Veal and Potato Stew, Trail Version
A Romanian tocăniță rebuilt from freeze-dried beef and potato dice. One pot, one boil, a long simmer that does the work of an oven.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 32 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- 650 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
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Winter / snow
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Dairy free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried beef crumbles | 3 oz | stands in for the veal; nothing shelf-stable behaves like veal, so accept the trade |
|---|---|---|
| Dehydrated diced potatoes | 1 cup | dice, not flakes, or you get mash |
| Dried onion flakes | 3 tbsp | |
| Tomato paste | 2 tbsp | from a tube, or 2 tbsp tomato powder |
| Dried carrot slices | 1/4 cup | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Sweet paprika | 1 tbsp | the Romanian version leans on this; do not substitute smoked |
| Dried thyme and bay leaf | 1 tsp thyme, 1 leaf | |
| Beef bouillon | 1 cube | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Heat the oil in the pot and drop in the onion flakes with a splash of water. Two minutes, until they smell like onion instead of dust.
- Stir in the paprika and tomato paste. Ten seconds only. Paprika scorches fast and turns bitter.
- Add 650 ml water, the bouillon, beef, potatoes, carrot, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil.
- Drop to the lowest flame that still bubbles. Twenty minutes, lid on, stirring every few minutes so the potatoes do not weld to the bottom.
- Pull the bay leaf. If it is soupy, sit it off heat five minutes and it will tighten. Salt and pepper at the end, since the bouillon is already salty.
The original is a Romanian veal stew: meat browned with onion, tomato, and paprika, then simmered with potatoes until the starch thickens the pot. Nothing about that needs an oven or a refrigerator. Freeze-dried beef and dehydrated potato dice rehydrate on the same twenty-minute clock, which is the whole reason this works as a one-pot camp dinner.
The paprika and tomato paste get bloomed in oil before the water goes in. That is not fussiness — dumping paprika into boiling water leaves you with red water and no flavor. The potatoes are the thickener; give them the full simmer and the stew comes together on its own. Freeze-dried beef is drier and stringier than veal, so the oil is doing real work carrying fat and mouthfeel.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one bag except the tomato paste and oil, which ride in a tube and a dropper bottle. Tape the bay leaf to the bag so you remember it exists.
Variations
- A handful of instant potato flakes stirred in at the end thickens it fast if you overpour the water.
- Freeze-dried mushrooms add body and cost nothing in weight.
- Swap the beef for a foil pouch of chicken added in the last five minutes.
https://savoriurbane.com/tocanita-de-vitel-cu-cartofi-reteta-simpla-la-multicooker-oala-clasica-sau-sub-presiune