We had the best Thanksgiving Dinner ever! I have been working on a recipe for seitan dumplings all week but they didn’t come together perfectly until the actual meal, they were awesome and everyone really liked them more than I thought possible! Here is a picture of one of the earlier versions before I realized that I should wrap them in cheesecloth.The version on thanksgiving was stuffed with a cornbread chorizo dressing that I just loved. I made the stock the day before I made the dumplings so that I would have more time and also because I learned that it is really important to use COLD stock when making seitan. If you want to make this recipe, you could use powdered broth cubes mixed with water but the roasted vegetable stock made a big difference in the final taste of the seitan. I made the dressing while I made the stock and refrigerated overnight. It is easy to make the dressing while stock is simmering because than you can easily add the liquid whatever amount of liquid you need.I didn’t put specific quantities of everything for the stock because I didn’t measure. It will work out regardless, you don’t need to add everything on this list if you don’t have it.
Roasted Vegetable Stock
2 leeks, edges cut off and split in half
2 onions, quartered
3 carrots, halved
3 parsnips, halved
4 stalks celery
bay leaves
thyme sprigs
sage leaves
peppercorns
white wine
soy sauce
water
parsley
vegetable odds and ends (onion skins, garlic tops etc)

Lay the vegetables on a greased cookie sheet. Spray with olive oil and top with thyme sprigs, salt, and sage leaves and place in the oven at 350 degrees for about a half hour until starting to brown. Put the vegetables in a pot along with the other ingredients and cover with water and add the other ingredients. Simmer for an hour and refrigerate over night.

If the cornbread isn’t a day old you can put the cubes in the oven and toast them for a half hour while roasting the vegetables

Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing
1 recipe of day old cornbread, cubed (I used a recipe from “The Dirty South” it was great!)
1 cup of vegan chorizo
1 TBSP oil
2 onions, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
4 TBSP garlic
1 roasted skinned and seeded poblano, chopped
1 TBSP fresh cuban oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 TBSP ground flaxseed mixed with 3 TBSP water
~1/2 cup of vegetable stock

Saute the chorizo in a large saute pan and cook about five minutes, until it changes color. Add the oil, onion, and celery and cook until the vegetables are soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and poblano and stir for about a minute and then add the cornbread, tossing the mixture to get it covered. Add stock if necessary to stop the cornbread from sticking and keep the whole thing from drying out. Once the mixture looks softened and like dressing add the herbs, salt if necessary, and the flax-egg.

Thanksgiving Dumplings
Yields 12 dumplings

3 Cups Vital Wheat Gluten
1/4 Cup almond meal
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
6 Cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 Cup olive oil
2 cups stock + 4 cups for baking
Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add the oil and 2 cups of stock and mix with your hands and knead until the gluten becomes activated and stringy. Separate into 12 small balls. Using either a tortilla press or two pieces of parchment paper and a rolling pin, squash the ball of gluten flat. This can be kind of difficult because the gluten isn’t going to want to stretch out. The best way I have found is to press it flat for a minute, and then put something heavy on top of it while you prepare the cheesecloth and the stuffing. Cut a square of cheesecloth that has at least two or three layers folded and is about 6X6 inches and lay it flat. Grab a handful of stuffing and roll it into a ball, about the size of a golf ball, and keep it in one hand when you remove the weight or tortilla press off the flattened gluten. Quickly place the stuffing in the middle of the round and grab the edges surrounding the stuffing with the gluten. Form a ball with your hand, part of the stuffing will probably be uncovered where the edges meet, but that is just fine. You don’t want overlap because than you will have a really thick piece of gluten. Put the opening side down on the square of cheesecloth grab the four corners and twist them together and tie off tightly with a piece of string. Place all 12 balls in a roasting pan, I squeezed them into an 9X9 pan, and cover them completely with stock. Cover with foil or a lid and bake at 350 degrees for 1.5 hours. Unwrap the dumplings and enjoy!

For the rest of the meal, we made jalapeno gravy with roasted poblanos, holiday cranberry sauce, and the mac daddy from the Veganomicon, roasted garlic mashed potatoes,  pumpernickle apple-sage dressing, agave-miso glazed brussels sprouts with red onions,

and my friend Andrea brought a Sri Lankan Sweet Potatoe casserole that was so good.

When we finally got everything to the table it seemed like more food than we could possibly eat, like a cartoon!

The dogs took their places under the table, ready to get any food that dropped to the floor.

and then I put way too much food on my plate

this is where I realized that I would never have to eat again

But then Giovanni busted out the garam masala pumpkin cupcakes while we were playing trivial pursuit and I spent the rest of the night laying around drinking cider. It was the perfect day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mine was delicious, and I am still full from it many hours later. We decided to keep it simple and eat outside since the weather was really nice today. It started to get dark right as we sat down to eat. Here’s a picture of our Thanksgiving table, complete with tall glasses of champagne!

A close-up of my plate. Clockwise from the top: sautéed green beans and shiitake mushrooms, maple roasted butternut squash, whole wheat stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, seitan “turkey”, and homemade cranberry sauce.

Everything tasted SO good! I used this recipe for my seitan roast, and covered it in puff pastry as the recipe suggests. It sure didn’t taste like turkey, but it was a fine replacement in my book (smothering it in delicious gravy didn’t hurt either).

Today was my first time making cranberry sauce from scratch (why has it taken me so long to do this?) and I can honestly say that I will never go back to the canned version. It tasted so much better and only took about 10 minutes to make.

