*Contains spoilers. Just skip down to the recipe if you haven’t seen season 4, episode 7*

I had been awaiting season four, episode seven, Down the Rabbit Hole, for more than one reason. First, being excited to finally see Brianna in the past and meeting her extended family. Second, so that I could finally post this vegan bridie recipe, that comes from this part in the book.

In Drums of Autumn, Brianna is determined to remain independent, in a time when doing so is so unusual for a young woman. As her uncle Ian and cousin Jamie assist her in finding passage, and a hired companion to protect her on the journey across the Atlantic to North Carolina, Brianna spends her first coins on hot bridies.

“Bridies! Hot bridies!” A high-pitched screech cut through the rumble and racket of the hall, and Brianna turned to see an old woman elbowing her way robustly through the crowd, a steaming tray hung round her neck and a wooden spatula in hand.

The heavenly scent of fresh hot dough and spiced meat cut through the other pungencies in the hall, noticeable as the old woman’s calling. It had been a long time since breakfast, and Brianna dug in her pocket, feeling saliva in her mouth.

–Drums of Autumn, chapter 35

Bridies are essentially a savory hand pie. While in Edinburgh this year I found some fantastic vegan pies at The Piemaker on South Bridge. Nothing like starting the morning with a hot savory pastry and a cup of tea while watching the rain fall on the busy streets of Edinburgh. I also heard great things about Skye Pie Cafe in Portree, but alas, we didn’t make it to Portree during open hours on our short trip to Skye.

I made almost everything in this recipe from scratch, and while it came out extremely delicious, it was also one of the more time consuming recipes that I’ve made. I chose to make my own seitan for this but you could save hours of cooking and cleanup time by choosing an already made protein such as Lighlife Smart Ground or cutting up Gardein Beefless tips.

I’ll be the first to admit thatbaking is outside of my comfort zone. Much of this Vegan Outlander venture has been a humbling learning experience for me. If you have any baking skills already, this recipe should be no problem for you.

There are three parts to this recipe.

1. The “meat” or seitan
2. The pie crust – veganized from Outlander Kitchen
3. The veggie filling – veganized from Outlander Kitchen

For the seitan roast:

• 1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (there are a few brands that make this but you can use soy sauce if you’re not able to find in your area. I used Annie’s Organic Vegan Worcestershire)
• 1 1/2 cups vegan beef-flavored broth. (There are a few brands that sell this as a concentrated paste. Some health food stores may have a powdered version. You can just use veggie broth if you can’t find a vegan beef-flavored broth)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp your choice vegetable oil

1. Mix gluten, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and nutritional yeast together. Set aside.
2. Puree beans, tomato paste, dulse, worcestershire, broth, and oil.
   
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix together with a spatula or spoon. Knead until dough is firm and springy. Kneading longer will lead to a denser seitan. If your mix doesn’t seem to be getting springy, try adding a bit more wheat gluten.
   
4. Shape mix into a loaf, wrap with foil, and steam for one hour.
5. If you just want to eat this as a roast you can drizzle some olive oil, salt and pepper on top and bake in the oven at 400 for 20 min to give it a bit of a tougher exterior, but this is totally optional and not necessary for making bridies.
6. Leave out to cool.

For the Crust:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1 cup cold butter (exactly one package of Miyoko’s European Style Cultured Butter)
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• optional (add a sprinkle of turmeric for color)

Mix the dry ingredients. Grate all the butter into the flour and work it in with your hands until the butter is in pea sized lumps. In a separate bowl mix the water, oil, and lemon juice. Make a volcano with the flour and butter mix and pour the wet ingredients into the middle. Mix ingredients together with your hands until you’re left with a shaggy dough. You can also try mixing the dough ingredients with a food processor. While I regularly state that my Vitamix changed my life, there’s something incredibly satisfying about mixing dough with your hands.

Sprinkle a pinch of flour on a cutting board or clean countertop and pour the dough out on top. Knead quickly and lightly into a mound. Divide the dough in half and squish it down into 1 inch thick disks. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to two days.

Dust the counter or cutting board in flour and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in every direction until it’s ~1/8 inch thick. Cut four 6-inch circles from the dough, then roll each circle to lengthen it into a slight oval.

