Category: Culinary

CANOL Trail Prep

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A friend and I are hiking the CANOL trail next week! Well, about 2/3 of it anyways – from Godlin Lakes (Mile 170) to Norman Wells. We’ve been doing a ton of prep work, including many hours spent dehydrating food for the trip.

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About 25,000 calories worth of dehydrated food
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14 days of food for 2 people: 90,000 calories in 20 kg of vacuum-sealed bags

Starting next week, you can follow our progress at this link.

Inuvik Chopped – BBQ Edition

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I got roped into round 2 of Inuvik Chopped. This one was a BBQ edition and I don’t own a BBQ so I teamed up with my former competitor Evan for our big comeback. This time the mystery ingredients were:

  • Bacon
  • Smokies
  • Pilot Biscuits
  • Mustard
  • Ketchup Chips
  • Maple Syrup
  • Marshmallows
  • Jalapeno
Instead of doing a 3-course meal like last time, this time we decided to combine all of the ingredients into one mega-dish: the “Ultimate Canadian Summer Smokie-S’more” — smokies wrapped in bacon, coated in melted marshmallows and covered in sprinkled grilled jalapeno, pilot crackers and ketchup chips, then covered in a chocolate barbecue sauce that included the maple syrup and mustard.
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We did not win

Just like last time, you can watch videos of the cooking and the results on the Town of Inuvik facebook page.

And the Inuvik Drum article.

Dehydration Experiment

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I’ve had a dehydrator for a while now, but haven’t used it too much. In anticipation of potentially getting out on some trips this summer, I did some experimentation with how well different foods dehydrate/rehydrate.

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Pasta & Meat Sauce / Shepherd’s Pie
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Tuna / Lentils & Spinach
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Korean Beef / Chicken Fried Rice
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Chili / Mung Bean Coconut Curry
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Post-dehydration

And the verdicts…

Korean Beef Bowl

1/3 cup (30g) minute rice - 110 cal
1/4 lb (55g dry) lean ground beef - 375 cal
Seasoning

Dry Weight: 85g
Calories: 485
Calories/gram: 5.7

Verdict: great, spicy, beef is a bit chewy (try adding breadcrumbs)

Shepherd’s Pie

1/4 lb (55g dry) lean ground beef - 375 cal
1/4 cup corn - 35 cal
1/4 cup peas - 25 cal
1/4 cup instant potatoes - 100 cal
Seasoning

Dry Weight: 90g
Calories: 535
Calories/gram: 5.9

Verdict: good potential, potatoes rehydrate much faster, would probably be better to rehydrate them separately

Pasta & Meat Sauce

1/4 cup pasta - 100 cal
1/4 lb (55g dry) lean ground beef - 375 cal
Tomato sauce

Dry Weight: 70g
Calories: 475
Calories/gram: 6.8

Verdict: good potential, need to add less water (got a bit soupy)

Jambalaya

1/3 cup (30g) minute rice - 110 cal
30g sausage - 144 cal
Seasoning
> Assembled dry (rather than dehydrating)

Dry Weight: 75g
Calories: 255
Calories/gram: 3.4

Verdict: worked great, seasoning levels are tough to estimate dry

Tuna & Couscous

15g (dry) tuna - 60 cal
30g couscous - 150 cal

Dry Weight: 55g
Calories: 210
Calories/gram: 3.8

Verdict: great, couscous rehydrates instantly - probably best to rehydrate separately

Mung Bean Coconut Curry

1/3 cup (30g) minute rice - 110 cal
55g mung bean - 180 cal
1.5 tbsp coconut milk powder - 100 cal
Seasoning

Dry Weight: 85g
Calories: 390
Calories/gram: 4.5 (5 without the rice)

Verdict: good, needs more beans to less rice ratio

Tuna Pasta

15g (dry) tuna - 60 cal
31g pasta mix - 120 cal

Dry Weight: 46g
Calories: 120
Calories/gram: 3.9

Verdict: pasta got wet/mushy, regular pasta works much better

Lentil & Spinach

1/3 cup (30g) minute rice - 110 cal
44g lentil - 170 cal
Spinach
Seasoning

Dry Weight: 85g
Calories: 280
Calories/gram: 3.3

Verdict: great, lentils are a bit crunchy but fine

Chicken Fried Rice

1/2 cup pre-prepared - about 100 calories

Dry Weight: 37g (down from 115g wet)
Calories: 100
Calories/gram: 2.7

Verdict: didn't rehydrate as well as minute rice

Chili

1/4 cup navy beans - 175 cal
1/4 lb (55g dry) lean ground beef - 375 cal
Tomato sauce
Seasoning

Dry Weight: 120g
Calories: 550
Calories/gram: 4.6

Verdict: good, takes a while to rehydrate