I ate everything on my plate and drank all my champagne, but I still had a bit of room left for dessert. By this time it was really dark out, so we headed inside to try the pumpkin cheesecake I prepared yesterday. I basically filled a store-bought crust with a mixture of pumpkin, Tofutti cream cheese, sugar, spices, and a bit of cornstarch. I was so happy and impressed that the cheescake came out as good as it did, especially considering the fact that I didn’t use a recipe and made it up as I went along.

Although I have been vegan for a long time now, eating an entirely vegan feast for Thanksgiving really makes me proud of my dietary choices. Along with not serving a turkey, no animal products of any kind were used in my meal, resulting in a truly cruelty-free Thanksgiving.

It is entirely possible to have a healthy vegan Thanksgiving, without having to settle for anything less than 100% delicious food. This, in itself, is something to be thankful for.

Completed Seitan loaf in a clean pan.

For some reason making seitan confounds many people. Many people I’ve talked to who have tried to make seitan from the box have had disappointing results and I know I was vegan for 14 years before I ever made my first seitan loaf. I have always been kind of astounded when I went to someone’s house and they had made homemade seitan – its always been a bit of a rarity. So for years I bought overpriced bland seitan from White Wave at the supermarket. To be honest, I think I’ve bought pre-packaged seitan once since I learned how to make it myself 2 years ago. Below is my basic seitan recipe:

First off, you could just follow the instructions on the box but when I am making a basic multipurpose Seitan, this is how I do it. I must confess that the root of this recipe was given to me by a fine young woman named Ranise. I lost her recipe a while back and started making my version from broken memories of her recipe. Still, I have to give her proper credit.
Dry Ingredients:
1 10 oz. box Arrowhead Mills Vital Wheat Gluten
1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Wet Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Water
1/4 cup Bragg’s Aminos
2 tbs Liquid Smoke

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

First, combine all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to distribute the ingredients evenly. Second, and all of the wet ingredients. Third, wash your hands because you’re going to kneed the dough by hand until it is a big grey ball and there is no puddles of moisture at the bottom of the bowl. If there is a lot of moisture add a little more Nutritional Yeast. Put aside for a moment.

Broth:
1 cup Water
2 tbs Bragg’s Aminos
2 tbs Liquid Smoke

Pour these into a glass brownie pan/casserole dish. Put your big ball of dough into the pan and press it down so that its not above the rim of the pan. Stab the loaf a couple of times with a fork and then cover it with aluminum foil.

The dough in a pool of broth.

Once covered, place the pan in the oven for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Pull it out, stab it a few times with a fork, and then use a metal edged spatula to flip the Seitan loaf. Once flipped, stab it a few more times, re-cover with foil, and put it back in for another half hour. When its done, most of the broth should have either been evaporated or absorbed.
You’ll notice that the instructions on the box say to boil the Seitan, whereas I’m telling you to put it in a broth and bake it. Personally, I think this technique makes for a really moist tender Seitan that isn’t gummy. Thanks again to Ranise for recommending it to me.

Also, the great thing about Seitan is that you can totally change it by changing the seasonings. Replace Garlic and Black Pepper with Sage and Marjoram and suddenly you have more of a sausage blend. I’ll present some of these variations in future posts. 

In light of my great respect for the fine art of Kaiseki, Yuki’s mom decided that she wanted to take me out for another style. That woman loves me! Frankly, I can’t blame her. At any rate, a friend of hers had recommended Ushiyama in the Meguro neighborhood of Tokyo, so we gave it a shot last night. And what a shot it was! Slam dunk!

It started off with a plate of carrots, shiitake, and mibuna with grated apple. Who would have thought of putting grated apple on mushrooms? Ushiyama, that’s who. I’m damn he did, it was amazing!

After that came a dish of four. I ate them clockwise from bottom left. Ama ebi (sweet shrimp), raw sardines with thinly sliced onion that’s been soaked in cold water to remove the sharpness, warm salted ginko nuts skewered on pine needles on top of seitan (wheat gluten) cakes on top of grilled sweet potato that was shaped like a ginko leaf, and uni in a lily blossom. No, I did not eat the maple leaf in the center of the plate nor the pine needles.

Next was the soup course. I heavily bonito flaked dashi broth that was nice and smokey with a rinkon (lotus root) and mochi dumpling and a bok choy leaf with some yuzu zest. It ranks right up there with the best soups I’ve ever eaten, next to the one I ate a few years ago at Iron Chef Michiba’s restaurant.

After the soup course was the sashimi course. It consisted of suzuki (sea bass), melt-in-your-mouth tuna, and ika (squid). It must be ika season because the ika I’ve eaten on this trip is by far the softest and sweetest I’ve ever had.

Then they served us home-made soba noodles in a light soy-dashi with some thinly sliced negi (green onions) on top. I’m telling you, there is absolutely nothing like top quality freshly made soba noodles. I don’t know if I can go back to store-bought dried soba when I get home. I mean, of course I can, but it just won’t be the same. So chewy and clean tasting.

Next up was the grilled course. Sawara (a cousin of the spanish mackerel) grilled with yuzu-miso and served with yuzu-miso konnyaku and daikon that was cut into a flower with a small slice of red pepper. I’ve never had yuzu-miso before, I’m a huge fan!

