Chapter 8

Making Food Leathers

When you dry food in sheets instead of in pieces, you are making “leather.” You may have purchased fruit leathers at the grocery store, where they are called “fruit roll-ups,” “fruit paper,” or “fruit rolls,” and come in flavors like cherry, apple, apricot, strawberry, watermelon, and grape. With your own food dehydrator, not only can you make fruit leathers, but also dry vegetable leathers—tomato being a superb example. And the same drying technique can be employed for dehydrating yogurt, spaghetti sauce, canned soup, and much more.

First, some thoughts on the word “leather.” In 1981, when I went to Nicaragua to teach classes on food drying, I noticed that the people seemed to find the idea of eating “leather” unappealing. When I handed out samples of fruit leather to about two hundred participants, they looked at me with great suspicion, took the leather nonetheless, but refused to eat it. Quickly, my translator and I came up with another word for “leather”—tortilla—tortilla de fruta, tortilla de vegetal. The fact that the newly adopted term represented an important and identifiable foodstuff for these Nicaraguans made a great difference in their interest in learning about it when made with fruit.

Call it what you will, the concept of fruit leather is nothing new. Pureed dried apricots, for example, have long been a traditional treat in Turkey, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, where the puree is used in main courses and desserts and eaten as a snack.

The appeal of fruit leather, as a snack food, can be easily observed. Walk down the aisle of any supermarket and count the number of brands of commercial fruit leather. It is usually made from an apple concentrate with other fruit purees, chemical additives, and sweeteners added. You can make your own leather at a fraction of the cost, without additives and extra sugars. Besides making great snacks, leathers can be a very convenient base for sauces and drinks. To say leathers make for easy carrying when you are outdoor adventuring is an understatement. Last but not least, children can make their own leathers, and they love doing it. Before bedtime, open up a jar of applesauce, have your child spread it evenly over a lightly oiled solid leather sheet, and put the drying tray in the dehydrator to dry overnight. In the morning, your child can peel the apple leather off the leather sheet. It’s as easy as that!

Because tomatoes contain little or no pectin, a thickening agent must be added to a tomato puree, for example, before it can be dried into leather. I’ve spent years experimenting with tomato leathers and hope you agree after you’ve tried them that they are a boon for making sauces or soups or drinks.

WHAT POODS CAN BE DRIED TO MAKE FOOD LEATHERS?

You can make food leathers from many fruits and vegetables. Instead of throwing out those bananas on your counter that are darkening or the peaches that are turning soft, puree them to make leather. In fact, the riper the fruit, the sweeter the leather. (Banana puree is so sweet by itself that you will need to tone it down with a little applesauce for a really great leather.) Or you can make leathers with fresh, frozen, or canned foods; from leftovers; or from plain or sweetened yogurt, to mention only a few of the other possibilities.

WHAT EQUIPMENT IS NEEDED?

To make food leathers, you will need solid leather sheets made of plastic that fit inside and line the drying trays in your dehydrator. The sheets may be round or square and, depending upon the make, your dehydrator may have one sheet or as many as thirty. Most dehydrators sold today come with solid leather sheets; if yours did not, call another manufacturer to learn if its solid leather sheets will work in your unit. Some electric food dehydrator manufacturers suggest improvising your own leather sheets: Stretch plastic wrap over each drying tray and make a lip by rolling the wrap up and over the edge of the tray to prevent the puree from spilling. Secure the plastic wrap with tape. With a spatula, spread the puree on the leather sheets; the back of a large spoon works very well, too. If you do improvise making your own solid leather sheet, be sure that the plastic wrap is nowhere near the heat source.

Whether you use the leather sheets that came with your unit or line the drying trays with plastic wrap, you will need to lightly oil the sheets—wiping them lightly with vegetable oil or spraying them with Pam or vegetable cooking oil—to prevent the puree from sticking to the sheets. Wipe off any excess oil with paper towels. Always make sure that the leather sheet is on a drying tray before you pour the puree onto the leather sheet.

