Tracy Stewart's Trail Tacos

Trail Tacos

Shared by Tracy Stewart from Burnsville, MN

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef or bison
1 small onion
1-3 jalapeno peppers
1 package taco seasoning
1 jar salsa
3 - 4 ounces cheddar cheese, grated or cubed
4 tortillas

At Home:

Brown 1 pound of ground bison or beef, add onion and hot peppers. I use about 3 jalapenos, sliced. Cook until peppers and onion soften. Add taco seasoning (bought at any store) and water per package instructions. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.

Spread taco meat onto dehydrator trays in 2 cup servings and dry until meat is thoroughly dry. Salsa is easy to dry into leather. Run through blender and spread thinly on dehydrator trays covered with non-stick sheets or parchment paper. Dry at 135 degrees for approximately 10 hours. You won't use all of the salsa leather for this recipe.

Package dried taco meat and a ¼ cup to ½ cup of dried salsa together, tortillas in another bag, and cheese in another bag.

On the Trail:

Add the taco meat and salsa to a cook pot with 1 3/4 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until fully rehydrated (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in cheese. When cheese is melted, tear tortillas into small pieces and add to pot. Stir to combine and eat with a fork. You can add to whole tortillas and roll up, but it's a lot more mess!

Comments and Suggestions:

This looks more complicated than it is. Basically, you're dehydrating taco meat and salsa; and combining it in camp with some torn tortillas and cheese. You can easily make it mild or very hot, depending on the peppers.

You can use cheese powder from a box of mac and cheese if it's going to be a long haul over many days, but I have been carting cheese around the backcountry for 10 years without any incidents of food poisoning! The longest I have carried it was 9 days. It was misshapen and ugly, but it tasted just fine. Here's another source for freeze dried cheddar cheese.

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For another taste of Mexico, try Chef Glenn's Mexican Beef & Rice recipe. There's also a recipe there for making your own taco seasoning.

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