Two Fer Tater Tuesday

“Two Fer Tater Tuesday
Several years ago, Sarah of Trail Cooking, would post new potato recipe every Tuesday morning. It was incredibly popular. I'm not sure why she stopped doing it. Last week, with her blessing, I decided to bring back Tater Tuesday. Search her archives for a gold mine of tater recipes!

Sarah and I have backpacked and talked food together for over ten years now. Everyone knows if they are hiking with us, they will both be guinea pig food testers and eat very well. Sarah wrote her backpacking cookbook, Freezerbag Cooking, first, and then encouraged me to write One Pan Wonders a few years later. We are both in the process of finishing our second books.

After I posted last week's recipe, we got to talking. We often bounce ideas back and forth and often come up with very different recipes using the same ingredients. Wouldn't it be fun to see what happens if we picked two basic ingredients to add to potatoes and developed recipes independently?

We wanted something that was readily accessible in most grocery stores and easy to fix on the trail. We settled on a small can (or pouch) of chicken and sun dried tomatoes. Anything else we added was kept a secret. We have not discussed what the final dish will be, so I'm excited to see what Sarah comes up with!I

I decided to do a pesto themed dish. In the process of buying the ingredients, I found a new flavor of Idahoan potatoes and a new brand of sun-dried tomatoes! Feel free to use different flavors of mashed potatoes. Butter and Herb would work nicely for this dish. Soft sun dried tomatoes are becoming easier to find. Check your produce department.


Make sure you get the chicken in the pop-top can. If you do not want to carry a can of chicken, dried chicken may be used instead. Just rehydrate it separately before adding to the potatoes.


Pesto Potatoes with Chicken and Sun Dried Tomatoes
Serves 1



1/2 cup Italian Romano White Cheese flavored mashed potatoes (Idahoan brand)
2 tablespoons soft sun dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon basil pesto pasta sauce mix
1 5 oz can chicken
1 1 oz stick mozzarella cheese

At home: combine everything except the cheese and chicken in a zip locking freezer bag.

In camp: add about 1 cups water to the potatoes. Stir well. Stir in the chicken. No need to drain. Serve topped with the cheese.”

“I'm no mathemetician, but that's only one fer Tuesday.

It sounds pretty good but I'm not too fond of sun-dried tomatoes so I'd omit those. I haven't found an Idahoan potato mix I didn't like.”

“Sarah will be here shortly to post hers. :)”

“I just hope someone else doesn't post one first---it would ruin the theme.”

“tempting to jump in just coz.... :)

The Idahoan tater mixes make an excellent base for simple and good tasteing camp dinners.”

“Any of the potatoes in a bag are perfect for backpacking. Especially the 'Loaded' ones. These are a staple of many meals for me and I plan on using these while in Alaska.

I will refrain from sharing my personal 'recipes' for these until Sarah has commented.”

“Go ahead and comment. Totally ok!”

“must get getting boring over @ bpacker.com for all you western folks to be showing up here.”

“Doncha love us any more sticks?”

“must get getting boring over @ bpacker.com for all you western folks to be showing up here


at least their post are about backpacking (food) which is better than some folks wanting to talk politics and other crap all the time :)

Sticks, are you on the kentucky wilderness boards?”

“Thank You,and please please give more recipes.Ones you can do backpacking and love to here of some good day hike lunches too..”

“that looks yummy!

i am sooo envious! our Idaho flavours are limited to plain, plain or plain. "loaded" or "italian romano white cheese" sounds so much less boring. although i'm a bit suspicious of the "white cheese" ingredient.”

“Dicentra. LOL Just making a joke. It just went forever over here with just a couple of folks. In the past few months it is like ya'll are showing up left and right!

Ewker Yeah that is me on KYwilderness.
I have to agree with ya.

Actually Ms. Black and I are on the same page on our thoughts about meal prep. Why fuss about meal weight for a 1 or 2 night trip? I always felt that was just too far over the top. Find ways in gear to lessen the load. Worry about food weight on week long trips when it really counts.”

“I even got out to The Smokies this past fall with the husband and baby - left the teen at home with my brother so he could go to school. Still poking my eyes over the horrors of Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg....

Anyhow!

And my version :) The recipe is located here.



Italian-ish Double Cheese Taters
Tater Tuesday done Italian style.

Ingredients
• 2⁄3 c instant mashed potatoes
• 2 T sun dried tomatoes, sliced thin
• 1 T dry milk
• 1 T butter powder (see notes)
• 1 T shelf stable Parmesan cheese
• 1⁄4 t granulated garlic
• 1⁄4 t Italian seasoning
• 5 oz can chicken breast
• 1 pkt string cheese
• 1 c water
Instructions:
At home pack the dry ingredients into a quart freezer bag for FBC or a sandwich bag for the insulated mug or one pot methods. Tuck the chicken with the bag and pack the cheese stick before leaving.

FBC Method:
Bring the water to a near boil. Add the chicken with broth to the mashed potatoes, then the water. Stir till well mixed, making sure there is no powder in the corners. Seal tightly and let sit in a cozy for 5 minutes.
Dice up the cheese and add in.

Insulated Mug Method:
Bring the water to a boil. Dump the potato mix into your mug, add the chicken with broth to the mashed potatoes, then the water. Stir till well mixed, making sure there is no powder in the corners. Cover tightly for 5 minutes.
Dice up the cheese and add in.

One Pot Method:
Bring the water and the chicken with broth to a boil. Take off the heat, stir in the potato mixture, stirring well. Cover tightly and let sit for 5 minutes. In cooler weather use a pot cozy to retain heat.
Dice up the cheese and add in.

”

“Can't wait for tomorrow's recipe to be published. Will it still be a 'tater twofer' I wonder?”

“Oh yes indeed!”

“Yes indeedy!! :)”