Chapter 5
Fruits and Vegetables: What
You Need to Know Before
Drying Them
With the key techniques you have learned in Chapter 4 you are now ready to start drying fruits and vegetables. The alphabetical listings that follow will provide you with information on water content, nutritional values, and other pertinent data. Use this as a guide and inspiration for your own creative ideas.
FRUITS
APPLES
84% water
While apples were once native to the Mediterranean area, today there are nearly 7,500 varieties grown worldwide. Apples contain some potassium and vitamin A, but it is their fiber content, most of which is healthful pectin, that is their best asset.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Peeling (optional) | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping (optional) |
See Example: Drying Peeled Dipped Apple Slices.
APRICOTS
85% water
Apricots were originally cultivated in China about four thousand years ago and were brought to the United States from Europe. Once picked, this delicate fruit has a relatively short life span, making it ideal for home drying. Apricots are a very good source of vitamin A, iron, and potassium.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Peeling (optional)—To loosen skin, steam pitted halved fruit for 5 minutes or dip into boiling water. | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping (optional)—Soak sliced or quartered pitted fruit in pineapple juice for 20 minutes to minimize discoloration. |
Tip: To flatten apricot halves for dehydrating, push out at the back of the pit cavity with your thumb. Halves will take longer to dry than slices.
BANANAS
76% water
Native to both Asia and Africa, bananas are the top-selling fruit in the United States. They are the seedless fruit of a tropical plant of which there are more than one hundred cultivated varieties. A tough, inedible skin protects the fruit from both germs and dust. In addition to providing three valuable vitamins—A, B, and C—bananas are also a good source of potassium and dietary fiber. Banana flour can be used as a milk substitute by those allergic to dairy products.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling |
| Slicing | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping (optional) |
See Example: To Peel, Slice, and Dry a Banana.
Tip: Choose bananas that have brown specks on the peel, indicating that the fruit is ripe and that the sugars have developed. All varieties of bananas, including plantains and finger bananas, can be dried.
BERRIES
Blueberries
83% water
The blueberry is one of the most recently domesticated fruits. In the 1920s, selected varieties of wild blueberries were crossbred to develop the first highbush berries for commercial production. Blueberries are high in fiber and therefore act as an excellent natural laxative. They contain vitamins A and C and a fair amount of potassium.
| Recommended Technique: | Blanching (optional) |
Tip: Before blanching, pick over and discard all moldy, soft, or bruised berries.
Raspberries
81% water
You can home-dry either black or red raspberries. Pick the berries over to remove any moldy or mushy ones.
| Recommended Technique: | Dry berries, whole |
Strawberries
90% water
Choose sweet-smelling, ripe, but still firm berries. Remove the stems and any white, unripened flesh around them.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
CHERRIES
Sour cherries, 84% water; sweet cherries, 80% water
Sour cherries contain a significant amount of vitamin A and potassium, as well as vitamin C, iron, and calcium.
Bing cherries are especially tasty when dried. A friend of mine pitted almost one hundred pounds of sweetened cherries, then froze them. Then she thawed and dried them, reserving the juice, which she later used in preserves or fruit leather purees.
One summer I sat out on my porch for two full days, pitting sweet cherries that I had purchased in Door County, Wisconsin. Dried, they filled four gallon jars. A friend of my son’s came to our house for an extended stay and liked them so much he polished off all four gallons in a matter of a couple of weeks!
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
Tip: Cherries have to be pitted before drying. If you do not have a cherry pitter, steam the cherries for two minutes, which makes it easier to pit them. (I learned this the hard way—after my two-day cherry-pitting marathon on the porch.)
CITRUS FRUITS
Lemons, 90% water; limes, 89% water; tangerines, 87% water Citrus fruits, in general, are an excellent source of vitamin C and also contain vitamins A and B plus potassium. Because they have little starch, they do not sweeten after picking. Scrub the outer skins to remove any chemicals or dyes before drying.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
Valencia oranges, 87% water; Florida oranges, 73% water
Oranges were cultivated in China for nearly four thousand years before the seeds were brought to America by Christopher Columbus and planted circa 1493. Generally speaking, there are two kinds of oranges: juice oranges and eating oranges. Juice oranges have thin skins and seeds; eating oranges, such as navel oranges, are seedless, pulpy, and good-tasting.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Peeling (optional) |
Citrus Peel
Candied citrus peel can be made with mandarin orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, tangerine, or tangelo peel. Be sure to scrub all nonorganically grown citrus fruit well to remove as much of the chemical residue on the skin as possible before candying.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling |
| Candying (optional) |
Tip: Historically, plain dried orange peel was used as a seasoning, like cinnamon or ginger. To this day, it is frequently used in Chinese cooking.
