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Two Fer Tater Tuesday!
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Mar 8, 2011 at 9:28 am #1270231
Two Fer Tater Tuesday
Several years ago, Sarah of Trail Cooking, would post new potato recipe every Tuesday morning. It was incredibly popular. I'm not sure why she stopped doing it. Last week, with her blessing, I decided to bring back Tater Tuesday. Search her archives for a gold mine of tater recipes!
Sarah and I have backpacked and talked food together for over ten years now. Everyone knows if they are hiking with us, they will both be guinea pig food testers and eat very well. Sarah wrote her backpacking cookbook, Freezerbag Cooking, first, and then encouraged me to write One Pan Wonders a few years later. We are both in the process of finishing our second books.
After I posted last week's recipe, we got to talking. We often bounce ideas back and forth and often come up with very different recipes using the same ingredients. Wouldn't it be fun to see what happens if we picked two basic ingredients to add to potatoes and developed recipes independently?
We wanted something that was readily accessible in most grocery stores and easy to fix on the trail. We settled on a small can (or pouch) of chicken and sun dried tomatoes. Anything else we added was kept a secret. We have not discussed what the final dish will be, so I'm excited to see what Sarah comes up with!I
I decided to do a pesto themed dish. In the process of buying the ingredients, I found a new flavor of Idahoan potatoes and a new brand of sun-dried tomatoes! Feel free to use different flavors of mashed potatoes. Butter and Herb would work nicely for this dish. Soft sun dried tomatoes are becoming easier to find. Check your produce department.
Make sure you get the chicken in the pop-top can. If you do not want to carry a can of chicken, dried chicken may be used instead. Just rehydrate it separately before adding to the potatoes.
Pesto Potatoes with Chicken and Sun Dried Tomatoes
Serves 11/2 cup Italian Romano White Cheese flavored mashed potatoes (Idahoan brand)
2 tablespoons soft sun dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon basil pesto pasta sauce mix
1 5 oz can chicken
1 1 oz stick mozzarella cheeseAt home: combine everything except the cheese and chicken in a zip locking freezer bag.
In camp: add about 1 cups water to the potatoes. Stir well. Stir in the chicken. No need to drain. Serve topped with the cheese.
Mar 8, 2011 at 11:28 am #1706117Thanks for starting this up again-
For us shopping challenged, maybe you could list where you purchased the items that we would not normally be accustom to, i.e. Soft dried tomatoes, Organic pesto pasta sauce mix. The other stuff I run into at the store everyday. I'm not lazy, I just don't purchase anything outside the "basics", so I'm not as well rounded in the food isles as I could/should be.
Mar 8, 2011 at 11:30 am #1706120sounds good, love those taters
Mar 8, 2011 at 11:30 am #1706121The pesto sauce will be in the pasta aisle – or where ever you would find the powdered gravy mixes etc.
Safeway and Albertson's both have soft sun dried tomatoes. Produce section.
Every store is different… Just gotta look! :)
Mar 8, 2011 at 11:43 am #1706125Thanks Di, I guess my problem is I'm a little anal about stuff and if I can't find exactly what you are using (exactly same product) I tend to freeze up and go back to the same old ramen with some chicken thrown in.
So maybe in your third book you could explain where to get all that neat stuff, I know Sarbar shops at PCC on occasion which would be a whole new experience for me.BTW, I am still looking for the baked ramen at Fred Meyer Sarbar talks about, but I think she bought the whole warehouse out! They probably don't make it anymore, so you see some use us can get pretty stuck in a rut.
Mar 8, 2011 at 12:17 pm #1706147http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/italian-ish-double-cheese-taters (and it lists what ingredients I used as well on the recipe page)
Italian-ish Double Cheese Taters
Tater Tuesday done Italian style.
Ingredients
• 2⁄3 c instant mashed potatoes
• 2 T sun dried tomatoes, sliced thin
• 1 T dry milk
• 1 T butter powder (see notes)
• 1 T shelf stable Parmesan cheese
• 1⁄4 t granulated garlic
• 1⁄4 t Italian seasoning
• 5 oz can chicken breast
• 1 pkt string cheese
• 1 c water
Instructions
At home pack the dry ingredients into a quart freezer bag for FBC or a sandwich bag for the insulated mug or one pot methods. Tuck the chicken with the bag and pack the cheese stick before leaving.
FBC Method: Bring the water to a near boil. Add the chicken with broth to the mashed potatoes, then the water. Stir till well mixed, making sure there is no powder in the corners. Seal tightly and let sit in a cozy for 5 minutes. Dice up the cheese and add in.
Insulated Mug Method: Bring the water to a boil. Dump the potato mix into your mug, add the chicken with broth to the mashed potatoes, then the water. Stir till well mixed, making sure there is no powder in the corners. Cover tightly for 5 minutes. Dice up the cheese and add in.
One Pot Method: Bring the water and the chicken with broth to a boil. Take off the heat, stir in the potato mixture, stirring well. Cover tightly and let sit for 5 minutes. In cooler weather use a pot cozy to retain heat. Dice up the cheese and add in.Mar 8, 2011 at 4:27 pm #1706279What a fun idea! Luckily, I had all the ingredients for both of them, except for the basil pesto sauce. But I did have basil and I did have pesto sauce, so I improvised. Next time I go to the store I'll look for the real thing to see if there's a difference.
I just did a taste test on Mr. B, and he liked them both enough to be willing to eat them on the trail. He said neither one tasted like instant potatoes. That is a huge compliment coming from him.
Mar 8, 2011 at 5:08 pm #1706298In Sarah's photo, you see the Sun Dried Tomatoes?
Last night I was rummaging around in a large box of freeze dried food that I had on hand, and I found a package of Sun Dried Tomatoes (Trader Joes). Then I turned the package over, and on the back was printed "Best Before March 1995."
–B.G.–
Mar 8, 2011 at 5:27 pm #1706312"Last night I was rummaging around in a large box of freeze dried food that I had on hand, and I found a package of Sun Dried Tomatoes (Trader Joes). Then I turned the package over, and on the back was printed "Best Before March 1995."
You need to get out more!
Mar 8, 2011 at 6:11 pm #1706340"You need to get out more!"
I'm working on that.
All I have to do is to figure out how to get six days worth of food into a BearVault 450. Easier said than done.
–B.G.–
Mar 8, 2011 at 8:08 pm #1706397Did you check to see if they were fuzzy and blue/green? :-D
Mar 8, 2011 at 9:19 pm #1706426Actually, they look the same as the day they left the store. Dry, and very dark red.
–B.G.–
Mar 9, 2011 at 8:31 am #1706526There ya go~! Enjoy ;-)
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