Irish Stew, Freeze-Dried
Lamb, cabbage, and root vegetables rehydrated in one pot. A long simmer done at home instead of in camp.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 45 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 14 min
- water
- 500 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
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Dairy free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried cooked lamb | 2 oz | braised at home until tender, then dried; canned lamb or beef works if you are car-camping |
|---|---|---|
| Dehydrated potato dice | 1/2 cup | or 1/3 cup potato flakes if you want it thicker and faster |
| Dried cabbage flakes | 1/3 cup | |
| Dried carrot | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried celery root or celery flakes | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Bay leaf | 1 | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Dried parsley | 1 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | replaces the fat that dries out of the lamb |
Method
- Boil 500 ml of water. Drop in everything except the oil and parsley, bay leaf included.
- Stir once, cover, and hold at a low simmer for five minutes. Watch it; dried potato scorches on a hot spot.
- Kill the heat and let it sit covered for another five to seven minutes. The lamb and cabbage need the soak more than the boil.
- Fish out the bay leaf. Pour in the oil, scatter the parsley, and taste for salt. Add a splash of water if it went past stew into paste.
The original is a one-hour braise: tough shoulder, hard root vegetables, and enough time for both to give in. Neither part of that is available on a stove burning fuel you carried. So the braise happens at home. Cook the lamb until it is tender, dry it, and camp becomes a rehydration problem instead of a cooking one.
Dried potato and cabbage do most of the work of thickening, so no flour or roux is needed and the recipe stays gluten-free without trying. The oil matters more than it looks. Lamb shoulder carries a lot of fat, and drying strips most of it out, which costs both calories and the mouthfeel that made this a stew and not a soup.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one freezer bag with the bay leaf tucked in. Oil rides in a dropper bottle, separate. Label the bag with the water amount or you will guess wrong in the dark.
Variations
- Add a bouillon cube if your lamb was dried without much salt.
- Instant potato flakes stirred in at the end thicken it if the ratio came out soupy.
- Car-camping version: a can of lamb or stewing beef and fresh vegetables, simmered an hour in a pot on the fire.
https://www.matprat.no/oppskrifter/gjester/irish-stew