COCONUT
51% water
Even though you can easily buy shredded coconut in all supermarkets, you should try preparing it at least once yourself. Begin by selecting a coconut in which you can hear the milk sloshing around when you shake it. Poke the three eyes with an icepick and let the milk drain out. Then, cut the coconut into rough pieces, and remove the shell from the meat. Grate the meat on a box grater, or cut it into strips or chunks and dry. Then grate the coconut. It seems like a lot of work for dried shredded coconut, but I think you will like the results. A little dried coconut is very tasty mixed with granola or sprinkled over fruit salad.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling |
| Slicing |
CRANBERRIES
88% water
Cranberries are high in dietary fiber and constitute a good source of vitamin A.
| Recommended Techniques: | Candying (optional) |
| Blanching (Checking) |
See Example: To Dry Blanched (Checked) Cranberries.
DATES
86% water
Originating in Mesopotamia, the date palm has been cultivated for over five thousand years. Dates can be eaten fresh, although most people are more familiar with dried dates, which are used in baking or eaten out of hand as snacks. Dates are rich in potassium, iron, and other minerals.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Candying (optional) |
Tip: Dates must be pitted before being dried.
FIGS
78% water
Native to the Mediterranean region, figs, when dried, contain large amounts of sugar, calcium, and iron, and are an excellent source of dietary fiber, potassium, and B vitamins. If allowed to ripen on the tree, figs also become partially dry. The two most available sweet varieties are the Mission fig, purplish-black in color; and the Calimyrna fig, amber in color.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Candying (optional) | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping (optional)—Bring 1½ cups pineapple juice to a boil, add 2 cups halved figs, and simmer for 10 minutes. |
GRAPES
82% water
Botanically, the grape is a berry. Grapes have been cultivated for at least six thousand years, making them one of the oldest foods. The Romans have taken claim for being the first to grow different varieties of grapes for different purposes, such as winemaking and eating.
Grapes were sun-dried into raisins more than three thousand years ago in the Middle East, but it wasn’t until 1873, following a severe heat wave that struck the San Joaquin Valley, that raisins were “discovered” in California. Due to soaring temperatures in the valley, most of the grapes shriveled on the vines. An enterprising farmer nonetheless took his ruined crop to San Francisco, where the dried grapes were sold as “Peruvian Delicacies” and became a popular snack food.
Choose seedless varieties, including the Black Corinth or Champagne grape and the Thompson grape, for home-drying. Wild grapes can also be dehydrated. Red Malaga grapes dry on the vine and are considered the aristocrat of dried fruit. Dried grapes, commonly known as raisins, contain significant amounts of iron, potassium, phosphorus, and calcium.
| Recommended Technique: | Dry grapes whole |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching |
KIWIFRUIT
84% water
Native to New Zealand, with small edible black seeds in translucent lime-green flesh, kiwis are high in vitamin A and have twice the potassium of bananas. A 3-ounce kiwi provides twice the recommended daily requirement of vitamin C for an adult. High in fiber and low in calories (about 45 per fruit), kiwis also contain no cholesterol or sodium. It is the high acidity in kiwis that allows them to retain their magnificent color when sliced. Lastly, kiwi contains an enzyme that prevents gelatin from setting and makes it a good meat tenderizer. There is a lot to recommend kiwifruit!
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Candying (optional) |
Tip: To remove the brown peel on a kiwi, use a sharp paring knife. Pare off the peel carefully, removing as little of the flesh as possible.
MANGOES
82% water
Nearly 80 percent of the world’s crop of mangoes still comes from India, where the fruit has been grown for thousands of years. In the nineteenth century, mangoes, the fruit of an evergreen tree, began to be cultivated in southern Florida. Mangoes contain potassium, calcium, and magnesium as well as significant amounts of vitamins A and C.
Underripe, ripe, and overripe mangoes can be home-dried; overipe mangoes are best turned into puree for drying into leather. Ideally, select mangoes that give slightly to the touch, but are not soft or mushy.
The challenge of dehydrating mangoes comes in peeling and pitting them. I recommend two methods:
Method Number 1: Quarter the mango to the pit, leaving the flesh still attached. Peel off the skin on one quarter. With a potato peeler, cut the flesh off the pit in thin strips. Skin and cut the remaining quarters in the same manner until you work your way to the pit. Method Number 2: Stand the mango upright on end. With a sharp knife, starting at the top, cut the peel and flesh off the pit in 4 sections—front, back, and both sides. Remove the peel from all mango pieces and scrape remaining flesh off the pit with the knife. The flesh that turns to mush should be dried as a leather on a lightly oiled solid leather sheet.
Dried Fruit Powders and Sugars
Put dried fruits, such as papaya, apricot, fig, prune, apple, and date pieces, in the freezer and then pulverize the frozen pieces in a blender. Use the powder, as is, in the ways suggested below. Or, for a sweeter treat, add an equal part of raw, white, or brown sugar to the powder in the blender and combine.
Single fruits or dried fruit combinations make splendid powder and/or sugar; just be sure that the fruit you pulverize is dried as hard as possible. Know, too, that the fruit sugars you make from home-dried fruits will not dissolve as fast as commercially made fruit sugars.
How to Use Fruit Powders and Sugars:
• Sprinkle over ice cream or frozen or fresh yogurt.
• Blend with yogurt to make fruit roll-ups.
