Cook Book Challenge Week #11

Vegan Brunch

Wednesday's Menu:  Red Flannel Hash and Chorizo Sausages

Thursday's Menu:  Navy Bean Gravy

I should be out running this morning, but I think my stomach is still trying to decide what to do with the greasy goodness of last night's Beer-Battered Tofu.  What else is there to do, but to eat a bowl of cereal and finish blogging about this week's meals?

On Wednesday, we made another pretty simple meal-- Red Flannel Hash with Chorizo Sausage.  I have to admit, this was the first time I bought a beet.  I've never been a huge fan, so I don't go out of my way to find or eat them.  Chad, on the other hand, loves beets, which is why he picked this recipe.  It came together really quickly, just chop the potatoes and beet, heat in a pan for a bit, then toss in the oven.  Before we chopped everything for the hash, I started the sausage, which is basically steamed seitan in sausage form.  The dough was pretty wet and I had just enough vital wheat gluten, but they turned out pretty perfectly.  Next time, I'll make sure to wrap them in extra aluminum foil, because each sausage exploded out of it's wrapper in the steamer.  I chopped two into slices and pan fried for a bit before serving.  This meal was pretty filling and definitely had a "meat and potatoes" feel.  Next time, I would make sure to plan for a fruit or vegetable on the side. I can also see adjusting the beans and seasonings in the sausage for different occasions, because it was fairly easy to make.

Our third meal of the week was Navy Bean Gravy with "buttermilk" biscuits.  This gravy was amazing!  Biscuits and Gravy is another one of my favorite breakfast meals.  So far, we've only used the Gimme Lean Sausage with a basic butter, flour and milk gravy.  The Navy Bean Gravy doesn't even compare!  It's so thick from the blended beans and flavorful from the surprisingly few seasonings.  After the gravy thickened up a bit, I added about a cup of pinto beans and a teaspoon of fennel seed to give it a little sausage-y flavor.  I will definitely make this gravy again, because it is WAY better than my simple gravy!

At the end of the week, I loved "Vegan Brunch" as much as I thought I would.  I checked this book out from the library, but it might need to join my collection soon!  We really enjoyed everything we made this week and recipes were all pretty quick and simple.  There are still many things I really want to try, like the Bagels, English Muffins and Scones.  Someday, I'll get through everything!