We love to be on the water so cooking onboard goes hand in hand. We have a simple galley, 3 burners/oven, small sink, icebox, plenty of stowage for minimal(it's minimalist cooking)cookware and just enough counter space to chop up some garlic. But I think the important ingredient is the galleys location, geographic location. (the garlic sauteing here is not part of the recipe...) Part of the fun of cooking onboard is bringing fresh food along or finding it onshore. Here's one of my favorite onboard dishes, Bruschetta.

First, you need some crusty bread.

Bread, a hearty crusty variety, is a good raw material to have on a boat. I've been baking bread for decades, mostly french baguettes. It's a passion of mine and sort of an escape, like reading a book. We've baked some onboard over the years but mostly, I bake them at home, once a week or so(less now that kids are away at school). But any good bakery will have a good loaf of crusty bread. Bring it along or pick up a loaf onshore.

Bruschetta onboard. Loaf of crusty bread, raw garlic cloves, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, olive oil, coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.

Slice the bread about 3/8" thick on the diagonal. In some sizzling olive oil in a hot skillet, brown the slices to a good crisp and well coated in olive oil. Rub each hot crust with a raw garlic clove sliced in half. Lay a tomato slice or two on top. Add a leaf or two of the fresh basil over the tomato and season with salt and fresh pepper.