UKC

Normally make meatballs with steak mince but decided to try a vegi option and it ended up a disaster.

Used Quorn mince and it just wouldn't stick at all!
Normal recipe uses,

bashed up crackers
mince
egg
rosemary
oregano

roll into balls blah blah, and cook with homemade tomato sauce (garlic, onion, chopped toms, chilli and basil)

So, just substituted the mince for quorn and ended up with quorn mince in tomato sauce as the mince just fell to bits and wouldn't hold. And it was stodgy cos of the egg

Anyone made meatballs with vegi/quorn mince before and got any good recipes?

Shouldn't you just learn you lesson - no good will come of trying to be a vegetarian. Either that or try using some lard and suet to bind the "meat balls" together.

In reply to Philip: Lol! I'm not vegi (though I only eat meat once in a while) but b/f is, so I was experimenting with some of the things I cook that are normally meat.

Mmmmmmm, lardy meatballs, nice :oD

In reply to Philip:


Funnily enough there's a programme on iPlayer about "meat-free meat products"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ntk57/Britains_Really_Disgusting_Fo...

In reply to SonyaD:
Try a vegetable kofta recipe. That should give you an idea on what to use instead.

In reply to SonyaD:
Yep, I'd say it was one of the few things where I've been able to simply replace meat mince with veggie mince. Other stuff works really well though, Spag Bol, Mousaka, Lasagne etc

And I think you can buy Quorn mince balls, but I don't bother

In reply to Blue Straggler: Thanks, will watch that later (am I about to be put off things like quorn/soya/tofu?)

In reply to Mike_Watson_99: Thanks, that's really helpful Seems like using tattie, cauli and pulses with flour is the way to go. I make spicy bean burgers with chilli beans and oats to bind. But don't think oats would work with my meatball recipe.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I watched that last night. Disgusting. Meat-free chicken kievs. I'd rather go veggie than eat anything not free range / organic.

In reply to Chris the Tall: Yup, I have replaced mince/meat with either soya or tofu (rarely use quorn actually) for just about everything under the sun. Was your post meant to say it was one of the things where you HAVE been able to replace meat mince with veggie mince? Or was that a typo and it should have been 'HAVE NOT?'

Not really interested in buying veggie meatballs cos I prefer cooking stuff.

In reply to Philip:

It was good telly though!
When the Celebrity Meatloaf slurped its way out of the can, it made corned beef look comparatively like the finest delicacy known to man!

In reply to SonyaD:
>

You can buy them then cook them.

In reply to SonyaD: cook them separately. Felafels are similar (baking them OK in a dish if packed well...if floating about, they'll fall apart )

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Yes the celebrity meat loaf - did they catch any fish, I turned off just after they started using it.

In reply to SonyaD:

Soya mince and quorn mince swells up too so that might have an effect on the ball making process.

Did you see Jo's veggie recipe with the baked Squash? It looked sublime!

In reply to Philip:

Yes, a big tench on the meat loaf, nothing on the other bait. Not conclusive admittedly. So you missed him going to Henley Regatta Food Fair as "Riley's Foods" with his Eco Burgers etc?

I Googled Celebrity Meatloaf this morning and indeed found fishing forums singing its praises, though it came second to another product, it seems.

In reply to Philip:
>Meat-free chicken kievs
Mrs Dread does kidney bean kievs. Mashed up kidney beans, bound together with breadcrumbs and egg, then dipped in egg and rolled in breadcrumbs; all wrapped around a chunk of home made parsley and garlic butter. (Lots of recipies out there on the internet if you're interested.) The hard bit is frying them for just long enough to crisp the outside and warm the middle, but keep the butter from totally melting and soaking in.

OP: Not tried making quorn balls, but perhaps crackers are too dry and not absorbent enough? Breadcrumbs and egg might do it. Or make some falafel mix and try that as a binder. If it all goes wrong you can have falafel instead.

In reply to Blue Straggler: That's not cooking! That's heating something up.

In reply to thin bob: Wouldn't work. They didn't fall apart when cooking. They wouldn't even form into balls in the 1st place. You rolled them into a ball and the ball just fell to bits.

I've made falafels without any problem before.

In reply to dread-i: Crackers were in the original beef recipe though, which *does* work. You bash the crackers to bits and they end up like powder anyway, so similar to flour that you would use to make falafels etc. It was the mince that was the problem, it just didn't seem to be sticky enough.

Toby, the mince was frozen (defrosted for recipe) not dehydrated.

Thanks folk, think I'll experiment with the actual vegetable and pulse mix rather than a mince substitute, see how that works.

In reply to SonyaD:

Try using egg and gram flour to bind them instead.

In reply to SonyaD:


If I buy a raw sausage and put it in the oven and switch the oven on, am I cooking the sausage or heating it up?

In reply to Blue Straggler: Smart ass, you know fine well what I mean! :oP

In reply to MadHatter: You think gram flour will work with quorn mince? Done it before?

In reply to SonyaD:

Mrs. Ent was a veggie for about 4 years from 2000- 2004. We used to eat Quorn everything, mince, sausages, burgers, the lot!!

If I never see a micron of Quorn for the rest of my days I'll be happy. Shite with a capital S.

After living in France for a few years I can happily admit to eating raw steaks and imported bacon and HP sauce for our Sunday morning butties.

The Ent

In reply to SonyaD:

Years ago there was this stuff that looked like shredded mummified flesh, tobacco brown and had a slightly spongy texture to it. It was called soya mince and it worked with that. Gram flour could stick the continents back together so I'm fairly confident either way.