• Add to fruit salads as a sweetener instead of raisins and/or coconut.
• Use to flavor jellies and jams; in puddings; in breads, cakes, and cookies.
• Enliven cream cheese frosting: Combine 3 ounces softened cream cheese with 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, 1 tablespoon dried fruit powder, and ½ teaspoon vanilla, and beat until fluffy.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Candying (optional) |
MELONS
Honeydew, casaba, and muskmelon, 92% water; Crenshaw and cantaloupe, 91% water.
If you grow your own melons, harvest them when the stem ends separate easily from the fruit. When purchasing melons in the market, look for ones that are heavy and smell fragrant. Cantaloupes are high in vitamin A in addition to vitamin C and potassium.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling |
| Slicing |
NECTARINES
82% water
These beautifully colored orbs are high in vitamin A and potassium. A properly ripened nectarine should not be too soft to the touch.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Peeling (optional) | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping |
PAPAYAS
89% water
Originating in the Caribbean region, papayas are now grown in several tropical countries, including Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Mexico. Papayas are very rich in vitamins A and C and also contain potassium. A ripe papaya should give slightly to the touch; if you intend to candy papaya, select firm ones only.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling |
| Slicing | |
| Candying (optional) | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping |
Tip: Be sure to remove all the black seeds and any stringy flesh before slicing.
PEACHES
89% water
It has been said that the first peach was cultivated in China, where it is the symbol of immortality. In the United States, peaches are grown in many states, including Georgia.
Peaches contain niacin, potassium, and a fair amount of vitamin A. All varieties dry well. Select peaches that give slightly to the touch for home drying, and if they are bruised, simply cut out the affected areas.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Peeling (optional) | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping |
PEARS
83% water
The origin of the pear remains a mystery, but its supply of vitamins A and C is well documented. Pears also contain fiber and potassium. Bartlett (including the Red), Anjou, and Bosc pears are popular varieties that dry well. Harvest pears when they are still green in color and firm. The fruit does not ripen properly on the tree. When ripe, a pear should give slightly to gentle pressure. To ripen store-brought pears, place in a plastic bag and leave at room temperature for 2 or 3 days.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling (optional) |
| Slicing | |
| Candying (optional) | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping |
Tip: To core a pear, cut off the bottom and top of the fruit. Stand the pear upright and cut into quarters. Cut out the core section on each quarter with a small knife.
See Example: To Dry a Dipped Sliced Pear.
PINEAPPLES
85% water
The only difficult part of drying a pineapple is finding one that is sufficiently ripe in the market! To select a good-for-drying pineapple, seek out one with a yellow-golden color, especially around the bottom of the base. Pull a leaf from inside the top cluster: If it pulls out easily and feels moist, the chances are high that you have chosen a ripe fruit. It should also smell sweet. You want a juicy pineapple, but beware of very soft places in the flesh, which indicate that the fruit is overripe. You can also sometimes smell a musty, fermenting odor. Overripe pineapples, I hasten to add, can still be used to make delicious leather.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Peeling | |
| Candying (optional) |
PLUMS
80% water
There are over one hundred varieties of plum, ranging in size from a cherry to a nectarine, and they come in beautiful shades of red, green, and purple. All are good for drying. When dried, the prune plum—and that really is its name—is called a prune. Dried plums are a good source of fiber and vitamin A.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
Tip: Like peaches and nectarines, plums must be pitted before being dried.
RHUBARB
95% water
A vegetable, rhubarb nonetheless is generally thought of and used as a fruit. The pretreatment of blanching helps to eliminate some of the acidity in the stalks, which, in turn, means that the dried product will need less sweetener.
Select young tender stalks for drying; the older ones have lost much of their flavor. To prepare rhubarb for pretreating, remove all leaves—they are toxic—and woody ends of the stalks, and cut the stalks into Vi-inch pieces. I love rhubarb, and when I’ve dried as much of it as I can, I pulverize it into powder to use in fruit punches and leathers.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching |
WATERMELON
92% water
Because watermelon has essentially no starch reserves before ripening, it cannot get sweeter after picking. Therefore, leave watermelon on the vine as long as possible. A reliable indication of ripeness is a clean break between the melon and the stem end; another one is a hollow rather than sharp sound when you rap or thump the melon on the side with your hand.
Don’t forget that melon seeds can also be dried, then toasted.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Peeling | |
| Candying the rind |
Tip: Because of its high water content, watermelon that is cut into thin slices will be paper-thin when dried. To avoid this, I often cut watermelon into chunks and put it on mesh-sheet-lined dehydrator trays. This results in pieces that will come off the drying trays more easily.
VEGETABLES
ASPARAGUS
92% water
While asparagus was grown by the Greeks and Romans, it wasn’t until the late 1700s that this vegetable was cultivated in American gardens. A substantial source of vitamin A and potassium, asparagus has a fair amount of vitamins B and C and iron as well. Select either wild or domesticated edible shoots and spears from the rootstock. Wash, cut off the woody stems, and scrape off any tough skin on the stalks, if necessary. I like to cut the tips off the stalks and dry them separately; the stalks should also be cut into 1-inch pieces. When drying asparagus to pulverize into powder, you can use more of the tough ends of the stalks.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Peeling (optional) | |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching (optional) |
Tip: For water-boil blanching, allow 3 to 5 minutes; for steam-blanching, allow 5 minutes.