After that was the simmered course which was kinmedai (splendid alfonsino) in a ginger sauce. It was served with spinach and daikon radish with chawanmushi in the middle.

For the fried course we got a dish with some tempura. Shishito pepper and ebi imo (a kind of yam) served in a light dashi with momiji oroshi and chopped chives.

Then came the rice and miso course. The rice was a glutinous rice with chirimenjako (baby sardines simmered in saltwater, dried in the sun, and covered in a sweet soy marinade), sliced shiso, and served on top of a cherry leaf. The miso had mizuna greens in it. There was also some lightly pickled cucumber and daikon on the side (yes Nick, I even ate the pickles!).

Finally, for dessert we got sweet potato mousse. It was so soft and lightly sweet, it was really more like a light sweet potato cheesecake. Served with a sweet potato chip on top.

This Kaiseki was Kyoto-style which is considered to be the most sophisticated and delicate of all styles. Hard to argue as the food was simply magnificent! Plus, all of that food for only $50 per person! I challenge anyone to find a deal half that good for a meal of that quality prepared with that caliber anywhere in the states. Thanks so much for bringing me here Tamiko!!!

Finalmente pubblicata una nuova ricetta sulla rubrica V for Vegetarian!

Il protagonista è sempre il seitan, ma stavolta ve lo presento in una veste diversa.

Piatto semplice e sfizioso, ecco a voi il seitan all’aceto balsamico!

Enjoy it,

A.S.

So, whilst making some yummy seitan this weekend, my beloved pink polka dotted ceramic salt shaker slipped out of my hand and crashed to the ground. Sadly, the poor thing burst open sending salt and pieces of ceramic flying everywhere so now I am hunting for a cool new shaker set. I came across these treasures below on Etsy. They are a mix of vintage and new and are all fun and unique!

Enjoy!

Pour 4 personnes

Ce qu’il vous faut:

• 1 gros oignon jaune
• 250 g de champignons de Paris frais
• 1 cuillère à soupe d’huile d’olive
• 250 g de seitan
• 2 cuillères à soupe de moutarde à l’ancienne
• 10 cl de crème d’avoine

Préparation:

Peler et émincer l’oignon. Peler les champignons en ôtant le pied terreux.

Faire tremper pendant 2 minutes dans un saladier d’eau citronnée. Égoutter sur du papier absorbant puis couper en petits dés.

Faire chauffer l’huile dans une poêle, ajouter l’oignon et les champignons. Laisser mijoter à couvert sur feu très doux pendant 20 minutes environ.

Ajouter le seitan coupé en dés et laisser mijoter pendant 10 minutes supplémentaires. Ôter le couvercle, ajouter la moutarde et bien mélanger.

Ajouter pour finir la crème d’avoine, laisser chauffer 2 minutes et servir.

Accompagnement : riz

“Pinkel”  is a traditional Northern German sausage eaten in parts of Lower Saxony and Bremen. It is made from bacon, and some other animal bits, but also has plant-based ingredients like onions and grains. It is eaten during winter and served with kale and potatoes. People adore this dish so much, they organize and join an event which is called a “Kohlfahrt” (kale tour). This tour includes two attractions: lots of meat and lots of alcohol. [I wrote a bit about how we Northern Germans can be crazy about our kale here.]

[Sorry for the crappy picture. It was dark and rainy.]

As an omni kid, I used to love “Pinkel”.  I was fascinated by the fact that the sausage contained grains. I guess that was the first sign for me to become a vegetarian one day.

I don’t really miss “Pinkel”. I don’t ever miss meat. But I have thought about a vegan “Pinkel” recipe for a while now. I thought that the idea of putting grains into a plant-based sausage was not too bad. And I wanted something special to serve with my kale. Last weekend I came up with a recipe for this traditional sausage, a seitan based log with fried onions and cooked cracked grains.

This probably doesn’t taste like “Pinkel” at all. It is more like “Mettwurst“. [I haven't eaten meat for 20 years, I probably have no idea what I'm talking about here.] A “Mettwurst” is a chewy, smoky sausage, reminiscent of salami. [If you leave out the grains, this recipe will probably make a delicious salami] It is served with kale, but often found in soups, too. It is also the sausage you will find next to sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Okay, now. Enough of all this meaty talk. You can use this for any dish that calls for a smokey sausage, but it is great on its own too, between a slice of crusty bread. I used half a log for a spit pea soup, which came out with the most amazing smokey taste. Seriously, this is my favourite sausage.

I used cracked smoked spelt berries and tofu bits fried in liquid smoke to achieve a smoky flavour. The dough is a bit crumbly, but the sausage will firm up nicely when baked.

Vegan “Pinkel” or “Mettwurst” (makes 2 logs)

For the grains:

50 g (1/4 cup) cracked “Grünkern” (smoked spelt, use other cracked grains like wheat, oats, or barley instead)
1 cup vegetable broth
Cook over medium heat until the grains are soft and most of the broth is absorbed. The consistency should be similar to oatmeal. Let cool.

