Bison, Barley, and Mushroom Stew
Freeze-dried bison and dried mushrooms simmered with quick barley in one pot.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 900 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried bison or beef | 4 oz | cooked and diced, not raw stew meat |
|---|---|---|
| Quick-cook pearl barley | 1/2 cup | the parboiled kind, 10-12 minutes |
| Dried mushrooms | 1/2 oz | shiitake works; honey or fried chicken mushrooms if you have them |
| Dried mirepoix | 1/2 cup | carrot, onion, celery, dehydrated at home |
| Beef bouillon | 2 cubes | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Bay leaf | 1 | |
| Garlic powder and dried thyme | 1 tsp each | |
| Salt and cracked pepper | to taste | |
| Red wine | 1/4 cup | optional, in a small flask |
Method
- Bring 900 ml of water to a boil with the bouillon, bay leaf, garlic powder, and thyme.
- Add the barley, dried mushrooms, and mirepoix. Drop to a low simmer and cover.
- Simmer 20 minutes. Stir now and then so the barley does not weld to the bottom.
- Add the bison and the wine if you brought it. Simmer 10 more minutes until the meat is soft and the barley is tender.
- Pull the bay leaf. Stir in the oil, then salt and pepper until it tastes like something.
- Let it sit five minutes off heat. It thickens as it cools.
The original is a two-hour braise on raw chuck, which no stove is going to give you at camp. Freeze-dried cooked meat and parboiled barley do the same job in thirty-five minutes and one pot. The mushrooms are not garnish. Dried shiitake and their kin release enough starch and glutamate to give the broth body, which is what a long braise would otherwise have built.
The barley wants the full simmer, so start it before the meat goes in. Adding freeze-dried bison early just turns it stringy. The oil at the end is where most of the fat calories live, and it also carries the thyme and pepper. Skip it and you have soup instead of dinner.
Packing
Barley, mushrooms, mirepoix, bouillon, and spices premix into one bag. Bison stays in its own bag so it does not go leathery against the salt. Oil in a leakproof bottle.
Variations
- Swap in freeze-dried beef and this becomes a standard beef-and-barley.
- A tablespoon of instant potato flakes at the end thickens it further if the mushrooms do not.
- Instant grits or couscous in place of barley cuts the simmer to five minutes.
https://foragerchef.com/bison-black-barley-stew-with-fried-chicken-mushrooms