Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Veggie Sausage--at last!

I've been a vegetarian for five years now, so I don't get asked 'is there anything you miss?' very often anymore.  But to be honest, I miss sausage.  I'm convinced it's the sage that calls to me.  I've tried the faux stuff from the store, and it's ok.  But it's so dang pricy, and the ingredients on the label make me a bit nervous.  Every once in a while I get the gusto to try again to make something that is reminiscent of sausage.  And usually I end up sorely disappointed.

 A few weeks ago, I asked Hyvee (through facebook!) if they could carry tempeh.  Lo and behold they could, would, and did, which I promptly snagged some up.  But then I got home and I just stared at my package.  Like the proverbial tofu, I was at a loss of what to make out of my beloved tempeh.  So I started surfing the internet for ideas when I came across the post punk kitchen website for Tempeh Sausage Crumbles.  I was a bit apprehensive at first, but when I tried them,  amazing!  Phil even asked what I had made it smelled so good.  Sadly, the recipe was for an italian flavored sausage, while tasty and thoroughly enjoyable, what I love is the breakfast kind.  So I got brave and tried my hand at combining the seasonings for the breakfast sausage with the methodology from the post punk kitchen.  Voila!  Finally a recipe that was edible and enjoyable.

What follows is the original recipe from the post punk kitchen, and below that is the breakfast seasonings modification:



Ingredients
8 oz package tempeh
1 tablespoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried margoram or oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
juice of 1/2 a lemon
Directions
In a saute pan, crumble the tempeh and add enough water to almost cover it. Over high heat, steam the tempeh until most of the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Drain the remaining water and add the rest of the ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
credit to the ppk--you rock!:

breakfast sausage seasonings (from the Dining on a Dime cookbook)
1 tsp sage (heaping b/cuz I loooove sage!)
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp pepper (heaping)
I just followed the same directions and used the same liquid ingredients as the original recipe

Now this story has an even happier ending.  I used some of the crumbles to top my blueberry corncakes with a bit of maple syrup.  Talk about yum!  And tonight I added some into my couscous with peas.  
And I still have some more left over!
I think there are some biscuits and gravy on my horizon...

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