Lightweight Hill Food - Wild camping recipes

I've been on many wild camping trips in Britain and over the years have tweaked and fiddled with the food I take.   When I go on a long trek I don't want to have to go shopping in the middle of it.  So I aim to carry all of the food I need.  This doesn't out weigh my need to be safe though.  So my pack will only weigh as much as I can, relatively, comfortably walk a full day with.  This is a personal thing.   

The following information is relevant only if I'm going for longer than a few days.

Basic principles...

1. Dehydrated food only
   
2. Lots of carbohydrate
   
3. Plenty of fat
   
4. Some protein
   
5. Minimal packaging
   
6. Reasonable cooking time
   
7. No waste producing foods.  Any waste should be minimal, clean and not tins.  Be mindful of bits of waste being blown off by the wind.  

Hints and Tips

Never leave your waste behind.  There is never a good reason to dump your waste.

IF YOU CAN CARRY IT IN, YOU CAN CARRY IT OUT. 

Following these principles I can carry enough food for at least 10 days.  Including dog biscuits and all my kit for safe wild camping and hill walking.   With the following treats and recipes I keep my energy levels up and minimise the desperation for a huge green salad at the end of the trip.  

This is what I foraged yesterday.  Ramson leaves and a primrose flower.  The leaves were ripped up and tossed in warm pasta with olive oil, tomato and parmesan.  Yum.  The flower was scoffed, ceremoniously, before it went all floppy.

Hints and Tips

Don't forget to forage on your trip.  Learn before you go what's in season in the area you are visiting.  Copy the individual identification information, including pictures, to take with you. 

That way you don't need the entire book.  

Don't take risks.  If you can't identify it confidently, don't eat it.

Some of my food successes on a trip...

1. Mini Babybel cheese.  Before leaving for your trip remove the red plastic but leave on the wax.
   
2. Packets of Tuna.  There are two flavours meditaranean and a limey one.  Both lovely.  
3. Chappattis.  Take them out their packets and put them in thinner plastic food bags.
   
4. Pitta Bread.  As above.
5. TVP - Textured vegetable protein.  An excellent way to get some protein without carrying lots of weight or eating beef jerky.
   
6. Knorr stock cubes.  I say knorr because they taste the best to me.  You could unwrap the cubes and put the into a thin plastic food bag.  I would do this next time.
   
7. Dried bacon.  Amazing ingredient!  Light, really tasty, will last for ages in all weather.  It comes in packets.  I would leave them in the packets to retain their freshness.
   
8. Pasta flowers.  These are tiny.  Less than 1/2cm in size.  The reason for taking these instead of a normal pasta shape is that you get more pasta per pack size and you don't need to worry about crushing them.
   
9. Trek Bars.  These are actually quite heavy for their size.  I include these though as the feeling of general healthy wellbeing they give make them worth it.  They're bloody expensive as well.  So I only get a couple.  I can't eat one all at once anyway so they go a long way.  I save them for times when I'm feeling rundown.                                                
10. Instant Hot choc.  Need I explain this one?
    
11. Instant porridge
    
12. Salted, roasted peanuts
    
13. M&M's. Chocolate ones.  They don't melt!  They will be fought over.
    
14. Fruit leather.  This is pulped raw fruit, sometimes with added honey or sugar, that has been spread  flat on a tray and then dehydrated either in a very low oven or a dehydrator.  You can make this yourself relatively easily.  Here is a link to a good recipe for easily making your own  Apple and Blackberry Leather recipe.  Here is a link that is great at explaining how to dehydrate food with your oven.  If you'd rather buy some your probably best going to a Natural food shop (health shop) or looking online.
15. Parmesan.  It's a real treat to have some cheese.  However, don't be tempted to take a cheddar, it just goes all sweaty and minging really quickly.  Parmesan is really hard and tastes quite strongly so you only need a little bit to enjoy it.
16. Tomato puree.  There's no getting away from the fact this is in a metal tube.  Keep the edges folded and roll the thing up as you go.  Keep it in a food bag incase the puree starts oozing out the sides of the tube.  You never know. 
17. Flavoured couscous.  Take the packets out of the box before your trip.  Remember that couscous is pasta not a grain.
18. Cup a soups.  These make good flavourings for pasta or rice.  Empty the cupasoup packet into the boiling water before cooking the rice or pasta.
19. Pate in a tube.  One tube will last you all week and there's lots and lots of choices of flavours.