For the “meaty” ingredients:

1 red onion, chopped into very fine dice (yield: 3/4 cup)
50 g finely crumbled tofu (1/3 cup)
2 t vegetable oil of choice
2 t liquid smoke

Over medium to high heat, fry the onions in 1 t of vegetable oil, for about five minutes. They should be slightly brown. Add the second t of oil and tofu. Stir in liquid smoke. Cook for 2 more minutes until all tofu bits are coated with liquid smoke. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and prepare the sausage:

Additional ingredients for the sausage:

144 g (1 cup) gluten powder (vital wheat gluten flour)
120 ml (1/2 cup) water
1/4 t freshly ground allspice
3/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1 t salt

10 g (1/8 cup, packed) freshly chopped parsley
2 t soy sauce

In a bowl combine gluten powder, allspice, black pepper, and salt. Add water, onion-tofu mixture, cooked grains, parsley, and soy sauce. Knead for 2-3 minutes. The dough will be elastic and firm with bits of grains or onion falling out here and there. Don’t worry about that.

Prepare two pieces of aluminium foil. Divide dough into two pieces and place on foil. Roll the dough up to get 2 logs which are approximately 17 cm (6 1/2 inch) long and  4 cm (1 3/4 inch) wide. Transfer to oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool completely before unwrapping them. Use immediately or store in an airtight container. We fried the sausage, and served it with salt potatoes and kale cooked with margarine, red onions, and cracked smoked spelt.

Gut, den Prolog überspringe ich, seit dem letzten Rezept (circa eine halbe Stunde zuvor) hat sich nicht viel geändert, mein Leben ist ein Hort der Stabilität.

Zwiebelgeschnetzeltes! Mein Erstgeborener möge diesen Namen tragen. Keine Ahnung, ob ich das in Fleischversion schon gut fand, aber die vegetarische bzw. vegane Variante, erstere hin- und wieder von meiner Frau Mama kredenzt, fand ich immer spitze. Zwiebeln sind schliesslich gesund, und wenn ich noch zur Schule gehen würde, hätte ich vermutlich jeden Tag in meiner Brotbüchse ‘ne Zwiebel als Pausenobst, Äpfel kann jeder. Einfach mal probieren, roh sind Zwiebeln ja eher ’speziell’, aber gekocht nunmal – und das ist ist eine der wenigen, absolut objektiven Wahrheiten – eine wundervolle Angelegenheit.
Also, hopp hopp. Wir brauchen:

Zutaten für 3 Portionen. Preis pro Portion: 60-70 Cent?

• Schwapper Öl
• 400g Seitan oder 100g Sojaschnetzel/-Schnitzel (40Cent – 1 Euro?)
• 2 große Zwiebeln (30 Cent (geraten))
• 100g Champignons (40 Cent)
• 150ml Weisswein (15 Cent)
• 150ml Sojamilch + 50ml Öl (20 Cent)
• 1 Spritzer Zitronensaft
• 1TL Brühe
• Knoblauch; Granulat nach Gefühl, frisch vielleicht so 1 Zehe
• Pfeffer
• Paprikapulver

Zubereitung

Geesetzt den Fall, wir haben Seitan, dann zerwürfeln wir ihn in eine Schnetzelform. Sojaschnitzel (die aus dem Reformhaus) oder Sojageschnetzeltes jeweils in ausreichend Gemüsebrühe weichkochen und ausdrücken, die Schnitzel dann in Streifen schneiden. Die Zwiebel können wir auch schonmal würfeln bzw. hacken.

Nun eine grosze Pfanne nehmen, das Öl darin erhitzen, und die Seitan- oder Sojastücke darin rundherum anbraten. Wenn wir damit fertig sind, löffeln oder gabeln wir sie aus der Pfanne und parken sie zwecks Fettreduktion auf Küchenpapier, meinetwegen aber auch nur auf einem Teller, dann wird’s halt etwas äh ‘deftiger’. Im hoffentlich weiterhin heissen Öl braten wir nun die Zwiebeln und die Champginons an, bis erstere glasig werden und löschen all das mit dem Weisswein ab. Die Hitze kann nun reduziert werden, damit der Wein noch ein bisschen vor sich hinblubbern kann. Wir nehmen uns ein hohes Gefäsz, geben die 100ml Sojamilch, das Öl und den Spritzer Zitronensaft hinein, und schreddern mit dem Pürierstab da mal eine Runde durch, und hoppla, haben wir Sojasahne, ohne Zusatzstoffe und mit immerhin 25 Prozent Fett (plus evtl noch das Fett aus der Sojamilch, aber psssst). Diese geben wir nun zu der vor sich hinköchelnden Sache in der Pfanne, und würzen mit der Brühe, dem granulierten oder durch eine Knoblauchpresse gejagten bzw. gehackten Knoblauch, dem Pfeffer und dem Paprikapulver, und lassen das alles noch so 15 Minuten köcheln, dickt ja dann auch ein. Wenn es an’s Servieren gehen soll, das Geschnetzelte wieder dazugeben und nochmal 5 Minuten mit erwärmen. Ta da!

Passt gut zu Reis, Kartoffeln oder Semmelknödeln (Verlinkung folgt. Jedenfalls hier auf dem Blog schonmal dagewesen.).

Tonight I made Spicy Buffalo Bites, only spicy doesn’t go over so well with my cute spouse so I subbed Ms. Simpson’s BBQ Sauce for the hot sauce. This recipe involved making Chik’n Seitan, then battering it, deep-frying it, and drenching it in sauce. The sauce, the seitan, the bites… amazing! Use this recipe any time you want a chicken nugget-style seitan — crispy, fried, and delicious. You could serve them with any type of sauce. I was completely impressed with the quick and easy barbecue sauce, which was the perfect balance of sweet, smoky, rich, and spicy flavors. Absolutely marvelous. We were tucking into this so fast I completely forgot to take a picture. Ms. Simpson writes, regarding her BBQ sauce, that she is working on mastering mustard and mayo-based BBQ sauces, but she can make one heck of a ketchup based one. I’m here to tell you that is one heck of an understatement.

