Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I guess i must be weird because I eat meat, but don't mind fake meat at all - I think if prepared well, it's good. It's easy to see how the texture might be really off-putting to some people - I think it's the springiness that might do it. I can't say I understand the hate here; meat eaters are welcome to their turkey, and vegetarians to their meat substitute, no?

I was vegetarian for seven years, and generally disliked fake meat, but dudes, Quorn is sooooo good.

It looks like a vienna sausage that ate too much.

@Cary: Thanks! Doesn't it sound good? I took this meal for a 'test drive' the other night with a group of friends, and it got an enthusiastic thumbs-up from everyone. Even the meat-eaters there loved it. So, it's a go for Thanksgiving.

@FierceGeekChick: I usually use recipes as suggestions or inspirations, and then just cook. I made this just as I would if I were making a classic Bourguignon -- good red wine, fresh herbs, beautiful baby vegetables, and the best mushrooms I could afford, but because I left out the beef, I tripled the amount of mushrooms. I thickened it with white rice flour (to keep it gluten-free). But, just now, before answering this, I Googled 'Mushroom Bourguignon", and there were a LOT of recipes for it. Hope that helps!

I seem to remember hearing something as a kid that they make (or used to make) tofurkey with little plastic "bones" to make it more realistic. Is that true, or was my young leg getting pulled?

Also, does anyone else get annoyed when people who aren't vegetarians are referred to as "carnivores"? Maybe I'm being pedantic, but I'm sure that very few people in the world eat *only* meat. Even the Atkins Diet allows non-startchy vegetables.

Is there still room on the anti-fake meat bandwagon for me? Yuck. I spent seven years as a vegetarian, and I loathed (and still loathe) meat substitutes. I'm not talking about things that are actually foods in their own right, like tofu and tempeh. I strongly object to "food" of any kind that looks as if it may still be wrapped in plastic when it isn't. Bleh. @Brownie, the mushroom dish sounds fantastic. Where'd you find the recipe?

I didn't see high fructose corn syrup. That's a first in processed food. I have never had a Slim Jim, but I have had Vienna Sausages and I imagine that you eat both for the same reason...you are starving and there isn't anything for miles.

Oh wow, I actually threw up a little when I read "mechanically seperated chicken." It's like a Culinarian Abortion.

Slim Jim's are a delicious American legend.

*cringe*

i hope it's not jim's slim.....

All of the mentions of raspberry or other types of jam made me think of my favorite type of grilled cheese sandwich on steroids... the Monte Christo.
I have never made one as good as the ones served to me by a waiter, and the best I have had were served in Las Vegas.
At home, it's sharp cheddar, sour dough, butter on the outside and mayo & mustard on the inside. Nothing to it!

I make grilled cheese as my father taught me - on a waffle iron. Not the kind used for Belgium waffles but an old time waffle iron.

Supermarket white or whole wheat bread, though sometimes I use Philadelphia's Metroplitan Bakery's whole grain bread. A healthy smear of soft and real butter on the sides meeting the grill.

Sliceable aged cheddar cheese - cut thick - enough to cover one piece of bread.

Optional, but should be mandatory - in-season tomatoes, the ones that still taste like tomatoes, and leftover baked ham. There should always be leftover baked ham in the fridge.

Fold the sandwich together, buttered sides out, and place on the heated waffle iron. Close the top and be patient. The sandwich is done when the bread is buttery crisp and the cheese starts melting onto the waffle iron's crevices.

Serve with waffle iron chese scrapings on the side. Those obsessed with such things, and I seem to be, will appreciate the grid network on the sandwich which promotes an orderly section by section and row by row consumption.