictos otherwise known as Eggs Benedict. As a little twist from to ordinary, instead of Canadian bacon (back bacon from our Cannuk friends) I make a delicious Alsatian Christmas Sausage as a substitute.



Ingredients for Alsatian Christmas Sausage
5 pound Boston butt
2 ½ tbsp coarse salt
¼ tsp ground ginger
1 ½ tbsp sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
1 ¼ tsp course black pepper
¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Preparation

Grind up the Boston butt and mix in the above ingredients in no particular order. If you don’t have a meat grinder, store bought bulk sausage will work as long as it is no seasoned. Form sausage patties to conform to the size of the English muffins. Makes about 20 patties. Trust me, you’ll enjoy the extra patties!

Ingredients for Hollandaise Sauce

4 egg yolks
Freshly squeezed juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cup unsalted clarified butter (1 stick)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Ingredients for Eggs Benedict

8 sausage patties
8 Slices of Brioche or 4 English muffins, split
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
8 eggs
16 asparagus spears, grilled and seasoned to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
Hollandaise sauce, recipe above

Preparation

Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice over a double boiler until eggs are slightly thickened, about 130°. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter.  Season with salt and pepper.
Brown the sausage in a skillet and set aside. While skillet is hot, butter English muffins on one side and grill in pan.
Bring water to a boil, adding white wine vinegar and reduce heat to medium. Place eggs into ramekins and add to the water.  Cook until egg white is set; 4 minutes for soft yokes and 7 minutes for medium. Remove with a slotted spoon.

Stack English muffins with grilled sausage and poached egg.  Top with Hollandaise sauce. Garnish top of Hollandaise with chives and a sprinkling of paprika and plate grilled asparagus and sharp cheddar cheese. Serves 4. Merry Christmas. JW

 

 

I have just completed delivery of this Sea Ray 60 from

Mamaroneck, New York to West Palm Beach Florida.

I have achieved a benchmark 200 New York to Florida

deliveries in my 30 year yachting career.



Greg, the owner, and I first met two years ago when he

purchased the Sea Ray and we delivered it together from

Jacksonville to Mamaroneck. Loves his 60 but he has

determined that he needs a 4 cabin motor yacht. It will be

a pleasure to assist him on the next acquisition.



An iconic photo, this is the Brooklyn Bridge and lower

Manhattan with the Freedom Tower (right).



After 30 years of transiting thru New York Harbor, I am

always moved by the view of Lady Liberty.



M/Y Attessa IV anchored in the front row.


 

A mid-morning fuel stop. Greg enjoying the fall coolness.



The official welcome committee at Coinjock, "Gaddie" is

a playful pup ready for duck season.



Listening for the top of the tank, Coinjock had the cheapest

fuel along the entire route @ $3.09 per gallon, taxes included.


Owner of Coinjock Marina, Louis Davis and I have been

acquainted for longer than we can remember. One of my

favorite stops on the Florida to New York run, Coinjock

Marina Restaurant has the best prime rib on the east coast.



Greg noticed that, while running down the Albermarle Sound,

something was "following us." Apparently, we hooked a crab

pot buoy on the rudder and this is all that was left after a

23 knot tow.


 

Harbour Town Yacht Basin on Hilton Head Island.


 

Greg and I at the completion of our 7 day journey together.

Another satisfied yacht owner. Thanks Greg.

 

SPRINGTIME YACHT RECIPE

Citrus Chicken Salad

The late pianist and composer Arthur Rubenstein once said, “The seasons are what a symphony should be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other.”

I love springtime. Clear blue skies, greening of the grass and bare twigs sprouting leaves. It is also a time for reawaking of our senses. And it is in the spirit of spring that I have prepared a salad that is no less tantalizing to the palate.

