All vegetables except onions and peppers,and mushrooms should be washed, sliced, and blanched. Dry vegetables in single layers on trays. Depending of drying conditions, drying times make take longer. Dry vegetables at 130-degrees Fahrenheit.
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• Beans, green:Stem and break beans into 1-inch pieces.Blanch. Dry 6-12 hours until brittle.
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• Beets: Cook and peel beets. Cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Dry 3-10 hours until leathery.
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• Broccoli: Cut and dry 4-10 hours.
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• Carrots: Peel, slice or shred. Dry 6-12 hours until almost brittle.
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• Cauliflower: Cut and dry 6-14 hours.
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• Corn:Cut corn off cob after blanching and dry 6-12 hours until brittle.
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• Mushrooms: Brush off, don't wash. Dry at 90 degrees for 3 hours, and then 125 degrees for the remaining drying time. Dry 4-10 hours until brittle.
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• Onions: Slice 1/4-inch thick. Dry 6-12 hours until crisp.
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• Peas: Dry 5-14 hours until brittle.
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• Peppers, sweet: Remove seeds and chop. Dry 5-12 hours until leathery.
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• Potatoes: Slice 1/8-inch thick. Dry 6-12 hours until crisp.
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• Tomatoes: Dip in boiling water to loosen skins, peel,slice or quarter. Dry 6-12 hours until crisp.
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• Zucchini: Slice 1/8-inch thick and dry 5-10 hours until brittle.
Fruit Drying Guide
All fruit should be washed,pitted and sliced. Arrange in single layers on trays. Dry fruit at 135 degrees Fahrenheit. You may wish to pretreat your fruit with lemon juice or ascorbic acid or it won't darken while you are preparing it for drying. Just slice the fruit into the solution and soak for 5 minutes.
• Apples:Peel, core and slice into 3/8-inch rings, or cut into 1/4-inch slices. Pretreat and dry 6-12 hours until pliable.
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• Apricots: Cut in half and turn inside out to dry. Pretreat and dry 8-20 hours until pliable.
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• Bananas: Peel, cut into 1/4-inch slices and pretreat. Dry 8-16 hours until plialbe or almost crisp.
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• Blueberries: Dry 10-20 hours until leathery.
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• Cherries: Cut in half and dry 18-26 hours until leathery and slightly sticky.
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• Peaches: Peel, halve or quarter. Pretreat and dry 6-20 hours until pliable.
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• Pears: Peel, cut into 1/4-inch slices, and pretreat. Dry 6-20 hours until leathery.
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• Pineapple: Core and slice 1/4-inch thick. Dry 6-16 hours until leathery and not sticky.
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• Strawberries: Halve or cut into 1/4-inch thick slices. Dry 6-16 hours until pliable and almost crisp.
Fruit Leathers
Fruit leather is easy to make if you have a blender of food processor. The fruit leather is like a "fruit roll-up" and is made out of pureed fruit. Applesauce works great for fruit leather since it is already in puree form. Overripe fruits can also be used since these are easily pureed. For an added flare, you can add coconut,raisins,poppy seeds,seasame seeds, or sunflower seeds to the fruit leather. If you add any type of garnish to your fruit leather however, you will have to store them in the freezer or refrigerator. Otherwise, you can store fruit leather in an airtight container. Just roll up the fruit leather into a roll after it has dried, wrap in plastic, and store them altogether in an appropriate container.
To make fruit leather, puree your fruit. Apples, pears, peaches, and nectarines should be cooked before pureeing. Pour the fruit puree about 1/4-inch deep on special fruit leather drying sheets, or drying trays that have been lined with plastic wrap. Since the center does not dry as quickly as the edges, Only pour the puree 1/8-inch deep towards the center.Dry at 135 degrees Fahrenheit until pliable and leathery. The center should also be dry and have no wet or sticky spots.
Making Jerky
Meats should be dried at 145-150 degrees Fahrenheit. Jerky should dry between 6-20 hours until pliable. It shoud not be brittle. Wipe fat off of the jerky while it is drying. Jerky does not store as long as fruits and vegetables. For long term storage longer than a month, store in the freezer or refrigerator. To aid in the curing of jerky, meat must be marinaded in salt and spices. The pioneers used 1 1/2 cups pickling salt to 1 gallon of water and soaked the meat strips in this for a couple of days. As an alternative to soaking, they also rubbed the meat with salt and spices (like garlic and pepper) before drying. You may want to use one of the following marinade recipes instead. Marinade the meat strips overnight.