TO MAKE SUCCESSFUL LEATHERS

Making successful leathers depends upon two important factors: the sugar content and the pectin content of the puree with which you are making the leather. The amount of pectin in a pureed fruit determines how well it will bond in a solid sheet as it dries. Certain fruits are naturally high in sugar and in pectin; others are low in sugar and pectin. It is important to note that practically all vegetables are low in pectin.

Sugar Content

A lot of sugar or sweetener in the puree will lengthen the drying time and cause the leather to stick to the drying surface. Pure orange juice concentrate and canned cranberry sauce are both so high in sugar that they remain sticky after many hours of drying! When sweetening a fruit puree to be dried into leather, therefore, know that the more honey, corn syrup, artificial sweetener, sugar, or maple syrup you add, the longer the drying time. Taste the puree as you prepare it, remembering that it will become sweeter when it is dried.

Pectin Content

Pectin is a carbohydrate present in pulpy fruits, more in underripe ones than in fully ripe fruits. A sufficient amount of pectin in applesauce is the reason the leather peels off the leather sheet in one piece. An insufficient amount of pectin is the reason plain tomato puree, with no thickening agent added, flakes when dried into leather. However, while flakes are not visually appealing, they are just as edible as tomato leather in one piece.

Fruits naturally low in pectin include cherries, citrus fruits, melons, pomegranates, raspberries, and strawberries.

Fruits naturally high in pectin include apples, apricots, blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, currants, figs, gooseberries, grapes, guavas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, and rhubarb.

Reminder: Most vegetables are naturally low in pectin.

To increase the amount of pectin in low-pectin fruit purees or in vegetable purees:

• Add a high-pectin food, such as applesauce, to a low-pectin ingredient, such as tomato puree. Combine in equal parts. See Easy Tomato Leather.

• Add powdered pectin to the puree to thicken it. In general, I use 2 tablespoons pectin per 3 cups puree. See 3-Ingredient Tomato Leather.

• Add unflavored gelatin to the puree to thicken it. See Fancy Tomato Leather Chips.

• Add 1 heaping teaspoon cornstarch for each cup of puree to thicken it. See Tomato Leather (made with Cornstarch).

Key Technique 11: To Make fruit or Vegetable Leather

1. Wash the fruit or vegetable. Certain fruits like bananas or pineapple must be peeled; with others, like pears, apples, and peaches, peeling is optional. There are nutrients in the skins of certain fruits that you might want to retain.

2. Halve, core, pit, or seed the respective fruit or vegetable. Cut off any bruised or damaged areas in the flesh. Chop coarsely.

3. Puree the fruit or vegetable pieces, 1 cup at a time, in a blender, food processor, or juicer, or press through a sieve until smooth. With some ingredients you may have to add juice or water to thin the puree to enable the blender to keep working. Remember, however, the more liquid you add to the puree, the longer it will take to dry. The desired consistency of puree that is most suitable for drying into leather is that of applesauce.

4. Taste the puree. Sweeten it, if necessary, recalling that it will taste sweeter when dried. Season to taste with ground spices or with herbs, extracts, or liqueurs.

5. With a spatula, spread the puree ¼ inch thick on lightly oiled solid leather sheets on the drying trays. (Depending upon the design of your food dehydrator, you may need only 1 solid leather sheet and 1 drying tray to dry the purees called for in the recipes that appear in this chapter.) You may also dry the puree into rounds. See Chocolate Pudding Leather Cookies for instructions on measuring and spacing the rounds on the drying trays.

6. Place the drying trays in the dehydrator. Allow anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to dry the puree into leather. A leather is dried when it peels easily off the sheet. Drying time depends upon several factors: the make of dehydrator, the thickness of the puree on the leather sheets, the sugar content of the puree, and so on. Should the leather stick, dry it a little longer or loosen it with the spatula.

To promote faster drying, once a piece of leather holds its shape, turn it over. Or transfer the leather to a mesh sheet.

7. To store leathers: Stack sheets of fruit or vegetable leathers on top of each other. If desired, and this is optional, you can sprinkle the finished sheets with cornstarch or arrowroot to prevent them from sticking together. Roll up, wrap securely in plastic wrap, and put in an airtight container.