For the veggie filling:

• ~1/2 Minced seitan roast (or whatever vegan protein you choose)
• 1 medium onion (diced)
• 1/4 cup vegan butter (I used Miyoko’s European Style Cultured Butter)
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1/2 large potato (diced)
• 1/2 turnip (diced)
• 1/2 medium carrot (diced)
• 1/2 cup shredded vegan cheese
• additional vegan butter (or oil) and 1/4 cup aquafaba (optional)

In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients except for the additional butter/oil and aquafaba, which you can use that the end.

Lay out your pastry dough ovals and pile a packed ~1/2 cup of filling onto the top center of each oval, leaving a 1 inch border. Wet the top edge of the pastry with water and fold over the bottom half to make a half moon shape. Press the edges firmly together and crimp to seal. Make a small slit in the top of each pie to vent steam.

This should make 8 pies, but I did play around with this recipe a few times and varied the size of the pies so it’s up to your preference.

Wrap and refrigerate the pies for at least 30 min and up to overnight.

Optional- brush the tops of the pies with a mix of 1/4 cup aquafaba and 1/4 cup oil or melted vegan butter. Bake on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown, turning and rotating halfway through. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving. In Outlander Kitchen, author Theresa Carle-Sanders recommends enjoying these bridies on an outdoor picnic. I agree but can also confirm that they are delicious anywhere.

 

 

The onion tart is certainly a comfort food. In Voyager, the mention of it is used to build a bridge between Claire and Jenny, whose relationship has been tense to say the least, ever since Claire’s unexpected return from the dead. When Claire and Jenny finally take the time to hash it out, Jenny invites Claire to walk along with her to the root cellar to fetch some onions for a tart. I can’t imagine a better dish to enjoy on a cozy evening after a heart to heart. Some dishes are nourishing for the body, and others are more for nourishing the soul.

This recipe is veganized from Outlander Kitchen by Theresa Carle-Sanders. There are three parts to this recipe.

1. The crust- This recipe will come up again in Vegan Outlander
2. The onions
3. The tofu filling

For the crust:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1 cup cold butter (exactly one package of Miyoko’s European Style Cultured Butter)
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix the dry ingredients. Grate all the butter into the flour and work it in with your hands until the butter is in pea sized lumps. In a separate bowl mix the water, oil, and lemon juice. Make a volcano with the flour and butter mix and pour the wet ingredients into the middle. Mix ingredients together with your hands until you’re left with a shaggy dough. You can also try mixing the dough ingredients with a food processor. While I regularly state that my Vitamix changed my life, there’s something incredibly satisfying about mixing dough with your hands.

Sprinkle a pinch of flour on a cutting board or clean countertop and pour the dough out on top. Knead quickly and lightly into a mound. Divide the dough in half and squish it down into 1 inch thick disks. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to two days.

Dust the counter or cutting board in flour and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in every direction until it’s ~1/8 inch thick. Press the flattened dough into a pie tin. For this recipe, I used a cast iron skillet instead of a pie tin.

For the onions:

• 2 large yellow onions
• 1 large leek
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 2 tbsp olive oil or vegan butter

Easy peasy.

Julienne the onions. Cut the leek in half long ways. Slice the leek into ~1/2 inch pieces, leaving out the roots and tougher green leaves. Rinse the sliced leeks in a bowl or strainer to remove any excess dirt that tends to hide in there.

Add butter/oil to sauce pan. Saute the onions, leeks, and thyme on medium until translucent, stirring regularly. ~15 mins.

Layer the cooked onions onto the pastry crust.

For the tofu filling:

• 1 package extra firm tofu
• 1 tbsp Himalayan black salt (you can use regular salt if you can’t find this but the black salt is high in sulfur and provides an ‘eggy’ flavor.)
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp yellow miso
• black pepper to taste
• 1 cup grated vegan cheddar (optional)

Mix all ingredients, except cheese, in a blender. If you are using cheese, mix it into the tofu batter in a bowl. Spread evenly on top of onion layer of tart.

Cook at 425 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Enjoy this comfort food and a house that smells like onions on a chilly day. It just started snowing here in Bend. I’m enjoying a single malt for dessert.

I’ll also admit that pastry dough is a bit outside my comfort zone, so I’m still improving the aesthetics of it, though it tastes pretty great.

Food is medicine. Indeed, at times when options were limited, it was the only medicine. Before going back through the stones, Claire emphasized the necessity of eating green plants to Jamie, something that he carried with him through his life, as we see in this scene from Voyager, where John Grey finds Jamie “plucking some sort of weed from the water” on their way back to Ardsmuir Prison.

“I’m picking watercress, Major.”

“I see that,” Gray said testily. “What for?”

“To eat, Major” Fraser said evenly. He took the stained cloth bag from his belt and dropped the dripping green mass into it.

“Indeed? Are you not fed sufficiently?” Grey asked blankly. “I have never heard of people eating watercress.”

“It’s green, Major.”

In his fatigued state, the Major had suspicions he was being practiced upon.

“What in damnation other color ought a weed to be?” He demanded.

Fraser’s mouth twitched slightly, and he seemed to be debating something with himself. At last he shrugged slightly, wiping his wet hands on the side of his breeks.

“I only meant, Major, that eating green plants will stop ye from getting scurvy and loose teeth. My men eat such greens as I take them, and cress is better tasting than most things I can pick on the moor.”

Grey felt his brows shoot up.

“Green plants stop scurvy?” He blurted. “Wherever did you get that notion?”

“From my wife!” Fraser snapped.

–Voyager, Ch. 9

As Jamie, points out, watercress is a tasty green that could very easily be eaten plain and freshly picked. It’s light and delicate but extremely nutrient dense. 1 cup of watercress contains 24% the recommended daily value of vitamin C. Whether or not the men at Ardmuir were eating enough watercress to remain at optimum health is unknown (but unlikely), however Jamie still did them a great service by bringing these plants back for them to eat.

So of course, in this Outlander cooking experience, I had to make a watercress salad (or two). Unlike the hardier, winter greens, watercress is delicate and doesn’t keep long, so I purchased a living watercress plant with the roots still attached. I made a kind of Autumn version of this salad, but I’m looking forward to creating a foraged salad in the Spring with watercress, dandelion greens, and strawberries (especially once I perfect my vegan goat cheese recipe. The first attempt was not ideal.)

For the Autumn watercress salad I included candied pecans, granny smith apples, and a quick homemade dressing. Use any light dressing on the watercress, it can’t handle much more.

For the candied pecans:

• 2 tbsp melted vegan butter (I prefer Miyoko’s European Style Cultured Vegan Butter as it has the best flavor and is palm oil free.)
• 2 cup pecans (whole or pieces. I used pieces because it’s cheaper.)
• 2 tbsp 100% pure organic maple syrup. (I recently learned that not all maple syrup is vegan. You can buy certified organic with confidence, otherwise a bit of detective work may be needed to be sure.)
• ~3 tbsp your choice spice mix. Depending on how strong the flavor is, you may want to use more or less. I used the Coastal Cali Fennel Pollen Rub from Savory Spice, which includes sugar, kosher salt, orange peel, coriander, California paprika, ground fennel, granulated onion, granulated garlic, fennel pollen,  and Aji Amarillo chiles.

Mix all ingredients together well, place in a glass dish and bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

For the salad dressing:

Keep in mind that this is a very simple and flexible recipe so feel free to substitute and make your own.

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp salt + more to taste (I used truffle salt for this and it was a great addition)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• zest from 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake until mixed thoroughly.

Add a small amount of dressing to watercress (I tend to have a heavy hand with the salad dressing, but you honestly only need a small amount). Top with granny smith slices and candied pecans.

This meal is a simple one, but is made up of three dishes from different parts of the Outlander series. Garlic Sage Sausage with a side of Buttered Leeks and Roasted Potatoes. These would all be tasty and easy additions to any traditional Scottish meal.

These recipes were inspired and adapted from those in Outlander Kitchen: The Official Outlander Companion Cookbook by Theresa Carle-Sanders.