THE INGREDIENTS:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 ruby red grapefruit

1 10 oz. bag of mixed salad greens

½ tsp. minced garlic

½ cup (10 oz.) lemon curd (found in the jam section of the supermarket)

1 tsp. black sesame seeds (found in the sushi section of the supermarket)

1 tbsp. canola oil

4 slices bread

½ cup mozzarella cheese

¼ cup parmesan cheese

THE PREPARATION:

Thoroughly wash the salad mix and drain.  Cut and juice two of the three grapefruit. In a large bowl, whisk the juice, lemon curd, garlic and sesame seeds together until smooth. Place in refrigerator. Heat a large sauté pan to medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add oil to pan and then add chicken; cooking 3-4 minutes or until browned. Reduce heat to medium and add 2 tbsp. water and cover cooking for an additional 4-5 minute or until internal temperature of chicken is 165°F. While the chicken is cooking, lightly toast four pieces of bread. In a baking pan, place toast and cover with the two cheeses. Bake on the top rack until cheese is melted. Once cooled slice toast into strips. With remaining grapefruit, peel and carefully remove membrane from the fruit sections. Slice chicken and arrange with grapefruit over the salad mix. Drizzle with the grapefruit-lemon curd dressing. Garnish with cheese crisps. And enjoy. JW

Yacht Recipe of the Month

One thing that many people don't know about me is that, for the past couple years,  I have been writing a monthly cooking column about cuisine I have enjoyed in my world travels. This month's recipe comes from the old world; easy to make and tastes like a million bucks. John

AVGOLEMONO

Greek Chicken Soup with Egg-Lemon Sauce

4 cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium broth
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups cooked white rice, warmed
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 rotisserie chicken, meat pulled from the bones and coarsely shredded (1 pound)
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

In a large saucepan, season the stock with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Transfer 1 cup of the hot stock to a blender. Add 1/2 cup of the rice, the egg yolks and the lemon juice and puree until smooth. Stir the puree into the simmering stock along with the chicken and the remaining 1 1/2 cups of rice and simmer until thickened slightly, 10 minutes. Stir in the dill, garnish and serve. Enjoy!! JW

OCTOBER YACHT RECIPE

CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI CASSEROLE

Twenty years ago, I assisted an owner from Tulsa, Oklahoma deliver his 57' Chris Craft Constellation down the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers to Destin, Florida.

At one of our stops, Vicksberg, Mississippi, we tied up to the backside of a faux riverboat casino for some rest and relaxation. As I explored Vicksberg, I found myself at a large antebellum rooming house that held dinner for their tenants and those who walked up their steps. I was welcomed in and seated at a huge circular table with seating for 10-12. In the center of the table was a large Lazy Susan; a round turntable loading with various dishes. Fried chicken, greens, okra, banana pudding. Thank goodness it only takes three digits to call the paramedics!

Good home-style southern cooking, there was a casserole that I just couldn't get enough of. After dinner, I approached the owner of the house who was also the cook. But no matter how much I pleaded for the recipe, she just wouldn't give it up (I can relate what with my famous mini-muffin recipe). But I was undeterred. After some trial and error, I created my own casserole which has satisfied many a guest over the years.

Casseroles are a terrific way to create a complete meal in just one dish.



THE INGREDIENTS:

3 boneless, skinless chicken beasts
4 cups broccoli flowerets

1 26 oz can of condensed creme of chicken soup

1 10 ounce can of shoepeg corn

2 ½ cups cornbread stuffing mix

3 lemons, juiced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon Marjoram

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

(Optional) Turkey or andouille sausage

THE PREPARATION

Juice the three lemons. In a mixing bowl, whisk together juice with the EVVO and crushed garlic. Place the chicken breasts, one at a time, in a quart sized freezer bag and flatten with a rolling pin. Cut chicken into 1-2 inch chunks and marinate in the lemon-garlic for 15 minutes. Strain chicken in a colander and toss in the marjoram. Pre-heat oven to 350°

While waiting on the oven, fry chicken in a hot skillet or wok. For this dish, I like season the skillet with hardwood smoked bacon for added flavor. Some stores sell “bacon ends and pieces” at half the price premium thick cut bacon; often coming from the same packers. Because the chicken absorbed the lemon-garlic, as it cooks it releases the liquid. By covering the pan, the chicken is poached to a juicy tenderness. Drain chicken.

In an 8”x 8”, two quart casserole dish, cover bottom with 1/3rd of the condensed soup. Layer the chicken on the bottom followed by layer of broccoli and then soup mix. Add one more layer of chicken/broccoli and the rest of the condensed soup. Top with the shoepeg corn.

As per package instructions, prepare the cornbread stuffing. While “fluffing the stuffing” I like to drizzle a little maple syrup into the mix.

Once the stuffing is ready, cap the casserole being sure that the corners are left exposed for escaping heat. Place casserole on a cookie sheet and place on the center rack and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before plating. Serve with a stout beer.

