Breakfast Burrito with Polenta Eggs, Hash Browns, and Spicy Sausage

the stringies are cheese. I promise!

Flavor: 8/10 (a little monotextural, and the beyond meat needed to be chopped finely)

Ease at home: 2/10 (lots of components, can be made much easier by purchasing dehydrated components)

Ease at camp: 5/10
Heat level: 6/10 (to taste)

Times made: 1

Breakfast burritos are shameless food hax, doubly so when you're 2 days from civilization, so I'm not going to gloat about the success of the burrito here- that's kind of a given. What i am going to do, is talk about how happy I am that 3 experimental methods used in the composition of this burrito worked out, and consider the possibilities for future dishes.


The burrito consisted of a number of components:

• tortilla (brought),
• eggs (polenta eggs, as devised by Backpacking Chef), 
• crumbled spicy breakfast sausage (Beyond Meat crumbled and sauteed with chili powder, onion & garlic powder, fresh garlic, and vinegar, then dehydrated), 
• fresh jack cheese (brought), 
• dehydrated vegetables (roasted anaheim peppers, onions, tomatoes), 
• salsa packets (cholula, tapatio, taco bell)
• freeze dried sour cream powder

Of these, the salsa, hash browns, cheese and sour cream were kept separate, and the eggs, sausage and veggies were kept together.

So I said I'm excited about 3 experimental methods. Experimental for me, mind you, not for backpacking food in general. Those are:

1. Polenta eggs- really glad these worked out! Out of respect for the guy, I'm not going to reproduce his recipe here, but you can find the exact ratios on his cookbook, Recipes for Adventure. The resulting product lacked a bit in egg flavor and definitely had a polenta quality, but didn't suffer for it. The texture was good, and in the context of a breakfast burrito, they fit right in. I'd definitely make these again. 
2. Home dehydrated hash browns- I don't know why I was so worried these wouldn't turn out, but I'd read a bit about rehydrated potatoes taking a long time to bounce back, or absorbing too much oil and coming out greasy when cooked. Turns out my worries were unfounded. Buy a pack of frozen organic hash browns, pop them on the dehydrator, and 8 hours later they're done. I rehydrated these in the bag with boiling water and they were plump and ready to fry in 10 minutes. They came out excellent!
3. Cooking on a hot stone- obviously this has been done before, indeed it has been the standard cooking method in countless cultures for many thousands of years! But it was the first time I did it, and by golly, I was pretty excited. 

Breakfast burritos are definitely going to be a staple on long trips moving forward.

Recipe (2 burritos)

Combine in a bag:

• 4 scrambled eggs. These can either be polenta eggs as described above, pre-made purchased freeze dried scrambled eggs, dehydrated egg powder/crystals prepared to package directions, or vegan polenta tofu scramble, recipe here. 

• 1/3c dehydrated crumbled sausage, or sautee until aromatic, and dehydrate:
• 1/2 c beyond meat crumbles, pulsed in a food processor until very small
• 1/2 t bittersweet paprika
• 1/4 t cumin
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1/2 t onion powder
• 1 t pasilla powder
• pinch powder (or less, depending on your heat sensitivity)
• 1 garlic clove, minced or smashed

• 1/4c dehydrated salsa, or dehydrate the following ingredients:

• 2 roasted, dehydrated anaheim chiles
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 onion, chopped fine

In a freezer bag:

• 2c fresh hash browns per burrito (I like a lot of hash browns), which comes down to around 1/3c dehydrated per burrito. Once cooked at camp, this will be around 1c per burrito.

Purchase separately:

• Shelf-stable tortillas. Unfortunately, you've gotta go with the ones chalk full of preservatives and dough conditioners if you want to be sure they'll last.

Optional condiments:

• Salsa packets
• Freeze dried sour cream
• Fresh cheese or, if unable to bring, cheese powder or vegan cashew cheese powder (recipe soon) both work as well. 

At camp:

1. Boil around 3c water. Might as well boil a bit more than that and use the rest for tea and handwashing anyway.
2. Have the bag of hash browns ready to go. You'll want to add the water then wrap it in a cozy or some clothing to keep it warm. Add water to cover + a centimeter, or so. Set aside for 10-15 minutes until they are completely plump and rehydrated.
3.  After pouring off the water to the hash browns, you'll have around 2c remaining in the pot. Reserve .5c in another cup. You want around 1.5c in the pot. Add the egg mixture to the pot and return to a boil, then remove from the heat. It should be just slightly covered with water at this point, so add more if you need to. Set the pot in a cozy and cover- let the egg mix rehydrate for 20m.
4. Once the hash browns are ready, drain off any excess water and fry them in a pan with plenty of oil. 
5. When they are getting good and brown, check the eggs. Drain off any extra water, then add them to the hash browns. This is when you'll want to add the cheese, and let it melt.
6. Burrito time! Wrap everything up in a tortilla, and fend off any encroaching hikers and/or bears.