Seitan and Shallots Marsala, and More

People have been cooking for me a lot lately, and it makes me feel all warm and squishy inside. I enjoy it in so many ways--I appreciate the care it takes to cook for someone, I like to watch people I heart move around their kitchens domestically, and, well, it's fucking good food that I didn't have to make myself. So yeah: I'm digging it.

A couple weeks ago, P whipped me up a seitan and shallots marsala dish from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook that was seriously MMM *making the smacky lip noise accompanied by the french-like hand-poof by mouth*. Seriously. And even awesomer is the fact that the recipe is actually on-line, so I am happy to share it with you all, as it is RIDICULOUSLY decadent and tasty. (And for the record: P gives this cookbook two generous thumb's up and says it has a lot of vegan recipes in it.)


SEITAN-SHALLOTS MARSALA

                                    from The Vegetarian Meat
                                    and Potatoes Cookbook

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 T. olive oil


• 4 shallots, quartered


• 1 c. vegetable stock


• 1/2 c. dry Marsala wine (I think P just used a red wine instead)


• 1 T. tamari or other soy sauce


• 1 t. minced fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 t. dried


• 1/2 t. tomato paste


• 1-1/2 T. cornstarch dissolved in 2 T. water


• 1 pound store-bought or homemade seitan, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices


• Salt, to taste


• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until soft and slightly caramelized, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add the stock, Marsala, tamari, thyme and tomato paste to the skillet and heat almost to a boil. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and boil, whisking for 1 minute, or until the sauce is thickened. Set aside.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the seitan and season with salt and pepper. Cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes total. Add the shallots, and sauce and simmer for 6 to 7 minutes. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.


(Recipe from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook posted at The Food Paper.com)



Then Thursday night, N-A coerced me into coming over and letting him cook for me before he headed off to spin records. I don't know if it's just me, but I always get slightly nervous having a non-vegan want to cook for me, not in an assholey-type way, but because oftentimes they don't realize the extent of non-vegan infiltration into common foods that you'd THINK would be vegan. Like bread, for example. I mean, the average person doesn't know to keep an eye out for mono- and diglycerides, you know what I'm saying? So I get nervous that I'll get there and they'll have spent all this time whipping up something that I can't technically eat. So I was biting my nails a bit. But I apparently I should'n'tve worried because although I took some piss-poor pics of the dinner, it was nonetheless delish, and very much vegan. Also: the dishes were from scratch and his own recipes, which made them even MORE bad-ass. The menu: navy bean soup, thick with hearty chunks of veggies; a finger-food side of roasty asparagus and mushrooms; and plump, juicy, garam-masala-ed portabella mushroom sandwiches, all of which we chowed down while listening to records. Exquisite:




Other randomness: I ate some feta cheese on Saturday. By accident of course. I was more than a bit salty about it. Mo and I went to our local sandwich shop to nab sandwiches to eat back at her place. Right as we got there, the sky opened up with a RIDICULOUS amount of rain, and I realized I had left all my windows at home, in particular a skylight window that sits right above my coffee table which was laden with books. So Mo let me blow over there in her car, after getting completely soaked through all the way to my fricking underwear. When I arrived home, the gutter was pouring rain directly into my window and on my stereo-speaker. And the skylight had unleashed its wrath all over everything sitting on my table. Amidst a flurry of cuss-words, I got everything closed up and managed to mop up the water. When Ms. Mo and I returned to her house, we busted out the sandwiches and dug in, at which point, I recognized that the tart accompaniment to my hummus was, in fact, feta cheese that, for reasons unclear to me, had been added to my sandwich. I motherfucked and sonofabitched for a few minutes, and then I decided to just pick it out to the best of my ability. As I've surely complained before on this blog, I hate these situations, because there is no good resolve: Return the sandwich which will be tossed in the garbage anyways to get a non-cheesy one (wasteful!), or keep the sandwich and feel vegan-angst for the next 24-hours at having eaten cheese (non-vegan!). I picked the in-between, which was picking out the cheese as much as possible, feeling guilty nonetheless, but not wasting the sandwich. So yeah. Fucking motherfuck.

Oh, and if someone could tell the ants to STAY OFF MY COUNTER already, I'd be much obliged. They are making me ANGRY.

Thank you and good day.

Baked Seitan Steaks

Seriously. I think I'm gonna have to boycott the homemade seitan recipes henceforth and forevermore. The night after I made this recipe, my bowels snuck up on me in my sleep, pressed the cold blade of a knife against my throat, all Robert Deniro in Cape Fear-esque, and said, "Look here, bitch. One more time, and this knife is gonna find itself cutting straight through your windpipe." Then later in the night, at separate times, each of my cats did THE SAME EXACT THING.

