dehydrating 102- & pantry cooking- PHOTO heavy

to continue from yesterday
(for rho)
today i am going to show you how to use some dried veggies in a meal.
i took pictures and posted them of the tortilla potpie bowls the other day (scroll down) if you would like to make a pot pie using tortillas (which we do as it's fast)...and that is a whole wheat tortilla in the photo.

melted butter with olive oil added

1/8 cup flour added

now as to filling, i tend to leftovers for potpies, and normally i start with a roux, which is a mix of equal parts flour and a fat .....
for pot pies i use a mix of butter and olive oil for the fat.

starting to whisk flour in

beef stock added

so lets say we start with a tablespoon of butter and one of olive oil, melt the butter in a heavy bottom pot, then add the oil and let that heat a bit
then add about 1/8 cup of flour, you can use all purpose
 whisk that together
i used beef stock in this, about 1-1/2 cups

finished sauce

you can use whatever you have on hand. you can even use bullion reconstituted if you absolutely have to. (ignore my crappy non counter, i am still trying to get counters in the kitchen!)

whisk it while heating until it gets thicker and smooth.
it should be lump free doing it this way
btw, this will also make gravy if you need to, the very same method, but use the pan drippings after you separate out the fats

dried onions in mason jar

dried veggies soaking

 meanwhile i took some dried veggies and started to soak them in hot water as we aren't going to do a true soup or stew. i just grabbed whatever i had close on the shelf, so it ended up as diced eggplant, vidalia onions, and some diced sweet peppers ( i need to dry another batch of carrots it looks like)

chicken sauteing in pan

leftover potatoes and onions to add

i diced up some chicken breast i had.....and simmered that with the veggies and their dehydrating water- i also had some leftover potatoes and onions from the other night....yup they went in there also




added some fresh ground pepper, and a dash of paprika and garlic powder,  a bit of tomato sauce i had in the fridge (you can use a cube you froze from something else)

dried veggies added to pan

sauce added and stirred

then added the roux thickened beef stock to it all and dumped it into the tortilla bowl..








i briefly softened another tortilla(not soft enough from the look of the photo) and put that on top, then into the oven at 350 for about 20 to 30 minutes. (i like the top a bit crispy)

add paprika & tomato sauce

add to the tortilla bowl

it is pantry and leftover cooking at it's finest!....
now i like to keep a lot of whole wheat tortillas on hand for my new found love ....enchiladas!
which i make out of leftovers, and add chopped vegetables to.
so these tortilla pot pies are sort of an extension of that idea, and while the enchiladas freeze well, i've never tried to freeze these.

i know that the photos are not the best however this is a pretty good way to use up leftovers, or make overs.... i use leftover everything (including leftover gravy when i made the turkey leftover pot pie)

out of the oven!- smells great!

cover with another tortilla and bake

 now i hope this helps you, because it does help to have another way to make leftovers, and to use pantry items.


by drying your own veggies and fruits, when are in season, you save a lot of money, and by keeping a pantry full of food, you know that in case of emergency you have a safety margin for yourself and your family.

here again are some sites for dehydration
http://www.clemson.edu/sustainableag/IP147_food_dehydration.pdf

http://msuextension.org/publications/HomeHealthandFamily/MT200907HR.pdf

http://nchfp.uga.edu/

i hope this helps you....
please let me know in the comments

where in we discuss dehydration of vegetables 101

*** edited to add some links to official dehydration sites at the bottom of this post

as some of you folks may remember, i keep a very large pantry.
i try to make sure that we have enough of everything to last us, in case of emergencies

storms
power outages
shortages (remember the rice shortage?)
financial set backs
illness

i try to keep three methods of food storage.

frozen
canned
dried

my friend rho asked me to do a post about dehydrated foods....
so i am going to start talking about that today (which is thursday for you folks)

first off i want to tell you, drying food at home is not hard,
with some minimal care,
it lasts a very long time, properly stored,
and it's wonderful for emergencies.
or because you just can't bear to scrub, peel and slice the carrots for the stew tonight cause you are so very tired from working all day

first off there are plenty of books on this (we'll get to the book list in another post- if i forget, you remind me)

so we'll start with the real basics, the dehydrator
i have several (yes i know)
i have two excaliburs (one 9 tray and one 5) and an american harvest with something like 11 trays.
i like all of them
and sometimes ALL of them are in use at the same time!

