With Thanksgiving only a week away, I’ve been trying out some new alternatives to my usual suspect for vegan turkey – Quorn’s Turk’y Roast.
I was a tad skeptical when I read the ingredients in Field Roast Smokey Forager’s Roast – especially since a pineapple mustard glaze didn’t seem in keeping (to me) with the traditional elements of a Thanksgiving meal.
My hubby and I were pleasantly surprised!
While we both still think that the Quorn Turk’y Roast has more of a poultry-like texture and taste, Field Roast is surprisingly good. We liked the interesting mixture of flavors with seitan, mushrooms, butternut squash, wild rice, huckleberries, and tomatoes. No single ingredient takes center stage, but while some of the combinations sound odd, they all seem to blend nicely. The issue for us was the texture – it seems much more like a delicious vegan stuffing to us than a realistic substitute for turkey.
It’s extremely easy to make. After an overnight thaw in the fridge, you just remove the plastic wrapping and bake it in an oiled baking dish in a preheated 350 degree oven – with just a light brushing of olive oil on top, two tablespoons of water in the baking dish, and covered with foil. After 45 minutes, you remove the foil, brush the pineapple mustard glaze over the top, and stick it back in the oven for 10 minutes.
Pretty darn simple right?
Here’s the issue . . . the tiny amount of sauce in the little packet is wholly inadequate.
We used almost all the sauce in the photo at the top of the page (my hubby’s plate, of course!)
While you can see that my poor little plate was completely “sauce-less”!
Considering the fact that there was still enough roast for at least six more people, Field Roast needs to completely re-think its sauce proportions.
My solution?
I’m planning to make my lovely cranberry orange sauce to serve with the balance of the roast to moisten the grain meat and better integrate its flavor with my scrumptious traditional sides like garlic mashed potatoes and skillet roasted Brussels Sprouts.
I hope you give it a try!
- Zest and juice from 1 navel orange
- Water
- 1 cup organic sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 12-ounce bag cranberries (washed and picked through)
- 2 tablespoons Cointreau (or Triple Sec)
- Zest the orange, cut it in half, and squeeze the juice into a measuring cup. You should have ⅓ to ½ cup of juice, depending on how large your orange was. Add enough water to the orange juice to make ¾ cup of liquid.
- Put the orange juice, water, zest, and sugar into a saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil.
- Make sure the sugar is dissolved, and stir in the cranberries. Return the mixture to a boil.
- Once it boils again, turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 8 minutes until about half the berries have popped open and the mixture is thickened and saucy. If the mixture doesn't seem thickened and saucy enough for you, let it cook about 2-3 minutes more.
- Remove from heat, and stir in the Cointreau or Triple Sec. Let it cool and transfer to a bowl.
- You can make this up to a week ahead of Thanksgiving, but I usually do about 2-3 days before. Just refrigerate in a covered container, and bring to room temperature before serving.
- Note - A lot of recipes will say to cook the cranberries for 5 minutes. But when I've followed that advice, the cranberries don't seem cooked enough for my hubby's Southern palate. So, I cook them a bit longer, and he and his wonderful family are always pleased with the results!
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