the explorers journal the climate change issue - The Explorers Club

E x t r e m e C u i s i n e
“...what does he care if he hasn’t got any money: he
doesn’t need any money, all he needs is his rucksack
with those little plastic bags of dried food and a good
pair of shoes and off he goes and enjoys the privileges
of a millionaire in surroundings like this.”
—Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums, 1958
Imagine feasting on hot gourmet meals at 4,000
meters…without cooking in camp. It’s simple:
prepare one-pot meals at home, slide them into
a dehydrator, dry until crumbly, then bag them for
your next adventure. The ancient art of food dehydration
is wonderfully basic. Heat and air circulation
remove most of the water content from food. This
lack of water keeps microorganisms from living and
growing. Since complete meals can be dried yearround
in any weather, it is easy to take advantage of
each season’s bounty, using the finest ingredients
available. And because home-dried meals can
be stored up to two years, you can keep a ready
supply on hand for extended expeditions or unexpected
weekend escapes. In all my years of home
drying gourmet backpacking meals, I have never
lost food to spoilage. I have, however, encountered
the wrath of my fellow travelers, who were destined
to dine on store-bought freeze-dried that was both
expensive and flavorless.
Biography
A California-based writer, Linda Frederick Yaffe is the
author of Backpack Gourmet, High Trail Cookery, and the
recently released Solar Cooking for Home and Camp.
food for the epicurean adventurer
L i v i n g W e l l
in the
Outback
by Linda Frederick Yaffe
To enjoy
gourmet dining
in the wilderness,
here are the basics:
• Buy or borrow a food dehydrator with a heater and fan.
• Cook a soup, stew, or casserole as though you were making
tonight’s dinner, cutting the ingredients into small pieces
for faster drying.
• While it’s cooking, cover mesh dehydrator trays with
oven-proof parchment paper or 100 percent polyethylene
plastic wrap to keep liquid foods from leaking through.
• Spread the cooked food in a thin layer on the covered trays
and place in preheated dehydrator.
• Dry the food until it’s crumbly—about 4 to 6 hours.
Check while drying, occasionally turning the food and
breaking up large pieces. If you detect any moisture,
continue to dehydrate
• Let the food cool completely. The next day double-bag
in small plastic bags, label, and store in a cool, dark,
dry place or refrigerate in a black plastic bag for best
long-term quality.
• In camp, pour the dried meal into a pot. Cover with water,
boil, stir, and serve. These lightweight meals need no
soaking or simmering. The following recipes go from
pack to plate in three minutes.
E x c e l l e n t d e h y d r a t o r s a r e
available by mail:
Excalibur
www.excaliburdehydrator.com
1-800-875-4254
Nesco/American
Harvest
www.nesco.com
1-800-288-4545
Here are two of my camp favorites
Zinfandel Capellini
serves 4, Weight one dried serving: 6 ounce
1. Heat in a large skillet over medium heat:
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2. Add and cook until transparent:
• 1 onion, minced
3. Reduce heat, add and cook 5 minutes longer:
• 8 ounces diced fresh brown crimini mushrooms
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
4. Meanwhile, cook until barely tender then drain:
• 12 ounces capellini pasta, broken in thirds
5. Stir into the mushroom mixture and cook 5 minutes:
• 15 ounces canned small white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/3 cup T.V.P. (textured vegetable protein)
• 3 cups finely diced tomatoes plus juice
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/3 cup zinfandel wine
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6. Remove skillet from heat and stir in:
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
7. Toss together the pasta and sauce, stirring to coat.
8. Spread on covered dehydrator trays and dry for 5
hours at 145 degrees.
9. To rehydrate, cover with water 1/4 - 1/2 inch above
level of food in pot, boil, stir, and serve.
Bouillabaisse
Serves 4, Weight one dried serving: 4 ounces
1. Steep together in a measuring cup then set aside:
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
2. Heat in a large skillet over medium heat:
• 3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
3. Add and cook for 8 minutes:
• 1 sweet yellow onion, diced
4. Stir in and cook 5 minutes longer:
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 fresh mushrooms, diced
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon celery seed
3. Place the onion and saffron mixtures in a soup pot.
Stir in:
• 3 cups fresh or canned diced tomatoes plus juice
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless fish fillets cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 whole bay leaf
• 2 cups chicken broth
4. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer
for 30 minutes.
5. Discard bay leaf. Stir in:
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley
6. Spread on covered dehydrator trays and dry for 6
hours at 145 degrees.
7. To rehydrate, cover with water 1 inch above level of
food in pot, boil, stir, and serve with crusty bread
or crackers.
Outdoor Cooking
with
Linda Frederick Yaffe
BACKPACK GOURMET
Good Hot Grub You Can Make at Home,
Dehydrate, & Pack for Quick, Easy,
& Healthy Eating on the Trail
$12.95, PB, 160 pages, 20 illustrations,
5 1 /2 x 8 1 /4, 978-0-8117-2634-4
Learn to prepare and dehydrate over
160 soups, stews, pastas, casseroles, breakfasts,
and snacks for easy eating on the trail.
SOLAR COOKING
FOR HOME AND CAMP
$12.95, PB, 128 pages, 23 illustrations,
5 1 /2 x 8 1 /4, 978-0-8117-3402-8
Full of recipes developed especially
for solar cookers—entrees, side dishes, snacks,
and baked goods—with instructions for making
your own solar box or folding panel cooker.
Available from your favorite bookstore or
STACKPOLE
BOOKS
www.stackpolebooks.com • 1-800-732-3669
54 the explorers journal