A Week of Making Field Roast - Day 3

Hello! Jennifer here, I work in the office at Field Roast. Our Smoked Apple Sage Sausages are our most popular retail product. Perhaps it is the sweet and savory goodness that sizzles right out of them when you put them in hashes for the morning. Or when they are sliced and crumbled into rice dishes, pastas and stews. I really prefer the Mexican Chipotle, which is spicy enough to satisfy my cravings for food that heats you up from the inside. I love it in tacos and and jambalaya.

Our mixing, cooking and packaging processes are as simple as the ingredients of our meats. The above picture is of our sausage linker. It helps us measure the weight and length of our grain meats by allotting specific amounts of into our nettings and casings.

Next you see the Mexican Chipotle Sausages (or MC as we say here) being clipped and cut into groups of four for our retail sausages that are sold nationwide!

In an earlier post, David eluded to our sophistcated labeling process, and we do this all by hand. Our labels and packaging are a reflection of the simple tenets of good cooking that we base all of our recipes on. I like that when I started working here almost 4 years ago, there were about 9 people working for Field Roast. Now...there are about 32. Meanwhile, our sausage linkers and dough mixers are not given more jobs to do, though they are asked to do them more often..the bottom line is despite our growth it's people, not machines who are most involved in making Field Roast. I like that.

Sausage Nation

Since all is fair in love and sausage, Field Roast takes the tested traditional method of sausage making and positively takes animal flesh out of the equation. I would venture to say that our manufaturing plant in Seattle is home of the only two vegan sausage linkers in the world, and it is proving to be quite a serious business.

We've added a second machine, a second shift and now can be found nationwide in all three flavors at your retail grocer. Italian, Mexican Chipotle & Smoked Apple Sage. There is a trend that has begun to blossom; the rise of sausage carts and gourmet sausage restaurants that use Field Roast Sausages exclusively and inclusively. Mojo Market, outside of Safeco Field, home of the Mariners, was one of the first. Along with our ties to Frankfurter at the Seattle Center...it was hit and [mostly] miss if you wanted a vegan dog on the street. But a start nonetheless.

Now there are sausage carts across the country and restaurants with sausages as the main event on the menu that carry Field Roast (though they are mostly on the west coast)! One of the best parts of being part of Field Roast is the fact that vegans, veggies and carnivores give us the thumbs up on our taste and texture. We are proud to be the veggie option at establishments that tout their artisan and quality sausage fare. It goes to show that honestly, vegetarian meats are not what they used to be. We think they will never be the same again.

If you are wondering why your local dog cart doesn't have a veggie option...ASK! Perhaps they think that everyone who is a would-be customer wouldn't like the option. Or that they don't think the sales gained would be all that impressive. Many vendors who have our sausages would attest to that being completely off base, and our growth shows it. So thanks to Munchen Haus, Wurstkutche, Showdogs, Let's Be Frank, Frjts Fries, Diggity Dog, Funhole, Underdog, Bark Hot dogs, Dante's Inferno Dogs & Top Dog...oh, and by the way what happened to Sausage Party in San Fran??

If you put Field Roast on a bun and sell them or buy them somewhere not listed, let me know so we can thank you too! As for the summer months...they are slippin' by mightly fast. Catch 'em before the grills sink back into the garage! Thank goodness for Octoberfest!

Recipe: Smoked Tomato BBQ

Sausages, Smoked Tomato Field Roast on the Grill with Corn

On July 31st, our Field Roast family got together at a local park for some good ol' summer fun. We ate, played kickball, and even had a couple of pinatas for the kids. We have a great group of folks here at Field Roast, and it is always nice to see eachothers kids, spouses and loved ones all together, celebrating!

We, of course, do not serve animal meat at our common meals. And so for those who think that it is difficult to feed a group of 60 without a ground beef burger in sight, this blog is for you. We grilled our popular grain meat Sausages on the park provided grills, but we also wanted something on a burger bun.

In comes the Smoked Tomato Field Roast BBQ. You may remember back in the FR days of old when the BBQ Field Roast was an item you could buy from us directly. You would have to have been in the food service industry, but we still get phone calls and emails from time to time

asking about this sweet and tangy recipe. It is rediculously simple and so let us share the magic with you!

Get your favorite barbeque sauce, grill up some onions in it, and slather it on top of a slab of Smoked Tomato slices or Quarter loaf sliced (grilled or sauteed a bit first of course). You can even julienne it for a pulled meat type of feel, and mix it all together. Scrumdiddlyumptious.

The Backbone of the Mexican Chipotle Sausage

The spicy Field Roast sausages sizzled on the stove ready to be devoured in an authentic Mexican meal with a hint of American culture. After being such an enthusiastic fan of the Mexican Chipotle sausage - the realization occurred that I could enhance the experience by bringing more of its Mexican roots back on to the plate.

