The most favorite meal in the backcountry at Tardigrade Outdoors is homemade biscuits and gravy. It may take a little time, but I'll savor every moment of preparing this delicious vegan meal in the backcountry while sipping on some estate-grown home roasted coffee. But, this backcountry breakfast is actually easier than one may expect. |
This wonderific vegan breakfast can be prepared one of two ways. We can either make the biscuits and gravy at home and immediately consume half of it and bask in it's deliciousness, or prepare the gravy portion and dehydrate the whole batch. i suggest one not attempt the latter on an empty stomach. The instructions that follow are for preparing this meal specifically for backpacking. After eating it once, you'll buy the cookbook (if you haven't already) and make immediately. |
Both the biscuit recipe and the gravy recipe have been adapted from the Hot Damn And Hell Yeah/The Dirty South cookbook. You do not want to be alive without this cookbook. I'd suggest you pay the $9.00 for this book here: http://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/86/ it is more than worth it, and it's an indie publisher! |
We cook this backcountry breakfast in our Bugaboo cookset over a low-burning wood-burning debris stove and it's is portioned for this cookset. This recipe is really a recipe with two parts, the home part and the wilderness part. I mix the dry components of the biscuits at home, date and bag them, then partially prepare the gravy over my range, dehydrate it, and then date and bag it. I'll then bake the biscuits and prepare the gravy in camp. |
The vegan biscuits:
Ingredients
1 cup flour
1/2 Tbls. baking powder
1/2 heaping Tbls. noosh
1/2 Tbls. sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Store in preferred system or pint-sized bag, label with contents, date, and what else is needed for the meal: "2 oz oil + 3 oz water + buttermilk bag".
Place in dry storage.
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2 oz. oil
When ready to prepare for the trip, store the oil in Nalgene bottle. Don't forget to squeeze a bit of the air out of the bottle before sealing.
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3 oz equal soymilk powder
.5 package true lemon
Store in snack-sized bag, place in dry storage.
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3 oz. water from fresh mountain spring or snowmelt
Notes
"When reducing the recipe for backpacking, we take 2 oz. oil
The normal recipe size is with 4 cups of flour.
The backpacking recipe is 1 cup flour for two people.
In the field
Mix soymilk powder and True Lemon ½ packet in mug and let set for 5 mins. Combine all in biscuit b mix baggie. Push out all the air and gently knead until all ingredients are mixed and you have a dough.
If we're combining this with gravy, we'll mix the gravy after the biscuits are started.
Bake using preferred method. Our UL baking method can be found here.
Notes:
Modified from the Dirty South cookbook.
1 cup flour
1/2 Tbls. baking powder
1/2 heaping Tbls. noosh
1/2 Tbls. sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Store in preferred system or pint-sized bag, label with contents, date, and what else is needed for the meal: "2 oz oil + 3 oz water + buttermilk bag".
Place in dry storage.
-------------------
2 oz. oil
When ready to prepare for the trip, store the oil in Nalgene bottle. Don't forget to squeeze a bit of the air out of the bottle before sealing.
-------------------
3 oz equal soymilk powder
.5 package true lemon
Store in snack-sized bag, place in dry storage.
-------------------
3 oz. water from fresh mountain spring or snowmelt
Notes
"When reducing the recipe for backpacking, we take 2 oz. oil
The normal recipe size is with 4 cups of flour.
The backpacking recipe is 1 cup flour for two people.
In the field
Mix soymilk powder and True Lemon ½ packet in mug and let set for 5 mins. Combine all in biscuit b mix baggie. Push out all the air and gently knead until all ingredients are mixed and you have a dough.
If we're combining this with gravy, we'll mix the gravy after the biscuits are started.
Bake using preferred method. Our UL baking method can be found here.
Notes:
Modified from the Dirty South cookbook.
The vegan gravy
Ingredients
2 c. soy sausage (1 tube Gimme Lean) crumbled/chopped
3 T. canola oil
1/4 c. flour
3 c. equivalent soymilk powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
Directions
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add soy sausage and cook until lightly browned, chopping into small chunks with pastry cutter.
Sprinkle flour into skillet and stir, continuing to cook until flour binds to vegan sausage and is browned. Throw in some salt and pepper.
Let cool.
Divide in half, then add the two halves independently to dehydrator.
Store the halves separately, add soymilk powder equivalent to 1.5 cups soymilk per bag.
Pair with backpacking biscuits.
In the field
After the biscuits have been started, add about 3 cups of water to this bag. Let it soak until the biscuits are done. Then, bring this mixture to a boil in your skillet and take off heat, mixing all the while. When the gravy is thick, it's ready.
Notes
The backpacking portion is 1/2 of this recipe, using 1/2 of a tube of Gimme Lean. It'll feed two backpackers happily.
2 c. soy sausage (1 tube Gimme Lean) crumbled/chopped
3 T. canola oil
1/4 c. flour
3 c. equivalent soymilk powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
Directions
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add soy sausage and cook until lightly browned, chopping into small chunks with pastry cutter.
Sprinkle flour into skillet and stir, continuing to cook until flour binds to vegan sausage and is browned. Throw in some salt and pepper.
Let cool.
Divide in half, then add the two halves independently to dehydrator.
Store the halves separately, add soymilk powder equivalent to 1.5 cups soymilk per bag.
Pair with backpacking biscuits.
In the field
After the biscuits have been started, add about 3 cups of water to this bag. Let it soak until the biscuits are done. Then, bring this mixture to a boil in your skillet and take off heat, mixing all the while. When the gravy is thick, it's ready.
Notes
The backpacking portion is 1/2 of this recipe, using 1/2 of a tube of Gimme Lean. It'll feed two backpackers happily.