In conclusion, this is the book to buy if you want to prove to yourself and others how decadent and down-home vegan cooking can be. I’m sad to move on from this book — we’ve been loving it! Next up is The Tropical Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein.

Sunday offered nicer weather than Saturday, but I still wanted warmth in my belly for breakfast.  What to make, what to make…french vanilla SO Delicious coconut milk coffee, followed by the world’s thickest bowl of pumpkin oat bran.  You would think this would fill me right up, but I was hungry again just a few hours later.  I slept in, though, so it was well past noon, and I set to work on lunch.

Cubed ‘fu rubbed in cornmeal and paprika, tossed in a skillet, and sizzled to death.  Pretty snazzy for a recipe on the fly, dontcha think?

How’s that for a nice little snack plate?  The tofu was crispy on the outside, yet soft on the inside (aka PERFECT).  Even better, I managed to get it so without burning our place down. 

For those of you who don’t live in a pint-sized NYC apartment, you should know the smoke alarms aren’t very forgiving, so it’s a serious accomplishment when I make it through an entire cooking session without needing earmuffs.  I can’t tell you how many times the neighbors in the building across from us have seen me furiously waving oven mitts in the air trying to fan away the (non-existent) smoke that has set off our smoke detector.  So annoying.

More apples

New favorite drinkage = Steaz blueberry pomegranate sparkling green tea

I found it at WF, and there are several other flavors.  It’s carbonated, subtly sweet, calorie free and really good.  Plus, the cap’s inside has a nice message reminder.  I am definitely a fan.

I went to the gym (second day in a row – woot woot) during the Packers vs. Cowboys game and the time FLEW by.  I even spent some extra time on the mats after running.  Personally, I’m of the opinion that there is no such thing as too much stretching.  I love it.  It feels like heaven after a good long run.  I should really get my butt to a yoga class.

Check out this funky sweet potato.  I buy produce based on their shapes – the weirder, the better – so this was an obvious pick.  Anyone else have odd preferences when choosing produce?

Along with sweet potato rounds, I also had seitan chimichurri, which I had been craving FOR-EV-ER.  I will never ever tire of this dish.  Seitan is my favorite non-meat.  It always has been and it always will be.

It was fabulously saucy.  As usual, WF didn’t skimp on the olive oil.  Do they ever?

OH, by the way, guess how I’ve been eating my sweet potatoes lately.

With BBQ sauce!  I’m obsessed with this combo.  There is something about the spicy tang of the BBQ flavor and the sweetness of the taters that just works perfectly.  I don’t know how I’m not totally orange given the quantity of sweet potatoes I’ve been eating. 

And (again) more apples. 

I have managed to go through about 20 in the past few days.  I only take pics when I slice them all pretty, so factor in triple what’s shown on the blog and that’s a more accurate count of the manzanas that are in my system. 

For dessert I savored a bowl of Crème Caramel Whole Soy & Co frozen yogurt topped with a crumbled Oats ‘n Honey Nature Valley crunchy granola bar.  My roommate used to buy those bars in bulk from Costco, so (as you can imagine) I completely OD’ed on them back in college.  They are pretty dry and crumbly, so they are better as a topping or mix-in.  For the record, I generally prefer my bars to be more chewy when eaten (plain) as a snack.  Most importantly, I have to be able to break them without making a mess when I’m at work.  In my humble opinion texture is probably the most significant factor when grading a bar. 

Back to el hospital manana…

This is really easy – the long ingredients and directions look daunting, but it really is pretty simple.

Hands-on time: about 20 minutes?
Cooking time: 2 hours

Dry ingredients:
6 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten flour
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1 ½ cups nutritional yeast
2 Tbsp ground poultry seasoning (marjoram, thyme, sage, rosemary, etc.)
2 tsp Goya Adobo seasoning
1-2 tsp fresh cracked pepper

Wet ingredients:
3/4 cup soy sauce
3 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
(1/2 tsp liquid smoke)
3 cups + more water
(bean curd skin sheets from an Asian market, usually frozen)

Basting Mixture:
Margarine
(white wine)
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Nutritional yeast

Equipment:
Mixing bowl
Cheese cloth
Large pot with a steamer tray
Baking/Roasting pan
Pastry brush

Mix up all of the dry ingredients in a medium to large size bowl until totally mixed up. Mix up the wet ingredients in another container. Add the wet into the dry. It will be flakey and dry for a bit, slowly add more water and knead until it is about the consistency of bread dough (a moist, glutenous mass). Form the mass into kind of a ball shape and wrap it up in a cheesecloth.

To wrap it up: use about ½ a package of cheesecloth. Plop the gluten down in the middle, and roll it up with the short sides of the cloth. With the long sides, twist them, bring them up and tie them in a knot on the top. This makes a handy little handle for taking the gluten out and putting it in.

About the cheesecloth: The cheesecloth is essential. It keeps the gluten from expanding too much and getting spongy, it keeps it at that delightful chewy texture that we like. Do not skip getting the cheesecloth (I may try using tin foil for a smaller version).