In reply to MadHatter: LOL! Brilliant! Not sure I can ever eat soya mince again now without thinking about mummified flesh, thanks a lot! If it can stick together soya mince it should work with quorn.

cheers

I might actually try the cauli and pulse version though (with flour) cos I still feel all stodged up after that quorn mince. Soya mince def feels lighter.

In reply to SonyaD:

just looked up a vegi meatball recipe and it suggests breadcrumbs

In reply to SonyaD:

Yep, well spotted. At the time of writting I'd just discovered that I'd just wasted a couple of hours at work due to the massive incompetence of a colleague, and making him into meat balls seemed a reasonable idea

In reply to SonyaD:

Hi ,not meatballs but i make spagetti bolgnese with Quorn mince and its good . Though i cant remember what real mince tastes like so duno if ok for you but i think its fab.

In reply to SonyaD:
"so I was experimenting with some of the things I cook that are normally meat."

Surely, this is where you are making your first mistake?
The whole veggie thing is being against meat/meat products.
I'd imagine you b/f will associate the "meatball" looking things with meat??

In reply to Padraig: Not at all (not that I can speak for him obviously) But when *I* was a veggie I didn't care if something looked meaty, as long as it wasn't actualy meat, that was fine.

Could always call them Cauliflower and Mung Bean Balls instead but it's a bit of a mouthfull.
Though Vegi Balls sounds fine.

The thing with replacing is that there are some wonderful meat recipes that I like to cook and I like to cook for my b/f and let him sample my wonderful cooking so it's nice to be able to offer an alternative to some of the nice stuff I know how to cook. <and that was a really badly constructed sentence, but it's late and I can't be arsed changing it now>

In reply to Naedanger: I do spag bol with either soya mince, or with lentils. Don't think I've ever actually made a meat spag bol in my life before. I've decided I'm not too keen on the quorn mince tbh.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

What's wrong with connective tissue and beef hearts? (What is the heart of a beef like? ) I do like chicken heart. And people liked his home made burger. Until they found out what was in it. Amusing.

It is good that they use the entire animal, mind...

And all this meat is making me hungry. Might pop out for a kebab later.

In fact, it's more environmentally friendly to eat the entire animal and use the bone than to bin anything that isn't prime meat! Bon appetit.

PS http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=define%3A+meat

It's all meat!

In reply to Naedanger: Imagine a fuller, rounder flavour that better compliments the tartness of the tomatoes & the sweetness of the onions, as well as altering the texture of the dish. It's more about what the fat adds, not the meat protein. That said the like of bolgnese/chilly can be good with meat substitutes, the qualities of meat improve the dish but it's a long way from a deal breaker, esp. considering that bland supermarket mince doesn't bring much to the party.

PPS what's wrong with cartilage? Or more to the point, meat has protein... what does cartilage have that's useful for us?

PPPS The only disgusting thing about that programme was that burger stalls buy burgers for 17p and charge £2!! No better than our money-grabbing politicians, then.

In reply to SonyaD: These are very good, although a bit of a faff, not really quick to do:
http://www.veggienumnum.com/2010/01/eggplant-balls/

In reply to darren-surrey: I agree - we get tv chefs telling us that we should use all the animal, as they braise their lamb shanks, then with the next breath go:'ew, that's disgusting, they use all the gross bits leftover'. Which do they want?

"The only disgusting thing about that programme was that burger stalls buy burgers for 17p and charge £2!!" Ha ha, I think you'll find that's not uncommon in catering - most of the cost is in staffing, rents, overheads and equipment. Guess how much it costs to make a latte?

Sam

In reply to SonyaD:

I really don't understand meat free 'meat', I am a meat eater, but for various reasons only eat meat once or twice a week. Veggie food tastes really good, why try and copy a meat dish, it is always going to be inferior.

In reply to Sam L:

hehe I am sure I will be disgusted. But if people will pay £3 for a latte...

In reply to The New NickB:

Yep, didn't want to say that but similar for me. I cook mainly vegetarian dinners and wouldn't do a fake meat dish.

In reply to The New NickB: Not true. There only called vegetarian 'meat' balls for want of a better name! Cauliflour and mung bean balls sound really nice, especially if I add a bit of chilli to them and make them a bit on the spicy side. Drizzle over some basily, tomato sauce and bingo!
Now, homemade beef meatballs are nice, but these vegi ones sound to be much lighter on the stomach.

I do things like vegi spag bol and chillis quite regularly (they are so quick and easy to make, so good for days when you're in a hurry) and I find they taste much, much nicer than the original meat versions and easier to digest too. Horses for courses though.

In reply to magpie: Now they sound and look num num! Cheers for that link

In reply to desmond_burnett: < Imagine a fuller, rounder flavour that better compliments the tartness of the tomatoes & the sweetness of the onions, as well as altering the texture of the dish >

Much licking of lips ..

In reply to SonyaD: One of the veggi product manufacturers - I think Quorn- make there own veggi balls. I think the ingredients within the quorn may stop it from sticking. We tried to make our own toad in the hole with veggi sausages & the the toad wouldn't cook as the oil content was too high in the sausages.

In reply to SonyaD:

Don't know if it helps but I normally use breadcrumbs (couple of crusts in a blender with garlic, chilli (always more than you expect to get them hot), black pepper, rosemary etc) and add some olive oil as well as an egg to help the balls stick together. I'm guessing the Quorn doesn't have any natural fat in therefore you need to add some kind of oil to the mix to get it to stick together.