Vegan Sauerkraut Balls. To die for.

It's been a while. So many things afoot in NFP land, it's hard to keep track. Here's the short list:

Launched a new business - Nourish - vegan/locally focused/healthy food delivery service
Gotten some AWESOME catering gigs, man oh MAN
Learning ridiculous things, like Excel, and how to actually be organized

Life is good. I hope it is for you too.

So, I know I've waxed lovingly on Harmony Valley's burger mix before - how it's the best slider base you'll ever use, how it performs beautifully on a grill, etc etc - but for my next trick, I'd like to point you in the direction of their sausage stuff. Man, is it tasty, and it means you can make this:

That's right kids, those are Sauerkraut Balls. Classic 50's party food. And they're totes vegan. I dare you to make these next time Beer and Nibbles night rolls around and have leftovers.

Sauerkraut Balls
makes 12 large or 16 small balls

1 cup Harmony Valley Breakfast Sausage dry mix
2 tbl olive oil
1/2 cup water
1 tbl toasted sesame oil
1/2 medium onion, very thinly sliced
1 14oz can sauerkraut, squeezed of some of its liquid
1 tbl whole-grain mustard
8oz vegan cream cheese, chilled
2 cups breadcrumbs
1.5 cups flour
Egg replacer equivalent for 4 eggs
4 cups Canola or refined Coconut oil, for frying
Yellow mustard, to serve

Prep your sausage by mixing the water and 2 tbl olive oil with the dry mix. Let stand 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the sesame oil in a medium saute pan and add the onion. Cook 8-10 minutes, until the onion starts to caramelize. Add sauerkraut and mustard, and stir. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove to a heat-proof bowl.

In the same pan, add the crumbled sausage mix and cook until just firm, about 4 minutes, turning often. Add to the sauerkraut mix, stir once, and put the bowl in the freezer to chill.

Set up three stations for dredging: a small bowl of egg replacer, a plate with half the flour on it, and another plate with half the breadcrumbs.

Remove sausage mix from the freezer and fold in the cream cheese. Grab a small handful of sausage/cheese mix and dredge it in the flour, rolling it until it becomes a well shaped ball. Dip in the egg replacer, then dredge in the breadcrumbs. Set aside on a clean plate while rolling the remaining mix.

Heat oil to 375f and add sausage balls in batches, 3-4 at a time. Turn them often with a fork while frying to retain their shape. Drain well on paper towels.

Serve, with mustard for dipping. ZOMG so good. Enjoy!

Cookbook Porn

Someone gave me something really rad last weekend.

A first edition of the Fireside Cookbook, by the illustrious James Beard. You can get reprints that are probably less yellow than the copy I have, but let me show you why you should grab the original:

HOW has someone on Etsy not ripped this off and printed it poster-sized yet? Or this:

Feathers tomorrow. Yeesh. Another:

I love how a coddled egg is a little baby egg with wispy hairs. So awesome.

The entire book is filled with tattoo/frame worthy pre-atomic art - no page goes unembellished. The recipes, while pretty odd, are interesting, in that "OMG people ate like that?!" way. Some, like the Cheese Croquettes recipe, or the Rarebit, or the several potato salad recipes (I II and III) are pretty unchanged, as are the homemade Mayo instructions (with variations - green, red, russian, tartar). But there are Molded Salad recipes. Multiple Pheasant recipes. And this little half-page:

People used to do such odd/awesome things to cukes. Since putting them on a pizza last summer, I've seen the warm cucumber light - try them sauteed, or in a calzone - I swear, it's awesome.

But yeah, me, some tomatoes, this bag of agar agar I bought last week, and a funky-as-hell thrifted Jell-O mold have an appointment, and soon. Stay tuned.

Retro time! Mexican Lasanga

I've been collecting old spiral-bound cookbooks for the last year or two while on my thrifting adventures - I have something like 15 now. Most of them are church fundraisers, and all of them have at least one Jell-O salad recipe.

We won't be making Ham in Aspic here at NFP, don't worry.

It is fun to trace recipes that are still standards now back to the 60s and 70s, tho - watching the spellings change in the non-English words (I found a recipe for Buf Borgonion, I kid you not), seeing margarine replace butter then shortening replace margarine then back to butter, it's all very entertaining. Obviously, there are huge expanses of each volume devoted entirely to Casseroles. And one that makes an appearance in one of my earliest books (1962, the publish date on that one) is Mexican Lasagna.

I have plans to sift through some of the stranger recipes and veggie-fy them in the coming months, but for now, that recipe serves as merely inspiration. Keep your eyes peeled for retro veggie dishes in 2011!

Mexican Lasagna


For the sauce:
1 28oz can tomatoes, diced or crushed
3 tablespoons butter
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon cumin, toasted
1 jalapeno, seeded, minced
Dash sugar
1 tablespoon faux-chicken or vegetable broth concentrate 
1 stick cinnamon, whole
Salt to taste

For the rest:
1 box no-boil lasagna noodles 
1 package TJ's soy chorizo or 10 ozs faux-hamburger crumbles
10ozs shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
2 Poblano peppers
1 package Requeson cheese or Ricotta
2 garlic cloves, minced
Dash Mexican Oregano
2 eggs, beaten
1 can black beans, drained 

Roast your poblanos either over a gas burner, turning until charred, or under your broiler, until the skins bubble and turn black. Place them in a paper bag to steam for 15-30 minutes. 


Melt your butter in a saucepan and add garlic, onion, jalapeno. Saute until onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir well to mix. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, until tomatoes have softened and flavors blend. Remove from heat.



Preheat oven to 375f.

De-seed and peel your poblanos. I do this under running water to make the skins slide off more easily. Mince the peppers and put them in a small bowl - add your Requeson (a Mexican ricotta-style cheese) or Ricotta. Add garlic, oregano, and taste - if you've used Requeson, you won't need to salt this. Add eggs and mix well.


Remove cinnamon stick from sauce and puree with an immersion blender or puree in batches in your food processor. 


Oil a 9 x 9 or 11 x 6 baking dish and layer as follows: 1 ladle of sauce, noodles, beans, chorizo, requeson, Jack cheese. Repeat twice, reserving most of the Jack cheese for the top layer. Top with remaining sauce and Jack cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil and broil top of lasagna until brown in places.



Serve with hot sauce and minced jalapenos. 


Happy Holidays, my dears! If you're anything like me, you'll be cooking up a storm for family and friends. Which is awesome for vegetarian me - it feels like missionary work AND I can eat everything on the table! If I can manage to grab some shots of the grub, I'll put them up here for showing-offs sake. Cheers and happiness to you and yours!