There is seldom a better comfort food on a cold night than a good, steaming, bowl of chilli, whether it be made with meat or simply beans. Chilli also works well as a trail food and — as ever — home made and dried versions will usually be far superior to commercial branded chilli.

This is an adapted version of chilli I cook at home. You can make good chilli with just chilli powered but I think it is enhanced by a few extra spices. Cumin is the most obvious addition but I will often add some sweet paprika as well. I have also added black cumin and caraway from time to time; the choice is yours.

I often use a beer as a liquid base to chilli and I do so her, adding a small bottle of French-style beer to the chilli.

Use canned kidney beans. For my last batch I used dried beans which took forever to cook to softness — which you really need to do in a dehydrated dish.

I eat this with rice that I’ve cooked and then dehydrated, essentially home made, easy cook rice.

Ingredients

Lean minced beef to quantity of choice. I seldom make anything less than four portions.It is best to buy lean meat and then grind or mince it yourself. You can use a food processor but a mincer or mincing attachment to a mixer works best as it tenderises the meat.

Onions, garlic and fresh chillies.

Canned kidney beans.

Cumin, paprika, oregano, chilli powder and black pepper. (Do not add salt — add it when you are reconstituting it — salt slows down the dehydration process).

Tinned tomatoes. Tomato Puree.

Small bottle of French-style beer.

Method

Add a small amount of sunflower oil to a frying pan and at a medium temperature fry off the minced beef in smallish quantities. Tip off any fat that is released — you want as little fat in your finished, dried, food.

In you casserole or big pan add the onions, chilli and garlic. Just cover with water, bring to a boil and then simmer until cooked.

If using whole cumin, warm in a pan without oil until the spices give off their oil. Grind in spice mill or pestle and mortar.

Add tomatoes to the onion mix. Add your meat. Add spices and herbs to taste. Add beer. Add tomato paste to give it a little extra richness. Add beans.

Bring to a boil and then simmer until the sauce is thick and rich.

Dehydrate.

Note

Fat is the enemy of dehydration. Subtly of taste is lost in drying and so the simmering of onions in water will not negate taste in the final food.

Dehydration tends to mute taste as opposed to freezing which can enhance some flavours (garlic for example). Work to the most spicy end of your personal taste.

Salt should be carried separately and added to the pot when cooking in the field.

There’s suddenly a lot of interest in home dehydration — posts on this blog, emails and discussions on Twitter. So, I thought I’d deal with some of these queries in a general post.

Machines

As with you get what you pay for. Dehydrate food for two or three weeks and your machine will take a pounding. By all means buy a cheap dehydrator to get gong but don’t be surprised if it packs up after one season! This happened to me and eventually I bought an expensive Excalibur model, but goodness me it is workhorse.

If you want to explore the lower cost models then ring Bob Cartwright at backpacking.co.uk. Bob and Rose have been dehydrating for years and they have first hand experience of which machines come back to the store and which ones seem fault free! They are always happy to give advice.

Fat is the enemy of dehydration

You don’t want fat anywhere near your dried goods especially if you are going to be keeping the stuff for any length of time. There is little water in fat to dry out. Over time while your dried food will be OK the fat will go rancid. I can taste the difference after a few weeks. OK when you are hungry on the trail you will probably eat anything, but the joy of home dehydrated food is the taste!

Preparing Meat

Meat needs to be minced or at the very least finely sliced and chopped with a cleaver or big knife. This is true also of chicken.

Choose lean meat. Mince it yourself if you can, either in a food processor or better still a home mincer if you have one. If the meat is a bit sinewy the food processor will will throw up bits of gristle. Just have a look at the ground mince and disagreed anything that is gristly!

If you buy mince from shops even if it is marked lean it will have a high fat content. Gently fry the mince and throw away the fat that oozes from the meat.

If you are using your own mince you can follow the following technique. BTW, if I am using lamb I’ll use a leg of lamb. Expensive maybe but by the time you have minced it and used it you will still have a cheaper option that commercial dried food.

