     JUST ADD WATER  -  DEHYDRATED MAIN DISHES, SOUPS, AND JERKY 

Adapted from
Wilderness Cuisine
by Carole Latimer 

 INTRODUCTION:
 
It's fun to prepare and dry your own instant trail meals, and you may be surprised at just how delicious
they taste when reconstituted. Cook down liquids as much as possible when cooking main dishes to be
dehydrated, use as little oil as possible in their preparation, and make all pieces of vegetables small and
the same size so everything will dry properly and uniformly. 

Don't use meat in the main dishes you plan to dehydrate. Meat will be better added to the cooking pot
later. For example, slice Andouille sausage into the Cajun Black Beans in camp. The black beans retain
a more distinct flavor of their own, and the sausage will taste fresh and spicy. 

The following soup and main-dish recipes can be reconstituted into at least 10 different meals. The
French Onion Soup Base also makes an outstanding pasta sauce with Parmesan cheese; spaghetti sauce
can be a base for soups, pizza, and so on. These recipes are also representative of other old favorites
you can turn into quick trail dinners. You may want to try dehydrating your favorite recipe for chili
using the black beans recipe as a guide, or perhaps Curried Lentil Soup will inspire you to dehydrate
your favorite split pea soup recipe. 

Remember: the sooner you use these dishes, the better they'll taste. Store in the refrigerator and never
attempt to dry main dishes containing cream or eggs. And just to make sure use them within a couple
of weeks after drying. 


SOUPS AND MAIN DISHES

Black Beans (Makes 8 servings) 

 2 cups black beans
 2 or 3 yellow onions, diced
 2 or 3 garlic cloves
 2 jalapeo peppers
 2 or 3 milder peppers   Anaheim, paprika, or pasilla
 2 peppers   red, yellow or green bell, or pimiento
 1 tsp salt
 1/4 tsp pepper
 2 tsp ground cumin
 1 tsp oregano leaves
 olive oil
 1/3 cup Marukan seasoned gourmet rice vinegar

After drying, the contents of this recipe can be rehydrated into a blackbean soup with a shot of sherry,
into a thick refried bean dip, or into Cajun Black Beans by adding Andouille sausage. 

At Home: 

1. Cover beans with water and soak overnight or for 24 hours, and during this time pour off and
replenish bean water several times; this helps prevent flatulence later. 

2. Black beans take a long time to cook. Start by cooking them perfectly plain; don't put salt in the
water. Simmer partly covered on low heat for at least 5 hours. You don't really need to watch them once
you get the heat regulated. You'll get better quality beans if you cook them relatively slowly, don't let
them sit and boil. Don't add anything else until they are cooked through. They should be Soft, but not
mushy and this is important the liquid they're cooking in should be getting thick. When they are soft,
take a potato masher and smash some of the beans in the pot. This releases starch and hastens the
thickening. 

3. When the bean liquor is thick and rich, prepare the other ingredients. (You could also stop here and
dry them plain for other bean dishes on the trail to which you'd add spices later.) Cut peppers in half
lengthwise. Remove seeds and ribs (this reduces the hotness) and thinly slice horizontally. Saut in
olive oil for 5 minutes with onions. Add garlic and spices and cook a few more minutes. Add this
mixture to beans and continue to cook for another hour, adjusting the seasonings as you wish. Because
you're going to dry them, they should cook down very thick. About 15 minutes before taking beans off
heat, add vinegar. 

4. To dehydrate, spread beans evenly on trays and dry at 145 degrees. They should be completely dry.
They won't stick together like fruit leather, they'll be separate and they are rather fragile, so avoid
crushing them. 

5. Package with vacuum packaging machine, with Seal-A-Meal, or in ziplocs, and store in refrigerator
until ready to use. Two cups when dry weighs 8 oz, and 1 1/4 cups dried beans makes 1 large
backpacker's serving. 