Next, heat the water in the steaming pot. You can add fresh herbs to the bottom of the pot (like a fresh poultry blend) if you desire, it smells good. Put it in the pot on a vegetable steaming rack in its nice little cheesecloth sack. I use a big ol’ pot for steaming tamales, but any large pot with a steam rack will do. Steam it for about an hour.

While the gluten is steaming, get the basting sauce ready and preheat the oven to 350′.

When the hour is up, liberate the gluten from the cheesecloth and put it in a roasting pan. Reserve the cooking liquid for gravy if you’re smart. If you are using it, place one layer of the bean curd skin around the gluten. Brush with the basting mixture. Repeat 3-4 times, so that you have several layers of “skin”. If you aren’t using the bean curd skin, brush or spoon basting mixture over the gluten. Roast for an hour, basting every fifteen minutes or so.

putting on a show…

Lately I’ve been having such rando cravings, I feel like a preggo!  (Don’t worry Mom…)

I had frozen pizza just the other day, and yet, the following TWO days I had pizza as well.  Seriously.  Who am I?  This is pretty odd considering pizza is not exactly a food I would typically associate with strong feelings of lust.  Growing up, it was never a food I especially craved.  As fun as pizza parties were, discovering I was lactose intolerant at such a young age severed any chance of forming the quintessential bond that most kids form between the cheesy goodness.  So, why now?  What’s the deal?

No clue.  But, why fight it.

Pizza #1 was leftovers from the previous night’s Amy’s soy cheese pizza.  Not as good reheated because the crust just doesn’t have the same crispy outside and warm, fluffy, doughy inside that the oven made wonderful.

Pizza #2 on an english muffin with tomato paste, hummus, and LightLife’s Smart veggie crumbles.  Hummus is definitely a tastier alternative to cheese, not that I remember what cheese tastes like…

Pizza # THREE is a charm, two is not the same, I don’t see the harm basically the same as it’s predecessor, but on a pita and with nooch sprinkled on top.

1,2,3…They were all pretty awesome, but I think it’s safe to say I have now had enough pizza to last me until 2011. 

Do you ever have cravings that seem really random for you?  Things you never thought you’d find yourself actually yearning for?

Anyways, I did have other non-pizza meals, too.  Such as this chimichurri seitan salad.

I love WF’s take on Candle’s seitan.  I need to figure out how to make it on my won because it is definitely my favorite prepared item at Whole Foods (aka where my entire pay check goes). 

Steamed sweet potato rounds + crunchy peanut butter chunks + sweetened dried cranberries = another successful dish.

Crack-a-lackin’ while watching football.  These wheat thins squares went almost as fast as the hummus! 

This salad was thrown together in 7.26 seconds and I was shocked by how much I loved it. 

Minimal ingredients included spinach, spiralized zucchini, steamed sweet potatoes, and dried cranberries with a balsamic vinegar dressing.  I should always put potatoes in my salads, because I find myself singing their praise every time I use them as a central component in my salads.  One of these days I’ll catch on to the pattern.  As my grandpa says “even the monkeys learn.” 

As usual, I ended my days with a sweet note.  Fresh fruit is one thing, but soy ice cream is a completely different thing.  Add in some vegan chocolate chips and that scrumptious sundae is presenting a serious threat to my beloved dessert fruit bowls.

8. November 2009

Sauerbraten mit Rotkraut war schon immer eins meiner absoluten Lieblingsgerichte.
Ich habe beides immer bis zum Umfallen in mich reingeschaufelt, weil es einfach so lecker ist.
Leider ist Sauerbraten in der veganen Version nicht allzu einfach herstellbar.
Ich habe aber trotzdem einfach mal mein Glück mit zwei verschiedenen Versionen versucht.
Die eine Version war Seitan-Sauerbraten und die andere Texturiertes-Soja-Sauerbraten.

Zusätzlich habe ich direkt mal das Sauerbraten-Rezept von meinen Eltern selber einmal ausprobiert.
Es war also doppelt spannend

Ich habe den Seitan über Nacht in die Sauerbraten-Beize eingelegt. Das texturierte Soja habe ich erst ein paar Stunden vorher hinzugegeben, denn es saugt sich ja ziemlich schnell voll.
Der Seitan-Sauerbraten kommt, wie man sehen kann, optisch schon recht nah an den Original-Sauerbraten heran.
Leider schmeckte er durch das Einlegen fast nur nach Essig und war von der Konsistenz absolut gar nicht Sauerbratenmäßig.
Ich hatte somit meine Hoffnungen in das texturierte Soja gelegt, welches mir beim Hachee schon wunderbare Dienste geleistet hat.

Ich hatte ja eigentlich eher das Gegenteil befürchtet, also dass der Seitan kaum Geschmack aufnimmt und das TVP eher nur nach Essig schmeckt. Aber das TVP hatte insgesamt einen sehr angenehmen Geschmack.
Von der Konsistenz her kommt es auch eher an den Original-Sauerbraten ran.
So viel erst einmal zum Sauerbraten an sich.

Die Sauce hat auf Anhieb auch nicht so gut geklappt.
Irgendwie hatte ich im Kopf, dass da Printen reinkommen, aber eigentlich sollte da Lebkuchen rein.
Die Gewürze in den Printen haben den Geschmack schon etwas verändert und die Sauce auch nicht wirklich gebunden.
Ich habe dann zusätzlich noch etwas Piment und bedeutend mehr Zucker hineingetan.
Da die Farbe der Sauce auch komisch war, habe ich zusätzlich noch etwas Zuckerkulör hinzugefügt, weswegen die Sauce nun ein wenig matschig-braun aussieht.
Es ist aber dennoch eine Verbesserung zu vorher.