Preparing food without frying

I dice and prepare onions and garlic as I normally would. But instead of frying I will gently simmer them in a small amount of water in a pan. They will soften. Sometimes I will add diced carrot and celery as you would in Italian cooking.

Once the base is soft you can add meat. You don’t have to brown it at all.

This may seem odd but meat browning is a western technique. Your Indian takeaway will have been prepared by gently heating through raw chicken or lamb in the curry sauce or gravy. We just need to replicate this system.

So, add your mince to the onions, etc. and then add stock/wine/tomato juice following your usual tastes.

Simmer until cooked.

When you rehydrate meals you can add fat because this is where the taste is! Some people carry a small plastic container with olive oil and then use this as a condiment and it works well. On shorter trips I’ll take a plastic sack of grated parmesan which really peps things up. But on a longer trek somehow the finer points of taste seem a bit superfluous!

No Salt (and watch the tomatoes)

Do not add salt to your food before dehydrating. Carry a small amount with you in a container if you need it. Salt slows down the process.

If you have a sauce you will find that the heavier it is with tomato the slower it will be to dry! I am modest with tomato but I add strips of tomato leather to the food as it cooks to give it more balance — see here for the leather recipe.

I’m not sure about the chemistry of all this but this is a better way!

A Word on Herbs

You can use herbs in your cooking but note that dehydration is the opposite to freezing. With freezing you often notice that some tastes often seem to dominate when you thaw — garlic is an example. The opposite happens with drying, i.e. herby tastes tend to be dimmed. You can carry a small container of dried herbs with you to add something when you are cooking.

However, the good thing about this is that it means you don’t have to be too worried about subtlety in your cooking; it will get lost in the process.

Watch the Water

One of the biggest problems people have when rehydrating is that they add too much water. Be gentle. You can always add as you cook if you need. Some pots have holes in the lids so you can poor away excess water but it is best to stop it in the first place!

Avoid Commercial Pastes!

I know you do it. You look at my recipes for, say, Thai Chicken and decide to cut corners by using a commercial green curry paste! The problem is that there will be too much salt inhere an other things that do show up in the final taste! Once you have bought the ingredients I have given you preparation is a doodle if you have a food processor or grinder.

I think the same is true of commercial tomato sauces. What do you want those for! They cost a bomb.

Simple Tomato Sauce Recipe

Chop a clove or two of garlic. Gently — gently I said — cook in a little oil or simmer in some boiling water (as above). You do not have to fry garlic on high heat. Just give it a minute or two to soften. You might want to add a diced red chilli at this stage.

There’s no need for onions.

Add tomato passata or plain tinned tomatoes. Simmer. You might want to add a little balsamic, red wine vinegar or (best of all) sherry vinegar.

Remember, the longer you simmer tomato sauce the richer it gets.

That’s all you need. At home you can add some shredded basil before serving.

This is much cheaper than buying a bottle sauce full of salt. You can’t get simpler than this! But I’m beginning to sound like Jamie Oliver …

Fancy Wine Sauces Don’t Really Work

Use them if you want but you’ll loose the taste. Wine vinegar adds a bit of piquancy and a nice taste.

Avoid Pork and Bacon

Should stand to reason but just don’t do it (think of the fat).

Get ready for a Production Line

For a two week trek you will be dehydrating for weeks

Store in the Freezer

Properly dried food will last for ages but it is best to freeze as this tends to stave off stale tastes.

I say use the freezer because I tend to dry too much. But it is nice to have some in reserve for hose quickly arranged overnighters.

I have to confess on occasions I have come home to find little food in the fridge. I’ve rehydrated one of my meals, added some fresh herbs and tomato paste and a bit of olive oil and I’ve ended up with a bloody good meal — better than a supermarket ready meal.

Look at my recipes!

I spent ages writing the bloody things down — they are meant for you. They are nice. People tell me so!

Shout at Bob …

He tells me he has his long awaited recipe book finished. He just has to get around to printing it !!!

Enjoy Yourself if you like cooking …

Not everyone enjoys cooking I know. But if you can knock-up a basic Bolognese or chili you can make dehydrated food.

It will taste better, far better, than the commercial alternative. And it will be a lot cheaper.