Enjoy! JW

 

The FrankenFerry

Ok. I'll get back to the title of this episode. But I should point out that, actually, there are three "Fs" in my description of this vessel. You can guess the first "F."

Last week, Sean Woods and I flew to Providence, Rhode Island to deliver a 50' x 20' high speed passenger ferry to an island golf resort just north of Savannah, Georgia.

The Providence airport exhibits full sized antique boats of a by-gone era. Rhode Island is rich in shipbuilding history. World famous Newport is about an hour drive from the airport.

We arrived two days in advance of departure for systems and vessel orientation with the seller as well as outfitting for the trip. With no accommodations onboard (more on this later), the buyer has us checked into an airport hotel. Nice enough rooms - the social activity was alive with THREE false fire alarms. Half of the hotel guests were Chinese students and I have to wonder if they knew what it was when "someone" yelled GODZILLA!! as we bound our way down the fire escapes to the parking lot below. The last alarm went off at 0100 in the morning and after the pissed off fire department once again cleared the building and we returned to bed, there was no sleep to be had. Sure, the eyes are shut and the room is dark. But the mind "sleeps with one eye open" in anticipation of yet another WUHAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!!!

The vessel is a planing catamaran with intrigal watertight cavities in the hull bottoms that are kept filled with pressurized air from fans. Frictional resistance under the air cushion is substantially less than for conventional hull vessels and wetted side hull surface is reduced by the lifting effect of the cushions.The effects combine to intiate planing at lower speed and power. Reduced power required and superior planing deliver enhanced fuel economy, range and speed.

Walking up to the vessel one cannot help but notice the big grill work in the forward third of the hull. The first impression is that the engines are a long way from the propellers. What this freaky boat has are a pair of 900 h.p. Yanmar 8SY-STP diesels in the rear torquing two Arneson ASD12 surface piercing drives. Up front, behind the grills, port and starboard, are a pair of 100 h.p. Yanmar 4JH3-THE providing power to the 3.5' fans which provide the cushion effect.

This being the fourth Arneson drive vessel which I have captained, I am knowledgeable in the challenges of close quarters maneuvoring, much like with jet drives. However, one interesting aspect of this boat is that power can be applied to one fan, or the other and walk the boat sideways as if it were pod drive or had bow thrusters.

With sufficient power application, it is possible to wash the bird poop from the dock and  most likely the unsuspecting marina dockhand. In either case, it sounds like the Space Shuttle lifting off. As no one has seen the likes of this before many heads turn as if to say,"what the.....?"

To configure the boat for speed, we first advance the fan engines to 3300 rpm. This lifts to front of the boat up as air pushes the water out of the hull chambers. Next, we engage the main propulsion engines and advance the throttles to the stops. With drives trimmed down and air flowing down  the hull, the boat quickly is on step at 7-9 knots! As the main engine passes quickly thru 1500 rpm, we retard the throttles to 1400 rpm and with a quick look at the GPS, we are doing 25 knots in as little time as it was to read this pararaph! Full power trials clocked this boat at 47 knots S.O.G.

  

The vessel carries 780 gallons total. With an overall average fuel burn of 33 g.p.h. @ 25 knots, the ferry has a no reserve range of 590 nautical miles. This includes the consumption of the fan engines.

          (Sean changing RACOR fuel filters; located of course in an inconvenient location)

The displacement draught of the vessel hull down is 5 feet. While on cushion and at speed, that draught is reduced to 2 feet and throws nary a wake. What is impressive is the telltale 12-15 foot rooster tail of the Arneson drives; a sign that you have trimmed the boat well.

Not having an autopilot, the vessel is very hands on. More times than not, after reaching for a bottle of water or answering a text from the owner and the boat is quickly 30 degrees of course. To fihtthe fatigue of hand steering, Sean and I switch wheel watch every hour. 

As mentioned previously, the vessel had no accommodations onboard. That includes the head. So, the morning standing order was to eat a hardy breakfast. As we were bivouaced in local hotels at night the walk or cab ride back to the boat allowed sufficient time to perform bodily functions prior to getting underway. However, as Sean(in backround) found out on day three, the only method to "go number 2" was by that hallowed evolution of "bucket and chuck it."

After 5 days of 180db roaring of four engines, pounding along in 3-4 foot seas, ear plugs, deli sandwichs and 5 Hour Energy, we arrive at Defauskie Island and hand "The Beast" over to the the new owner (L) and his two captains.