Kept at room temperature, leathers will keep for 1 year (or as long as you can keep them hidden from the children!). Refrigerated or frozen, leathers will keep indefinitely.

Sticky, Sticky, Sticky

If any food you are drying is really stuck to either the mesh sheet or the solid leather sheet (or the drying tray, for that matter) and will not come off, put the tray in the freezer, just until the food is frozen. Then try again to remove the food from the tray. I can’t tell you the number of times people have told me how well this works. You can also spray the mesh sheets with oil as a way of preventing sticking.

Example 1: The Easiest-of-All Apple Leather

I call this the easiest-of-all apple leather because you need only your dehydrator and a jar of unsweetened applesauce in order to proceed. Now, that’s easy! Make it as described here, then the next time add fresh, frozen, or drained canned strawberries, cherries, or pears (in an equal amount to the applesauce), and a pinch of cinnamon. If you like your leather to be more similar to commercial fruit roll-ups, add 1 tablespoon fruit-flavored Jell-O per cup of applesauce.

One 24-ounce jar natural (unsweetened) applesauce

Rub a solid leather sheet of the dehydrator lightly with vegetable oil or spray with Pam. Wipe off any excess with paper towels.

Spread a ¼-inch layer of applesauce evenly over the oiled sheet, then place in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the applesauce: Allow anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to dry. When finished, the applesauce will have dried into a paper-thin sheet that can be easily peeled off. If there are sticky or tacky areas, dry the leather a little longer.

Makes one 12-inch square sheet, weighing 3 ounces

Easy Cherry or Raspberry Apple Leather Fruit-flavored jarred applesauces can also be dried into leather. Because these contain more sugar than natural applesauce, they may take a little longer to dry. However, it’s well worth it: Children absolutely love them! If you want, you can add flavorings to them, like vanilla or almond extract, or ground cinnamon or nutmeg.

Example 2: Spaghetti Sauce Leather

Spaghetti sauce, either homemade or storebought, with meat or without, dries into a splendid leather and is a wonderful lightweight food to take along when you go backpacking or camping.

To make spaghetti sauce leather, simply follow the directions for making The Easiest-of-All Apple Leather—but use spagetti sauce instead. That’s how easy it is!

Yogurt Leathers

Not only do I make my own yogurt culture, but I also like to dry different-flavored yogurts. The leather makes terrific snacks and when sweetened is a really good source of quick energy when you are backpacking and need something to get you going again.

Here are a few of the combinations I particularly like. Dry flavored yogurt into leather, following the example of The Easiest-of-All Apple Leather.

Combine 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt with 1 tablespoon thawed frozen orange juice concentrate; or

1 cup cooked peaches or pears; or

1 cup applesauce; or

1 cup fresh carrot juice; or

1 cup fresh carrot juice and 1 cup applesauce

JUICE TO LEATHER AND BACK AGAIN: THE EVOLUTION OF AN IDEA

The kitchen appliance I like second to my food dehydrator is my juicer. After that comes the blender. Here’s a recipe that uses all three! In fact, if you experiment with drying food the way I do, you’ll be using all these appliances frequently.

In my juicer, I made fresh carrot juice, poured it into lightly oiled solid leather trays, and dried it. It flaked off and was intensely sweet.

In my dehydrator on lightly oiled solid leather sheets on drying trays, I dried thawed orange juice concentrate, which turned out to be very sticky and also intensely sweet.

Then I combined ½ cup each fresh orange juice and carrot juice, and dried that on lightly oiled solid leather sheets. It, too, was very sticky and absolutely delicious.

Lastly, I combined ¼ cup thawed frozen orange juice concentrate, 1 cup fresh carrot juice, and ½ cup carrot pulp left over from making the juice, and dried the mixture on lightly oiled solid leather sheets.

Months later, I rehydrated 5 ounces of the orange-carrot leather in 2 cups water to make a marvelous breakfast drink!