Why, you ask? Because you cannot even imagine the awful awful emissions coming from my ass for days after eating homemade seitan. They are so bad that I am seriously starting to suspect that the EPA is gonna pass some sort of restriction on my seitan consumption. THAT BAD. No kidding.

This time, Have Cake Will Travels' baked seitan steaks were to blame.

I decided to make these the week before last because I still had some wheat gluten crowding up my cupboard from all the rib-cooking this summer, and I was intrigued at the prospect of trying out a seitan recipe that tasted like STEAK rather than chicken or sausage or something. I must admit, I was a bit disappointed since these didn't even REMOTELY resemble the flavor of a steak. (Then again, this just made me realize that the term "steaks" is kind of vague and probably was just intended to refer to form rather than flavor.) They were good (despite reeking--baha--havoc on my bowels), but they sort of just tasted like a vague chicken/sausage/indefinable meat-like amalgamation, and the steak sauce was just WEIRDass to be using on them like that (kind of like dipping apples in it or something). And for some reason my steaks didn't come out as pretty as HCWT. After initially mixing all the ingredients together, the dough was ridiculously flaccid. It wouldn't maintain any sort of form, which worried me since it wasn't really holding up as a patty or anything. So I kept adding wee bit by wee bit of vital wheat gluten until it was a bit more stiff. I don't know if this was necessary, but I figured it was worth noting. HCWT's steaks ended up looking like delicate little croissants. Mine kind of just looked like they got ran over by a semi.

Regardless, the recipe is nonetheless worth checking out, for those of you who like whipping up seitan at home, particularly because it is even easier than the infamous Seitan Recipe o' Greatness. Just don't be expecting big juicy pseudo-steaks. Moreso expect something kind of nice and Thanksgiving-ish.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 c. vital wheat gluten


• 1 c. water


• 1 1/2 T. + 1 t. soy sauce (or you can use 1 t. Worcestershire sauce instead of the 1 t. soy sauce--I just don't own any)


• 3 T. nutritional yeast


• 1 t. onion powder


• 1/2 t. dried sage


• 1/2 t. dried thyme

DIRECTIONS

Mix together wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ones in another. Add the wet to the dry. Start mixing with a wooden spoon, then use your hands to knead for a few minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes once well kneaded and incorporated.

Prepare a baking dish or a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat your oven to 400F.

Shape your seitan in two steaks. Place in baking dish, and bake for 10 minutes on one side or until golden brown. Turn on the other side and bake for 15 more minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, slice, and serve hot, or freeze for later [once cooled] for future seitan dishes.

Makes 2 steaks.

(Original recipe at Have Cake Will Travel)

Ribbed for Your Pleasure

Ever so long ago, I tried out a vegan rib recipe that was floating around on the internet. The problem was that I thought I'd accidentally bought the wrong vital wheat gluten--I had bought the flour, and the recipe called for what I assumed was straight wheat gluten. Lo and behold, just the other day I realized that these two things are one and the same. (See The Cook's Thesaurus for more.) Apparently I'm not the only one who didn't realize this, otherwise when I posted that recipe, someone would've corrected my dumb ass.

So, please take note:

Vital wheat gluten flour = vital wheat gluten.

Woot fricking-belated woot.

Anyways, since I'd bought some vital wheat gluten to make ye infamous Seitan o' Greatness, I decided to try making ribz again.

I stumbled across another recipe on-line that used tahini instead of peanut butter which I also thought was intriguing. But the basics of the recipe were different as well, and I knew that I wanted to try out the ORIGINAL ribz recipe that I'd originally botched up in my vital wheat gluten confusion.

So I decided to play with my ribz.

I used the basic recipe that I'd botched up before (but did it correctly this time). And I tried out three variations on what I'd poke into the ribz. The standard recipe calls for you to smoosh a peanut-butter/margarine concoction into these delicious numblies. Tasty, but not so good calorie-wise. So with that in mind, and with the tahini-variation also haunting my brain, I decided to "baste" the ribz the following ways:

1. With a peanut-butter/margarine mix;


2. With tahini; and


3. With absolutely nothing at all (to see if they were just as good low-fat).

You can see the three variations in this before pic. The ones furthest to the left are the PB, the middle are plain, and the ones on the right are tahini:



The end result? I liked them all! Damnation. I kept trying each one to see if I preferred one out of the three, and I could not decide for the life of me. Quite honestly, the ribz recipe hinges on the BBQ you choose to use, at it is the predominant flavor in the dish. But you *CAN* still taste what you choose to "baste" them in slightly, albeit very slightly. Truth be told though, because the BBQ sauce is the overriding flavor, you could easily get away with leaving out the peanut-butter/tahini and it won't really be that noticeable. Plus, it'll be MUCH more healthy for you. But both the tahini and the PB-mix *DO* add a bit off oomph, though not one of absolute necessity.

