How can I possibly top this meal? I mean...can I? What in the name-of-all-that's-freakish am I thinking with this meal other than the fact that some red-blooded-American boys are going to just want to kiss me! This is about as meat-n-'taters as one can get when it comes to a meal...and add to that the fact that it is shelf stable 3 years! It's loaded with real tender beef, mushrooms and onions in a savory gravy... Oh dear. Bless my ever-prepared-heart. Speaking of that, I'd like to thank my darling friends at Honeyville for providing the bulk of ingredients used in today's post! They have been so kind as to ask me to write their food storage cook book and many of my meal-in-a-jar recipes will be included in that book.
My 52 jar method Meals in a jar will be the theme all week! So, if you like what you see, plan on visiting all week. I'll try to have at least 4 new posts up this week with new recipes and some that I've re-vised to be more natural and user-friendly. If you are new to the meals in a jar, go here and get some details on how the meals are done as well as the basic safety guidelines. If your scroll through the rest of the 52 jar method posts, there are a lot more recipes, ideas, and helpful tips when making the meals. I answer a lot of questions in the comment sections as well. If I had to re-cap each detail in each new post, it would take a lot of time and space. So. That being said there are a few things I will always re-cap in each post.
First, however, I'm gonna say, "Duuuuude! I got that Yankee Pot Roast Gravy and Butter-Garlic Mashed Potatoes right out of this jar." I know...it's hard to believe how cool this is. Try not to pass out. This ends up making 4 cups of thick buttery-garlic mashed potatoes and 4 cups of this savory pot roast gravy with mushrooms and onions. It's a hearty filling meal. Bet you'd never believe so much food could come out of this little space right?!
So what's the down-low on the jars?!
1. You will be using a method some have called "dry pack canning" but it's actually called Vacuum packing. No liquid or pressure canning is necessary. If you opt to use the freeze dried meat in the recipes NOTE: The repacking of Freeze Dried Meat must be done within 24-48 hours of opening the can and must be done in a dry environment. Once repacked you must use an oxygen absorber to make sure there is a vacuum oxygen free environment. I recommend using a 300 cc oxygen absorber for each jar. This will make the vacuum packing effective. You can use a food Saver with a jar attachment for this in place of the oxygen absorber, but will need to make sure your machine is designed to be used with the jar attachment. Some of the food Savers are called "meal savers" and are actually not designed to use with the attachment. I called the FoodSaver company myself to be sure that the attachment I had was right for the machine I was using.
2. You can also pack in mylar bags (the ones that are silver-colored), but again need to use the oxygen absorber. This size I use is designed to absorb a gallon size amount of air, but I'd rather err on the side of over-vacuum than not enough. No. You can't use the foodSaver clear plastic bags for long term storage. They are not designed for that purpose. When I say "long term" I'm talking 3-5 years.
Chef Tess' Yankee Pot Roast Beef and Gravy
Over Butter Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Gravy Ingredients:
1/4 cup ultra gel or cornstarch
1 tsp dehydrated minced garlic
1 tsp Chef Tess All Purpose Seasoning
Mashed Potatoes:
1 tsp granulated garlic
To make the Quart size jars:
Put the gravy ingredients in the bottom of a quart size jar, making sure it is a very dry day when re-packing the meats. Shake the powdered ingredients into the solid ones.
To add the potato layer, place a sandwich size zipper bag inside the jars.
I'm not going to lie. I'm a huge fan of the Potato Pearls. They make a more compact "bang for the buck" in the small space we have in the jars. Flakes will work but it will take about 2 cups of those and you will need to add seasoning. Potato pearls are already pretty buttery and have a good flavor. They don't have as long a shelf life as other potatoes, thus the 3 years instead of 7-10 as we've had with other meals.
Place the pearls in the baggie while it is in the jar and add the butter powder and the garlic. You can find these at the Honeyville retail stores but not at their online store.
Seal up the bag and then put an oxygen absorber at the top of the jar, being sure it is inside the jar and not at all on the rim. Oxygen absorbers need to be done all at once at the very end of packing since once you open the package of absorbers, they start chemically bonding with air. They are a ONE TIME use. Once they've done their job, the make a dramatic-swooning exit and will never be alive again. So...plan accordingly. They need to be packed within 20 min to an hour of opening the bag from whence they came. Swoon. Swoon. Top with a new clean lid and tighten the canning ring as tight as you can. In about an hour, the jar lid will pop, letting you know a vacuum has been achieved.
To prepare the meal:
Carefully remove the bag of potato pearls by opening the bag and emptying a little into a 2-quart metal bowl and then easing the baggie out of the jar. Pour the entire contents of the potato baggie into the bowl.
Pour the gravy mixture into a 2-quart pot. Add 4 cups of very hot water to the gravy mix. Whisk well. Place on a stove and bring to a simmer 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave covered 5 additional minutes. While the gravy sits, heat 3 cups of water in a separate pan. Bring the water to a boil and pour into the potatoes, stirring well.
Scoop potatoes onto a plate and top with the hot, chunky, meaty, luscious, savory, divine-ambrosia of beef...Pass out. Wake up with mashed potato on your face and some beef in your eyebrow hairs. Mmm. Pretty.
If you decide to use a fork, it's probably better, but I think it would be very manly and cool to just stick your face into that pile of gravy-stuff and freestyle. Oh dear. Ladies, however, can be delicate if they desire. {Picture me with a very delicate-looking expression on my face...right below the chunks of beef in my eyebrows. Twitching. }
3. There you go! Enjoy.
4. How many calories? 365 calories a serving (1 cup potatoes, 1 cup gravy)
Share these recipes with your friend! Get the word out that they are here! PLEASE...make sure my name stays with the recipes. Try to think how it would feel if you had worked on the recipes yourself. You'd want not only the credit, but also a way for people to contact you if they had questions. I ask you to please be mindful of that. Plus, they are my copy-written work and that is just the law. Thanks.
Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess
