Quorn not Corn, Korn or Quran

I’ve discovered something amazing and as you read this blog it will most likely cause the same look on your face as would the smell of 10-day-old trash. But do not let that mislead you. I have grown to love this food and I have incorporated it into my diet about two to three nights a week. It is a product called Quorn and its main ingredient was discovered in 1970 by scientist who erroneously believed the world’s protein and meat supply was near depletion.

Almost two decades after the failure of the scientific hypothesis that Earth was almost out of meat, in 1989 a study proved that a large number of British men and women were not eating as much meat and nearly 1/5^th of the English population had become, to one extent or another, vegetarians. Marlow Foods began to distribute it under the brand name Quorn (pronounced kworn) as a meat substitute. It has grown considerably in popularity throughout Europe as a protein replacement for the vegetarian diet and since the early 2000’s, has seen steady growth in the United States. Brace yourself for what is about to follow: Quorn is considered a ‘mycoprotein’ and it is grown by scientist in large vats in England. Myco is greek for… you go it, FUNGUS!! I do enjoy saying the word fungus. It has quite the phonetic ring for being something that grows on mostly dead stuff.

Wikipedia defines fungus as, ‘…a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms.’ To be exact, it was created from the fungi strand known as Fusarium Venenatum. However, DO NOT call it a mushroom because all of your pompous, too-good-for-a-steak-every-now-and-then vegetarians and those crazy, over zealous and woefully misled Vegans will throw sticks and stones and gnash their teeth in anger for misrepresentation. A few of the American vegetarian companies have even sued Quorn to remove the word ‘mushroom’ from the product advertisement all together.

Now that we have come to grips with the fact it is a fungus, let’s examine why it is so popular and why I have grown to love it so much. I have to applaud whoever was brave enough to say ‘HEY! I bet it taste good!’ And yet it does. On a cellular level, it has an almost identical cellular structure as meat. Therefore unlike soy products such as tofu, it has a very similar texture to that of chicken or turkey. It actually pushes against your teeth in the manner in which meat does as you bite into it and being to chew. Other than flavor, this has always been the downside to tofu for many pretenda-vegetarians. Yet, the flavor also very much resembles that of chicken. I know everyone says everything taste like chicken but I could honestly cook this stuff for you, not telling you what it is, and you’d think I grilled or baked you a chicken breast.

To give you an idea of the nutrition facts, the Quorn brand Turk’y Roast  only has 90 calories per one 90 gram serving, 1.5 grams of fat, 10 mg of cholesterol, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of dietary fiber and 14 grams of protein. For comparison, http://www.nutritiondata.self.com/ lists one, 86 gram serving of roasted, boneless and skinless chicken breast has 142 calories, 3 grams of fat, 73 mg of cholesterol, 0 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber and 27 grams of protein. Trying to reduce my weight and lower my cholesterol, I think I may have found my fountain of youth.

You have to be careful though. They make a wide array of chicken products, such as the gruyere breaded chicken breast that has jacked up calories, fat and cholesterol due to the cheese. They also have faux chicken nuggets (yum and not so bad on the calories and fat), grilled chicken cutlets and faux burgers. I have yet to try the burgers and am hoping that they may help me get over my fat-burger cravings. I also find it funny that vegetarians have to buy foods that are shaped, cooked and taste like actual meat, even though they don’t like meat.

So far we have tried the Quorn Turk'y Roast, Chick'n Nuggets breaded chicken cutlets and Meatless Meatballs. However, I am not sure if was the way we cooked the meatballs in sugar free grape jelly to serve as a healthy alternative to the poopular Super Bowl, tooth-pick dish or if they were already pre-seasoned and didn't blend well with the jelly, but they were awful. Maybe I'll try them again cooked with spaghetti when we do spaghetti squash but as of right now I can do with out them in my life. Again, a lot of this is trial and error and so far we have been pleasantly surprised with the majority of our discoveries and have found some new, healthy and wonderful new foods. Here's to looking foward to our next big culinary discovery. Cheers!

The recipe for the above Turk'y Roast is as follows:

1) 1 Tuk'y Roast. It comes frozen and wrapped in plastic. To cook you just poke a couple of  holes in the plastic and roast for an hour.

2) 1 Chopped Red Bell Pepper

3) 1 Diced Celery Stalk

4) 1 and 1/2 Chopped Carrot

5) 4 Diced Green Onions

6) 1 Packet of dry Au Jus Gravy Mix

7) 1 Packet of dry, fat free Italian Dressing

8) 4 Cups pre-cooked Brown Rice

9) 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

10) 2-3 Cups of Water

Pre-heat oven to 425. Put all vegetables in a baking dish, pour Au Jus gravy mix, Fat Free Italian Dressing mix, EVOO and water and mix in pan. Poke several holes in the plastic wrapped around the Turk'y Roast and place roast on top of vegetable mix and cover with foil. Put in oven for one hour. After first hour, carefully remove from the oven, remove foil and remove the Turk'y Roast. Remove the plastic from the turkey roast and slice into 10 slices. Put back in baking dish with vegetables and Au Jus sauce and cook for antoher 20 minutes. Cook brown rice and set aside. Remove the Turk'y Roast from the oven, turn over roast slices and place back in oven and broil for 5-10 miutes to brown the roast slices. Leave the oven cracked and monitor to prevent burning. Remove and let stand for 5 minutes. Serves 5.