So good christ what the hell am I saying?

I liked all three variations and couldn't pick a favorite. If you are looking for low-fat though, you can easily get away with making them plain and, as long as you pick out a good BBQ-sauce, they'll be damn good anyways.

That's what I'm saying.

Oh, and next time, I plan to toy with the wheat gluten/wheat flour ratio a bit more. These were much more tender than my original recipe--but I also kinda liked the chewiness of my original recipe. So next time, I'll probably use a bit more wheat gluten and a bit less wheat flour to make them a WEE bit more chewy while still maintaining the tenderness.

So there.



INGREDIENTS:

• 2/3 c. of water


• 1/2 c. wheat gluten (aka. vital wheat gluten, aka vital wheat gluten flour)


• 1/4 c. + 3 T. nutritional yeast


• 1/2 c. + 1 T. whole wheat flour


• 1 c. BBQ sauce (see recipe below)


• spices to taste (onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, etc)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix the wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, wheat flower and spices in a dry bowl. Add the water and knead until almost all of the dry powder is absorbed. Do not over-knead. This dough is really sticky.

3. Form the dough into a flat shape about one-half inch thick.

4. Time for the variations:

• For low-fat ribz, jump ahead to step 5.


• For the peanut-butter variation:
  Take about 2 T. soy butter and heat it in microwave until soft. Add 3 T. peanut butter to it, mixing it so that it's consistent throughout. (To be quite honest, I guesstimated on the quantities/ratios of PB and margarine--you can get away with doing the same.) Add one-half of the peanut butter mixture to the top of the flattened dough. Use your fingers to poke the peanut butter mixture deeply into the dough. Do this for about 30 seconds. Turn the dough over and pour the remaining half of the peanut butter mixture onto the dough, again using your fingers to poke into the dough. Jump ahead to step 5.


• For the tahini variation:
  Smear a few tablespoons of tahini to the top of your flattened dough. (I don't have exact measurements--you just need to use enough that it covers the top decently.) As with the PB, use your fingers to poke the tahini deep into the dough. Do this for about 30 seconds. You can either jump ahead to step 5 now or flip the dough over and do the same to the other side.

5. Use a pizza cutter to cut one-half inch strips of dough. Make them as long or as short as you like them. Lay out on a lightly oiled baking pan. Bake for about 10 minutes.

6. After 10 minutes, use a spatula to turn the "ribs" over. Spoon or brush on BBQ sauce and return to the oven.

7. Bake for another 5 minutes. Remove and turn the ribs over again. Spoon or brush on some more BBQ sauce.

8. Bake for another 5 minutes. Remove and enjoy your hot, sweet and sticky "ribz!"

(Makes enough for four.)

(Original recipe HERE)

* * * * * * *
This time I also tried out a different BBQ sauce (since I still had some bourbon left over from our Weekend o' Bourbon last summer). It was quite good, though a bit too sweet for my taste--next time I will probably cut the sweet ingredients in half (and use brown sugar instead of a syrup to add a bit of thickness).

KENTUCKY BLUES BBQ SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 c. tomato paste


• 1/4 c. cider vinegar


• 2 T. + 2 t. agave nectar (was a bit too sweet--next time I'm gonna use brown sugar instead and a much smaller amount)


• 1/8 c. Jack Daniels or bourbon (I used the latter)


• 1/8 cup soy sauce


• 1/2 T. oil (I used canola--the original calls for olive)


• 1/2 T. garlic, minced (I just used garlic powder to taste)


• 1/2 T. ginger, minced (I just used ginger powder to taste)


• 1/2 T. dry mustard


• 1/8 t. pepper


• 1/8 t. cayenne pepper


• A few drops of hickory smoke flavoring

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. (If you use garlic and ginger powder instead of the fresh stuff, you can just put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a whisk.) Place in a sealed jar and keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Yield: 1 Cup

(Original recipe HERE)

* * * * * * *

Oh, and I made sweet potato fries on the side, but they weren't anything all that complicated, so I'm not including the recipe here. (Suffice it to say, they were cut-up sweet potatoes mixed in a bit of cinnamon and sugar and baked for about 30 minutes or so.)

