Mmmmm... saucy (Vegetarian)

Member Name: MorganaDQ

Product:	Vegetarian
Date:	19/10/01 (165 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: ...

Disadvantages: ...

I never thought I'd be sat here at my faithful lil keyboard trying to figure out quantities for one of my favourite recipes, but here I am. Ever the slave to your taste buds. Yeah, right.

So, what do I have for you? Surely anything I have to offer can't be anywhere near as tasty as meaty alternatives? Oh, but you'd be wrong. Very, very wrong. See, my husband used to be one of those faithful meat-eaters, but now he prefers my vegetarian alternatives. No, really, he does.

Ok, ok, I'll get on with it. But first I should probably mention I'm not a strict vegetarian (I wouldn't give myself that tag at all, in fact), so there may be the odd ingredient which isn't entirely appropriate for some people. But we'll worry about that later.

Oh, and please also bear in mind that all quantities are approximate. I'm a 'throw stuff in a pan til it tastes right' kinda gal, so I'm having to go on memory alone. Then there's the difference in people's appetites. Well, you know how it goes.

Allegedly, winter's on it's way, so this should serve to warm your cockles. And failing that, at the very least warm your stomach and fill you up. Who could want more?


Sweet & Sour Sausage Stew
-------------------------

(for 2 people with healthy appetites)

1 tablespoon sunflower or vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
1/4 medium turnip or swede, diced
1/4 medium white cabbage, chopped
a handful of brocolli florets
1/2 parsnip, diced
6 vegetarian sausages, chopped (you should get about 6 pieces from each sausage)

Hot water to cover the veg
3 vegetable stock cubes
1 dessert spoon white wine vinegar (or a little less of malt vinegar)
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce

Cornflour and water to thicken (I'd give a quantity, but it depends how thick you like your
gravy)

2 giant yorkshire puddings (Aunt Bessie's, or similar)

Method

1 - Switch on your oven to the required temperature for the Yorkshire Puds.

2 - Prepare the vegetables and sausages.

3 - Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then add the onion, sausage, carrot, turnip, cabbage and parsnip. Let it cook for a minute, then add the water to cover.

4 - Crumble in the stock cubes, then add the white wine vinegar, honey and worcestershire sauce.

5 - Taste. If you think it needs to taste more sweet, add more honey, more sour, add more vinegar. The stock doesn't taste strong enough? Add another cube. Keep tasting and adding until it's just right for your tastebuds.

6 - Add the brocolli.

7 - Put a lid on the saucepan and let it simmer for 15 minutes, or thereabouts. Basically until the vegetables are cooked. It might be a good idea to check it halfway through, in case you need to top the water up a bit (it's meant to be saucy).

8 - Cook the Yorkshire puddings to the manufacturer's instructions (usually around 5 minutes).

9 - While the puds are cooking, thicken your stew with cornflour and water until it's as thick as you like it. Turn off the heat and wait for the puds to be done.

10 - Put a pud on each plate, and divide the stew between the two.

11 - Serve with knife, fork and spoon (trust me, you'll probably need the spoon), and a safety warning on the temperature of said meal.

--------------------------

And there you have it. It's soooooo delicious. I can smell it and taste it already. The crisp yorkshire puds, the steaming stew with it's aromatic gravy and tender vegetables. Mmmm, it's got my tastebuds jumping and I don't even have the stuff in to make it. Sigh.

But anyway, enough of that. Like I said before, a couple of things may not be suitable for your particu
lar choice of vegetarianism, so all you need to do is take them out.

For example, if you don't eat eggs, replace the yorkshire puds with mashed potato (making a well on the plate with it will stop the stew from running off your plate). Or if you just don't fancy the puds, how about a hollowed out crusty loaf (one of those round ones... they're good for soup, too).

Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies, so just remove it if it disagrees with your diet. I've been trying to think of something to replace it with, but I really can't. It just gives a slight bite to the dish, so anything you think will do the trick, go ahead and try it :)

What else did I want to say? Ohhhh yeah. The vegetables I've listed are what I use, but you can use absolutely anything you want. I don't tend to add the parsnip very often, but that's down to me not being so bothered about it. So when I do, I dice it quite small. But parsnip being so sweet, it does tend to help the stew along a bit.

I usually use chicken stock cubes for this, if I'm being honest. They give a rounder, more whole flavour (it makes sense to me :P) than vegetable stock, but this is, after all, a vegetarian recipe, is it not?

Now, which sausages to use? Well, that all depends what you want to end up with, I suppose.

The Linda McCartney ones (original) taste best in the stew, but they have a habit of breaking up a little. I've gotten round this before now by letting them defrost, squishing them all up together, then forming them into balls. For some reason they just hold together better that way. The barbeque sausages in the same range work well, too. Using them, you probably won't need the worcestershire sauce, because the barbeque flavour can come through in this quite strong. It makes a great change to the usual.

(Just a little extra aside. I use the original Linda McCartney sausages to make meat(
less) balls. Squish them up with herbs, or tomato puree, a little garlic and ginger, some cheese, whatever takes your fancy. They're lovely.)

Quorn and tofu sausages hold together well, but I find them a little too, hmmmm, what's the word? Solid. That's it, they're too solid for the most part. What can I say? I'm picking about my sausages.

Asda have some vegetarian sausages in the chilled area, though I can't remember the name. They're good, and a little herby. Very nice!

What's that? You don't like sweet and sour? Shame on you! Well, it's not sweet and sour in the local chinese takeaway sense. No, this is much, much better. This is subtle, and mouth-watering, and just... oh I always want more by the time I've finished. But anyway, as I was saying, if you don't like it, don't add the vinegar or honey. Just throw in some herbs of your choice. Tarragon works well, and so does dill. Just add what you want, or don't bother at all. See, coz it's not me gonna be eating it, it's you.

Wow, I do ramble. I'm sorry. And that was just one little recipe, too. Oh, I can see now. You're hoping I stop here aren't you? You're hoping I don't extend my (cough, cough) expertise somewhere else, closeby. Well, keep an eye out for my up-coming, best-selling, all new and fool-proof recipe book. Ok, ok, maybe not. But I may be found rambling in another food and drink category again in future.

You have been warned!

Summary: