Sausage – Vegan and Gluten Free

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Sausage holds a special place in my heart, but I stopped eating it years ago. I tried the commercial vegan brands but they are still very processed and not all that healthy. So I started looking for ways to make a delicious version of sausage that is still healthy.

A healthy breakfast is important but sometimes a smoothie or a bowl of oatmeal just isn’t that appealing. After doing some research, I found that our grandmothers had solved this problem back in the 40’s. It’s called oatmeal sausage. I’ve tried a number of different recipes and this is my version. Now I know that you can make something as hard as you want to, but I’m going for quick and easy.

Oatmeal Sausage

  • 2 cups of water
  • 1 1/2 cups oatmeal
  • 2 Tbs vegetable stock concentrate or powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground fennel
  • 1 tsp poultry seasoning
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 2 cloves of garlic finely minced (or use garlic powder)
  • 1 Tbs (generous) dried onion flakes (or use onion powder)
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (if you like it spicier, add more)
  • 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper or to taste
  • 1 tsp (generous) mushroom powder (if you have it)
  • 2-3 Tbs ground flax
  • 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
  • 2 Tbs olive oil

The seasoning is totally up to you and your taste, so use your favorites and leave out anything you don’t like.

In a sauce pan, combine water (plus stock), all seasonings except flax. Heat for about 5-7 minutes. Stir in oatmeal, nutritional yeast, ground flax and cook until the oatmeal becomes very thick. Remove from the heat, cool, and then chill up to overnight.

When chilled, the oatmeal should be very thick so it does not pour from the pan. Stir in the olive oil.

Divide the mixture into even portions and form into balls. Then form patties. I used an ice cream scoop to keep the patties uniform but you can make them any size you want. You can also form some of the mixture into small sausage links. Chill for an hour.

For the sausage links, form the sausages, roll them tightly in parchment paper and again in aluminum foil. Roll tightly and twist the ends. Chill once more for about 10 minutes. When chilled, place the sausage rolls into the steamer and steam for around 20-30 minutes. Remove from steamer and briefly chill once again.

When the sausage rolls are chilled remove the wrappers and put on a tray and place in the freezer. When frozen you can put them into a ziplock and store in the freezer.

For the sausage patties, chill them briefly and then place in to a pan and lightly brown them in a small amount of oil. If you are going to eat them right away, just brown them thoroughly and serve. To store, place the lightly browned patties on a tray and place in the freezer. Once frozen you can store them in a ziplock.

Using the two different methods worked better for me and I like the texture better for the sausage links. You can also use this same method to make larger sausages like hot dogs and bratwurst.

I like this method because it eliminates unnecessary steps. There’s no baking or boiling and the seasoning is cooked right into the oatmeal. It’s important that the oatmeal mixture is very thick. This is the reason for the ground flax meal.

There are hundreds of recipes out there that use these ingredients for everything from breakfast sausage to hot dogs to brats. Try it. I think you’ll enjoy it and it’s a great way to get your daily oatmeal.

Witches Bread Bowl

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I wanted to do something special for Halloween this year and I was looking at pumpkins. Now I confess to being the world’s worst pumpkin carver, so I thought I’d try something I’m better at: bread and soup.

I ran across a recipe for black bread that really piqued my interest. Most black bread recipes are really dark brown and I was looking for a real black bread. Here is the recipe I came up with for my experiment.

Black Bread

I decided to use my best go-to bread recipe as a base.

  • 1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
  • ½ cup applesauce (this replaces the oil. You could also use strained prunes in a pinch but applesauce is nicer)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
  • Mix and let stand for 10 minutes.  Then add:
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons finely ground food grade activated charcoal (I ordered mine online). However if that idea is too far a reach you can combine equal amounts of red, blue and yellow food coloring.

You can use a stand mixer for this.

In a bowl combine warm water, applesauce and yeast. Mix and let stand for 10 minutes or until the yeast has bloomed. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients (including the charcoal).   Add the yeast mixture into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

In the mixer bowl you can knead the bread (8-10 minutes is ideal). Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Put the dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until it is double in size.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes.

While the bread is rising it’s time to make the soup, creamy pumpkin soup, of course. I encourage you to make this the day before.

Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk

You will need one smallish pie pumpkin (Sugar Pumpkins). I won’t bore you by making you watch me cut and clean the pumpkin. We all know it’s a struggle just to cut the thing in half. Save the seeds for roasting.

Place the halves face down on a silpat mat or foil or parchment paper. Roast in a 350 degree oven for 55-70 minutes or until you can pierce it easily with a fork.

Let the pumpkins cool and scrape the pulp into a bowl. I like to puree the pumpkin ahead of time using a stick blender. You can store it in the fridge overnight.