Finally, you will have something to really look forward to on those days when you realise you’ve got a hell of a long way to walk until you get to camp! And you’ll sleep well after!

 

Good luck to those of you who are going down the home dehydration route. If you need more help email me and I’ll be happy to chat by phone! Can there be any better service than that

andy.howell@me.com

I’ve had a few emails recently about dehydrating pasta sauces. To be honest the dehydration system does not lend itself to subtly. I’d stick to basics like the meat sauces and roasted tomato sauces I’ve featured in the dehydration section.

A great pasta sauce is a simple sauce. It will be simmered until rich and will just coat the pasta it sits in. Dehydration will loose you the effect of cooking and coating. I’d keep it simple.

f you’re not much of a cook, here is a normal recipe that illustrates the problems. Try this at home. It is cheap, easy and a stunner.

Serves two.

Tomato Sauce

Take a reasonably good tin of tomatoes (medium priced), chopped. Chop two cloves of garlic.

Gently soften the garlic in olive oil. You don’t want to sate it but just soften it up a little. Add tomatoes and simmer for around 20 to 30 minutes.

You don’t need anything else, no onions, balsamic vinegars, wine or sugar. The longer you cook tomatoes the richer they become.

You could (if you have some) add some shredded, fresh. basil leaves.

Aubergines

Take one decently sized aubergine and slice it lengthways into strips (not too thin or too thick — about 4 mm will do).

Gently fry the aubergine in olive oil. You will need more oil than normal. While frying sprinkle top with sea salt and pepper. When getting golden on the base turn the slices over. You won’t have to add any more oil as the oil soaked up by the aubergine will have soak through the vegetable. Make sure this does not burn. But make sure the aubergine is cooked all of the way through — it will be soft and easily pulled apart by a knife. There is nothing worse than un-cooked aubergine.

When the slices are done drain on some kitchen paper and set aside.

Pasta

Dried, robust, pasta goes best with this — penne or rigatoni. Bring water to boil and cook until al dente (meaning there is still some bite left in the pasta). Most packet instructions will have yo cook the pasta for too long. Remember, the pasta still cooks after drained and it will then be added to the sauce for a while. Just test the pasta and choose when ready by taste.

Dice the aubergine slices and add to the tomato sauce (which is still simmering).

Drain pasta and add to sauce. Toss or stir until the pasta is coated with sauce — there should not be too much excess liquid (but it you’ve simmered the sauce for 30 mins you’ll have no problems). Add some fresh basil if you have it.

Sprinkle with fresh parmesan and (if you like) drizzle a little good olive oil over the top.

There you have it. A simple variation of pasta and tomato sauce. The aubergine gives it a wonderful, creamy, richness and texture. A cheap and superb supper.

I’d forgotten how good this could be until I saw chef Theo Randall cooking this on TV the other day. I immediately rushed out and bought an aubergine. Heaven!

The point of all of this?

There is no way you can replicate this through dehydrating!

On the trail you just want something that is more or less tasty and has some carbs in it. I find the use of carrot and celery makes a difference but gentler tastes just get lost in the dehydration process.

I’ve clustered together all of my dehydration pages in one place (or rather they are linked by a new home page). You can see them at the address below:

The Home Dehydration Pages

These two curry recipes will introduce you to most of the basic techniques. Of course, you don’t have to curry everything. Here are some ideas o adapting recipes.

Bolognese

Make your usual sauce but watch the fat. Use only lean beef and avoid fatty pork or bacon. The longer you cook a bolognese the richer it will be. This is due to the tinned tomatoes which get richer the longer they are cooked. Cook for three hours if you can, or one and a half hours and leave overnight.

I use a base of chopped vegetables, onion, carrots and celery and this is good when dehydrating. I also add white wine. You can make the sauce a little heavier by adding red wine — add mushrooms and you can call this chicken chasseur!

Chasseur/red wine sauces seem to end up a bit bland but you may like them.

Lamb Provencal

Lovely and easy. Prepare as for lamb curry but with just onions and garlic. Add cooked mince. Add tomatoes and some thyme or oregano and bay if you have it. Top up with chicken stock. Add some pitted olives and a little balsamic vinegar if you like. Cook for an hour and a half. Dehydrate. This may look simple but so long as it os cooked for a while it is delicious.