I've found that the immense psychological benefits of having life- giving, tasty food, makes taking the time to get it right important.  My first few trips away were made harder by our choice of food.  2 weeks wild-camping in the  howling weather of the mountain ranges of Britain, living on super noodles and savoury rice packets.  Well, you didn't feel too healthy at the end of it and at the end of a day there was very little to lift your spirits.  When your days are simplified to getting up a mountain and down again, it's amazing how important food can become to you.  Especially if the weather is cold. 

Hints and Tips

For breakfast I will eat as much as I can.  I then snack throughout the day on nuts and dried fruit.  If the day is very long I'll stop for some bread and pate and maybe a cup a soup (depending on conditions).  Then I scoff my main meal as outlined in the recipes below...

 

The Recipes

Warning! One of these recipes contains Super Noodles.  I do not apologise for this, as 'msg' ridden as they are, they're delicious on the hill! :)

Pasta Recipe for one person

100g tiny pasta flowers

parmesan shavings

some dried bacon crumbled

1 x tuna packet

seasoning.

Cook pasta, drain, add ingredients & mix.

Takes about 10 minutes.

yum.

TVP Recipe for one person

1/4 thermal mug of tvp (textured vegetable protein)

80g Basmati rice

1 x knorr chicken stock cube

1dsp korma curry pwder

1/2dsp tom puree

2 thermal mugs of water (or a pint)

Boil water, add stock, korma curry powder, tom puree.  Mix.

Add rice and tvp.  Cook.

Make sure it doesn't stick or dry up.  Add a little more water if this happens.

Takes about 15 minutes.

mmmm... curry.... yum!

Super Noodles.  Yes, Super Noodles recipe for one person

1 x Packet of Supernoodles

1x Packet of Tuna 

Cook noodles

mix with the tuna

wrap it in a chappatti or pitta bread.

Sounds disgusting, I know.  It is so ridiculously tasty though!!!

I've not written every bit of food I'd take, like cream powder, sugar, tea, coffee and that, as they go without saying.  

There are many other bits of food that would be great to take I'm sure.  This list is my favourites, that have worked for me and are relatively easy to get hold of and don't make too much mess when cooking.  If anyone else has any ideas it would be great to hear them!

hen

x

Baking Bread, Curing Pork, Brawn, Soup, Willow Platter. Busy weekend!

This weekend has been a cooking weekend. I've had lots of gorgeous veg from our organic box scheme, which inspired me to make lots of soup and roast veg. Which, of course, made me have to bake some bread!

I also decided to cure some of the pork I butchered last week. The bacon I made using a wet cure was ready today as well and tasted delicious. I don't want to post any pictures of it though, it looks good, but I just didn't want lots of shots of pork in the post!

Here is how I made bread. I'm getting a 6ltr Dutch oven so I can start baking bread when I'm staying on the land. I can't wait to do that!!!

Malted Loaf

1.5kg Malted flour
3tbs runny honey
2 tsp fine sea salt
3 tsp dried yeast (the Doves farm one in the little orange pack)
1.5 pints of warm water (or thereabouts)

I used 1.5kg organic malted flour. This is quite a lot, but I wanted to make some rolls as well as a loaf. 1 kg makes a decent sized family loaf, normally, adjust the recipe to suit. Remember that if you're using white flour you wont need as much water.

