Many years ago, during one of the hundreds of breakfasts I've shared with my grandfather, he poured maple syrup over his sausage patty.
I should back up and explain that my grandfather has a history of trying to convince me to try different foods. His usual explanation as to why I should try whatever it was that he wanted me to try was to tell me "It'll put hair on your chest." It was always like "Try these here green beans- They'll put hair on your chest" or "Do you drink coffee, girl? You should- it'll put hair on your chest." Why, as a young girl, this explanation was all it took for my grandfather to convince me to do anything without questioning it, I have no idea. It is the reason though, as a child, I began to eat green beans, eat untoasted bread with a thick coating of butter, add salt to my watermelon, and later become a raging coffee addict as a teenager.
This time, however, as I watched him cut a piece of his sausage patty and swirl it around in the maple syrup on his plate, a look of great disgust spread across my face. My grandfather looked at me and said "What's the matter, Herb?" (Herb is his nickname for all of his grandkids). "Don't ya eat your sausage with syrup?" I quickly shook my head and said disgustedly (as only a child of seven or eight can get away with) "No way!" He shook his head and took another bite. "You should- it'll put hair on your chest." He pushed the maple syrup towards me and I pushed it right back.
Many years later, soon after I became a vegetarian in my twenties, I microwaved a couple frozen vegetarian sausage patties to have with my breakfast (Of course I knew that I could pan fry them but what college kid wants one more thing to clean later?). I sat down to breakfast and I cut into one of my sausage patties. With that first bite, I was put off by the saltiness and the rubberiness it had taken on from being nuked. It was alright, but I felt like it could've been better. I remembered what my grandfather had said but, still slightly grossed out, I resisted. I ate the other things on my plate until all that was left were the sausage patties. Not wanting to throw the patties away, I decided to give it a try. I grabbed the syrup from the kitchen and poured just a couple drops on my plate. I very gingerly dipped the sausage into the syrup and the rest is history. I don't have any hair on my chest but I am now a definite believer of mixing your vegan meats with your sweets.
And that brings me to this breakfast. Homemade vegan sausage patties (slightly adapted from Hell Yeah It's Vegan's awesome recipe) sandwiched, along with some spicy ancho chili cashew cheese and maple syrup, between two thick slices of french toast. Mixing vegan meats with sweets doesn't get much better than this.
The great part about this sandwich, aside from how insanely delicious it is, is that you can just put it together and eat it as-is for a wonderfully filling and portable breakfast. If you have some time to sit down for a meal, though, I highly recommend drizzling your sandwich with a little more maple syrup and going to town with a knife and fork. That's where the magic happens. The smoky cashew cheese, mixed with the savoriness of the sausage, explodes with umami flavor when combined with the maple syrup. Pack all that between two slices of french toast and you have yourself a breakfast you will not soon forget. You should totally try it- it'll put hair on your chest!
Ingredients
- ½ cup tvp
- ½ cup boiling water
- ½ cup quinoa flour
- ¼ cup wheat or oat bran
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds, optional
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon crushed sage
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon smoked salt
- a couple dashes of cayenne
- ¼ c water
- ½ tsp liquid smoke
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- ¼ tsp blackstrap molasses
- olive oil spray
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup vegan creamer or canned coconut milk (I used the latter)
- 1/2 cup chickpea flour
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- dash of nutmeg
- dash of salt
- 6-8 slices of sourdough bread (I cut mine from a wide loaf, at a diagonal to get larger slices)
- cooking spray (for the frying pan)
- 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for 1-2 hours (or overnight), reserve the water
- 5 tablespoons of reserved soaking water
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon white miso
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ancho chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- maple syrup
Instructions
- About 30-60 minutes (or longer) before you want to make the sandwiches, prepare the sausage patties.
- Soak the tvp in the boiling water for about five minutes. Add the quinoa flour, what/oat bran, flaxmeal, nutritional yeast, and spices and mix to combine.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the water with the liquid smoke, soy sauce, maple syrup, and molasses. Add the tvp mixture and mix until fully combined.
- Form the mixture into 6-8 patties (2 for each sandwich you want to make), about 1/4 inch thick and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Because I'm a perfectionist, I used a biscuit cutter to form round patties, but you could just as easily roll them into balls and flatten them. Your choice.
- Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator and chill for 30-60 minutes. If you want them to chill longer (like overnight), I would cover them so they don't dry out.