In Camp: 

Rehydrate with 1/2 to 3/4 cup water per 1 1/4 cups beans, depending on the dish you're making. The
beans will rehydrate in 10 to 15 minutes. Heat and serve. 

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Basic Spaghetti Sauce (Makes 4 servings) 

 2 yellow onions, chopped
 1/2 cup grated carrot
 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
 Optional: 1 tsp jalape pepper, seeded, deveined and minced
 3 tbsp chopped garlic
 1/2 tsp leaf oregano
 1/2 tsp sugar
 1 6-oz can tomato paste
 3 28-oz cans canned tomatoes, drained
 20 fresh basil leaves, minced or 1 tbsp dried basil
 4 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
 1/2 cup red wine
 salt and pepper

This basic tomato sauce can be used in your backpacking menus for all kinds of dishes: pizza toppings,
minestrone or other soups, eggplant parmesan, and, of course, it's a pasta sauce. Make a big batch of it
if you like. If you don't have time to dry it all now, freeze and dehydrate later. 

At Home: 

1. Saut onions till translucent. Add carrot, celery, jalapeo pepper, garlic and saut for another 2 to 3
minutes. Add oregano and sugar and stir for a minute before adding the tomatoes (don't add their
liquid). 

2. Cook at simmer for at least 2 hours. Don't let it boil; it should simmer for 2 or 3 hours. When the
sauce is thick and rich, add basil, parsley, salt and pepper, and red wine. Simmer for 30 more minutes. 

3. To dehydrate, spread sauce on trays. Put in dehydrator or oven at 145 degrees until dry. The
dehydrated sauce will be pliable, like fruit leather; remove from plastic tray while still warm. Store in
refrigerator. 

In Camp: 

Rehydrate and use as directed in recipes. 

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French Onion Soup Base (Makes 6 soup servings, 2 to 3 pasta sauce servings) 

 5 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
 3 tbsp butter
 1 tbsp olive oil
 1 tsp salt
 1/4 tsp sugar (helps the onions to brown)
 3 tbsp flour
 2 cups beef bouillon, boiling
 1/2 cup dry white wine
 salt and pepper
 Optional: beef bouillon cube

This French Onion Soup is the real thing, and it's an outrageously delicious pasta sauce with Parmesan
cheese. You could even rehydrate it to a thick spread and eat on bread. I adapted this recipe from Julia
Child's "Soupe  l'Oignon" in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. As she tells us, the onions need
long, slow cooking in butter to develop a deep rich flavor. 

At Home: 

1. Cook the onions slowly with butter and oil in a covered, heavy-bottomed saucepan for 15 minutes. 

2. Uncover, raise heat to moderate, and stir in salt and sugar. Cook 30 to 40 minutes stirring frequently
until the onions are golden brown. They will shrink quite a bit during this time. 

3. Sprinkle in the flour and stir for three minutes, then slowly blend in boiling bouillon. This will make
a thick sauce. Add wine and season to taste. 

4. To dry, spread mixture on drying trays. Dry at 145 degrees until dry. Package and store in
refrigerator. 

In Camp: 

Rehydrate with boiling water. Add optional beef bouillon cube if desired and make into soup (4-6 cups
of water), or pasta sauce (1-2 cups). Note: Because of the high oil content, for best flavor, this dish
should be dehydrated not more than a week before your camping trip. 

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Curried Lentil Soup Base (Makes 8 servings) 

 3-4 cups water
 2 14 1/2-oz cans chicken broth
 2 cups lentils
 1 fresh onion
 3 cloves garlic
 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
 4 tsp Indian curry powder
 2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
 1 tbsp olive oil

The Indian name for this soup is Dahl Shorba. It can be made from scratch in camp or dried at home
into an instant soup. For a hearty meal, add sliced sausage or fresh vegetables (potatoes, carrots,
cauliflower). 

