'Survive the winter' meals from 'them olden days'

[NickM]

Guys,

Somewhere on Y/T was a guy talking about 'pilgrim era/settler on the plains era' farmers and what did they need to eat to survive the winter, before supermarkets, fridges, canning and all that lot. The cat made the point that you HAD to live thru the winter with what you harvested and preserved==salted meats, and 'root vegetables'--IE onions, beets, turnips and potatoes. He sliced up some taters, meat, carrots and boiled them into some kind of weird survival stew. So today, I attempted to do just that: chopped stew meat, potatoes, onions, carrots and celery. Some olive oil to saute the meat, and then beef broth with all the other fixins'.  After an hour of simmering I threw a cup of orzo pasta into the pot and 'voila': a kind of thick, lumpy soup or watery stew with everything you might need (or perhaps not). Admittedly I cheated by using those flavor packets (several of 'em actually) to give the concoction some taste, and instead of water I used broth...

BUT...it turned out OK; my mom liked it and so did my daughter, and it was pretty easy to make--almost as easy as my daughter's 'vegan chili' and coconut lentil curry.

[DB]

That sounds like a fairly standard stew. What would you do otherwise?

You can throw just about anything in there - a handful or two of uncooked rice, or chick peas, any type of beans really, or if you're being especially British, suet dumplings.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/dumplings

[bd1]

somewhat related

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_stew

[Ivanhoe]

On 1/13/2024 at 12:26 AM, NickM said:

Guys,

Somewhere on Y/T was a guy talking about 'pilgrim era/settler on the plains era' farmers and what did they need to eat to survive the winter, before supermarkets, fridges, canning and all that lot. The cat made the point that you HAD to live thru the winter with what you harvested and preserved==salted meats, and 'root vegetables'--IE onions, beets, turnips and potatoes. He sliced up some taters, meat, carrots and boiled them into some kind of weird survival stew. So today, I attempted to do just that: chopped stew meat, potatoes, onions, carrots and celery. Some olive oil to saute the meat, and then beef broth with all the other fixins'.  After an hour of simmering I threw a cup of orzo pasta into the pot and 'voila': a kind of thick, lumpy soup or watery stew with everything you might need (or perhaps not). Admittedly I cheated by using those flavor packets (several of 'em actually) to give the concoction some taste, and instead of water I used broth...

If you replace regular beef broth with bone broth, you will get much more flavor and lots of micronutrients.

A "bachelor survival food" I've consumed in the past is ramen with dried bacon bits or beef jerky as the protein element.

If you are unfamiliar with pemmican, its worth a google search.

 

[Harold Jones]

One survival hack is that commercial beef broth sucks, it generally gets most of its flavor from additives.  Commercial chicken broth has fewer additives and tastes much better.  You can use chicken broth in place of beef broth for about 90% of the recipes that call for beef broth.  If you have a freezer, get a pressure cooker and make your own broth it takes about 45 minutes under pressure to make a flavorful broth.  Skip the salt since you can add it as part of your regular recipe.  You can chill it and skim the fat if you feel the need to do that.

[NickM]

10 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:

If you replace regular beef broth with bone broth, you will get much more flavor and lots of micronutrients.

A "bachelor survival food" I've consumed in the past is ramen with dried bacon bits or beef jerky as the protein element.

If you are unfamiliar with pemmican, its worth a google search.

 

Bone broth, eh? OK. The same guy (Townsend, I think is his Y/T handle?) has a feature about Pemmican too==though it MIGHT be some other guy, cuz it involved shooting a moose/elk/bison and cutting out the meat and saving the fat to make said pemmican.

[NickM]

5 hours ago, Harold Jones said:

One survival hack is that commercial beef broth sucks, it generally gets most of its flavor from additives.  Commercial chicken broth has fewer additives and tastes much better.  You can use chicken broth in place of beef broth for about 90% of the recipes that call for beef broth.  If you have a freezer, get a pressure cooker and make your own broth it takes about 45 minutes under pressure to make a flavorful broth.  Skip the salt since you can add it as part of your regular recipe.  You can chill it and skim the fat if you feel the need to do that.

my pressure cooker, my stalwart lentil maker, decided to crap out on me, but I agree about using chicken broth in virtually everything (just like I put bacon in vegan stuff!) 'simple' that I cook.

[DB]

You don't need a pressure cooker, I find - it just takes longer with a regular pan. It's traditional to just boil the carcase of a roast chicken. I have small plastic pots for freezing, small enough to fit anywhere in the freezer, but that means I have to use a couple of them at a time.

One day I will get the kitchen rearranged to make way for the big freezer.

[Harold Jones]

You are correct it's possible to make broth without a pressure cooker, but it takes a significant amount of time.  With a pressure cooker you can make stock almost on demand. Also there are a multitude of other uses for one, it is well worth the counter or storage space.

[NickM]

On 1/14/2024 at 4:33 AM, bd1 said:

somewhat related

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_stew

Dunnit spoil?