OTHER IDEAS FOR USING FOOD LEATHERS

• Break tomato leather into pieces to use as chips with dips.

• Include a piece of vegetable leather in a sandwich, the way you would a lettuce leaf.

• Make cutouts by pressing cookie cutters into the leather when it is half-dried or just dry enough to hold its shape. Continue to dry the sheets. When finished, push out the shapes. Eat the cutouts as is or use them to decorate baked goods.

• It can never be mentioned frequently enough that fruit and/ or vegetable leathers make superb lightweight and nutritious snacks that fit easily into a backpack. You can actually have a “pocket” lunch—one that fits in your pocket, I mean!

FRUIT LEATHERS

Apple Leather from Homemade Applesauce

When the apple harvest is on and the fruit is literally dropping off the trees, you might want to make fresh applesauce for drying into leather. It’s a good way to use up less-than-perfect apples, and who doesn’t like homemade applesauce? We have it for dessert and for breakfast on pancakes. And we dry it.

1 pound apples, washed, unpeeled, but cored and cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces

1 cup water or apple cider

Ground cinnamon to taste

In a saucepan, combine the apples and the water or apple cider. Bring to a boil and simmer the apples about 20 minutes, or until soft. Let the apples cool, then puree them in a blender until smooth. Add the cinnamon to taste. (Makes about 3 cups.)

Spread the homemade applesauce evenly on a lightly oiled solid leather sheet, then place the drying tray in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the applesauce layer: Allow anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to dry, depending on the make of dehydrator. Peel the leather off the sheet and store it.

3 cups applesauce makes one 12-inch square leather sheet, weighing 3 ounces

Minted Apple Leather: Instead of cooking the apples in water or cider, make 2 cups peppermint or spearmint tea. Cook the cut-up apples in the tea until soft. Let cool and puree in the blender. Add 1 teaspoon crushed dried mint leaves. Spread the puree and make leather as directed above.

Apple Leather from Uncooked Apples: If you are not in the mood to make your own applesauce and you don’t have store-bought applesauce, you can still make your own leather, provided you have a pound of apples on hand. Simply wash, core, and peel the apples (or don’t peel them if you are so inclined). Then puree them in the blender. During this process you may have to add a little liquid—water or juice—to smooth out the thick puree. Dry the puree into leather as described above; remember that when dried, uncooked applesauce is darker in color than cooked applesauce. To retain a lighter color in the leather, add 1 teaspoon lemon juice, orange juice, or pineapple juice for each cup of pureed apples.

Basic Fruit Leather

Once you become accustomed to making fruit leathers, you will always know to have a pound of apples or jars of applesauce in the pantry. And the fact that you can use cooked fresh, cooked frozen, or canned fruit to make this leather means that, with applesauce and a little orange juice concentrate on hand, the essentially nonsugared puree can be combined before you go to bed and dried into leather by the time you arise. Now, that’s convenience!

1 pound cut-up fresh, thawed frozen, or drained canned fruit, such as pears, berries, or apricots

3 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

Water as needed

One 24-ounce jar applesauce (natural or sweetened)

If using either fresh or frozen fruit, combine it in a saucepan with the orange juice concentrate and enough water to cover the fruit. Cook over medium heat until the fruit is soft. Let the mixture cool.

In a blender, puree the fruit until it is smooth. Add the applesauce and blend until combined. (If using canned fruit, combine all the ingredients in the blender.) Taste and add flavoring, if desired.

Spread the fruit puree evenly in a ¼-inch thick layer on a lightly oiled solid leather sheet. Place the drying tray in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the puree layer: allow anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to dry. Peel the leather off the sheet and store it.

Makes one 10 × 20-inch sheet, weighing about 6 ounces

Rhubarb Leather

Here’s a recipe that evolved over time, through experimentation. When I first started drying fresh rhubarb, I cut it up, dried it, and stored it only to discover a year later I had a lot of it still on hand. The next season, I decided to dry rhubard as puree into leather. To my surprise, I had to hide the leather to keep my family from completely depleting the supply! The very first time I ever made this leather, my son walked into the kitchen, looked inside the dehydrator, abruptly replaced the cover, and said, “What’s that? It looks terrible.” Appearance notwithstanding, this leather is first-rate.