Dissolve the honey in the warm water.
Put the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl and mix together.
Make a hole in the centre of the flour and pour about half the water mixture in it. Bring the flour in from the sides to the middle and gradually mix with your hands.
Add half of the water mix that you have left and continue to work it with your hands.



You can then add more water, in little bits, until you have the right consistency.
The dough should feel sticky and a little bit wet. It'll probably be stuck to your hands quite badly.


Then turn it out onto a floured surface. The surface you knead on shouldn't move around, your going to be shoving the dough about a lot so you need it to be pretty solid. If you're using something, like a chopping board, that might move around, stick a folded tea towel underneath it and that should help keep it still.



Knead the dough thoroughly for 10 mins. Time yourself, as you'll never do it for long voluntarily! Kneading is basically a series of actions where you try and push the dough away from you, pull it towards you, pull it apart and scrunch it together. Be really tough on it! You're trying to build up the gluten in the bread which will give it it's lovely consistency.



Put the dough into a floured bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Put it in a draught free, warm place to rise for 1 hour. Time it so you don't forget!



Then turn the dough out on to your floured surfaced and punch it over and over to get the air out of it. Odd I know.

This is where you make the shape of your loaf. I made a square loaf by putting it into a square cake tin and 6 long rolls, I shaped them by hand and put them on oiled greaseproof paper on a baking tray.

Then I covered them with a damp tea towel and put them back in the draught free, warm place. This next proving is REALLY important. Don't bang or open and close doors near the dough now. Treat it like a sleeping baby. DON'T rush this second proving either, this is the proving that will give you a lovely light bread instead of a brick.

I gave mine over an hour.

In the meantime I put the oven on so it was up to temperature (I've got an electric oven, it was at 190c).

I then REALLY CAREFULLY, without banging or subjecting the dough to a draught put it in the oven and baked the loaf for 30 odd minutes and the rolls for 20 mins.



Yum.

Leek and potato soup.

2 Large leeks
4 medium potatoes
2 pints of any good stock
1/2 pint of milk (if you like)
seasoning
3 dried bay leaves.
knob of butter and some oil to stop it burning




Slice the leeks and add to the heated oil and butter. Stir well until all the leek is covered in the butter, cook until soft.

Chop the potatoes into inch - ish cubes and add to the soften leeks. Stir well until the potatoes are coated in butter.

Add the stock, bay leaves and seasoning to taste.

Put a lid on it and cook until the potatoes are very soft.

Remove the bay leaves.

Blitz with what ever you have to blitz things with. I use one of those handheld blitzers.
NB: If you don't have a blitzer use a potato masher, mix well and remember to cut everything small initially.

This is where I would add the milk if I was using it. Make sure the soup is still warm after adding the milk. If it isn't, warm it up GENTLY making sure it doesn't come to the boil.

I fried up some of our bacon that had been wet cured and added it to my bowl. It worked very well. mmmmMMMmmm...very, very well...slobber....


I have displayed my wares on the willow platter I made the other week. I LOVE it. I think it would make an excellent tray/place mat thingy. A bit full on maybe, but I like it!!


Roasted veg.

1 celeriac
1 giant parsnip
4 medium potatoes
1 huge onion
2 beetroots
4 large carrots
Dried or fresh Rosemary
butter and oil
seasoning


Loads of different veg, whatever you like, as much or as little of each thing. Chopped into inch and a half cubes - ish!

Bung it all in a roasting tray with some seasoning, butter and oil, cover with tin foil and bake at 180c (electric) for 45 mins.

Take it out and sprinkle 3 cloves of chopped up garlic (or whatever number is siutable for the amount you're cooking!) and any herbs you want to add. Give it a mix and cover with tin foil. Bake for a further 20 mins.

Take the tin foil off and then bung it back in the oven for about 15 mins.
Bobs your uncle.



Dry curing some pork

The cure...

750g fine sea salt
250g dememera sugar
25g pepper

all mixed together in a clean bowl, with clean hands and clean utensils.