The Garlic Sage Sausage

I have yet to attempt to make my own vegan sausage but when I do I will be sure to post the recipe in this section. Instead, I’d like to recommend here, some of my favorite vegan sausages which are perfect for this recipe. After several months of my local Whole Foods running out within hours of the order coming in, I managed to find a few packages of the new Beyond Sausages on a trip to Portland. The Beyond Sausage is the latest product from the Beyond Meat brand and is the first plant-based sausage that looks and sizzles like a traditional meat sausage, thanks to a casing made from algae that allows the right amount of juice to pass through when cooked. The Beyond Sausage is higher in protein while being lower in saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium and calories than sausage made from pigs. I stocked up on the “original brat” flavor.

Another fantastic choice here would be Field Roast’s Smoked Apple Sage Sausage, one of my absolute favorite vegan products. These are much easier to find in stores than the Beyond Sausage and have an incredible sweet and savory flavor on their own, so they’d make for a quick and easy meal, without having to add additional seasonings.

In the book, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, Young Ian casually cooks breakfast sausage while conversing with Fergus and Claire. Claire describes the aroma of garlic and sage that bursts as Ian cuts the sausage open.

Ingredients:

• 4 plant-based sausages (your choice of brand)
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• 4 large leaves chopped sage

For this meal, I sauteed the Beyond Sausages in a cast iron skillet in a few tablespoons of olive oil and in the last two minutes, as the sausages began to brown, I added 4 chopped garlic cloves and 4 large leaves worth of chopped sage to the pan. Like, I said: quick and easy.

If you purchased your sage in a large quantity and only used a small amount, you may want to dry the leftover sage. You can do this easily by tying a string or rubber band around the stems of the bundled sage and hanging upside down from a high up area in your kitchen (just an area where they won’t be in the way or dirty). Then you can easily pick off pieces of dried sage when you need it for future recipes. Sometimes I sprinkle a bit of it out for my kitties (one of whom is a former feral kitten named Fergus), who love the smell.

The Buttered Leeks

Anytime I’m cooking with leeks, I can’t help but smell them before I start cutting. I just  love the beautiful, mild onion-like flavor and they don’t bring stinging tears to my eyes like other onions do. I can imagine the smell wafting through the warm house of Lallybroch while dinner is cooked for the family.

Ingredients:

• ~6 medium leeks (depending on how large they are and how much you can fit in your pan!)
• 1/4 cup vegan butter (I prefer Miyoko’s European Style Cultured Vegan Butter as it has the best flavor and is palm oil free. Alternatively you could use Earth Balance or even just olive oil for a recipe with less saturated fat. Earth Balance tends to be a bit salty for my taste so you may need to use less salt if you use this brand of butter.)
• 1 tbsp chopped thyme (always better to use fresh but dried is a good alternative)
• 1/2 tbsp salt plus some to add to taste after cooking (I really like using pyramid or large flake salt for finishing as it provides little bursts of flavor)
• 1/2 tbsp ground pepper (or more to taste)

To make this dish, slice the leeks on a diagonal in ~1/4-1/2 inch thick pieces. Only use the white and light green parts and leave out the tougher dark green portions of the leaves. Leeks can have a surprising amount of dirt hiding inside so you’ll want to rinse these slices well in a bowl of cold water. Scoop the leeks out of the water with a slotted spoon and set on a towel to dry a bit.

In a large pan, melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add the sliced leeks, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir to mix ingredients together. Cover and reduce heat to low, cooking until leaks are tender (~15 min depending on your stove) stirring once or twice as it cooks. Taste and finished with more seasonings if you like.

The Roasted Potatoes

Potatoes play a pretty important role in the Outlander series, saving the lives of many of the people of Lallybroch in the years after The Rising. Before Claire leaves Jenny in Outlander to go searching for Jamie, she advises Jenny to plant potatoes. Fortunately Jenny takes Claire at her word, having been told by Jamie that Claire may tell her things she does not understand, but that she should listen anyway.

“‘Plant potatoes,’ I said.
Jenny’s mouth dropped slightly open, then she firmed her jaw and nodded briskly.
‘Potatoes. Aye. There’s none closer than Edinburgh, but I’ll send for them. How many?’
‘As many as you can. They’re not planted in the Highlands now, but they will be. They’re a root crop that will keep for a long time, and the yield is better than wheat. Put as much in the ground as you can into crops that can be stored. There’s going to be a famine, a bad one, in two years.'”

