This is a recipe that will both safe some time for preparation of the meal but will on the other hand be an elaborate one so if you´d like to try out this one please be aware to bring a lot of time. It´s also not a recipe meant for underway cooking. When I coddled the crew of SY MOJITO with these Double Mojo Steak-recipe, we had been mooring in Porto Santo and I had the galley for my own. Preparation time: At least one hour!
As we have been sailing from Lisbon to the Canary Island of Lanzarote I found it a very nice thing to have this meal cooked on approximately halfway-time to keep spirits high and to maybe adjust the tongues of my crew to the local style of flavouring the food: On my last trip to the Canaries when I was on Tenerife, I bought some ready-made spice-mixes, called Mojo, which you will get in a dozen or so different flavours. You may also acquire Mojo-spices via Internet stores.
Preparing the Meat & Shopping List
This is what you should have in stock to make Double Mojo Steak:
- a good chunk of beef, probably filet or at least rumsteak
- potatoes, red peppers, broad beans
- garlic, salt & pepper spice, sweet pepper spice and rosemary
- Mojo spice (I went for classic Mojo Rojo (hot!!!) and exotic Mojo Cilantro)
You will at first free the meat from surplus fat and cords and slice steaks, maybe as thick as your thumbs. This is a job that will be very, very elaborate and dangerous to perform if underway because you will need a good, long and very sharp knife to do so.
The Mojo spice mixture is then put into a bowl. Infusing the powder with Olive oil, a bit of salt and a splash of water it will instantly unfold a rich flavour that will flood your whole boat. As I was cooking, crew mates came aboard to see what was going on as they smelled the Mojo from the jetty! Give the meat slices into the Mojo and let the whole stuff marinate for at least 2 hours.
Best way to do the Steaks will be a BBQ. So if you have the chance, maybe the marina offers a BBQ-stand, do it. Our Dufour Grandlarge 460 did feature a huge BBQ-stand in the stern locker but due to strong eddies in the harbour I couldn´t get to be the grillmaster until we´ve reached Lanzarote, so I prepared the whole meat by frying it in a pan on the stove – which was a pity. Nevertheless, it worked out quite well.
Side Dishes: Veggie-Time
Meat is a lot, but not everything. Best side dish for Steak in my opinion is potatoes, and that´s a no brainer to prepare. Just peel the potatoes and quarter them longitudinal. Get a lot of water to boiling (with an electric kettle done fastest & in a most energy saving way) and pour the water over the potatoes. Add salt and a lot of sweet red pepper, cover the bowl and let them be in the hot water for some 15 to 20 minutes.
Red pepper veggie is quartered as well, wash the broad beans, cut of the ends and put them in halves. Treat both with hot water as well, but for a shorter time. After the veggies have been in the water long enough, get them out. Potatoes, beans and peppers will be massaged with Olive oil, salted and the beans will be treated with minced garlic. Now it´s time to grill all the stuff.
BBQ or not?
As I have mentioned, this dish is meant for real BBQ. Nevertheless, if you haven´t a place to fire up some charcoal, don´t worry, you can prepare it on an ordinary stove as well. If – as it is the case with my boat – the stove or the pan is too small to have all three components prepared at the same time, no problem. Fire up the oven first. Then put the potatoes into a fireproof bowl and get them into the oven. At highest level it will take them some 15 to 25 minutes to get ready. If done so, don´t shut off the oven but put it to lowest temperature, let´s say 8ß degrees Celsius.
Fry the vegetables and put them into a bowl as well. When the oven is down to 80 degrees, get them into the oven as well to keep them nice and warm. Then, the last step (!), fry the steaks. That´s the most tricky one since frying a steak is a no-go under normal circumstances. Nevertheless, on a boat that may be the only way to get your crew to enjoying a rich piece of meat. You won´t need any additional sauces or ketchup since the Mojo sauce is hot and very rich in flavour. Maybe an ice cold beer (or two) will add sufficiently to the meal.
Enjoy your meal, sailor. The Mojo Rojo is a very hot and spicy sauce. The green Mojo Cilantro is mild and not too dominating with Cilantro-flavour. Both are a very nice combination. My crew ate the whole dish in a matter of minutes, not a single piece of meat nor the veggies have been left over. After such a meal you will be able to run another set of long shifts out on watch – or at least sink onto your berth and find a perfect good night´s sleep.
Other interesting recipes:
True Hamburgean Seafarer´s Tradition: Labskaus
Spaghetti á la X-Yacht
Yellow Thai Curry á la Pogo
All previous and the upcoming articles on this sailing trip from Lisbon to Lanzarote can be browsed by clicking on this hashtag #dufourcanaries