BEANS
90% water
There are many varieties of fresh beans, including green, string, snap, and purple beans, and many of them are high in protein, vitamin A, and potassium, with smaller amounts of calcium and vitamin C. Beans are easy to grow, easy to store, and easy to dry. Fresh beans should snap when you bend them. Harvest beans when the seeds in the pods are immature and still succulent. In some instances, both the seeds and the pods are edible. When buying beans in the market, avoid any that have rust marks or are limp, bulging, or blemished. To prepare beans for drying, snip off the stem ends, string if necessary, and cut into ½- to 1-inch pieces.
Navy, kidney, pinto, red, butter, and Great Northern beans dry on the vine. (The water content in each of these beans is naturally lower; lima beans, for example, contain only 68 percent water.) When the plants and the pods are dry and shriveled, pluck off the pods, open them, and shell the dried beans. To ensure that the beans are completely dry, you may need to put them in the dehydrator.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing (fresh beans) |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching |
Tip: Steam-blanch cut fresh beans for 3 to 5 minutes.
BEETS
87% water
Beets are high in iron, contain more sugar than any other vegetable, and are a rich source of potassium. They are noted more for their laxative value than for the nutrients they provide.
Dried beet powder can be used as a natural food coloring. Another use for the powder: Add it to a mixture of water and sugar, and use it in hummingbird feeders.
| Recommended Techniques: | Cooking or Baking |
| Slicing |
Tip: Depending upon the size of the beets, cooking time may range from 15 minutes to 1 hour. The beets are done when they are fork-tender.
BEET GREENS
See Greens.
BROCCOLI
89% water
Broccoli, as we know it, was first cultivated in Italy and was not grown in the United States until the early 1900s. Broccoli, a relative of cauliflower, is high in vitamins A and C and is a good source of potassium, niacin, iron, calcium, and dietary fiber. It contains about 5 grams of protein per cup. Broccoli is also noted for its anticarcinogenic properties.
Because homegrown broccoli (and cauliflower) can have worms, soak the head for 30 minutes in a solution of 1 part salt to 4 parts water, which will force any worms in the vegetable to float to the surface.
To prepare for drying, trim the broccoli head, remove any yellow bud clusters, and cut the florets from the stems. If desired, peel the tough outer skin from the stems with a vegetable peeler and cut the stems crosswise into Vi-inch pieces. Blanch the stems before drying (see Tip). Dry the florets and the stems separately. Broccoli leaves can also be dried, then pulverized and used as a flavoring agent, much like celery powder.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Peeling (optional) | |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching |
Tip: Water-boil blanch broccoli stems for 2 to 3 minutes; or steam-blanch for 3 to 5 minutes.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
85% water
This member of the cabbage family originated in Brussels, Belgium, in the thirteenth century. Brussels sprouts are a rich source of vitamins A and C and provide significant amounts of potassium, protein, and iron. If you are harvesting your own crop, remove solid, firm heads from the base of the plant first, then work your way up the stalk. To prepare for drying, remove any outer yellow or brown leaves and tough stems.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching |
Tip: Water-boil blanch sliced sprouts for 2 to 4 minutes; or steam-blanch for 4 to 6 minutes.
CABBAGES
92% water
Cabbage, green or red or Savoy, is one of the oldest known cultivated vegetables, with present varieties believed to have originated in Italy. Cabbage in general, and Chinese cabbage in particular, are very high in vitamin A and also contain vitamin C and potassium.
Select firm, heavy heads for home drying. Trim off any tough outer leaves and cut away the thick core and ribs.
| Recommended Techniques: | Dipping |
| Slicing | |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching |
Tips: Dip sliced cabbage in lemon juice for 5 to 10 minutes to retain a light color for drying.
Shred leaves instead of slicing them and steam-blanch for 2 minutes. Or trim heads, cut them into chunks, and steam-blanch for 3 minutes.
CARROTS
88% water
Native to Afghanistan, carrots were used by the Greeks and Romans for medicinal purposes, which should not be surprising in that they are extremely nourishing, rich in vitamin A, and have a good supply of minerals and potassium.
Do not use old or woody carrots for drying. To prepare, cut off the ends. Depending upon how you intend to use the carrots when dried, peel, dip, or cut them into slices or even shred them. Shredded dried carrots are good for baking and are a suitable substitute for shredded dried coconut. Use a food processor fitted with a shredding blade to make quick, clean work of shredding them.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling (optional) |
| Slicing | |
| Pretreatments: | Dipping (optional) |
| Blanching (optional) |
Tip: Steam-blanch small pieces of carrots for 3 minutes; larger pieces for 5 to 7 minutes.