Also was lernen wir daraus?
Sauerbraten geht leider noch nicht so einfach in vegan und man sollte darauf achten, dass man die richtigen Zutaten kauft
Mal schauen, ob ich es noch einmal mit dem Sauerbraten probiere. Die Sauce mache ich aber sicher noch einmal, wenn ich sie vielleicht auch nicht so mache wie dieses Mal, sondern eher mein normales Rezept für braune Sauce nehme und die Gewürze etwas anpasse.
Ganz so unlecker war es auf jeden Fall nicht

After having a fling with Trader Joe’s soyrizo, it was time to replicate it at home, seitan-style.

These were moderately spicy, so adjust the amount of cayenne pepper to your liking if you’re into super-hot heat.

Notes:
1. we didn’t fry them in extra oil, but if you want to, feel free to use 1/2 tablespoon of oil to brown them up in.
2. if you are super sensitive to vinegar, you could replace 1 tablespoon worth of the stuff with water instead.
3. use them up anywhere you’d use soyrizo. Or eat them as is.

1/2 cup (72 g) vital wheat gluten
2 tablespoons (16 g) nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion (or 1/4 teaspoon onion powder)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) water
2 tablespoons (30 ml) apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons (35 g) ketchup
1 tablespoon (15 ml) canola oil

In a medium bowl, stir together with a fork: gluten, yeast, salt, cumin, cayenne, paprika, chili, and onion.
Pour water, vinegar, ketchup, and oil on top, stir with a fork and start using your fingertips to turn into small crumbles.
Start frying the chorizo in a large saucepan on medium-high heat, stirring constantly for 8 minutes, or until browned up.

Yield: 1 1/4 cups, 5.5 ounces, 156 g

25. Oktober 2009

Da der gefüllte Seitanbraten so toll war und sich jemand als Essensbesuch angekündigt hatte, habe ich direkt noch einen Braten getestet. Dieses Mal aber mit einer anderen Füllung als der Broccoli-Senf-Füllung und mit ein bisschen anderen Beilagen.

Die neue Füllung bestand aus veganem Schinken, Zwiebeln, Ketchup, Brot, Petersilie und Champignons.
Leider habe ich etwas zu viel gemacht, sodass der Braten dadurch nicht gut geschnitten werden konnte, ohne dass die Füllung raus läuft.
Geschmeckt hat es aber trotzdem sehr gut und sobald ich das noch einmal mit vernünftiger Menge mache, gibt es hier auch das Rezept für diese Füllung.

This recipe was inspired by Susan’s seitan stew. I used her method of cooking the seitan directly in the soup. It saves time and makes the seitan itself very tender. Adding seitan to this dish makes it very filling. Don’t forget to add some lemon, it takes away the sweetness of the pumpkin, if you like your pumpkin savoury like me.

Curried Pumpkin Soup with White Wine and Seitan

For the soup:
1 t oil of your choice
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
850 g (~ 7 1/2 cups 1 inch cubes) chopped pumpkin
1 cup white wine (or vegetable broth)
4 cups vegetable broth
1 T curry powder of your choice (I used a mild version)
1 t smoked sweet paprika
freshly ground pepper and additional salt to taste
cook for 15 minutes

For the seitan:

144 g gluten powder (vital wheat gluten)
2 T nutritional yeast
1 t onion powder
1 t salt
1 t smoked sweet paprika
1 t liquid smoke
180 ml (3/4 cup) water
cook for 40 minutes

Additional seasonings for each bowl:
1/2 T fresh lemon juice
1 t liquid smoke or chipotle sauce
fresh basil

To make the soup:

Heat oil in a large pot. Add onion and garlic and cook for five minutes, stirring. Add bell pepper and cook two minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.Cook for 15 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.

While the soup is cooking, prepare the seitan:

Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add liquid smoke and water and mix with your hands until a dough forms. Knead for five minutes. Place the dough on a cutting board and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Set aside.

Purée the soup with a handheld blender until smooth. Add seitan and bring back to boil. Simmer for 30-35 minutes until the seitan is done. Ladle soup into bowls and add 1/2 T fresh lemon juice per bowl and 1 t of liquid smoke or chipotle sauce. Garnish with fresh herbs such as basil and serve immediately.

If you have leftover pumpkin, you can use it to make Nicole’s pumpkin chili:

I added 2 cups of vegetable broth, 1 T of chipotle sauce, 1 T oregano, 1 additional t of cumin, and used kidney beans instead of black beans. What a great autumn coloured stew!

Maybe this dish is evil. It  has been summoning me for weeks. I have copies of  Saveur magazine all over my house because it has lately become the only magazine I subscribe to. Since the food isn’t quite as American & Western Europen as other magazines it is really inspiring to veganize their recipes. They still usually put a big ole’ hunk of meat on the cover which means I try and keep my copies face down but I forgive them because Saveur even mentioned our local Boggy Creek farm as the best farm in the country. They have really amazing food photography. One of the photographers, Penny De Los Santos, is based in Austin and I love looking at the blog of her travels and photography, she is amazing.