Note that almost any other flavoring added to rhubarb will overpower it; see Cherry Rhubarb Leather below.

4 cups chopped fresh rhubarb (1-inch pieces)

4 cups boiling water

½ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a heatproof bowl, combine the rhubarb and the 4 cups boiling water, and let sit for 10 minutes. This soaking softens the texture of the rhubarb and removes some of the acidity so that less sweetener is needed to offset the natural tartness of the fruit. You can also cook the rhubarb in boiling water until it changes from pink or red to light green in color. Drain.

In the blender, puree the softened rhubarb, in batches if necessary, to avoid overtaxing the blender and having to add liquid. Add the brown sugar and the cinnamon, and taste. Adjust the flavorings as needed and continue to puree the mixture until smooth.

Spread the rhubarb puree evenly on a lightly oiled solid leather sheet, then place the drying tray in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the puree layer: Allow anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to dry. Peel the leather off the sheet and store it.

Makes one 12-inch square sheet, weighing 3 ounces

Cherry Rhubarb Leather: For a special treat, puree a 16-ounce can of cherry pie filling and add it to the rhubarb puree. Dry as directed above. Despite the rhubarb base, this will taste like cherry leather.

Pumpkin Leather

This is an extremely simple recipe that also happens to be good for anyone on a diet, because it supplies all the flavor of pumpkin pie but not the crust. Besides the coconut, you can add chopped nuts. Note that you can also dry this into “cookies.” Pumpkin pie filling can be used in place of plain pumpkin, if you like, the only difference being that the spiciness in the leather will be intensified.

2 cups (one 16-ounce can) pumpkin

1 cup canned evaporated milk

2 cups sweetened applesauce

¼ cup honey

½ cup dried shredded coconut

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground allspice

2 tablespoons finely chopped dried grapes (raisins)

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin and the evaporated milk. Stir in the applesauce, add the honey, the coconut, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, and the allspice, and combine the mixture well. Taste and adjust the spices. Stir in the chopped raisins.

Spread the pumpkin-applesauce mixture evenly on a lightly oiled solid leather sheet or spoon it by the tablespoon on oiled sheets to make “cookies.” Leave about ½ to 1 inch between the rounds. Place the drying trays in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the puree layer: Allow anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to dry. Peel the leather off the sheet and store it.

For a quick treat, cut the leather into graham cracker-sized squares and top with whipped cream.

Makes one 10 × 20-inch sheet, or 65 cookies

Pumpkin Leather Made from Fresh Pumpkin: Cut a medium pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh. Place pumpkin halves, skin side up, in ½ inch of water in a large baking pan. Cover and bake in a preheated 325°F oven for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until the pumpkin is soft. Let cool and scoop out the cooked flesh into a large bowl. Mash; use 2 cups for the pumpkin in the above recipe.

Cottage Cheese and Fruit Leather

Here’s another combination that requires only one step of preparation before it can be dried. The cottage cheese acts as a very good source of protein; should you want to increase the nutri-tiousness of this leather, you can add wheat germ or brewer’s yeast. This makes a great snack for dieters; it’s healthful and sweet, but not loaded with refined sugar. My favorite fruits to use are applesauce, apricots, peaches, and nectarines. And don’t forget plums.

1½ cups low-fat cottage cheese

1½ cups pureed fruit of choice

½ cup honey

In a blender, puree all the ingredients until smooth.

Spread the puree evenly on a lightly oiled solid leather sheet. Place the drying tray in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the puree layer: Allow anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to dry. Peel the leather off the sheet and store it.

Makes one 10-inch sheet, weighing 3 ounces

Chocolate Pudding Leather Cookies

Several years ago, pudding roll-ups were popular snacks that you could buy at the supermarket. People used to ask me if they could make them in the dehydrator. Because roll-ups and leathers are really the same thing, I began experimenting. I started by making my own puddings from scratch and taking it from there, but that didn’t work very well. Recently I bought lots of packaged puddings—both instant and noninstant—and tried again. Eventually, I got it right, and here’s the result.