Braised and Coffeed Seitan with Pine Nuts & Punky Mashed Taters

Oh glorious anger when my blog entry somehow doesn't get saved.

*Pitiful sniffle*

Anyways, as I mentioned yesterday, I was in the mood to do a bit of fall-cooking this weekend. So, inspired by the coffee-marinated tofu and seitan that What the Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyways blogged about recently (yet one more reason I love you, Coffee!), I decided to track down some sort of coffee marinade of my own and do a bit of experimentation.

And there are a BUTTLOAD of coffee marinades on the internet, folks--who'da thunk it!

But after much roaming around, I decided to fiddle with THIS RECIPE. I had most of the ingredients, and it sounded like the kind of recipe that would make you feel all warm and cozy from the inside out.

I was not far off. If there's only one thing you take away from reading this little ramble about the seitan recipe I made this weekend, it's this:

IT TASTES LIKE CHRISTMAS!

I kid you not.

As I'm sure you can figure out, it's totally all about the cinnamon and cloves--they make you wanna sing carols and string popcorn around a Christmas tree.

I cannot wait 'til the holidays roll around, because I am *so* whipping this recipe out and wowing my friends and family with it. It is damn fricking good, ladies and gents. Damn fricking good. *AND* it's damn simple, to boot.

I was a bit leery at first, because it's a strange variety of ingredients. And after it marinated overnight, there was a weird film of scum along the top of the marinade (kinda like when Lake Erie is not looking so clean), and it had a strange kinda boogery slimey consistency (I can tell I'm *REALLY* getting your tastebuds going with *this* description). But lo and behold, this stuff knocked our socks off.

The seitan holds the marinade wonderfully, and it cooks up really delicately and tenderly. The final result is a rich and roasty, ridiculously tender seitan that will melt on your tongue with a wonderful Christmasy bouquet of flavors and put any fatty, gristly hunk of animal flesh to shame. Good stuff.

BRAISED AND COFFEED
SEITAN WITH PINENUTS



INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup strong coffee


• 1/2 medium onion, diced


• 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar


• 3 T. packed brown sugar (I used light)


• 1 T. soy sauce


• 1 T. teriyaki sauce


• 2 cloves peeled garlic


• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon


• 1/2 t. ground ginger


• 1/4 t. ground cloves


• 1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes or to taste


• Two 8/12 oz. packs of seitan (or you can make your own)


• 1/4-1/2 C. toasted pine nuts

DIRECTIONS:
Toss all the ingredients except for the seitan and pine nuts into a food processor. Process until pretty well-blended. Remove marinade and place in large, sealable container. Drain seitan. Place seitan in marinade. Refrigerate overnight (or at least a few hours).
To prepare: Heat up a large pan. Scoop out the chunks of seitan and toss into pan. Add enough marinade to the pan that it covers the bottom and the seitan is sitting a tiny bit deep in it. Cover and heat at medium heat for about 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. (This is considered stovetop braising, apparently--alternately, you could braise the seitan similarly in the oven.) Serve topped with the toasted pine nuts.

Serves 2-4 (depending on how hungry you are)

PUNKY MASHED TATERS



INGREDIENTS:

• About 4-5 blue potatoes


• About 4-6 little white potatoes


• Soy milk


• 1-2 T. vegan margarine


• 1 clove garlic, diced real tiny or pressed


• Dried rosemary


• Pine nuts

DIRECTIONS: Cube all your potatoes (but don't peel the skins off!). Toss into a pot of water. Boil potatoes until tender (about 15 minutes or so). Drain potatoes. Mash them up with a fork (but not completely--chunky mashed taters are da best!). Toss in about 1-2 T. of vegan margarine and your soy milk (how much you add of the latter will depend on how whippy you like your mashed potatoes, so I've not included measurements). Add garlic and dried rosemary. Top with toasted pine nuts.

I don't really know that the blue potatoes taste any differently or better than normal potatoes, but they SURE IS PRETTY!

(I didn't originally intend this dish to have pine nuts since the seitan already did, but since there were leftovers of the pine nuts, I just thought I'd toss some on top when I went back for seconds. Holy mother of god--I never would've guessed that some simple pine nuts could add so much to a potato recipe!)

(Blue taters are the COOLEST--even if
they DO look more purple than blue!)
Serves 2-4 (also depending on how hungry you are)

Really and truly, this is a damn good cold-weather meal. So store it away in the back of your brain (or in the back of your recipe box), and when you get in the mood to get yourself excited about winter and Christmas, pull this baby out.

Merry seitan to all, and to all a good night!