Fuel prices at three stops where:
Liberty Landing in Jersey City, NJ                          $4.35
Coinjock Marina in Coinjock                                    $3.54
Southport Marina in Southport, NC                         $3.95

Another delivery completed. Another owner satisfied. And, Sean has an extra $1400 to take to his first year at CU Boulder. I am once again avialable for the next mission.  John Wampler



Cancun to Fort Lauderdale Delivery

I returned last week from delivering a 2007 Doral 47 Alegria from Cancun Mexico to Fort Lauderdale.

To preface this posting, three years ago I delivered this same vessel (fuel cap. 400 gallons), with a 200 gallon fuel cell strapped on the foredeck, from Fort Myers, Florida; arriving in Cancun with 60 gallons remaining.

Along with Sean Woods as first mate, we flew down to Cancun on June 24. The boat was located at the Novo Cancun condo/marina complex; one of the new projects springing up in the Cancun area.

 Cancun Airport Control Tower

The afternoon was spent on inspection and seatrial of the boat with the owner. On the way to the Pemex  dock, I noticed that the performance numbers were off considerably. A look underwater showed a running gear fouled with barnacle growth. Apparently, the local captains have created the legend of a crocodile in the marina so they don't have to go under their boats in the marina.

June 25th was spent trying to acquire a supplemental 200  gallon fuel container as the fuel cell I brought down three years ago had been damaged and lost. The challenge was finding a tote tank that could be  strapped to the swim platform as carrying barrels in the aft deck area would not allow us access to the engine room. Most everything found was used and had everything in them from industrial cleaner to glue. As I had planned a midnight departure, we really didn't have the time to clean out and dry one of these. However, in Mexico, much of the populace is not on "city water." What they use are roof mounted cisterns with potable water delivered by truck. We located a 1000 liter tank that was 44" in diameter; a perfect fit for the back of the boat. With another run to the fuel dock and the Mexican captain charged with care and custody of the boat sent over the side at anchorage with Sean overseeing the chore (a good thing as the captain was only scrapping the waterline), we have a boat ready to go.

The owner took Sean and I to La Farola Parrilla Argentina restaurant in downtown Cancun. No finer steak could be found in Mexico than the flap steak that I had. The service, including table side salad prep, was superb!

Dinner concluded,  Sean and I thanked the owner and retired to the vessel for a few hours shut-eye before pushing off at "media noche."

26 June, Sean and I slip the dock lines and move out the channel by 0015. A full "super" moon two nights earlier, a big waning moon will provide us a horizon for most of two nights required for the 37 hour crossing (@ 9.5 knots) to Key West. Sean and I set into a 3 hours on - 3 hours off watch routine for the 37 hour crossing.

As usual the crossing in the vicinity of Arrowsmith Bank and much of the Yucatan Channel is a lumpy 4-5 feet for the first 12 hours. However, once we got off the coast of Cuba, the water and waves subside into a pleasant day. This enables us a stabile platform to transfer fuel from the tote on our transom. At sunset, Sean and I are looking forward to a calm night.

As we cross the Florida Straight and get out the lee of Cuba, at 0300 in the morning, ESE wind and waves again make for restless sleep off watch.

It was not until we were within 60 miles of Key West on the morning of the 28th do the winds and waves subside and we make Key West mid-day no worse for wear.

With the obligatory phone call and visit to customs, we cleared in. Interesting note: Not only did customs typically want all of the fruits and veggies onboard, they also had us bring all meats; including pre-cooked/packaged products. Some of these, like Johnsville franks, were manufactured in the US! I guess they were stocking up for their Fourth of July BBQ.

We spend the rest of the day cleaning boat, transferring the last 50 gallons out of the tote... 

... and giving a tired Sean a just reward for a job well done.

Once "ship's business" was concluded, there was a little time left to play tourist.

29 June has Sean and I up at 0630 to move the boat to the fuel dock at Conch Harbor for an 0700 opening. Once we uploaded 183 gallons diesel ($4.21 w/ .10 discount), we "shoot and scoot" for the all day run to Fort Lauderdale.

By 1700,  we are secured and mission completed. Total expenditures including fuel (after Cancun), transportation, crew fee, meals, etc...

$4,100.

Available for next mission.

John Wampler

www.yachtaide.com

954-646-7656