CAULIFLOWER
91% water
Related to broccoli, cauliflower is noted for its anticancer properties. Cultivated in the United States since the seventeenth century, cauliflower contains significant amounts of vitamin C and potassium.
As with broccoli, check homegrown cauliflower for worms and, if necessary, soak the head to force them out.
The cluster of buds on a cauliflower is called the curd. Remove any discolored parts from the curd, and on the leaves and stems. Trim the florets from the stems and cut them into ½-inch slices.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
| Pretreatments: | Blanching |
| Dipping (optional) |
Tips: Water-boil blanch florets for 3 to 4 minutes; or steam-blanch for 4 to 5 minutes. Then dip florets in lemon juice for 5 to 10 minutes to set the color.
Dry the stems and pulverize them into powder; use for flavoring.
CELERY
94% water
Celery did not become a table vegetable until the Middle Ages. Because celery has a very high sodium content, when it is dried and pulverized into powder, it can be a natural substitute for salt. As dieters know, celery is extremely low in calories.
Both the stalks and leaves can be dried. Cut off any limp, yellowing, or damaged parts on the stalks in preparation for drying. Then rinse and cut into pieces. When drying celery to be used in soups or main courses, choose stalks that snap when they are bent. If celery is beginning to go limp but is still edible, trim it and dry it to pulverize into powder.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching |
Tip: Water-boil blanch small pieces for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the color changes.
COLLARD GREENS
See Greens.
CORN
73% water
Corn is one of the most commonly dried foods. Over the years I have met many people who can remember their grandmother, aunt, or mother drying corn on a woodstove drier. My own Grandmother Bell dried corn in the attic, along with apples and pumpkin, and my father remembers stirring the corn as it dried.
As for the way old-timers used to dry corn, here is how Cooking on the Frontier, an 1877 Buckeye cookery book, recommended doing it: “Cut it from the cob and dry without preliminary treatment.” The corn was then spread in a large pan lined with “flour-sack paper,” put into a moderate oven for 15 to 20 minutes, and stirred frequently. Then it was dried some more on a cloth-covered table in the sunshine, brought in before sunset, and the next day, the process was repeated all over again. The corn, the book reads, “will be thoroughly dried on the evening of the second day, and when shaken will rattle.” As lovely as this recounting is, I have to think of how easy it is to dry corn with the modern-day convenience of an electric food dehydrator.
Another nineteenth-century source advocates first boiling the ears for two minutes “to harden the milk,” then cutting the kernels from the cob, setting the kernels on a cloth spread over a “baking board,” and putting the board in the oven or the sun to dry. To reconstitute the corn, it was “soaked overnight in a bowl of water.” The more things change, the more they remain the same.
The yellow variety that many Americans call “sweet corn” is an excellent source of vitamin A, potassium, and other minerals. In addition to dietary fiber, corn contains some vitamin C and protein. It is one of the most cultivated plants in the world. All types of corn can be dried; sweet and field corn can be dried until hard, then pulverized into cornmeal. Degerminated corn-meal means that the kernels have been processed for the removal of the germ, corn oil, and protein casing. Home-ground dried corn has significantly more taste than commercially processed cornmeal.
Different names are given to the degrees dried corn is ground: “Corn flour” is a fine grind; “grits” are kernels, with the bran and germ removed, ground to a granular size bigger than cornmeal.
To dry corn, harvest it when the silk at the tip of the husks is brown. Remove the husks and silk, reserving it, if desired, as it too can be dried, then pulverize and use as a flavoring in soups or pasta dough. Cut any damaged kernels off the cobs. It is easier to cut cooked corn off the cob than uncooked; however, if you stand an uncooked cob on end and cut straight down on the kernels with a sharp knife or a corn cutter, the kernels do come off.
Begin the drying process as soon as possible after the corn has been picked, before the sugar in the kernels converts to starch.
| Recommended Technique: | Peeling (husking) |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching (optional) |
Tip: Steam-blanch kernels for 3 to 5 minutes; or water-boil blanch whole small ears for 7 minutes, medium-sized ears for 9 minutes, and large ears for 11 minutes.
What Is Hominy
When people at home shows see my home-dried corn kernels and cornmeal, they invariably ask me about hominy. Hominy is the hulled kernel of corn with the germ removed. Hominy can be served whole, or can be ground into—what else?—grits.
CUCUMBERS
95% water
Strictly speaking, cucumbers are fruit. An ancient plant that originated in southwestern Asia, where cultivated seeds nearly twelve thousand years old have been found, the cucumber is low in calories but also quite low in nutrients. Cucumbers do contain some vitamin A, iron, potassium, and fiber.
When dried, cucumber skin becomes tough and bitter; therefore, peeling is recommended. Seed cucumbers to produce a better, more tender dried product.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling |
| Slicing | |
| Seeding | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping |
Tips: Dip in lemon juice to prevent cucumber from darkening.
Pickles, both sweet and dill, make interesting and delicious snacks. To dry pickles, cut them into long, thin strips or slices. Add to Vegetable Gorp.
