The potatoes and meat concoction in two separate pots, waiting to combine to ‘shepherd’s pie’ one evening of a hiking expedition last year.
Mark Guydish | for Times Leader
Obviously a little work would make this look a bit more like a ‘shepherd’s pie’ served at home, but the nice thing about cooking at camp outdoors on a hiking trip is that everything tastes better and looks rarely matter.
Mark Guydish | for Times Leader
Longtime readers might remember my very first Test Kitchen article (started in the no-feature-news days of early COVID-19 shutdowns). It was a shepherd’s pie recipe by Emeril Lagasse, a favorite before this series began and still a dish we enjoy periodically (especially when MT’s mom requests it, love you Mamma Marion!). But it is a fair amount of work.
I have also written about recipes I tested not in our kitchen but on the backpacking trail, including a “Hawaiian baked bean and ham” dish during a backpack trip in New York for our 19th wedding anniversary in 2020, a “Thanksgiving feast” the following year on a 20th anniversary backpack excursion, and a “sweet and spicy cashew chicken wrap” on an excursion two months before that.
The last such recipe recounted in this space was for a “beefy noodle” dish cooked for our two-day hike on the Appalachian Trail along the Virginia/West Virginia border last fall. That same trip I tried a variation of this shepherd’s pie from Backpacker.com, but kept delaying writing about it. With Memorial Day past and a summer of outdoor adventure unfolding for many, I thought this could actually be a choice for families planning camping trips.
You can go full non-perishables as the recipe calls for, but when car camping you can sub in some fresher ingredients. That’s what I did on the trip, which was completed in two “slack pack” hikes with my oldest brother (of Uncle Jake’s Favorite Recipes, to regular readers) dropping us off and picking us up at car-accessible campsites.
Before I left the house, I browned the ground beef to use instead of the baked tofu, and chopped up a carrot instead of the dried mixed vegetables. I sandwich-bagged both and put them in an insulated container with an ice pack for the long trip to West Virginia, and pulled them out at the campsite where we stayed the eve of the first day’s walk. For everything else, I followed the recipe.
Obviously, this didn’t compare to the Emeril gourmet version of the humble shepherd’s meal, but it’s much simpler. And as many a hiker will tell you, just sitting to eat under the trees can kick a meal up a notch regardless of the recipe Bam!
Oh, and,
Dobru chut!
Queet’s Valley Shepherd’s Pie (backpacker.com)
7 ounce package baked tofu, savory flavor (I used pre-browned ground beef)
4 ounce package mashed potatoes
1 packet mushroom sauce
½ cup dried mushrooms
¼ cup dried mixed vegetables (I used a fresh, pre-cut carrot)
½ teaspoon dry vegetable bullion
¼ teaspoon dried sage
½ teaspoon dried thyme
Dash of salt and pepper
At home: Combine the vegetables, sage, thyme and bullion in a plastic freezer bag. Place the potatoes in a second freezer bag. Carry the mushroom sauce and diced tofu separately.
On the trail: Bring 3 cups of water to a boil and pour 2 cups into the potatoes and 1 cup into the vegetables. While the vegetables are re-hydrating, sauté the tofu. Add the vegetables to the tofu, but don’t drain the vegetables. Add the packet of mushroom sauce and stir well to help it thicken. Top the mixture with mashed potatoes before serving.
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