Fish Pie

Fish is notoriously dodgy to dehydrate — it’s the smell when you are cooking that cause the problems. Rose Cartwright produces great dehydrated fish pies and no doubt the recipe will be included in their forthcoming book. I’ve only made this once and it was OK. Here is a recipe with some ideas for improvements.

Poach fillets of white fish (cod, pollack, haddock) in milk flavoured with a bay leaf and some pepper.

Remove fish from liquor but reserve the liquor. Flake the fish into nice, small flakes.

Make a basic white sauce, using the milk liquor that you poached the fish in (get a cook book or use the web if not sure). WHen it is a reasonably creamy consistency add the flaked fish and then ad some ready cooked prawns. You could add some tarragon if you have it, lots of parsley otherwise.

When the prawns are cooked (only a minute or so) you are ready.

I’d experiment now with adding quite a bit of grated cheese. Stir until melted into sauce.

Lay on dehydrating trays and dry.

Re-hydrate with dried potato.

Because of the fish and the fat content I wouldn’t keep this too long. If you do keep it be sure to keep it in the freezer.

This is one of my favourites. I grind my own spices. Subtly is lost in the drying process and that just means there is no need for complicated spice mixes.

Ingredients

Lamb steaks (lean)
Tin of tomatoes
fresh chillies
onions
garlic
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 tsp of ground coriander
3 to 4 inch cinammon stick
1 tsp of chillie powder or a sprinkle of dried chillie flakes.
1 packet of ready washed spinach

Mince the lamb steaks – you decide how many portions you want.

Fry spices for 30 seconds or so in a little groundnut or sunflower oil. Add chopped onions, garlic (use quite a bit of garlic) and fresh chopped chillie (to taste) and gently fry in a little groundnut or sunflower oil.

Add minced lamb (cheffy types will have already browned this off in a separate pan).

Add tomatoes. Add water to cover. You may add some potato here, but keep the pieces relatively small.

Bring to boil and then gently simmer until the meat is tender and the sauce nice and thick.

Add all of the spinach. Cover and cook for a while longer until the spinach has wilted into the sauce and has given it a creamy texture. Remove cinnamon stick

Dehydrate.

You can mix this with dried rice but for some reason I prefer to keep the rice separate for this dish

This is my own discover — and superb it is to.

You will need a pack (or two) of good tomatoes (on the vine), some fresh garlic and onion. Have some balsamic vinegar standing by. If you like chillies take one or two medium red chillies.

Roughly chop the onion and the garlic (you can leave the onion out completely) Halve the tomatoes and place them in a baking dish/tray/ceramic dish. Sprinkle over the garlic (and or onion). Add halved chillies if you wish. Sprinkle over a little olive oil and add some balsamic if you wish.

Roast in a medium-low oven until the tomatoes are cooked and beginning to char. The time taken depends on your oven but it often takes longer than you think. Watch carefully. Do not the garlic and onion burn! A gentler oven is best. If you are not sure turn down the heat and cook for longer.

When everything is cooked empty the ingredients into a liquidiser or food processor and blitz until you have a thickish soupy consistency. Alternatively, shove though a masher until you get something similar (the tomatoes will need to be thoroughly cooked though).

You now have a great winter sauce for pasta or grilled chicken. Add fresh herbs such as basil.

To dehydrate simply spread over a couple of dehydration trays. Make sure the paste is reasonably thinly spread.

Deydrate overnight and perhaps into the next day — tomato takes time.

A versatile Leather

You will end up with a tomato-type leather.

This is wonderfully versatile stuff.

You can rip bits off and add to a pan of pasta that is simmering away, to get a quick tomato sauce. Simply add more to get the right thickness. (You don’t have to add too much water to pasta that has been pre-dried).

Alternatively, I use this to add depth to other dried dishes. Often I’ve lost a bit of taste in the drying process. While the meal is rehydrating I’ll often add a few strips of this stuff to make it richer.

