Sausage Pie with Juanita Kees

Those who know me well will tell you that there’s a reason I love firefighters so much. It’s my cooking, you see. I tend to set off smoke alarms on a regular basis. It’s just as well I found a husband who could cook, or my family would starve. I do, however, like to eat, and so do Trinity and Reece in Fast Lane. 

Like them, I’m always keen to try new things. I had a ball travelling the USA last year and discovering all the lovely places to eat. Shrimp at Bubba Gump in Vegas, jungle dining at the Rainforest Café anywhere we could find one, and a good hearty meal at Lori’s Diner in San Francisco. My favorite? Goofy’s Kitchen at Disneyland.

Shrimp at Bubba Gump in Vegas

My future daughter-in-law is a vegan, so Thursday night family dinners have become an even bigger test of my cooking skills. I surf the web every week for recipes so that I don’t dish the poor girl up steamed vegetables every week. I’ve discovered the versatility of meat substitutes and in particular, good quality vegan sausages. Here is a recipe I vegan-adapted for sausage pie. Even the meat-lovers loved it.

Sausage Pie

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked Jasmine rice (or equivalent short-grain or brown rice)

1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped in half

1 cup celery, chopped finely

1 cup cucumber, chopped

1 cup each yellow, green and red bell pepper, cut in strips

1 cup button mushrooms, chopped

6-8 good quality vegetarian sausages (I use Linda McCartney’s Red Onion & Rosemary Sausages)

1 cups of cauliflower rice

Method:

Spray baking dish with canola or vegetable oil to coat

Lightly brown sausages in a pan in a little coconut oil

Cut the sausages up as best you can into rings (sometimes they crumble and that’s okay)

Sautee vegetables lightly in coconut oil in the same pan

Layer in turns: a bed of jasmine rice, sautéed vegetables and sausage slices.

With each layer, sprinkle a little salt and pepper to taste.

Finish off your pie with a layer of the cauliflower rice.

Make a sauce:

1 tbsp vegan margarine

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp corn flour (corn starch)

1 vegetable stock cube

¾ cup water

1 tbsp soy sauce

Melt vegan margarine over medium heat and add plain flour. Stir to make a roux. Add garlic powder and stir. Add the vegetable stock cube and water, heat and stir until the stock is melted through. Add the corn flour and mix well. Reduce heat and add soy sauce and stir well. Pour it over the top of your pie, so it soaks through the layers. Sprinkle the top with vegan cheese. Bake at 180°C/350°F for 30 minutes and serve. Voila!

Juanita escapes the real world by reading and writing Australian Rural Romance novels with elements of suspense, Australian Fantasy Paranormal and Small-Town USA stories. Her romance novels star spirited heroines who give the hero a run for his money before giving in. She creates emotionally engaging worlds steeped in romance, suspense, mystery and intrigue, set in dusty, rural outback Australia and on the NASCAR racetracks of America. When she’s not writing, Juanita is mother to three boys and has a passion for fast cars and country living.

Juanita Kees on the web:

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Fast Lane (Calhoun Customs Garage Book 2)

Trinity Calhoun is a name everyone knows on the race circuit, but her days in the hot seat are numbered. She’s tired of the limelight, meaningless relationships and long hours behind the wheel. When her father calls her and her sister home, she’s ready. She slips right back into the family business, finishing off the custom car projects her father has lined up. But racing is in her blood and she’s lured back to risking her life on the hot rod drag strips outside of town. It’s there she meets paramedic and volunteer firefighter, Reece Balmain, who has her re-thinking the road her life is taking.

Reece Balmain arrives in Big Fork a broken man. He’s lived and breathed through horror accidents, haunted by the faces of the people he’s cut from vehicles. He knows one thing–speed kills. He’s hoping not to see too much of it in small town Montana, until he hears about the drag races taking place outside of town. He knows Trinity Calhoun. He’s watched her race, seen her win, held his breath when her car somersaulted into barriers in Daytona Beach. He doesn’t like what she does, but he can’t stay away from the woman who’s claiming his heart.

Buy on:

Amazon US Kindle

Amazon Aust

Amazon UK

OVERDRIVE (Calhoun Customs Garage Book 1)

Chase Calhoun has worked hard at making Calhoun Customs a world-wide sensation and keeping his father’s dream alive. He hasn’t had time to think about settling down, so he’s not expecting to find love or new life hiding in the attic of their garage among the ghosts of his family’s past.

Charlotte Jackson is on the run from a rebellious past, determined to prove she can be a good mom to three-month-old baby, Zoe. Tired of being delegated to the back office of the racing team her famous NASCAR family owns, she sets out to establish herself as a custom design artist. But she’s out of money, luck and time, and she can’t hide in the attic at Calhoun Customs forever.

While Chase slowly loses his heart to his refrigerator thief and the baby bundle asleep in his laundry basket, Charlotte learns that sometimes family is more than just blood and DNA.

Buy on:

Amazon US Kindle

Amazon Paperback

Amazon Aust

Amazon UK