Happy Thanksgiving! Make Your Own "Tofurky"

It's that time of year again, and I can't help but gorge myself all day on foods I spent the previous day preparing. Lately for the holidays we've roasted two "turk'y roasts" by Quorn and a Tofurky. But no one ever eats that wild rice stuffing that's stuck in the middle of the Tofurky ball. Last year I made my own vegetarian "tofurky"-- using a recipe and video I can't find now, but the result is absolutely delicious-- technically a "gluten roast"-- we'll have to work on making that sound sexier.

As soon as I re-discover the video and link, I'll attach it here, but for now, I'll just re-copy my gravy-spattered recipe sheet:

Sage-Roasted Gluten Loaf (or Homemade Better n' Tofurky)

Bring 2 gallons of water to a boil while you do the following:

In a bowl, combine:

2 1/2 c. vital wheat gluten flour

1/2 c. nutritional yeast flakes

1 generous tsp. thyme

1 equally generous tsp. sage

1 tsp. salt

In another bowl, mix together

2 c. vegetable broth (1 can)

1/4 c. olive oil

1 Tb. soy sauce

Stir the wet into the dry until well-combined and can be roughly formed into a ball. Roll the gluten-ball out onto some cheesecloth. Wrap it with the cheesecloth (forming it into the shape you want your loaf), twisting the ends and tying them off with twine.

Don't wrap the loaf too loosely, or it'll have air pockets. Don't wrap it too tight either, since the gluten will expand. Put the cheesecloth-wrapped loaf into the boiling water and simmer for about 1 hour. Unwrap cheesecloth and the roast can now either be eaten or basted with olive oil and herbes de provence (mmmmm!) and thrown into a 325 oven for about 3o minutes.

Here's our spread (with fried green tomatoes!). The gluten roast is the larger, darker of the "meats" pictured above.
And here's my favorite parts: my gluten roast and mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberries, and green bean casserole!
And this year, Zipper pretended to be a kumquat.

We also made a pear tart with an almond pastry crust and the best pumpkin pie in the world. But I'll save those for another day! Happy Holidays!