The Pork

Belly or any other cut suitable for this sort of crazy thing.




Put the pork on a clean surface. I slashed the skin and fat of the pork at this stage to push the cure into.

Then rub the cure into the meat, all sides, all crevices. Really work it in. When you've got a complete covering of the cure put it in a NON-METALLIC container. [pork reacts with metal, it gives the meat an unpleasant taste]

You'll have cure left over, keep that as you'll need it.



If you have more than one piece of pork to cure, repeat the above technique and place it on top of the original piece of pork in your NON-METALLIC container.

Again, saving any cure that's left over.



Then every 24 hours remove the pork from the tub, drain the salty liquid, rub more cure over the pieces of pork and put them back in the container. However, this time put the piece of pork, that was originally on the top, on the bottom and turn them both upside down. Repeat this everyday for a minimum of 4 days and a maximum of 10 days. The longer you leave it the more salty it will be but the longer it will last.

I plan to do ours for 5 days. As it's been reported that it will be very tasty by then. After the 5 days I'm going to give it a good wash under the cold tap and dry it off with a clean cloth. I'll then wrap it in muslin or greaseproof paper and keep some of it in the fridge. What we wont use I'll wrap in greaseproof paper and put it in a freezer bag in the freezer.

This recipe is a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe and is widely discussed as too salty. Have a mooch about the net to find other cures and advice. Keep yourself, your tools and your work area as clean as possible to help win the race against the bacteria.


Brawn or Head Cake, as I like to call it.

No offence but this was a harrowing experience for me. I don't look forward to having to do it again, but I will if I ever end up with another pig head.

We took half the head of the pig and removed it's eye. Well, Leo did. I'm not normally squeamish but I'd had enough of the gruesome nature of dealing with the head so took a break and let poor Leo remove it.

I then put the head, trotters and a hock (the bit of the leg above the trotters) into my stock pot and covered them with water. As I had chosen to make this as dog food for Willow I didn't add any herbs, onion or seasoning. There are brawn recipes out there for humans.

I then boiled the lot up for 4 hours. Yes, 4 hours. Skimming away any scum that developed. The smell was unpleasant and I found it disturbing when the head bobbed.

After the 4 hours, yes, that's 4 hours, I removed what was left of the bones and pushed off any meat still attached into the remaining liquid. I then strained the liquid off into a loaf tin. I flaked the meat and added it to the liquid in the loaf tin. Let it cool and then covered it and put it into the fridge. Over night it turned into this...



It's sliced up now into portions for Willow. She'll have it as a treat every other day. Most of the slices are frozen.

Making brawn just wasn't my cup of tea. Not my cup of tea at all.

Lots of people will be aghast at the fact I've made it for Willow, what a waste! Perhaps one day I will make it using the human recipe and try and enjoy it. Not this time though I'm afraid.


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Now playing: Dick Gaughan - The Father's Song
via FoxyTunes

Hens haloumi and chickpea salad

For one main meal portion -

• half a tin of chickpeas - drained and rinsed
  
• small tin of sweetcorn - drained
• half a pack of haloumi - chopped into thumb sized cubes
  
• 1 small onion - sliced as thinly as possible
  
• 1 large tomato - chopped roughly and the seeds removed (if you like!)
  
• juice of half a lime
• handful of fresh coriander chopped finely-ish
• large pinch of cumin
• large pinch of ground sea salt
• a couple of glugs olive oil
• mixed green leaves - lots
  

Put the onion and tomatoes in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and stir. Leave for about 15mins.

In the meantime fry the haloumi in a very, very small amount of oil (best in a non stick pan) until it is a dark golden brown on at least two sides, then add the chick peas to the pan with the cheese to warm them through.

Mix everything together in a huge bowl (that's all the ingredients). Serve it mixed with lots of green leaves and hot garlic bread (the olive oil kind not the buttery kind!).

Yum.