Dehydrated and freeze dried

[LooseMoose]

Just a quick note that the folks I buy all of our dried and freeze dried provisions are having a pretty serious sale of 15% off of everything. We have been using Harmony House for a couple of years and it is the best we have come across http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/?AffId=11 To get the discount type MOM in on the coupon code field.Theoffer is good through Sunday the 10th.


Bob
http://boatbits.blogspot.com/
http://fishingundersail.blogspot.com/
http://islandgourmand.blogspot.com/

[skylark]

Which veggies or fruits do you use?  Got any recipes?

[LooseMoose]

We really like the sweet potato and the Jalapeno dices are something special and whenever we order we always double up on those. The various combos work out pretty well and make for a well stocked galley. Here in the Caribbean the quality and price of fresh veg is evil so having a gallon of dried peppers that you can take a coule of spoonfuls from makes all the difference...

The TVP has been a somewhat steep learning curve mixing it with water makes it kinda wimpy but now we just add it to stews and stuff and let it rehydrate with a more flavorful liquid or stock and it is really quite good. Still working on making it better though. Right now the best of the TVP stuff is the Taco!

Bob
http://boatbits.blogspot.com/
http://fishingundersail.blogspot.com/
http://islandgourmand.blogspot.com/

[skylark]

Lately I have been eating a lot of dates and peanuts as a snack food, dates are an excellent food at $1.30 a pound (imported from Iran  :o ).  Peanuts are just a big favorite because they taste great and are also just over $2 a pound in bulk.

We get a lot of bulk stuff here: http://www.clnf.org/  because we live nearby and can save the shipping cost.  They don't have quite the selection of dried veggies though.

One thing that I found when cooking with dried vegetables is that you need some fresh vegetable to give a soup or stew the right consistency.  If I start a soup with a couple of fresh onions diced up and fried in oil, I can then add a lot of dried vegetables to it and get a great soup with good body.  But if I try to make a soup with just dehydrated vegetables, it comes out thin, like a package soup with little floaty veggie bits in it.  So my theory is there has to be some fresh vegetables along with the dried stuff, and it can be onions, cabbage, potatoes or whatever.

I have kind of given up on TVP as a main ingredient.  If I use it at all, I just throw a handful into a soup or stew to give it a little extra protein.  I did not find a way to make TVP the main ingredient of a dish.

[skylark]

My box of veggies arrived yesterday.  These are high quality dried vegetables, better than what I am used to getting.  They are slices, you can see what vegetable they are when they are dry, they are not just bits and pieces.

I got the quart bottles sized set of 16 veggies.  The size of the quart bottles is good for a boat, and the 16 bottles should be enough veggies for one person at least a couple of months, maybe more, for about 100 bucks.
http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/Vegetable-Pantry-Stuffer-4016-count41_p_1845.html#

Just for fun I made a "stew":

2C water
2 Tbs split peas
1 teaspoon each dehydrated:
mushrooms
peppers
onion
leek
cabbage
potato
carrot
sweet corn
Simmer 1 hour
Add a bit of salt to taste.

This is one serving (two small bowls).

I just tried this out to see the consistency of the vegetables, and I am surprised that it turned out to be a tasty stew.  Wow.

Usually I would recommend to use fresh onions, potatoes and cabbage instead of dehydrated because they last a long time and taste better fresh.  Its not bad to have them dehydrated, though, it is easy to throw a spoonful in a recipe and it adds flavor.

Definitely recommended.  Thanks to the Moose for the link.

[LooseMoose]

Hey Paul...Glad you liked the Harmony House food, it is really is a cut above the normal dried and freezedried stuff I've had in the past.

I agree with you that it is always better to go with fresh stuff when possible but down here while shopping in St Martin today it seems like there is not a carrot on the island... So tonight a handful of dried wind up in the stew. It makes all the difference having a stock of stuff to draw on when you need it or more likely so you can avoid paying silly money for stuff in some places till you hit the next affordable island or landfall.

Bob

http://boatbits.blogspot.com/
http://fishingundersail.blogspot.com/
http://islandgourmand.blogspot.com/