Saturday, December 06, 2008

VWAM's Apple Sage Sausages

Before I left for Seattle, I finally made a batch of VWAM's Vegan Apple Sage Sausages.


These are potato, sage and apple flavored steamed seitan engineered by the marvelous Jayne (aka VWAM, aka Virginwithamemory) on the PPK forums, who I've had the pleasure of meeting in person a few times. She kicked the butt of the packaged (though delicious, yet pricey) Field Roast variety using Julie Hasson's steamed sausage method.

Here is Jane's original recipe, first posted on the PPK on 2/17/2008:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tea. salt1/4 tea. cloves
1/4 tea. allspice
2 1/2 tea. onion powder
1 tea. ginger
3 tea. sage
1/4 tea. cayenne
1/4 tea. black pepper
1/2 cup dried apples, chopped finely
1/2 cup cold mashed yukon gold potatoes (NOTE-I used leftover roasted garlic mashed russets)
2 tea. marmite (NOTE-I didn't have marmite so I used a bit more liquid smoke and tamari)
3 Tb. olive oil
1/2 tea. liquid smoke
1 tea. crushed garlic from a jar
1 Tb. maple syrup
2/3 cup water

Instructions:
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, mix it up.
Combine wet ingredients in a different bowl, mix it up.
Combine wet and dry ingredients and knead for a few minutes.
Form into little sausage shapes and wrap them up in tin foil tightly.
Steam for 1/2 an hour. Unwrap them, put some oil in a pan and fry them up a little.
Yummy.

From this...

To this....

To this..... To....THIS!

Pan fried with kale and garlic and served with rosemary roasted potatoes.
They're a superbly flavored seitan sausage, and I look forward to making them again once I purchase Marmite.

32 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Looks great!! Too bad they're not gluten-free :-(

aredcardigan said...

I'm hungry!!!

snugglebunny said...

This is what I get for not looking at the Food Porn more on PPK. And since I can't get Field Roast here (very few places in the area carry it) it is nice to know that I can make a clone of it myself.

However, one question. I know the recipe says steam then fry. I don't have a steamer this large. Could I fry then poach, would that work?

Anonymous said...

YUM!! I love making my own sausages =) I think they taste way better than store bought

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

snugglebunny - I also don't have a steamer this large - I use my pasta pot, with a metal colandar balanced inside, and a lid. You can also try baking them for a denser sausage, ala seitan of greatness.

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

yum yum, I need to make these!

jessy said...

good god!!!! that looks like the most scrumptious sausage EVER!

Anja Verdugo said...

Woah, I am definitely making these.

Karla said...

darnit! i forgot to take the one in your fridge that was meant for maeve but you told me to take!

Anonymous said...

Looks tasty! I missed this on the PPK but I recently made my own apple-sage sausages. However, these look better...

Bianca said...

Holy crap! I've been too cheap to buy the Field Roast apple sage sausages, so I definitely have to make this recipe. The Julie method is hands down one of the best vegan innovations ever!

Taylor said...

Bookmarked it! Gonna make it some rainy/snowy day coming up.

Laura said...

those are absolutley gorgeous!! i just happen to have some marmite...i guess i know what i am making tonight!!

Tami said...

As soon as I get more marmite, I'd definitely trying these!

Love your food. Always.

Jenn said...

thanks for posting this - I've been thinking about working up a version but haven't gotten round to it... I should have known someone would have already tried a version on the PPK forums!

Jenn said...

mmm... also, if you don't have Marmite... what did you sub?

I'm thinking vegetarian "oyster sauce" - which is a mushroomy, dark savory sauce from the thai market...

Anonymous said...

That's pretty exciting. I've never seen people make their own seitan sausages instead of buying them in cardboard boxes. I am definitely intrigued...

Kelly said...

holy guacamole that looks insane

Anonymous said...

I made these about a week ago for out big vegan xmas buffet but when I unwrapped mine they looked like poo. Really. I was so tired at that point I started laughing hysterically and then crying. They were really tasty though, somehow mine just became a VERY disturbing brown colour and the little bits of apple didn't help at all.

Anonymous said...

I just made this and it's to die for!!!!! But--I wonder if you could use applesauce instead of the oil...like you do with a cake mix-to cut down on calories and fat? Any thoughts?

Anonymous said...

Yes, you can use applesauce! In fact, you can even omit the oil part altogether since the gluten binds the sausages just fine. Add a touch more water to mix and knead. I assume the oil is added to mimic the Field Roast thing and add some depth, but it's really not critical (not to mention it adds about 360 calories to the total). Hope this helps!

Anonymous said...

Also wanted to say that these ended up super tasty, but honestly not terribly apple-potato-sagey (at least when compared to the Italian recipe which ends up almost exactly like the Field Roast flavor it mimics). These are more like hearty BBQ links with a wonderful sugary / savory / salty balance. I think the yeast, marmite, and liquid smoke are hogging center stage.

I wonder if increasing the sage and apple would help next time? And / or a more flavorful roasted potato in the prep? I did use fresh organic ground sage and a good tart Granny Smith, so I don't know what else to try. Maybe I'll give my tweaks a go and report back when our current batch runs out.

Either way... mmm! These were GOOD, and that's what counts.

Jenn said...

Well, it appears every Everyday Dish recipe has been moved under cover, requiring subscription - screw that.

Got more details on how the steam method works since I don't think I printed the page?

I was thinking of smoking my sausages in a stovetop smoker - there's plenty of heat there...

Anonymous said...

No idea if smoking would work (sounds potentially yummy!), but I just used a veggie steamer basket tossed in a wide pot. Covered everything with a dinner plate on medium-high. This has worked wonderfully for three pup batches using various combinations of gluten, TVP, and beans.

If you can suspend your pups above some trapped steam without crowding them too much, you've got a steamer. :-) Don't be shy about wrapping these tight like tootsie rolls, by the way -- really helps give them shape and a nice "skin." They do expand a little.

I hope to get a real steamer pot soon for convenience, but it seems to be a pretty basic cooking method!

P.S. For whatever reason, these sausages seem to improve if chilled for a night or so in the fridge. The flavors and texture really get a chance to come together.

Anonymous said...

I was thinking about trying them with tempeh instead of the gluten.

Anonymous said...

They will come out like dry bread if you don't steam. What you could do is wrap them in cheese cloth and simmer them for half an hour.

Anonymous said...

1/4 tsp of cloves? I'm assuming these are ground, not whole?

I think I'll replace the Marmite with 1 tsp of miso + 1 tsp of peanut butter.

terrikraehe said...

well coming from down under I of course used vegimite instead of marmite but these are the best fake meat,,anything,,,that i have ever had,,,we are very limited in what we can buy locally in the way of vegan products,,,and these are better than anything i have ever bought ,,thank you

Unknown said...

"P.S. For whatever reason, these sausages seem to improve if chilled for a night or so in the fridge. The flavors and texture really get a chance to come together."

Does anyone know if this person meant refrigerate before or after steaming them?

Looks delicious, by the way. I am gonna add this to the pile of recipes to try.

Question... Can these be frozen? My Foodsaver has become a best friend. I like to make batches of the foods we eat and freeze them for quick dinners. Anyone try freezing them?

alinevill said...

Brilliant! I wonder if it would work to bake them?
http://www.alpinevillagecenter.com/german-market/german-sausages/

Unknown said...

I'm so late to the party but this looks so delicious!

Anonymous said...

refrigerate after steaming. I also would use the dough blade and kneed them for about 4 minutes