It was actually the picture of this meal that really got my attention. I love beets and the stew was already vegan so that would make it really easy. I also liked that the meatballs had a lot of strong flavors which I thought would lead to a better seitan. For the first time I made vegan foil sausages in little balls instead of tubes. It worked phenomenally. I think I liked it better than the regular style. This was one of the best seitans I have ever made. Maybe the best! I want to make them again for an Italian style meal. I am so excited by how the stew turned out as well, usually meals that contain beets have such a strong beet flavor & you really can’t taste much else. That is great if you like beets, I love the beets and greens pasta that I make sometimes, but I have never had a beet stew where the flavors all melded together into something else entirely. This was really an amazing meal and didn’t even take that long to make considering I made the seitan. And it was healthy so I definitely want to make it again. You should too so I am going to write out the recipe. Maybe it will start to summon you.

For the beets

First, Split 6 beets into sixths & start to Cook in 6 cups of water. You can remember this at the 666 step! When the beets are soft you are going to add them to the stew but if you do that early make sure you save the beet stock.

For the Rice

Next steam your rice in a small saucepan or rice cooker I used

1 1⁄2 cups brown basmati rice
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. turmeric

For the Seitan

Next Mix the seitan ingredients, I mash everything together so it is kind of like a paste in a mortar & pestle & add the Vital Wheat Gluten last.

1/2 cup chickpeas
1 cup broth
1 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP soy sauce
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 Cups Vital Wheat Gluten
1/4 Cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup raisins, sliced
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 TBS pine nuts
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
salt &  pepper

Split the dough into 6ths & wrap it in foilPlace the foil balls in a steamer. I put my bamboo steamer on top of the beet pot. The seitan will need to steam for 40 minutes

For the Stew

Make a spice paste in a mortar & pestle or food processor

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1⁄2 tsp. ground coriander
1 1⁄2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1⁄2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. turmeric
3⁄4 tsp. paprika
1⁄2 tsp. ground ginger
1⁄8 tsp. cayenne

In another pot heat up some olive oil and saute

1 medium onion, chopped

Once the onion is browned add the spice paste & 1⁄4 cup tomato paste & cook a couple more minutes until brown

Stir in the reserved beet juice, the juice of one lemon, and 2 TBSP sugar; simmer for 5 minutes

Once the meatballs have steamed for 40 minutes unwrap them and carefully place them in the stew potCook about 8 minutes. Skim surface of stew, add reserved beets, and cook for 2 more minutes. To serve, fluff rice with a fork and spoon it into serving bowls along with ladlefuls of the stew and meatballs; season and garnish with parsley. Invite me over and Enjoy!

I must confess, I was intrigued by this name when I saw it for the first time in  ‘Vegan with a vengeance’.  I have no idea where the name comes from, but I know this is one great way for serving seitan.  The recipe says you can easy play around with it.  So I did, but of course I forgot to write it down.  I only remember I didn’t have lime juice and swapped it for vinegar and the maple syrup for apple syrup.

Van TofuParty dishes

Anyway I served it with mashed savoy-potatoes.  This gives a nice green colour which is very beautiful with the red and brown of the jerk seitan.

Infaltable en cualquier restaurante peruano alrededor del mundo, este plato es uno de los favoritos. El nombre tradicional: lomo saltado. Origen: Lima, mediados del siglo XIX, una ola de inmigrantes chinos viene a quedarse y con ellos, su gastronomía. Es de la fusión de la cocina chino-cantonesa y la cocina criolla peruana que nace este plato.  Los chinos se quedaron y vieron la forma de utilizar ingredientes locales en sus platos. Le pusieron ají amarillo cortado en tiras, para acompañar el tomate y la cebolla. Más tarde se agregarían las papas fritas, mejor si son amarillas, y el arroz blanco como acompañamiento. La técnica: salteado en wok, con sillao, al mejor estilo oriental. Toda una combinación de culturas.

Ingredientes (2 personas)

• 250gr de seitán
• 1 cebolla mediana
• 1 tomate mediano
• 1 ají amarillo
• sillao o salsa de soya
• vinagre tinto
• 2 cdas perejil picado
• 1 cdta de ajo molido
• 3 papas amarillas medianas (para acompañamiento)

Preparación

Primero, hay que tener listos todos los ingredientes. Este plato se prepara mejor en un wok y a fuego alto.

Cortar el seitán en trozos rectangulares y medianos. Cortar la cebolla en octavos, no deben quedar muy grandes los pedazos.  Hacer lo mismo con el tomate, retirando las semillas. El ají amarillo se corta en tiras finas quitándole las semillas y las venas.

Poner el wok al fuego y echar un poco de aceite, cuando esté caliente dorar el ajo.  Agregar el seitán, un chorrito de sillao y vinagre.  Dejar unos minutos que el seitán dore y se impregne de los sabores.

A continuación se agrega la cebolla y el ají amarillo. La idea es que la cebolla se dore un poco pero que se mantenga crocante. Todo el tiempo debemos ir moviendo el wok para que los ingredientes se cocinen uniformemente.  Cuando la cebolla esté lista, agregar el tomate y saltear por unos minutos. No dejar que se deshaga.

Ya casi está listo. Agregar más sillao y sal si es necesario. Esto depende del gusto. Y finalmente, espolvorear con perejil picado para añadir aroma y sabor.

Este plato se sirve acompañado de arroz blanco y papas fritas. Yo uso papas amarillas porque son una delicia al freírse: quedan crocantes por fuera y por dentro son tan suaves como un puré, pero el plato queda igual de bien con otra clase de papa. Espero que les guste