Using packaged pudding mix renders making this recipe as easy as pie—easier, in fact! These “cookies” are great for lunch boxes or snack packs, and are ideal to take along backpacking. Close your eyes when you eat one and see if it doesn’t taste like a Tootsie Roll!

One 3.5-ounce package chocolate fudge instant pudding

1 cup milk

1 cup applesauce (natural or sweetened)

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients well. Drop the pudding mixture by the teaspoon onto lightly oiled solid leather sheets and with the back of a tablespoon spread it into rounds, each 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Leave ½ to 1 inch between the rounds. Place the drying trays in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the rounds: Allow about 5 hours, or until you can peel the rounds off the sheets. Turn the rounds over and dry for another 5 hours.

Makes 30 cookies

Butterscotch Pudding Leather Cookies

The preceding cookie leather was made with milk and applesauce; this one is made with yogurt. Caramel-like and chewy in texture, these are hard to resist. They remind me of a candy I used to enjoy that went by the name of Slow Poke Sucker.

Of course, you can also dry this into one thin sheet. Allow the same amount of time for drying.

One 3.5-ounce package butterscotch instant pudding

1 cup milk

1 cup vanilla yogurt (regular or nonfat)

In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients. Drop the pudding mixture by the teaspoon onto lightly oiled solid leather sheets and with the back of a tablespoon, spread it into rounds, each about 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Leave about 1 inch between the rounds. Place the drying trays in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the rounds: Allow about 5 hours, or until you can peel the rounds off the sheets. Turn the rounds over and dry for 5 more hours.

Makes 30 cookies

Fruit Leather Breakfast Cookies

Breakfast? Juice, milk, cereal, and, with any luck, a piece of fruit. Realistically, how often do most of us have the time for more than one of these? Here, all of those healthful breakfast components are combined into a leather to make a first-rate way to start the day. Note that no baking is involved. Your dehydrator does the work. These may be called “cookies,” but nutritionally they are better than even the most streamlined pastry or doughnut. And they don’t get stale.

1 cup cut-up fresh fruit, such as bananas, peaches, or pears

½ cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

½ cup powdered milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Wheat germ, shredded coconut, sesame or sunflower seeds, or finely chopped nuts or dried fruits for the topping

In a blender, puree the fruit, the orange juice concentrate, the milk powder, and the vanilla, and taste. Add more flavoring, if needed.

Spoon the puree in 2-inch rounds onto lightly oiled solid leather sheets, leaving 1 inch between the cookies. Sprinkle with the topping of choice, then place the drying trays in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the rounds: Allow about 5 hours, or until you can peel the rounds off the sheets. Turn the rounds over and dry for 5 more hours.

Makes 12 cookies

Tip: You can also use drained canned fruit or frozen fruit, thawed.

TOMATO LEATHERS

The growing, eating, cooking, and home drying of tomatoes fascinated me for over twenty years. What follows are several of the ways to make tomato leather. The challenge, of course, was how to thicken the tomato puree, which on its own is low in pectin.

In each tomato leather recipe that follows, I have used a different thickening agent. The simplest recipe needs only two ingredients, tomato puree and applesauce. If s the pectin in the applesauce that makes the mixture thicken. As you have already noticed, applesauce comes in very handy in making fruit or vegetable leathers.

Easy Tomato Leather (Made with Applesauce)

½ cup tomato puree

½ cup applesauce

In a bowl, combine the tomato puree and the applesauce. Spread the puree evenly in a ¼-inch thick layer on a lightly oiled solid leather sheet. Place the drying tray in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the puree: Allow anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to dry. Peel the leather off the sheet.

Makes one 4-inch sheet, weighing 1 ounce

Tomato Leather (Made with Cornstarch)

If you run out of apples or applesauce, you can still make tomato leather—with cornstarch.

