[pct-l] Food Dehydrator Tips or Recipes?

[Scott Williams]

I do alot of drying, especially during the mushroom season in CA, which is
right now.  We had a great chanterelle hit yesterday, but they are better
sauteed and frozen as they loose so much of their delicate apricot flavor
when dried.  But of the wild ones, porcini, honey muchrooms (our close
relative of shiitake) oysters, and just plain old meadow mushrooms, (the
wild variety of store bought buttons and portobello) are all great.

Another wonderful wild dryable food if you're on the west coast are seaweeds
which are broken off by the early winter storms and can be picked up fresh
in great piles on our beaches.  Best for backpacking are native wakame and
sea palm, both of which take little cooking.  Add a chunk to a rice dish and
let it steep in your pot as the rice gets tender.  It's delicious, and free
for us locals.

It's also persimmon season, and they are wonderful dried.  Many folks who
don't like the soft, astringent quality of hachiya persimmons love them
dried, as all the astringency in the skin seems to evaporate with the
moisture.  Slice them in thin rounds and they become sweet, crispy chips.
They are a real surprise.

For you Californians, go out to a nearby vacant lot and you can find all
kinds of edible greens this time of year.  In Martinez and nearby, we have
wild chard, collards, different lettuces, mallows, mustards and in creeks,
watercress.  All of these dry well and crumble up to add a vitamin punch to
freeze dried foods.  Take a look at PCTL regular poster, Yoshihiro
Murakami's pictures of his dinners to see just how appetizing greens and
dried meat over couscous can be.

Some of my favorite dried foods last year were home dried salsas from a
buddies Mexican restaurant.  I put them on plastic wrap, and while it worked
fine, I agree with Kevin though, it's one PITA to work with.  I'll try waxed
paper next time.  When rehydrated they were almost as delicious as fresh.
They dried into fine flakes and could be sprinkled on many different
dinners.  They are really light, and pack a great deal of flavor and spice.

Shroomer