–Outlander, Ch. 33

In Dragonfly in Amber the first potato harvest is successful, but presents a new problem, when no one seems to know what to do with these strange, dirty bulbs to make them edible. Fortunately a young Fergus steps in.

“You roast them.” Fergus came to the rescue once more, bobbing up under Jamie’s arm. He smacked his lips at the sight of the potatoes. “Put them in the coals of the fire. You eat them with salt. Butter’s good, if you have it.”

-Dragonfly in Amber, Ch. 32

Potatoes would soon grow to become a staple crop. According to Wikipedia, “the introduction of the potato was responsible for a quarter of the growth in Old World population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900.”

Ah potatoes, so many delicious ways to cook them, and yet this simple recipe remains delicious and comforting as ever. A potato roasted over the coals of a campfire is one of my favorite outdoor dishes (and indoor dishes. Really, potatoes are always a good choice).

Ingredients:

• 6 large yukon gold potatoes (or 6 medium russet potatoes if you prefer a crispy skin), quartered
• 1 large yellow onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil this time)
• 6 fresh thyme sprigs (or 1-2 tbsp dried thyme depending on your tastes)
• 1 tbsp salt (preferably a large flake salt such as kosher salt or pyramid salt)
• 1 tbsp ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Add potatoes to a large pot with cold water and a pinch of salt. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Reduce to medium-high and boil for 5 minutes. Drain the potatoes and leave in strainer ~2 minutes to dry a bit.

Add potatoes, onions, oil, thyme, salt, and pepper to a metal baking pan and roast for 30 min. Flip the potatoes and roast at least another 15 minutes until golden and a bit crispy.

Serve the leeks, sausages, and potatoes together for a flavorful dish of traditional comfort food.

“Bolt the door? What d’ye think I’m going to do? Do I look the sort of man would take advantage of a woman who’s not only wounded and boiling wi’ fever but drunk as well?” He demanded. He stood up, nonetheless.

“I am not drunk,” I said indignantly. “You can’t get drunk on turtle soup!” Nonetheless, I was conscious that the glowing warmth in my stomach seemed to have migrated somewhat lower, taking up residence between my thighs, and there was undeniably a slight lightness of head not strictly attributable to fever.

“You can if ye’ve been drinking turtle soup as made by Aloysius O’Shaughnessy Murphy,” he said. “By the smell of it, he’s put at least a full bottle o’ sherry in it.”

–Voyager, Ch. 56, “Turtle Soup”

The sex scene that follows drunken turtle soup is an iconic one, so I thought this recipe would be the perfect place to start on this Vegan Outlander cooking journey. While a hawksbill turtle was an easily available animal to pull aboard a ship in the 18th century West Indies, eating sea turtle is illegal in many places today and the thought of consuming a peaceful and majestic critically endangered species is a shocking thought to animal lovers and conservationists. Outlander Kitchen explains that the original version of mock-turtle soup traditionally used oxtail in place of turtle.

I thought a lot about what I would use as the primary protein in this soup in place of turtle. Since I’m making it vegan, I was less limited in flavor and texture profile. I considered that I could actually aim to make something that resembles turtle. So I did some research and googled “what does sea turtle taste like”. This led to a series of unfortunate photos of illegal wildlife trafficking but I did find several descriptions explaining that turtle can have a variety of textures and flavors resembling other meat products.

An important thing to remember when making vegan versions of traditional dishes, is that the protein you use really doesn’t need to look or taste exactly like meat, it just needs to have a pleasant texture and flavor that can replace meat in the dish you’re making. I say use your favorite vegan protein if you make this dish. Gardein’s beefless tips or porkless bites would be a great option if you prefer a chewier texture, or jack fruit if you prefer something shredded. Honestly, it’s your recipe so you could even just use lentils as the protein for a less traditional version of the dish that still tastes delicious.