EGGPLANT
92% water
Botanically, eggplant is a berry native to India, but it is Thomas Jefferson who is credited with bringing this unique plant to this country. The eggplant’s best feature is its high protein content, although it also contains some potassium, iron, and protein.
Select firm eggplants for drying. Seedy, fleshy ones are less desirable than meatier ones. Trim off both ends, peel—reserving peel, if desired, for drying—and remove any bruised or dark brown spots on the flesh. Once cut, eggplant turns dark very quickly. To prevent discoloration, dip the slices (see Tips below).
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling (optional) |
| Slicing | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping |
Tips: Dip sliced eggplant into lemon juice or steam slices for 3 to 5 minutes.
If desired, dry eggplant peel separately from the slices, pulverize the dried peel and use the powder to flavor and color fresh pasta or noodle dough.
ENDIVE
See Greens.
GREENS
In general, greens, including different lettuces, spinach, Swiss chard, beet greens, and so on, contain about 92% water; some lettuce, 95%; spinach and Swiss chard, 91%.
Lettuce is America’s most popular uncooked vegetable. All varieties are high in dietary fiber. Romaine and loose-leaf lettuces offer more vitamin A and calcium than does the ubiquitous iceberg lettuce. Butterhead lettuce also contains more iron than iceberg lettuce.
Beet greens are high in vitamins A and C and calcium; collard greens are a superior source of vitamins A and B, with large amounts of calcium, phosphorus, and other minerals.
Select young and tender greens, be they turnip greens, mustard greens, or kale. Wash them thoroughly to remove all dirt and insects and discard any wilted areas. Remove tough, fibrous leaves and stems, and remove the midrib by folding each leaf in half lengthwise and cutting it out. If desired, stems and veins can be dried and pulverized.
When dried greens, spinach in particular, are rehydrated and cooked, they are indistinguishable from fresh cooked greens.
| Pretreatment: | Blanching |
Tip: Blanch bitter-tasting greens in either water or beef bouillon for 2 minutes to tone down their sharp flavor. Blanching renders leaves limp, making it harder to spread them evenly on drying trays.
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES
80% water
The Jerusalem artichoke, a member of the sunflower family, is an edible tuber that resembles a small potato and is native to American Indian cultures.
To prepare them for drying, rinse the artichokes, then cut them in half. Once cut, Jerusalem artichokes discolor.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
| Pretreatments: | Blanching (optional) |
| Dipping |
Tip: Blanch halved Jerusalem artichokes for 10 minutes. If you plan to pulverize the dried artichoke, no blanching is needed.
KALE
See Greens.
KOHLRABI
90% water
Kohlrabi, which is German for “cabbage turnip,” is high in potassium and vitamin C. This globe-shaped green or purple vegetable, a member of the cabbage family, is formed as a swelling at the base of the plant.
To prepare for drying, remove leaves and stem. No peeling is required.
| Recommended Techniques: | Slicing |
| Cooking or Baking | |
| Pretreatments: | Dipping (optional) |
| Blanching |
Tip: To blanch, either water-boil blanch cubed kohlrabi for 3 to 5 minutes, or steam-blanch for 5 to 8 minutes.
MUSHROOMS
90% water
Botanically, mushrooms are one of the simplest plants, with no roots and no leaves; they produce no flowers or seeds and rely on spores to reproduce.
If you are gathering wild mushrooms for drying, it goes without saying that you should pick only those you are able to identify or know as edible. Mushrooms, in general, are easy to dry, have a long shelf life once dried, and rehydrate very well.
You can dry store-bought white button mushrooms, morels, puffballs, and, my favorite of all, shiitakes. Clean all mushrooms, especially morels, which tend to harbor sand, debris, and insects. Remove the stems. Slice the caps, and dry the sliced caps and stems separately.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
Growing Shiitake Mushrooms at the Forest Resource Center
I credit my interest and love for shiitake mushrooms to my husband. After he studied forestry in Germany, he returned to this country to devote his time and energy to creating an organization called the Forest Resource Center in Lanes-boro, Minnesota. The FRC, as we refer to it, manages the surrounding forest, and provides demonstration areas, like living classrooms, that offer information on land management, management options, alternative agricultural crops, and environmental education. One such demonstration is growing shiitake mushrooms.
Established in 1983, the shiitake demonstration project is designed to encourage woodland owners to make profitable use of previously unused trees by using them for shiitake cultivation. Hardwood logs, in particular oak, ironwood, birch, and hard maple—all abundant in the area’s forests—provide the host medium for growing shiitakes. The way it works is this: Logs are cut into approximately 40-inch lengths, and holes are then drilled in the logs. The holes are filled with shiitake spawn and covered with hot wax. The logs are then stacked for several months, during which time the mushrooms colonize within the logs. To encourage the fruiting of the mushrooms, the logs are soaked in water for one to two days, restocked, and then the mushrooms emerge from the host logs. Logs oftentimes produce up to seven separate mushroom crops.
Over the last ten years, the FRC has researched, collected, and published information on shiitake production and management techniques. As a result, the FRC has become one of the few U.S. research centers for the cultivation of shiitake mushrooms on hardwood logs.
