Trail Food Recipe: Beef Stew

I seem gravitate toward Asian, Tex-Mex, and Italian recipes when I am putting together trail meals for Jamie. The freeze-dried ingredients work well with them and they pack a punch in the flavor department. But in the interest of mixing it up a bit, I sent a test run of this Beef Stew to Jamie, and it was a hit. What's great is that it is very lightweight in the pouch, but still pretty good from a caloric perspective. Vegetables are a bonus!

INGREDIENTS:

2/3 cup Freeze Dried Diced Beef

1/2 cup Freeze-Dried Diced Potatoes

1/4 cup Freeze-Dried Corn

1/4 cup Freeze-Dried Peas

1 Tbsp Freeze-Dried Carrots

1/4 tsp Minced Onions

1/4 tsp Minced Garlic

1 Tbsp Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1 Tbsp Collagen Powder

1 Tbsp Instant Mashed Potatoes

1 tsp Tomato Powder

1 tsp Butter Powder

Thyme (pinch/to taste)

Parsley (pinch/to taste)

1/4 tsp Salt and Pepper (generous)

Olive Oil (2T)

• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil added when preparing on the trail with boiling water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine all ingredients in a meal pouch or prep bowl.

2. Toss to evenly distributed ingredients.

3. Remove as much air as possible and seal.

PREPARATION:

1. Add 1 1/2 cup boiling water to the meal pouch.

2. Let sit in a meal cozy or other insulated container for approximately 8-9 minutes.

3. Stir well and dig in.
   

A Word or Two About the Ingredients

Being born and raised in Iowa, Jamie has a fondness for what might be described as "mid-western comfort food." Think, meatloaf, noodle casseroles, bratwurst, BBQ, and the like. Meat and potatoes... Simple and tasty...

I had a vision of pot roast or stew to add to the mix, so I put this together and included it in the resupply I brought to Jamie in Helena.

The starting point was obviously beef! This Mountain House Diced Beef is great to have on hand. It works well with a lot of recipes. Beef & broccoli stir fry, burrito bowls, beef stroganoff, etc., or you can substitute it for ground beef in a lot of recipes for a little textural change up.

Now, because vegetables are SO lightweight when freeze-dried, this recipe was nearly airy in spite of being chock full of good stuff. Jamie kept asking what was going on with it being so light - enough that I started to wonder if I screwed it up when I was putting it together! (It's been known to happen.)

Thankfully, that was not the case, and Jamie gave it a positive review, but with a couple tweaks to refine it:

More salt. This is an evergreen comment. I'm not inclined to go light on salt, but hiker's and their food need a pretty good amount of it! The hiker's sweat it out, and the food doesn't generally have a lot (or any, sometimes) in the basic ingredients.

Needs some thickening. I was pretty conservative in how much collagen I originally used (only 1 teaspoon) so I upped that to 1 tablespoon. This Great Lakes Collagen is my go-to.

It's grass-fed, high quality, single ingredient collagen. It is a really great add to hiker recipes to thicken and/or boost protein, and if it helps with hair, skin, nails, and joints, that's a bonus!

I also added a tablespoon of instant mashed potatoes, which will really thicken it up, with much better flavor and texture than raw flour or gums.

Again, way to go, Idaho!

Someday, I'll do an analysis between this recipe and some of the ready-made versions out there. Cost, quality, weight, etc. It would be interesting, and I will keep an open mind, but I'm pretty sure I know how it will turn out! Otherwise, why would I be doing all this?!

Let me know what you think!

Weights and Measures