While the bread is baking, start the soup. You will need 1 cup of water or vegetable stock, 1 cup (about 3/4 can) of full fat coconut milk, spices.

In a sauce pan combine the pumpkin puree with the stock or water and heat. Pour in the coconut milk and stir. Continue heating and stirring until smooth and creamy. Seasoning are a matter of taste. I used salt, pepper, turmeric, smoked paprika and garam masala, but you can use any kind of seasoning that you like.

Considering that this is my first bread bowl, not too bad. The soup was warm, slightly spicy and just the thing after a night of trick or treating. Enjoy.

Green Beans, Potatoes and Onions

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It’s been quite a while since I wrote a blog post, and I apologize to those of you who have been visiting my site and finding nothing new. The holiday season was really hectic and I’m finally catching up. Midwinter has settled in for most of us and the gray skies and cold temperatures mean that it’s crock pot time. I know, everyone is all excited about that Instant Pot they got for Christmas, but I’m still attached to my crock pot. I just love walking through the kitchen and inhaling those delicious smells that leak out from under the lid.

One of my very favorite winter time crock pot meals is something from my childhood. My grandmother used to make a big pot of green beans, potatoes and little onions and let them simmer on the stove all days. Of course, her version contained a chunk of salt pork so I’ve updated my recipe to be completely vegan. This is a pretty simple dish, so let’s get started.

The ingredients are green beans, small potatoes, frozen baby onions and tomatoes (I used canned).

I used fresh green beans but frozen work just as well and you could even use canned.


Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters depending on how large they are. I used Yukon Gold because they hold their shape better, but you could also used the small roasters that come in a little bag.

Dump in the frozen baby onions (I guess they call them cocktail onions). Add water or vegetable stock just to cover. Season with salt, pepper and thyme or whatever herbs you like.

Add in a can of whole tomatoes. Cover and set low for 6-8 hours. I know that seems like a long time, but this is a southern style dish and it needs to cook low and slow. Check at 6 hours and if it’s nice and stew like, add a drop or two of Liquid Smoke to give it that smoky pork flavor.

Set out the bowls and some homemade bread and you’ve got a real winter time treat.

Medium Dark Rye Bread

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This is what I saw when I looked out my front door this morning, just the kind of day that I want to spend in the kitchen.

We’ve had a couple of weeks of bone chilling cold and icy roads.
There’s just nothing to do but bake bread.

I love rye bread, and when I found this recipe on The Stay at Home Chef I immediately wanted to try it out. Thank you Rachel Farnsworth for this simple recipe. Today’s the day I try baking rye bread, and I get to use my new pullman bread pans.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups warm water
  • 1 tablespoon instant dry yeast
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons caraway seed (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup rye flour
  • 4 cups all purpose flour

 

Instructions:

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm water (about 110° F), yeast, salt, caraway seeds, molasses, unsweetened cocoa powder, and the rye flour. Using the dough hook, mix on a low speed until completely combined. Use a plastic spatula keep the sides scraped clean (do this carefully).
  2. Add in 3 cups of the all purpose flour and knead until combined. Continue adding flour 1/4 cup at a time until thoroughly combined and the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
  3. Remove from the bowl and form into a ball. Place in a lightly greased mixing bowl (I just wash the mixer bowl and use that – no point in making more dishes).
  4. Cover the dough with a towel or piece of plastic wrap and set in a warm place in your kitchen and let the dough rise for 90 minutes.
  5. After 90 minutes divide the dough into two portions and shape into loaves by stretching the dough and rolling the edges underneath. Do this several times.
  6. You can bake this as a rustic loaf on your pizza stone, or try out your new fancy bread pans like I did.
  7. Grease and flour the pan and line the bottom with a strip of parchment paper. Place the loaf in the pan and level the top of the dough. Cover the pan with the top (pullman pans have a top so you can make sandwich loaves.) If you want to use the pizza stone for a rustic loaf, sprinkle some cornmeal on your pizza peel or cutting board and place the dough on the board. 
  8. Let the loaf rise for another 40 minutes.
  9. Heat your oven to 450° and heat the pizza stone. Place a shallow pan filled with water on the second shelf to provide a nice steamy oven.
  10. SPECIAL TIP: Dissolve 1/4 teaspoon of cornstarch in 1/4 cup of warm water. Microwave for about 45 seconds and stir. The liquid should be clear. Brush the top of the loaf with the liquid (makes the crust nice an crispy) and cut several parallel lines across the top of the loaf.
  11. Place the loaf on the pizza stone. Add water to the shallow pan to create steam. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a thermometer reads the center of the loaf at around 190-195°.
  12. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. The loaf should come out of the pan easily.
  13. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing.

 

 

 

Let’s make toast.

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