I personally love seitan and have been wanting to experiment with different textures and recipes, so I decided to make something from scratch that would resemble the traditional English imitation of oxtail. This is a chewy seitan with rich savory flavors that incorporates jack fruit for a pull-apart shredded texture. Let’s call it “ox-less tail”

For the ox-less tail:

• 1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1 can young jack fruit
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• ~6 leaves of dulse (optional, for a smoky umami flavor)
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (there are a few brands that make this but you can use soy sauce if you’re not able to find in your area. I used Annie’s Organic Vegan Worcestershire)
• 1 1/2 cups vegan beef-flavored broth. (There are a few brands that sell this as a concentrated paste. Some health food stores may have a powdered version. You can just use veggie broth if you can’t find a vegan beef-flavored broth)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp your choice vegetable oil

1. Mix gluten, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and nutritional yeast together. Set aside.
2. Rinse jack fruit and shred with your fingers. Set aside
3. Puree beans, tomato paste, dulse, worcestershire, broth, and oil.
   
4. Pour wet ingredients and jack fruit into dry and mix together with a spatula or spoon. Knead until dough is firm and springy. Kneading longer will lead to a denser seitan. If your mix doesn’t seem to be getting springy, try adding a bit more wheat gluten.
   
5. Shape mix into a loaf, wrap with cheesecloth, and steam for one hour.
6. Leave out to cool.

For the soup: This recipe was adapted from the Drunken Mock-Turtle Soup from Outlander Kitchen by Theresa Carle-Sanders.

• ox-less tail cut into 2-inch squares
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground pepper
• 4 bay leaves
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 6 whole allspice berries (optional)
• 12 whole cloves (the store was out of whole cloves so I used 1 tsp ground cloves)
• 1 tbsp vegan butter (I prefer Miyoko’s European Style Cultured Vegan Butter because it’s by far the most delicious and it’s palm oil free!)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bottle (750 ml) dry sherry
• 2 quarts vegetable broth
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 medium celery stalks, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1 garlic bulb, cloves peeled
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup flour
• 2 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tbsp corn starch or tapioca starch
• 6 medium tomatoes, cored, seeded, and diced
• The juice of 1 whole lemon
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg (I did actually buy and grate nutmeg pods for the sake of going as “from scratch” as possible, but you could use store bought ground nutmeg, just use a bit more since the flavor may not be quite as strong as the fresh)
• Chopped green onions for garnish

Wrap the bay leaves, thyme, allspice, and cloves into cheese cloth (or a metal tea strainer) to make a spice bundle .

In a large pot over medium heat bring the butter and olive oil to a bubble but do not let it darken. Brown the ox-less tail, and set aside. Pour 1/2 cup sherry in the pot and be sure to scrape up any brown bits of seitan stuck on the bottom. Boil sherry for 30 seconds, then add the ox-less tail, spice bundle, chopped onion, and veggie broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for one hour. No need to stir.

Strain the broth and set aside. Discard the spice bundle. Set the onion and ox-less tail pieces aside until cook enough to handle. Use your fingers to shred pieces when you’re able to.

Combine the chopped celery, carrot, bell pepper, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, but not a mush. If you don’t have a food processor, just mince as finely as possible.

Wash the pot and return to stove on medium flame. Heat the vegetable oil until it shimmers and add the flour slowly, while stirring it in. Keep stirring to form a paste and remember to scrape the bottom of the pot to prevent flour from burning. This mix should be golden in color after 5-10 min.

Add the minced veggie mixture and stir constantly for about 5 minutes, until veggies are tender. Increase stove temp to medium high and add 1/2 cup sherry. Boil for 30 seconds. Add the strained broth, ox-less tail, and Worcestershire. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Mix corn starch or tapioca starch into 1 cup sherry (notice how low that bottle is getting now and take a quick moment to appreciate this chapter in Voyager) and add to the soup. Add the tomatoes, lemon juice, cayenne, and nutmeg and simmer 5 more minutes.

Serve and garnish with green onions. A splash or two of the remaining sherry can be added to each bowl to taste. (I recommend!)

Note: traditionally this is also garnished with a sliced, hard boiled egg. I did try a vegan egg from All Vegetarian Inc. but it really didn’t make or break the dish so I left it out of this recipe. If you make this dish, I’d love to hear what kinds of garnishes you experimented with here.