some of the things i dry the most?
carrots
broccoli
sweet peppers
tomatoes
ONIONS (you haven't lived until you've eaten dried vidalia onions-dry them OUTSIDE-you will thank me for that one)
cabbage
herbs
oranges
lemons
limes
grapefruit
zucchini
eggplant
peaches
sliced mushrooms
asparagus
celery


(and occasionally potatoes but you have to really watch potatoes, they mold FAST)

so let's start with something very easy.
onions! in spite of the smell, and i am very very serious about drying them OUTSIDE of your living area, they will get to you if not........
onions are great to dry
i sliced them up in the food processor one year and it was even easier to do
i like them about 1/8 thick
spread them in one layer on the trays, and depending on weather, i start at about 5 hours, then flip them until they are almost crisp. these things are fantastic as a snack btw.

now mine changed color a bit but that was ok too
we also grind them for onion powder as we need them

when they are totally dry, i put them in mason jars with a 'dry can' seal i use a seal-a-meal jar sealer and a used but washed canning lid and ring
label (although onions are pretty obvious.....citrus not so much so)
i think 50 # of vidalia dried down to 4 quarts or maybe 5, i wasn't able to do them this year or last so i can't quite remember how many, but i know that i STILL have them on the shelf
keep them stored in a cool, dark, DRY place (in moist climates, either use them food grade 'stay dry' packs or maybe try the heat sealing mylar bags or both--)

i will tell you also that i hooked more people on drying food by letting them have some of my dried vidalia onions....they are like fantastic chips- seriously, they are better then onion flavored potato chips!

i basically dry citrus the same way, just sliced and dried......USE ORGANIC citrus if you are going to do that ok? and remember to label the jars...... next time lemons and limes are on sale.... pick them up and dry them
i dry these guys crisp, and i do use them often
the oranges in either blueberry orange compot or my cranberry orange sauce at the holidays
sometimes i grind up the citrus slices and throw that into cookie dough......

now some things need to be blanched briefly before drying, i usually blanch broccoli and then slice it thin and dry it- not so much things like peppers or tomatoes, or zucchinis etc.

i cut the veggies uniformly, and i try to cut them into pieces that are pretty easy to deal with, i like to dice peppers and eggplant
i slice carrots and zucchini into 1/8'' slices
i grow special tomatoes sometimes for sun drying but i dry them in the dehydrator (they sometimes turn very dark but that's ok, i don't use sulfur or anything to preserve color)


use? well....... i mostly use them in soups or stews (either soak in liquid prior or just throw them in about 1/2 or so before you're going to eat )
and in sauces- also in dips with sour cream
i like the broccoli in cream of broccoli cheddar soup

but i am going to tell you a HUGE secret.......shhhhhh don't tell bernie, and DO NOT TELL YOUR KIDS
i grind my dried veggies up and put them into things like stuffing for poultry, or into a casserole sauce,
or into meatballs, meatloaf...... hahahaha
what they don't know is wonderful for them

ok, so that's your intro to dehydrating veggies and fruits
i know it's basic but really it's not hard

ask me questions in the comments and we will continue this for a few days if you find it interesting and useful...

http://www.clemson.edu/sustainableag/IP147_food_dehydration.pdf

http://msuextension.org/publications/HomeHealthandFamily/MT200907HR.pdf

http://nchfp.uga.edu/

shhhhhh it's really friday night

you however, will read this saturday morning.....
i won't tell if you won't....ok?

