Trail Meat Farce Dumplings
Ground meat bound with bread and milk powder, rolled at home and simmered in camp.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 74
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 700 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
- Canoe / raft
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Ground meat or trim | 1 lb | beef, venison, or game bird; grind or chop fine |
|---|---|---|
| White bread | 2 slices | torn small, crusts left on |
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | stands in for cream, which will not travel |
| Water | 1/4 cup | for hydrating the milk powder at home |
| Kosher salt | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| White pepper | a pinch | |
| Nutmeg | a pinch | |
| Garlic | 1 clove | minced fine, or 1/4 tsp granulated |
| Bouillon | 2 cubes | makes the simmering broth |
Method
- At home, whisk the milk powder into the water, pour it over the torn bread, and let it sit five minutes until the bread falls apart.
- Work the soaked bread, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and garlic into the ground meat. Mix hard for a full minute. It should turn tacky and hold together when you press it.
- Roll into walnut-sized balls, pack them tight in a lidded container, and keep them cold in the cooler. Cook them within two days.
- In camp, boil 700 ml of water in a pot and drop in the bouillon.
- Lower the balls in, drop the heat to a bare simmer, and cover. Twelve to fifteen minutes. A boil will break them apart.
- Cut one open before you serve. No pink at the center, and eat the broth with them.
A farce is just ground meat with something in it to hold water. The bread is the binder, and the milk powder replaces the cream the technique normally calls for. Powdered milk hydrates back into enough fat and protein to do the same job, and it rides in a dry bag instead of a cooler.
Mix past the point where it looks done. The meat has to go tacky, or the balls fall apart in the pot. Simmer, never boil, for the same reason. Raw ground meat means this one stays a cooler recipe, so cook it the first night or two out.
Packing
Roll and season at home so camp work is one pot and one boil. The container goes at the bottom of the cooler against the ice. Bouillon rides in the dry bag.
Variations
- Simmer in the pot with a handful of instant rice or small pasta once the balls are cooked through.
- Swap a quarter of the meat for liver if you have it. Grinding it in with the trim keeps the flavor mild.
- No cooler: use a canned meat and skip the forming, browning it with the bread mixture as a hash instead.
https://foragerchef.com/how-to-make-mousselineforcemeatfarce