OKRA
89% water
These tapered edible seed pods came to the United States from Africa, and became renowned the world over as an intrinsic ingredient in gumbo—one of the great regional dishes of the American South. Okra contains fiber and substantial amounts of vitamin A, potassium, and calcium.
Select small, young, tender pods. Trim off stem ends and tips, then slice.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching |
Tip: Water-boil blanch for 2 to 3 minutes, or steam-blanch for 4 to 5 minutes.
ONIONS
88% water
There are many types of onions—yellow, red, and white—and all vary in shape, size, weight, and aroma. Other members of the onion family are scallions (also called green or spring onions), shallots, and leeks. Both bunching and bulb onions can be dried.
To prepare for drying, trim off top and bottom ends. Remove outer papery skin by hand or drop onions in boiling water for 1 minute to loosen skin. If the onions you are drying have a strong smell, put the dehydrator in an out-of-the-way place.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling |
| Slicing |
Tip: For a great snack combination, see Dried Toasted Vegetable Snack.
PARSNIPS
79% water
This edible root, so good in soups and stews, resembles a carrot in appearance. Parsnips contain a good deal of potassium and smaller amounts of protein, iron, and calcium. Nutritional aspects aside, during medieval times the parsnip was believed to be an aphrodisiac.
If you are growing parsnips yourself, harvest them in the fall, after the first freeze. It is the effect of the cold temperature that helps convert the starch in the root to sugar. If buying parsnips, avoid soft and woody ones. Should the core be woody, cut it away.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling (optional) |
| Slicing | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping |
Tip: Use lemon juice for dipping the slices.
PEAS
78% water
Peas are a fair source of vitamin A. One pound of fresh peas in the pod generally equals 1 cup shelled peas.
While both seeds (the peas) and certain edible pods can be dried, the pods, such as sugar snaps, will lose some of their crispness once dehydrated.
| Recommended Technique: | Peeling (shelling) |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching |
Tip: Steam-blanch shelled peas for 3 minutes.
PEPPERS
Generally, peppers contain about 93% water.
Peppers—including bell peppers, hot or chili peppers, and banana peppers—contain vitamins A and C. The above-mentioned varieties and more can be very successfully dried.
Select peppers that have bright skins for drying. If you are drying peppers whole, puncture the skin to allow dry air to get inside. If you are cutting peppers, remove the cores and seeds. When preparing hot peppers you can moderate some of their “heat” by removing the white membranes and veins, seeds, and stems. When handling hot peppers, it is a good idea to wear gloves to protect your hands and avoid touching your face, especially your eyes and lips. If you do burn your hands when working with hot peppers, you can neutralize the sting by washing your hands with milk.
The world over, peppers are commonly air-dried. Whole peppers are simply strung together without touching and left to hang in a well-ventilated place. It is important that the string go through the stem and not penetrate the flesh.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
Tip: If you bite into a hot pepper, eat some bread or yogurt or rice. Don’t drink water; it only fuels the heat.
POTATOES
80% water
This edible tuber has a high carbohydrate content. Low-starch potatoes yield the best dried product. To determine starch content, rub two potato halves together. If they stick, the starch content is high. Remember that old potatoes have more starch and absorb flavors more easily; new potatoes, therefore, dry better because they are lower in starch.
Mealy potatoes, in which the cells separate from each other when baked or mashed, contain more starch than waxy potatoes, which have moist, cohesive tissues. To tell them apart, put one potato type in a brine of 1 part salt to 11 parts water. The waxy potato will float, the mealy, more dense potato will sink.
To prepare potatoes for drying, it is important after washing and peeling them to remove any green-tinged flesh, as it will turn dark when dried. Potatoes can be sliced, cubed, or cut into shoestring strips for drying. Water-boil blanch cut potatoes only until the color changes, 3 to 5 minutes; the pieces should still be firm and hold together. Cool, then dip blanched potatoes in a solution of ¼ cup lemon juice and ¾ cup water.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling |
| Slicing | |
| Pretreatments: | Blanching |
| Dipping (optional) |
Tip: You can also steam-blanch sliced potatoes for 5 to 7 minutes; or bake them with the skins on, slice, and then dip before drying. Mashed potatoes can also be dried on leather sheets.
PUMPKINS
92% water
Botanically, pumpkins are berries and a good source of vitamin A. Dry all varieties, no matter the size or shape. Cut the pumpkin in half, peel, remove the seeds and strings, and bake the flesh, cut into 1-inch strips, in a preheated 300°F oven until soft.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling |
| Slicing | |
| Cooking or Baking | |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching (optional) |
Tips: To dry pumpkin seeds, wash, then dry them in the dehydrator on mesh sheets until hard. When dried, sauté 1 cup seeds in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over low heat until slightly colored. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt.
Seeds to be used for sprouting must be dried at temperatures below 90°F.
