Five years of Autumn with Field Roast

This is my fifth Halloween working for Field Roast. My fifth fall and my fifth holiday season. I love that if you take a moment to make note of all the cycles in the seasons, it gives you something to appreciate about where you are now...and where you have been. Field Roast definitely has much to be grateful for. This year we boast 35 employees, all of which we can still squeeze into the common room for a feast once a month to celebrate our work together making food for all of you.

Perhaps many of you have known of Field Roast longer than I have, that you are part of the lucky few that ate a Celebration Roast in 2005 or before for Thanksgiving. They were hard to find those days! I remember the slew of calls in 2006 that began about now and ended in January, those asking desperately "WHERE can I find a Celebrity Roast!!" Of course now I hardly ever hear someone call our Stuffed Celebration Roast by its infamous misnomer, though many still insist it is THE Field Roast. "It's all Field Roast" I answer with a grin.

This year, there is a new beautiful box for the 2 pound Celebration Roast, only slightly different from last years inaugural box design, and it can be found in the freezer set. Not to be forgotten is our 1 pound roast, that is just perfect for a couple or trio of folks that get together for a meal. Next up? A blog telling the story of our newest retail stuffed delicacy...stay tuned.

Recipe: Celebration Roast with Leeks and Shrooms

The other day, we received an email from a mom out in Dallas, TX whose vegan 17 year old foodie, Issey Howe, made a wonderful dish with Celebration Roast. She sent along a photo and I just had to share it with you!

Often we get calls and emails asking about the way to best cook Celebration Roast. I will most likely refer to the Marinated Celebration Roast recipe on our website, the one that I recently photographed at home and posted as well. This recipe takes off on the steaming method of cooking our beloved Cele Ro...and incorporates lots of love and goodness!

First carmelize finely sliced leeks in olive oil, then add Pacific Organic vegetable broth and Bunapi and Shiitake mushrooms. After cooking down a bit add the thawed Celebration Roast to the pot, cook 15 minutes bathing the roast with the liquid and mushrooms. Serve over brown rice.

Thanks again to Issey and her mom Anita!

Recipe: Marinated Celebration Roast

On our Field Roast formal website, there in the recipe section, there is a method for cooking the Celebration Roast that I always use. Marinated Celebration Roast! It keeps the roast moist, warms it through in just minutes and is really tasty! I made it the other day and thought to share it through photos. The process is very simple.

First slice a medium onion, and drizzle it with olive oil. Roast it in the oven for about 15 minutes, until it gets a bit crispy on the edges and sizzly!

Next, slice the Celebration Roast into 1/2 inch slices and intersperse the onions between the slices. Drizzle with more olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar! Place back in the 425 degree oven for about 15 more minutes.

Grain Meat Evolution!

There is an interesting article in the latest issue of VegNews Magazine called 'Faux Meat Revolution'. As many of you know by now, Field Roast does not use the term 'faux meat' to describe itself [which is why we were probably not mentioned in the article!;)] however a lot of people like to describe what we make as "fake meat", or "meat analogues" or "not-sausage". We know a lot of other brands, such as those described in the article, do like to label themselves that way, but we challenge that idea, and in a sense, create our own little revolution.

The article has quotes from vegans for and against "faux" meat. We can agree with both sides of the argument. For example, Laura Bohlcke of Carrollton, TX (who is on the"faux" meat side) says:

Faux meat is a great way to introduce carnivores to the vegetarian world in a non-threatening way.

On the other side of the debate Phyllis Jo Kubey of New York, NY says:

I would much sooner see people break the habit [of] meat-substitute consumption and free themselves to enjoy the many more interesting and healthful foods available in the fruit vegetable, grain, nut, and seed families.

We agree with both of these arguments, but we want people to not have to choose between something that is "real" and something that is "fake". By not labelling ourselves fake meat, and instead calling ourselves "grain meat", we at Field Roast are trying to reclaim a word, assosciation and lifestyle. We know that the very term itself [meat] is a highly charged one, and that's why we like to use it. We like to challenge the idea that our proteins can come from an animal source. If we to label our foods "fake" bacon, turkey, beef etc. then we are really just buying into the idea that we need to consume those animals in our diets in some form or another.

The VegNews article, written by Mark Hawthorne, traces the evolution of "faux-meat" from China, however insists on calling it all "meat-substitute". While it is true that Buddhists monks, for instance, were searching for a non-animal source of protein, if we look at classic definitions of the word 'meat' then we can see it is "solid food" (Merriam-Websters dictionary). Imagine if the world added meatiness to a meal from a non-animal source. Why label it an animal when it is not? Why assume animals need to be central to every meal when they don't have to be?We were admittedly a little sad that the article did not address the fact that a choice for real or fake does not have to be made. That there are products available which are delicious and tasty and do not try and make eating animals the agenda. The holidays are coming up and we know a delicious vegan centerpiece that allows grains, nuts, vegetables, and spices to take the stage. Full of protein, a favorite of carnivores, vegetarians, flexitarians and... well... people who love good food. From the compassionate findings of buddhist monks, to European bold flavors, how about a nice GRAIN meat to feed the food revolution?