3 cups pureed tomatoes with skins (about 4 large)

3 heaping teaspoons cornstarch

In a blender, combine the pureed tomatoes and the cornstarch until smooth. Transfer the puree to a saucepan and over medium heat cook it, stirring often, until it is the consistency of applesauce. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool.

Spread the puree evenly on a lightly oiled solid leather sheet and place the drying tray in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the puree: Allow anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to dry. Peel the leather off the sheet.

Makes one 10-inch sheet, weighing 3 ounces

3-lngredient Tomato Leather (Made with Poctin)

I use powdered pectin here as a thickener, and opt for Sure-Jell light powdered pectin, which is nationally available.

3 cups pureed tomatoes with skins (about 4 large)

2 tablespoons powdered pectin

1 teaspoon sugar

In a saucepan, bring the pureed tomatoes, the pectin, and the sugar to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring to avoid scorching, for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer mixture, stirring often, for about 20 minutes. Let cool.

Spread the puree evenly on a lightly oiled solid leather sheet and place the drying tray in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the puree: Allow anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to dry. Peel the leather off the sheet.

Makes one 10-inch sheet, weighing 3 ounces

Clear Tomato Leather: For tomato leather that is almost translucent, use 3 cups pure tomato juice, obtained by pressing pureed tomatoes through a sieve or strainer, or by putting tomatoes through a juicer. Follow the directions for making leather with the juice, pectin, and sugar.

VEGETABLE LEATHERS AND CHIPS

Fancy Tomato Leather Chips
(Made with Unflavored Gelatin)

This dressed-up rendition of tomato leather uses both fresh and dried ingredients. The fresh vegetables are best ground in a juicer. Failing that, you can use your blender.

These chips are positively delicious as snacks or with a dip. Or rehydrate the chips into soup or sauce. You can dry this mixture into sheets and top the sheets with a whipped cream cheese filling flecked with minced scallions. Rolled and then cut into pinwheels, they are delicious.

1 cup peeled fresh carrot chunks

½ cup onion pieces

½ cup celery pieces

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

½ teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon salt

4 cups pureed tomatoes (about 8 medium)

Three ¼-ounce packets powdered unflavored gelatin

¾ cup cold water

In a juicer, combine the carrots, the onion, and the celery, and juice. Remove the juice to a bowl and stir in the vegetable pulp from the juicer, the lemon juice, the sugar, the garlic, the basil, the oregano, and the salt. Place the vegetable mixture in a large saucepan and add the pureed tomatoes.

In a cup, combine the gelatin and the ¾ cup cold water, and let stand for 5 minutes to allow the gelatin to soften. Add the gelatin to the pan and bring the mixture to a rolling boil, stirring often to prevent scorching. Cook for 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring often. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool.

Onto lightly oiled solid leather sheets, spoon the puree in 1-or 3-inch rounds, leaving about ½ inch between the rounds. (Alternatively, you can spread the puree evenly over the prepared sheets.) Place the drying trays in the dehydrator and dry for about 5 hours. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the puree. Salt the chips when they are dry enough to hold their shape. Turn the chips and salt them again. Dry for another 5 hours, or until the chips peel off the sheets.

Makes 108 rounds, or 9 dozen

Beet Leather

I love beets, and I am always looking for ways to use them. And should you happen to be anemic and don’t like or can’t take iron pills, you probably know that beets are a superb source of iron. Short of eating cooked beets frequently, I came up with this idea. Enjoy this leather as a quick natural source of iron, whether you are at home or out kayaking or backpacking.

This is a deep red, beautifully colored leather, sweet in taste. Top with softened cream cheese, roll, and cut into pinwheels for a pretty, nourishing snack. Try this recipe before you sign off on beets forever: I’ll bet you’ll like it.

2 cups canned beets, undrained

2 cups applesauce (natural or sweetened)

In a blender, puree the canned beets with their liquid. Add the applesauce and puree the mixture until smooth.

Spread the puree evenly on a lightly oiled solid leather sheet. Place the drying tray in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the puree layer: Allow 12 or more hours to dry. Peel the leather off the sheet.