- Once they've chilled, heat your frying pan or griddle over medium heat. Spray with olive oil and cook the patties for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Set aside until ready to use. You could also make these a day or two in advance, if needed.
- This can be done a day or two in advance, if needed. Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add more water to thin out the sauce, if necessary. Chill until ready to use.
- Combine all of the french toast ingredients, except for the bread and the cooking spray, in a shallow dish (I used a square baking dish). Mix until it is mostly clump-free.
- Heat the frying pan or griddle over medium heat. Lightly spray the pan with cooking spray. Place a couple of the slices in the batter and let it soak for about 30 seconds on each side. Place on the griddle and cook for about 3-4 minutes on one side (until it is crisp and golden) and flip. Cook for 3-4 minutes more and then remove from heat. Set aside until ready to use. Repeat with the remaining bread slices.
- Spread about 1 tablespoon of the cashew cheese on one slice of french toast. Top with two breakfast patties. On another slice of french toast, drizzle about 1 teaspoon of maple syrup on one side and use the spoon to slather it around. Place that piece on top of the sausage patties, maple syrup side down. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
- You can eat it as is or you can plate it and drizzle more maple syrup over the sandwich. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
What things were you hesitant to try as a child?
Photography by Chris Miller
Shannon C
YUMMM. want to try immediately.
keepinitkind
I hope you love it as much as we did! 🙂
Kelly @ Vegan Iowan
Your grandpa sounds like such a character! I love food-associated memories that remind us of being with loved ones. I too am a big fan of syrup + sausage/bacon. Something about the two just round each other out!
Bobbie {the vegan crew}
The "It'll put hair on your chest" comments cracked me up. Your grandpa was on to something with the sausage + syrup idea. I never liked [meat] sausage (I think it was the texture that got to me because I've really enjoyed the plant-based varieties I've had in recent years), but they would always serve the sausage rounds on breakfast-for-lunch days in school. The only way I could eat them was drenched in syrup -- it was pretty good that way! PS. These sandwiches look so delectable!
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan
Those patties! That sauce! Oh my goodness, I want to slather everything in syrup and gobble it up!
Kelli
It would never ever have occurred to me to put all of those flavors together - the chili cashew cheese, sweetly spiced french toast, spicy vegan sausage, and sweet sweet maple syrup.... but I think I'm going to have to try it! You've convinced me 🙂
Cadry
This sounds amazing! It reminds me of the Badass sandwich at Locali, which brings back only happy memories. My dad used to say the thing about putting hair on your chest, and it worked for me too. Apparently you and I are enticed by strange assertions!
Angela @ Canned Time
Wow...if you could offer that baby in the Drive Thru, you'd make a million ;0
I love the contrasting tastes of the fennel and the sweet of the syrup ;P
Brings back memories....
Sarojini
Wow! That looks like a flavour explosion 🙂 As a child, I was always reluctant to try anything to do with meat or fish, and I stopped eating them as soon as I could. But I was also very averse to celery, which I now really love.
rika@veganmiam.com
Kristy, this looks sooooooo amazing. I am literally drooling right now. The ancho chili cashew cheese sauce sounds something I would use on pizzas, and I used the ancho chile peppers in the chimichurri sauce, which was a massive hit at couple of dinners.
Heather
Your grandfather was a smart man- to this day I absolutely love swirling my vegan bacon or sausage in maple syrup, I totally have a thing for the savory and sweet combination. Growing up I was never really picky, I do remember not being bale to stand the little chopped raw onions on my cheeseburger from Mcdonalds (they would put me in gagging mode like no other thing)It really wasn't until I was at a friends house when I was about 12 when i tried onions fried in tons of butter on the grill - not the healthiest thing but for the longest time that was the only way I could eat an onion- thank goodness I grew our of that!
Gabby @ the veggie nook
Hehe I alllllways put maple syrup on my bacon and continue to do so with vegan alternatives. Balance of salty and sweet = heaven 🙂
Wonderful recipe, as always. When are you opening your restaurant already??
Richa
that tower of goodness! i can totally imagine so many uses of the cashew sauce..
Claryn
This looks awesome! My grandfather responded to my youthful skepticism about his seemingly odd eating habits in a very similar way. Maybe it was the experience of having eaten food for 70-odd years, but as it turned out, he was usually right about what tasted good. 🙂