At Home: 

1. Combine water, chicken broth cubes, and lentils. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer on
low heat for 20 to 45 minutes or until lentils are cooked through; it won't take long if you use orange or
yellow lentils. Keep watching it if it thickens too much you may have to add more water, but add as
little as possible. 

2. Dice onion, mince garlic and cook and stir them in oil together with curry, coriander seeds (crush
with back of cooking spoon) and red peppers over medium heat for 7 minutes. Stir spice mixture into
lentils. Cover. Cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Cook down to a thick paste, taking care not
to burn while it's cooking down. 

3. Spread on plastic sheets in dryer. Dry at 145 degrees until dry, about 6 hours. Repackage and store in
refrigerator until ready to use. 

In Camp: 

Rehydrate with boiling water, heat, add water until desired thickness and serve. 

  JERKY 

 Making jerky meat, poultry, or fish is an uncomplicated three-step process: 

1. Thinly slice meat.
2. Marinate for a few hours.
3. Place in dehydrator (or oven) until dry. 

Use low-fat cuts of meat, fish, or poultry. Lamb and fresh pork are too fatty; venison and elk make
excellent jerky. 

The marinades described here are of two types: dry-cure and wet. Use a glass, plastic, stoneware or
stainless steel container for your marinade. You need a certain amount of salt to guard against spoilage,
but too much makes the meat inedible. I tried some old-time recipes using heavily salted brines, and the
results were terrible. Liquid smoke added to marinades imparts a pleasing smoked taste to dried meats,
poultry, and fish; it can be found in supermarkets. Use it sparingly! It's awfully strong, and you should
use less for fish than for beef. Cover the marinade dish tightly, or your refrigerator will smell like liquid
smoke for days. 

Follow the guidelines for drying other foods: Cut into uniform sizes, and don't crowd in the dryer or
oven. As the jerky dries, beads of oil may come to the surface; pat it dry with paper towels. It's essential
that the initial drying temperature be at least 140 degrees to guard against spoilage. Be especially
careful not to over-dry jerky. You certainly want it to be dry enough to be safe, but it's a disappointing
waste of time and money to dry it to the tooth shattering stage. Remember, fish and turkey are more
delicate than beef and take far less time to dry. Jerky is dry enough if it cracks when you bend it, but
isn't so brittle that it breaks in two. To keep jerky at peak flavor, store it in the refrigerator. 

Drying Jerky

After marinating or dry-curing jerky according to directions, dry in your dehydrator at 140 to 160
degrees for the first 4 hours, then you may reduce heat to 130 degrees until dry. For oven drying, heat
should be 140 to 160 degrees for about 8 hours, then lower to 130 degrees till dry. I've dried jerky in the
oven at a constant temperature of 150 degrees for ten hours. It works, but you'll get better results with a
dehydrator, and also by starting with a higher temperature and then lowering it. 
 
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Camper's Classic Jerky Marinade (Makes about 1/2 lb jerky) 

 1 tsp salt
 1 tsp pepper
 3 tbsp brown sugar
 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
 1/4 cup Tamari or soy sauce
 1 tbsp liquid smoke
 2 lbs round or flank steak or other low-fat cut of meat, sliced

1. In a bowl, mix together marinade ingredients. 

2. Pour over meat slices; thoroughly wet all sides of meat with marinade and layer in the marinating
dish. 

3. Cover tightly and marinate in refrigerator overnight or from 6 to 12 hours. For best results rotate
meat layers every couple of hours until ready to dry. Dry according to above directions. 

Beef Jerky

Use round steak, flank steak, top sirloin, or some other low-fat cut of beef. To slice, use a very sharp
knife; some people partly freeze the meat first to make cutting easier. Cut in strips 3 inches or longer
and about 1 inch wide and 1/4-inch thick. Cut across the grain for more tender jerky, with the grain for
tougher, chewy strips. Some people like to cut jerky in paper thin sheets. 
 
