VB's birthday week finale (*sad*) was this grand faux turkey dinner with all the trimmings. He wanted to try this recipe from Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit ever since he saw it a few months back. But it is very involved and time-consuming (2 days of prep and 6 hours of cooking!) and should be reserved for special occasions... and this was the perfect time for it.
We made faux turkey (very similar to Tofurky, I was told), mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, soy mac n' cheese from a box (had to cut corners somewhere), and steamed snow peas (the only non-Thanksgiving item).
Cooking this meal was unlike any other vegetarian meals that I've ever cooked -- we used very few vegetables in this entire meal. In fact, I wouldn't even call this process "cooking"; it's more like a mad science experiment. I kept thinking about my high school lab class and the movie Frankenstein. As I watched powder that I bought from Whole Foods turn into Butterball turkey breast, I had the urge to laugh like (a prettier?) Dr. Evil (muhahahaha!!!) and give someone a crisp backhand slap as a demonstration of my indisputable supremacy and brute strength (of either I have none, natch).
The highlight of the meal? Gravy made with nutritional yeast and fresh herbs. It was salty, creamy and flavorful like real gravy. The faux turkey looked freakishly realistic when basting in chicken-flavored broth, but the taste didn't quite live up to the expectation (Lindy Loo's all caps blog post title 'OH MY GOD GO MAKE BRYANA CLARK'S VEGAN SEITAN 'TURKEY' ASAP I DON'T CARE THAT IT'S NO LONGER THANKSGIVING AND YOU HAVE NO REAL EXCUSE!!! ON A DISTANT PLANET SOMEWHERE IT'S LIKELY TO BE THANKSGIVING SO JUST RUN WITH THAT!! DO IT! NOW!' was just a touch too enthusiastic). It was good, but I wouldn't say it tastes like meat.
It doesn't not taste like meat either, if that makes any sense at all...
My least favorite item came from a box -- Road's End Organics Dairy-free Mac n' Cheese was bland and tasteless. But overall, it was an excellent faux turkey dinner in June.
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