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Backpacker Magazine – January 2009

Recipes: 4 One-Pot Stews

Don't settle for a hunk of ice-hard jerky when the mercury plummets. A hard day of winter hiking or snowshoeing should be followed with a piping-hot stew.

by: Joann Winberg, Photos by Justin Bailie

Mushroom Soup with Gremolata
Mushroom Soup with Gremolata
Double Onion & Potato Stew
Double Onion & Potato Stew
Chicken and Dumplings
Chicken and Dumplings
Moroccan Fish Tagine
Moroccan Fish Tagine
BREATHE EASY:
Cook outside or in your tent's open vestibule–not in the tent itself–to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

Mushroom Soup with Gremolata | Double Onion & Potato Stew | Chicken and Dumplings | Moroccan Fish Tagine

MOROCCAN FISH TAGINE
Whip up the trail version of a classic North African slow-cooked stew.

4 cups water
1 can tomato paste (6 ounces)
1/4 cup red lentils
1/4 cup split peas
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pouch chunk salmon or tuna (7 ounces)
1 apple
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup raisins or chopped prunes
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice from 1 lemon (optional)

At Home
Place lentils, peas, ginger, paprika, and cinnamon in a zip-top bag.

In Camp
In a pot, stir tomato paste into the water, then add lentil mixture. Heat to boiling and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Add salmon and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until lentils and peas are tender. Chop apple into bite-size pieces and add to the pot with almonds and raisins or prunes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and garnish with lemon juice. Serves 2-3.


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READERS COMMENTS

I made this at home because it read so well, and it may be better suited for the woods but I thought it was far too much flavor and not enough eats.
Posted: Mar 22, 2009 Dane McIntosh

Seriously, you don't need to soak the mushrooms I discovered as below.
Posted: Mar 13, 2009 Honora

Europe - Many dehdyrated soups. Asian Markets Many dried food products. Spice it up with garlic, curry, chilli powder. More and more Health food stores and some outdoorgear stores are selling dehydrated boxes of all kinds of vegetables from which you can make allkind of vegan meals. Dried Meats are good and even canned ham or chicken or pork are great, but more weight
Posted: Mar 12, 2009 GMAN

My Best soups are ligthweight. Ramen noodles or Asian rice noodles with dried shrimp, vegetables, chicken etc (mushrooms) Dehyradted Potatoe Soup. I've done 5 days 4 nights in Emigrant (CA) with 4 lbs max food. Had a leftover ramen spare meal.
Posted: Mar 12, 2009 GMAN

One thing they left out was the instructions to rehydrate the mushrooms - cover with cool water and soak for 15 minutes at least. Use any left over water - it will be mushroom broth.
I did a re-do of this recipe when the magazine came out:
http://blog.trailcooking.com/2008/12/02/mushroom-soup-for-a-cold-day-with-video/

Btw, on farfalle pasta? That is just bow tie shaped pasta. Pasta is pasta - you can always swap out shapes in recipes.
Posted: Mar 01, 2009 Sarah Kirkconnell

With only 7 ounces of chicken to split between 2-3 people, they better be eating on a low protein reqired trip or they should be small people.
Posted: Feb 27, 2009 Ed Avery

Re Michael's observation of the mushroom soup. Yes, it's pretty lean, calories-wise as it stands. I had it as the first course and then the lentils. We can't get some of these ingredients here in New Zealand. I'll have to google farfalle. I guess it's a pasta - and your biscuit mix...well here it's a sweet cookie mix but I know from "the Grapes of Wrath" that biscuits in the States are savoury.
Posted: Feb 27, 2009 Honora

Mushroom with Gremolata
that's not stew, it's a whimpy soup with
no protein and few carbs
add a 4 ounce chicken packet and some farfalle

Yummo!!

Posted: Feb 26, 2009 michael

Uh, Jim. Hauling frozen broth can be easily avoided by hauling bullion cubes.
Posted: Feb 22, 2009 Yustin

Uh, Jim. Hauling frozen broth can be easily avoided by hauling bullion cubes.
Posted: Feb 22, 2009 Yustin

I used dehydrated apple which was all I had. It worked well and the juice from one lemon was too much for the recipe. The quantity would be insufficient for 2 people from my experience. I sliced the almonds by hand into 6 slivers per almond as the price of commercially sliced ones was extortionate. It was surprisingly easy.
Posted: Feb 16, 2009 Honora

Well, I cooked 2 of the meals this w/e and they were a success. I sauteed the dried presliced shittake mushrooms in the oil. As they had the consistency of blotting paper, they soaked up all the oil so I just added the flour to the mushroom/oil mix and browned it a bit then added the water and stock cubes. It was a very nice result and the gremolata was a delicious touch. Now my partner's drinking bottle smells of garlic. We normally don't eat the stuff because of my work where I am in close proximity to captive patients (phlebotomist).

The lentil dish was good too. I dehydrated it at home to save time/gas and added cooked dehydrated basmati rice to bulk it up a bit in the calorie dept. We didn't have split peas so I used urudal which is very similar. I added tuna in the cookup at camp.
Posted: Feb 16, 2009 Honora

You can make the stews at home and then dehydrate them. They rehydrate fairly easily and then taste much as they did when you first cooked them. You also can do this with spaghetti. Just make sure you add plenty of suace before dehydrating. Its a lot easier to cook meals at home than in camp. Just add water and the taste is nearly the same as when you made it originally. It takes about 15 minutes to rehydrate, faster if you heat the water right at the start. Just barely cover the dried spaghetti with water. Easy, light and tasty.
Posted: Feb 13, 2009 Tim

Lemmie get this right. For the mushroom soup recipe you slice dried mushrooms and then saute them...I'll give it a go.

cheers
Posted: Feb 13, 2009 Honora

OK crazy as this sounds snow shoe or winter hiking trips are the perfect opportunity for......broth-cicles!!!!! You can save time and weight by freezing broth in an ice cube tray (figure 1/2 tray makes 1/2 cup) then hauling the cubes sealed in a zip lock bag. Saves water consumption (snow runoff into creeks makes for a risky situation) and you don't have to pack seasonings if you season the broth before freezing. This can also be done with egg drop soup for a high protein and fat (very important during winter hikes) meal from your fav Chinese restaurant.
Posted: Feb 12, 2009 Jim Larsen

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