But what does that necessarily mean?

To me, and to a lot of people familiar or raised in the Hispanic culture, it means incorporating the staples found on a legitimate burrito truck. The spicy chipotle brought forth the exquisite combination of the sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo all inside an organic Rudy's hotdog bun! Our taste buds were in full delight as we ate this healthy lunch.

Once I had the idea, I spoke with my co-workers Petra and Marta about making authentic guacamole and pico de gallo to put on this delicacy! Right off the bat, they were excited about co-creating this dish since we all shared the same passion for Mexican food. After a little planning and shopping at our nearby PCC (Puget Sound Consumers Cooperative), we sliced and diced organic tomatoes, cilantro, onions, jalapenos and avocados an hour before the lunch was to be served. Our timing was perfect; fresh pico de gallo, fresh guacamole, on top of some Mexican Chipotle sausages freshly cooked that morning!

By the time we were all sitting down and enjoying our meal, compliments could be heard all across the table. Between the silence of chewing and the vivid expressions of appreciation, I know without a doubt that this is a lunch menu not to be passed over! Especially for those who crave authentic Mexican food! To end it on a sweet note, we had a delicious fruit salad made that morning! Between intuition and innovation, Field Roast will always be there for the healthy minded people - to continue cultural traditions without continuing the cruelty that some species endure!

Join us at Green Edmonds Festival

This year Field Roast will have a booth selling sausages at the Green Edmonds Festival! This outdoor festival will provide a fun and friendly environment for Green businesses and organizations to showcase their products, services and ideas and for attendees to learn how to live a Greener, healthier lifestyle. Exhibitors will offer everything from home improvement ideas to children's products to organic foods to arts and crafts. Sessions scheduled throughout the day on the solar-powered stage will provide easy, cost-effective ideas for living a Greener life. Admission is FREE! To get there click here.

Hope to see you there!

Blogspot: The Chubby Vegetarian

We got an email from a blogger recently pointing us in the direction of his veggie gourmet food blog called The Chubby Vegetarian: Making a Production out of Produce. Justin Fox Burks & The Wife really have a knack for the heart of comfort food, vegetarian style. As a taste first cook, Justin has earned our admiration with his Chili Cheese Home Fries, Portobello Mushroom & Tempeh Rueben with Red Cabbage Kraut on Marble Rye, and of course his tasty rendition of Field Roast sausage on a whole wheat bun.
On top of all the yummy menus on his blog, the photos are stunning. Thanks to Justin for getting in touch!

Field Roast Folks: Dante's Inferno Dogs

You may already know that on the corner of NW Market & 22nd in Ballard, WA sits a shiny cart selling dogs....FROM HELL! Sure, they have the regular animal sausages, brats and dogs...but they also have the good sense to carry Field Roast Sausages!

They buy both our Apple Sage and Mexican Chipotle sausages...which is a bit strange since the Italian is usually a shoe in for this type of gig. "One that's hot, and one that's not" is what Dante said, and we agree on this philosophy. Mexican Chipotle is the hottest veggie sausage in town. In fact, we are so proud of the spicy, unforgettable heat that when we are asked by those not so turned on by the spice to turn it down a notch, we simply reply "no." There is no way this sausage is getting a washed out make over. It has worked too hard to get this spicy, and we have got to respect that.

Now the Apple Sage, is not spicy. Rather sweet we'd say. And I bet it would be great from Dante's cart with a heep of jalepanos on top and cream cheese from that infamous gun! But that is just my opinion! Are you a fan of Dante's? Go here and buy a shirt. They are really great people :)

Kids Heart Field Roast!

Looking for something vegan and delicious to feed your child? How about Field Roast’s Apple Sage sausage? Don’t just take our word for it, take the kid’s!

Our Apple Sage sausage is one of the products tried and tested (and approved!) by kids as part of PCC’s Kids Pick Program. Products tested also include natural animal meat and dairy, so even if you child is not vegan, the statistics suggest they will love the taste of our product!

PCC (Puget Consumers Co-op) was started in 1953 by 15 families and is now the largest natural food cooperative in the United States. They have stringent standards for the products they carry, ensuring the highest quality and environmentally conscious production – produced with without synthetic chemicals, additives or genetically modified ingredients.

So you already know the food they carry is good for you and your kids, but now, with their kids pick list, it’s even easier to give your child good food that they will like!

Kids Picks are not measured on taste alone: all products sampled meet a criteria of fat content less than/ equal to 30% of total calories, saturated fat less than/ equal to 10% of total calories, and sugar content less than/ equal to 15 grams.

All products are flagged instore, but you can also peruse a complete list here and find out more about the Kids Picks program.