RADISHES
95% water
Radishes, including daikon (white Oriental radish) and black and red radishes, can all be dried. There is no need to peel them. Trim off tops and bottoms, and cut radishes into slices before drying.
| Recommended Technique: | Slicing |
RUTABAGAS
87% water
A large root, a rutabaga is sometimes called a Swedish turnip. Store-bought rutabagas are often coated in an edible vegetable wax to prevent loss of moisture.
To dry, first peel, then cut rutabagas into slices or cubes.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling |
| Slicing | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping (optional) |
| Blanching |
Tip: Water-boil blanch for 2 to 3 minutes; or steam-blanch for 5 minutes.
You can also bake rutabagas to soften the flesh, then mash and dry on oiled solid leather sheets.
SPINACH
See Greens.
SQUASH
81% water
Any hard-rind squash can be dried, including Hubbard, acorn, butternut, and buttercup.
To dry, peel the squash, halve it, then remove the stringy pulp and large seeds. Cut, chop, or grate the flesh.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling |
| Slicing | |
| Cooking or Baking | |
| Pretreatment: | Blanching |
Tip: Steam-blanch pieces for 5 to 8 minutes. Or bake in a preheated 300°F oven until just tender and/or dip in lemon juice to prevent darkening.
SWEET POTATOES
74% water
Because sweet potatoes and yams are both tubers, they are frequently grouped together, although technically they are not of the same family. The sweet potato, in fact, is a member of the morning glory family and is native to Central America. A good source of vitamins A and C, sweet potatoes contain less protein than white potatoes.
Christopher Columbus took the sweet potato back to Europe after his first voyage to the New World. By the end of the fifteenth century, the sweet potato was established in China and the Philippines. Now it is cultivated in most subtropical areas of the world.
To ready for drying, wash the sweet potatoes, then bake until softened but still firm to the touch in a 300°F oven. Let cool, peel, and slice.
| Recommended Techniques: | Baking |
| Peeling | |
| Slicing | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping (optional) |
Tip: Steam-blanch peeled, uncooked slices for 8 to 10 minutes, then dip the slices in lemon juice to retain color.
SWISS CHARD
See Greens.
TOMATOES
90% water
Given the amount of information about tomatoes in this book and the frequent use I make of them in recipes, suffice it to say that they are superb dried.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling (optional) |
| Slicing | |
| Seeding (optional) |
TURNIPS
88% water
Turnips should be topped, washed, and peeled before being dried. Then cut them into slices or cubes and dip to prevent discoloration.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling |
| Slicing | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping (optional) |
| Blanching |
Tips: Use lemon juice for dipping.
Steam-blanch small pieces of turnip for 2 to 3 minutes; larger pieces for 5 to 7 minutes.
Don’t throw out the greens; they are wonderful dried and used in soups.
ZUCCHINI
94% water
While the word “zucchini” means “little squash” in Italian, it is considered an American plant and can grow to sizes that are anything but little!
Before drying, peel and remove the seeds of zucchini that are larger than 1 foot long. For smaller zucchini, simply wash the outer skin well before slicing.
| Recommended Techniques: | Peeling (optional) |
| Slicing | |
| Pretreatment: | Dipping (optional) |
Tip: Use lemon juice for dipping to retain a lightness in color.
Vegetable Powders
If you are on a reduced-sodium or salt-free diet, you are undoubtedly aware of ways of adding flavor to foods without using salt. Let pulverized dried vegetables, or powder, provide another wonderful taste-enchancing possibility. Celery powder, for one, is super on a baked potato, and will perk up an omelet or a sauce very nicely, too. It is nothing short of heavenly sprinkled over sliced garden-fresh tomatoes.
Key Technique 8: To Pulverize Dried Vegetables to Powder
Example: Dried Celery Powder
1. Cut and discard the root end of celery stalks, then cut them, including the leafy sections, into ½-inch pieces.
2. Arrange the pieces in a single layer on a drying tray lined with a mesh sheet. Dry until hard. (Celery contains about 94 percent water, so don’t be surprised at how small the pieces of celery are—how much they have shrunk—when dried.)
3. Pulverize the dried celery in a blender to the desired consistency—powder, flakes, or chunks. When grinding it, do not forget to inhale its delicious aroma!
4. Store the powder in an airtight container and label and date the jar.
5. Make your own celery salt by combining equal parts celery powder and table or low-sodium salt.
A Versatile Broth
Powerful Vegetable Powder Broth
Now that you have an array of dried vegetable powders on hand, here is a recipe that combines no less than seven of them. Use a tablespoon of this to enhance a soup base or to flavor a sauce.
1 teaspoon dried onion powder
1 teaspoon dried celery powder
1 teaspoon dried tomato powder
1 teaspoon dried spinach powder
1 teaspoon dried cornmeal
1 teaspoon dried bell pepper powder
1 teaspoon dried carrot powder
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon chopped dried garlic
Boiling water as needed
Combine all the ingredients. For each cup of boiling water, allow 1 tablespoon vegetable powder.
Makes 3 tablespoons, rendering 3 cups broth
Nutritional Variation: To each cup of vegetable broth, stir in 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon wheat germ, and 1 teaspoon ground nuts or seeds.