Alternatively this good mixed with fresh foods. In the Pyrenees this summer I wanted to avoid taking in dried meat produce. I took a lot of tomato leather with me and added it to local sausages, fresh cheese, chillies and so on when preparing a meal. Very tasty.

Finally, I use this as an emergency supply.

Let’s say I’m planning to walk for three days without resupply. It is sensible to cary food for four days just in case. By using tomato leather and couscous I can have a very lightweight emergency day’s rations.

Try it. You wont be disappointed.

The sauce is great for cold winter days (without dehydration) – it really is quite hearty.

And so to Green Curry — this does seem to be the one that has got you all going!

I call this ‘porridge’ for reasons that will become obvious. It may look a bit of a mush but it tastes wonderful. And the good news for you all is that this recipe works just as well at home! It is based on an original from Nigel Slater.

This makes four portions. You can easily make more — you will have paste left over and it stores for ages in the fridge. Simple adjust other ingredients sensibly.

Ingredients

Curry Paste

4 lemongrass stalks
6 medium heat green chillies, seeded and crushed
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
5 cm piece of galangal or ginger
2 shallots peeled and finely chopped
4 tablespoons chopped, fresh, coriander
a teaspoon of ground cumin
a teaspoon of ground coriander
a teaspoon of chopped lime zest
a tablespoon of ground black peppercorns

other ingredients

Chicken breasts or thighs (enough for four)
200 grams of mushrooms, thinly sliced (optional)
400 mil tin of coconut milk
400 ml of chicken stock
8 lime leaves
t tablespoon of Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tablespoon of bottled green peppercorns, drained (optional)
a large bunch of fresh basil leaves
a bunch of fresh coriander leaves

Basics and Buying Info

They key to this dish is the curry paste. It is worth tracking the ingredients down. You will find them in all chinese stores and in many, larger supermarkets.

Kafir lime leaves look rather like bay leaves although they taste very different. Like bay you can buy them fresh of dried (fresh is best if you can get them).

The fish sauce is easily available these days and indispensable.

You need lots of lime juice and the skin (though not the pith) of the limes.]

Galangal is a route rather like ginger. It has a similar though different — less stringent — taste. If you can find galangal then great but if not just use fresh ginger.

Whole spices freshly ground are very different from bought, ground stuff (and they last a long time).

Instructions

First make the paste. Chop up the lemon grass into small pieces. Add to a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and then blitz. Alternatively place in small bowl or water jug and attack with a hand blitzer. If you have neither machines then get a good knife (or cleaver) and chop until very fine.

Put paste in a container of jam jar for keeping in the fridge. having the paste in the fridge is great as you have now done most of the hard work.

Cook the chicken. Simply add a little groundnut or sunflower oil to a wok or good pan and fry on both side until the pieces have taken on some colour. Cook in batches rather than over-fill the pan — the chicken will boil rather than fry. If you are making this well in advance you may simply want to simmer the pieces in boiling water until clearly cooked — this uses no oil and is now quite a common method of cooking for health conscious chinese cooks. Whichever methods you use, drain chicken on kitchen paper.

Heat a tiny amount of oil in the pan and throw in the mushrooms if being used. Add the coconut milk and the stock. Then throw in the lime leaves. Add four tablespoons of your green curry paste, the fish sauce, peppercorns and half of the fresh basil and coriander. Bring to boil, turn down the heat and simmer for ten minutes giving everything a good stir from time to time.

Then return the chicken to the pan and add another tablespoon of green paste. Simmer for a further five minutes or so. Stir in the rest of the green herbs.

You should now have a fine dish which you serve with aromatic rice.

To dehydrate do the following.

Drain off the liquid in a colander into a pan (we need the liquid). Take the cooked chicken and mush and blitz it in a food processor or hand blitzer. You should end up with paste. Gradually stir the reserved liquid back into the blitzed chicken until you have a reasonably consistent sauce. Sometimes this can be problematical. If it gets lumpy, break up the lumps ( a hand blitzer is good).

I would then add my cooked rice to the sauce.

What you now have is something that looks very much like porridge (but tastes great).

Spread on one or more trays and then dehydrate until dry.