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Hamburger Jerky

Buy the leanest grade of hamburger you can find. I usually mix about 1/2 cup of teriyaki or soy sauce
with 2 pounds of hamburger and dry at 145 degrees for about 6 hours until it's crispy dry. Be sure to pat
extra oil away with a paper towel during the drying process. You can also substitute hamburger for the
steak or sliced meat in the dry-cure jerky recipes, or use about half of the wet marinade for 2 pounds of
hamburger. 
 
Ginger Jerky Marinade (Makes about 1/2 lb jerky) 

 1/2 tsp salt
 1/2 tsp pepper
 1/2 tsp ground ginger
 1 tbsp fresh ginger
 1 large clove garlic, minced
 1/2 cup soy sauce
 1/4 cup sugar
 2 lbs round or flank steak or other cut of sliced meat

Follow the directions for Camper's Classic Jerky. 

Dry-Cure Curry Jerky (Makes about 1/2 lb jerky) 

 1 tsp salt
 1/4 tsp pepper
 3 big pinches of cinnamon
 3 big pinches of ground cloves
 1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
 1/2 tsp ground cumin
 1 tbsp curry powder
 1 tsp ground ginger
 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
 2 lbs round or flank steak or other cut of sliced meat

1. Combine ingredients and thoroughly mix together. 

2. Add meat slices and work spices into grain of meat. 

3. Layer meat in the dish, cover tightly and marinate in the refrigerator overnight or 6 to 12 hours. Dry
according to above directions. 

Dry-Cure Southwest Jerky (Makes about 1/2 lb jerky) 

 1 tsp salt
 1 tsp pepper
 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne
 3 tbsp chili powder
 2 tsp cumin
 2 cloves garlic, minced
 3 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced
 2 lbs round or flank steak or other cut of sliced meat

Follow the directions for Dry-Cure Curry Jerky. 

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Turkey Jerky

Turkey jerky is special and at health-food stores it costs $25 a pound. It's best sliced in paper thin
sheets. You can buy a whole turkey, but I think it's best to buy just a turkey breast or turkey thighs.
Buying turkey cutlets saves you some hassle but it's a relatively expensive way to go. 
 
Smoked Teriyaki Turkey Jerky (Makes about 1/4 lb jerky) 

 1/2 cup soy sauce
 4 tbsp sugar
 2 tsp fresh grated ginger
 1 clove garlic, minced
 1 tbsp liquid smoke
 3 lbs turkey

1. Cut the raw meat into thin sheets with a very sharp knife. 

2. Mix together the marinade ingredients, pour over the meat and marinate for 3 to 8 hours in the
refrigerator. 

3. Dry at 145 degrees for 2 hours, then drop temperature to 130 degrees. Because the meat is so thinly
sliced it dries quickly, sticks and tears apart easily if you don't turn it often. If you have a dehydrator,
use the plastic screen tray to help with the sticking problem. 

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Fish Jerky

You can use red snapper, sea bass, swordfish, or any firm fish for fish jerky. Salmon and tuna are
outstanding. 
 
Smoked Salmon Jerky (Makes about 1/2 lb jerky) 

 1/2 cup soy sauce
 2 tsp liquid smoke
 2 lbs salmon

1. Cut fish into thin strips about 1/4" thick, 1-2" wide, and 3-5" long. 

2. Mix together marinade ingredients, pour over fish and marinate for about 6 hours. 

3. Dry at 145 degrees for 2 hours, then lower temperature to 130 degrees until dry. Salmon will bead oil
during drying, so be sure to keep soaking up oil with a paper towel. 

Teriyaki Tuna Jerky (Makes about 1/2 lb jerky) 

 1/2 cup soy sauce
 4 tbsp sugar
 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
 1 clove garlic, minced or about 3/4 cup of your favorite commercial teriyaki sauce
 2 lbs fresh raw tuna

Follow the directions for Smoked Salmon Jerky. 



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