i been icing and using the rice sock all damn day  *** two cups of rice in a clean white cotton crew sock heated in the micro about a minute or so***
i can't straighten out my left arm
if this keeps up i am going to be at the ortho...... and what do i tell him?
i moved too much wood?
i knit too much?
hauled too many buckets of water? (remember when i had to tell the chiro 'i was wrestling with edmund my wether, and pulled out my back.......he wasn't too happy)
he can't give me cortisone cause of the 11B so what is he going to do that i'm not already doing?
PT? oh man...not another run of THAT

this was a pretty bad week, first with that plague that apparently everyone else in town has, and my arm.
but on the up side....my seedlings are all up
the rain is washing the snow away...
drought conditions should not exhist
it's warmer and i can sleep in
i'm over the plague if not the arm
so mainly it's a good thing

bernie just called (remember it really is friday night) he's on his way home as he's worried that i will over use this arm trying to get supper on.
he knows i hauled water buckets for the animals today (used my other arm)
he also knows i may try to get supper on as i did do the meat part last night

*** i did a to die for oven pot roast, powdered celery, sweet peppers, onions and garlic in water, in a small enameled cast iron cocotte covered.....in the oven at 250. made it's own gravy and it was wonderful---maybe i shouldn't have lifted the cast iron pots?---- oh and remind me to tell you all about the dried veggie powders i find myself making and using more and more as seasonings i need to do a post about that, you guys will love it***

it's warm out, i am so very tempted to put some spinach, mache, and lettuce seeds out in the deck planters. i will hold off on the snow peas and the garden peas, as the main garden is STILL covered with snow. but boy i wish my snow peas were up......i love the first flush of them steamed on salads during early spring...don't you all love those first spring salads from your gardens?

in budgie news, captain cuttle is out numbered as you all may recall- while he is mainly interested in his beloved emma, the other two girls are pestering him to feed them.
mrs fezziwig yells at him a lot (she's doing that right now) and i think mrs fezziwig needs a MR fezziwig......just as estella needs her pip. soooooooooooooooo as soon as heating is over
we get two male babie budgies, they'll have to stay in quarantine like the easter budgies did but that's ok.... then that will be it for budgie-dom (although a larger flight would be nice i think... like a walk in flight???)

this morning in the slushy snow i saw some interesting tracks..... unfortunately they are sniffing around the duck pens and the cellar door.
i saw fisher tracks, fox, raccoon, and domestic cat......
the fisher has me seriously worried though, and i don't think i can poison it.
so i may have to see if a trapper is interested,.......it's late though in the season, possibly too warm for a trapper to really want it.
i also saw bobcat, further back though
no skunk yet, (jen's smelled them so they're out now) but i also imagine the bear is out too
i think we are going to need some hot fencing soon

the baby ducks are laying daily, lilli no, phoebe possibly but she's hiding the eggs.
i am pretty sure that the hens haven't started up yet........which is ok right now, even though we can use chicken eggs. i am not seeing egglaying behavior in the chickens. colette follows me around as usual but isn't crouching, neither are the other sussex crosses......... and of course henrietta and dulcette are 5000 year old chickens, so when they lay, they are totally confused by it.
i intend to start up baking again as soon as i'm able, i have a largish stash of duck eggs waiting
we are also anxiously waiting for if not actually warm weather......at least no snow cover or ice....... everyone wants to get out and scratch in the dirt
i need the ducks to de-slug the garden
and the chickens to go after what i am sure is lurking in the squash beds......they can't do that with snow on the beds.

well everyone, i hope your garden planning and seed starting is coming along
i am planning on drying more veggies this year then canning ( i know....... but i love dried veggies, they take so much less space up)
i also am planning increasing my pickling........one of my favorite nephews eats me out of pickles as soon as he knows i made them
(he'd better help plant cuc's this year......i keep telling him he's also going to learn to pickle....but he tells me he'll be in afganistan, and won't be able to get home......hmmmmm, i told him that at the rate he EATS pickles......that is NOT an excuse- he laughs at me, and of course i give him another jar of pickles--- he'd better bring my jars back... he's got some of my fancy jars)

gee i got the fever......
you all too?
ok everyone have a wonderful weekend
i know we have errands planned..... hopefully no more trees will come down in these winds
i hope you folks over in new zealand aren't getting any more quakes or tremors- i went to cnn and also to msnbc and watched clips from your earthquake...it is a nightmare for you all
some of the pictures reminded me of 9-11
ok everyone stay safe, stay warm......and talk to you all later