Makes one 12-inch square sheet, weighing about 6 ounces

Mushroom Leather Chips

I’m a devoted lover of mushrooms, and have been challenged as to how to dehydrate them beyond simply slicing them up and putting them on drying trays. Here’s a solution: Mushroom leather chips—to be used not as a snack but as a flavoring agent in sauces, to add to cream soups, or as the basis of bouillon. Vegetarians will like using shiitake mushroom chips as a source of protein. If you have mushrooms that are no longer at their peak of freshness, this is a super way to preserve them. The flavor of the rehydrated leather is magnificent. Add a mushroom leather chip or two to the Thanksgiving turkey gravy or to spruce up turkey leftovers.

2 cups fresh mushrooms, such as shiitake, or cultivated mushrooms, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cups water, divided

cup chopped onions

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 teaspoon soy sauce

¼ teaspoon sugar

teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cornstarch

In a skillet, combine 1 cup of the water with the remaining ingredients, except the cornstarch, over medium heat and simmer until the onions are transparent.

In a cup, whisk together the remaining 1 cup of water and the cornstarch until combined. Add to the skillet and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally, until bubbles break on the surface. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. Spoon the puree, dividing it into 6 ovals, each about 4 inches long and 3 inches wide, onto lightly oiled solid leather sheets. Place the drying sheets in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the mushroom mixture: Allow about 5 hours for drying the first side. Turn the chips over and dry another 5 hours, or until they can be peeled off easily.

Makes 6 chips

To use mushroom leather chips: Rehydrate a leather chip by cutting it into ¼-inch pieces with a pair of scissors. In a small saucepan, combine the leather pieces with ¼ cup boiling water. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes to rehydrate. Uncover and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring vigorously with a wire whisk to break up the leather completely. Use to flavor gravies, sauces, or soups. Makes 3 tablespoons mushroom flavoring.

Real Corn Chips

The challenge of creating a crunchy corn chip, those positively addictive ones that are usually deep-fried in oil, may not seem a big deal. But to home-dried food devotees, namely myself and my friend Betsy, perfecting a healthful chip for Betsy’s husband, Jim, has taken years. First, the chips had to hold together and keep their shape; then we had to get them not to crack, to be sweet enough, to have color—all without using oil. Here’s our creation—and we are still fine-tuning it. However, not a drop of oil was added; and we even came up with a variation! Just so you know, the chips are yellow in color, and while they do not snap when broken, they are deliciously chewy.

3 dried tomato slices

1 teaspoon dried onion pieces

1 teaspoon dried red or green bell pepper pieces

2 cup cooked fresh or frozen corn

¼ cup plain yogurt

½ cup water

cup dried cornmeal (made from grinding cup dried corn kernels)

½ teaspoon chopped garlic

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

½ teaspoon salt, plus additional for sprinkling

In a blender, grind the dried tomato slices, the dried onion pieces, and the dried bell pepper pieces to a coarse powder. Add the fresh or frozen corn and the yogurt, and puree. Add the water, the cornmeal, the garlic, and the ½ teaspoon salt, and blend until the mixture is combined. Stir in the mozzarella.

Spread the puree by the teaspoonful onto a lightly oiled solid leather sheet, using the back of the spoon to smooth the puree into 1- to 2-inch rounds, and leaving 1 inch between them. (You may have to add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to the puree to thin it to spreading consistency.) Sprinkle the rounds with salt. Place the drying sheet in the dehydrator. The drying time will depend upon the make of dehydrator you are using and the thickness of the rounds: Allow anywhere from 10 to 14 hours total. Turn the chips over after 6 to 8 hours and sprinkle the other side with salt. Dry the chips for 2 to 4 hours more, or until firm.

Makes 36 chips

Corn Carrot Chips: Here’s a nice variation on a theme: Reduce the fresh or frozen corn measurement to 1½ cups and add either ½ cup grated carrots or carrot pulp left over from your juicer. Spoon the puree onto a prepared solid leather sheet and sprinkle the rounds with Cheddar cheese powder, crushed dried herbs, or commercial taco flavoring from a packet. Dry as directed.