rants & recipes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 2 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tbsp sage
• 1/4 tsp red pepper
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup dried apples, chopped finely
• 1/2 cup cold mashed potatoes
• 2 tsp marmite
• 3 tbsp olive oil (I used 1 tbsp OO, 2 tbsp canola)
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp soy sauce plus water to equal 2/3 cup

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients.
3. Mix wet ingredients in separate bowl.
4. Add wet to dry mix,  and knead until combined.
5. Form into a log or logs - for this recipe, I made a single log, approx. 6" long.
6. Bake for 90 minutes or until done (good luck with that) - see recipe link below for steaming method. (I baked my single log for about 70 minutes, turned the oven off and let it remain inside for about 20-30 minutes.)
   

Notes:

• Based on this recipe for ingredients, cooked with the "seitan o' greatness" cooking method.
• I am not a fan of the slightest hint of sweetness in sausage but like a moron, I added that tablespoon of  maple syrup anyway. I will most certainly leave it out next time. Maybe replace it with oil.
• I may also experiment with some ground fennel in place of some of the sage.
• Ok, so I just tried the Field Roast version of these and my thoughts for improving the recipe: less maple syrup (oh, already said that, didn't I?) - maybe some spicy brown mustard - FR are so oily, so maybe I'll add a little more oil. FR also has potatoes, but they aren't mashed - they're little gristle-like chunks, so maybe I won't mash the potatoes as well next time. Or maybe I will because,  ewww, who wants little gristle-like chunks?!? Overall, the texture was really different - I think the store-bought texture was closer to texture I've gotten, before, when using Arrowhead Mills brand gluten for ribblets. I think with less sugar, more added-in texture and more oil, this recipe will do just fine and I don't envision paying > $1/FR sausage again! (Actually, this recipe was good enough the first time, to preclude buying any more pricey FR sausages.)