Jerky Marinade No.1
• 1/4 C. Soy sauce
• 2 T. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 1 t. liquid smoke
• 1 t. salt
Jerky Marinade No.2
• 4 t. salt
• 1 t. pepper
• 1 t. chili powder
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1 t. liquid smoke
• 1/2 C. water
Jerky Marinade No.3
• 1 C. ketchup
• 1/2 C. vinegar
• 1/4 C. brown sugar
• 3 T. Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 t. dry mustard
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 t. pepper
How to Use Dried Food in Recipes
You will need to soak or cook your dried foods before using them in recipes. Some foods require soaking and cooking.Vegetables are usually soaked btween 1/2 to 1-1/2 hours and then simmered. Some vegetables can be rehydrated while they are cooking. Fruits are soaked, and then cooked in the water they were soaked in. Don't add extra sugar until the fruit is cooked;otherwise, the fruit may be tough. Fruits are sometimes eaten in their dry state as snacks. You must remember that after a food is rehydrated, it may spoil quickly, so use it promptly. To cook dried food, use the following information and simmer until tender.
• Apples: Add 1 1/2 C. warm water to 1 C. apples and soak for 1/2 hour.
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• Beans, green: Add 2 1/4 C. boiling water to 1 C. beans and soak for 1 1/2 hours.
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• Beets: Add 2 3/4 C. boiling water to 1 C. beets and soak for 1 1/2 hours.
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• Carrots: Add 2 1/4 C. boiling water to 1 C. carrots and soak for 1 hour.
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• Corn: Add 2 1/4 C. boiling water to 1 C. Corn and soak for 1/2 hour.
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• Onions: Add 2 C. boiling water to 1 C. onions and soak for 1 hour.
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• Peaches: Add 2 C. warm water to 1 C. peaches and soak for 1 1/4 hour.
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• Pears: Add 1 3/4 C. warm water to 1 C. pears and soak for 1 hour.
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• Peas: Add 2 1/2 C. boiling water to 1 C. peas and soak for 1/2 hour.
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• Potatoes: Add 1 1/2 C. boiling water to 1 C. potatoes and soak for 1/2 hour.
Recipes Using Dried Foods
Apple Pie
3 1/2 C. dried apples2 C. water3/4 C. sugar1 t. cinnamon
Cook apples until tender. The apples wil rehydrate during the cooking and baking process. Add sugar and cinnamon. Fill and top with pie crust and bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Cherry Pie
3 C. dried cherries
3 C. boiling water
1/2 C. flour
1 C. sugar
Cover cherries with water and let soak for 30 minutes. Simmer and add sugar and flour to thicken. Pour into pie crust and add top crust. Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes.
Peach Pie
3 C. dried peaches3 C. boiling water2/3 C. flour1 C. sugar2 t. cinnamon1/4 t. nutmeg
Cover fruit with water and let soak for 30 minutes. Simmer and add sugar, spices and flour to thicken. Pour into pie crust, dot with butter, and cover with pie top. Bake at 400 degress for 30 minutes.
Creamed Corn
1 C. dried corn4 C. boiling water2 t. sugar1/2 C. milk1 T. flour1 T. margarinesalt and pepper to taste
Add corn to water and let stand for 30 minutes. Simmer corn until tender. This may take as long as an hour or so. Drain and add remaining ingredients. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent scorching.
Green Bean Casserole
2 C. boiling water1 C. dried beans1 can cream of mushroom soup
Add beans to water and cook until tender. Add soup and simmer.
Cream of Tomatoe Soup
1 t. Dried Tomato powder!/2 C. boiling water1 T. flour1/2 C. milk
To make tomato powder, blend dried tomatoes in food processor. Add powder to water and simmer. Add flour to milk and stir. Add flour/milk mixture to water and tomatoes. Simmer and stir to prevent scorching.
Cooked Fruit
3 C. dried fruit of your choice2 C. boiling water1 t. cinnamonSugar to taste
Let fruit soak in the boiled water for 20 minutes. Simmer for another 20 minutes and add cinnamon and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved and serve.
Vegetable Soup
1 C. diced cooked meat
3 C. dried mixed vegetables
salt and pepper
Cover dried vegetables with boiling water and soak 1 hour, then simmer for 2 hours or until tender. Remember you can add fresh vegetables, in case you don't have a particular dried one, to the pot as well.
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