Vegan Diner (24 page)

2 tablespoons granulated onion or onion powder

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons granulated garlic or garlic powder

1 tablespoon fennel seeds, finely ground

1 tablespoon caraway seeds, finely ground

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

2 cups cool tap water

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

About 1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper, or as needed

In a large bowl, mix together the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast flakes, chickpea flour, granulated onion, paprika, granulated garlic, ground fennel, ground caraway, and salt. In a large measuring cup or pitcher, whisk together the water, olive oil, and red wine vinegar, and gently stir into the dry ingredients. The dough should be moist. If it's dry, add another tablespoon or two of water as needed. Stir just until ingredients are mixed.

Shape the dough into a roast shape, sprinkle with coarsely ground pepper, coating lightly, and wrap in a damp tea towel. Tie up the ends with white cotton string. Fill the bottom of a steamer with water and heat until simmering. Place the roast in the top of the steamer and steam for 45 to 50 minutes or until firm. If a steamer is unavailable to you, you can place a small collapsible steamer insert in a large stock pot, with simmering water underneath. Place the roast in the steamer, cover and steam for 50 minutes or until firm to the touch. Uncover the pot and let stand for 5 minutes. Alternatively, you can wrap the roast in a large piece of aluminum foil, being careful not to roll too tight as it
needs a little room to expand. Twist the ends well to seal. Although you want to wrap it well, don't cover in too many layers of foil or else the steam won't penetrate the roast. If steaming the roast in foil, steam for 60 minutes, open foil and steam again for an additional 5 minutes or until fairly firm to the touch.

Carefully remove the roast from the steamer to a cutting board. Unwrap the roast from the tea towel or foil. Let the roast cool on the board and refrigerate until ready to use. Slice the roast very thinly for sandwiches.

Tip:
The seitan will firm up further after being refrigerated overnight. If you let the roast cool too long before unwrapping it, the cloth will stick, causing the roast to tear. If you find this happening, simply moisten the towel with water, which should help prevent the tearing. I make this seitan so much now that I invested in a home meat slicer. It gives you super-thin slices that resemble professional deli-sliced meats. The electric slicers are not expensive, especially if you look at stores like Costco, or search online. We use it all the time, although we now refer to it as our “seitan slicer.”

Tip: I like using the
vital wheat gluten from Bob's Red Mill in all of my seitan recipes.

Many of us have slow cookers in our cabinets,
but they often get little use. At least this is true in my house. Figuring that a slow cooker would probably be great for seitan, I got to work. This is a homey seitan roast, with lots of delicious vegetables cooked alongside.

MAKES 1 ROAST, OR 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

Vegetables

1
½
cups vegetable stock or 1 tablespoon vegetarian chicken or vegetable bouillon powder plus 1
½
cups water

2 tablespoons soy sauce (reduce to 1 tablespoon if using a salty broth)

3 to 4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 sprig fresh thyme or
¼
teaspoon dried whole thyme

1 sprig fresh rosemary or
¼
teaspoon dried ground rosemary

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1
½
pounds small red-skinned potatoes, cut into chunks

1 small yellow onion, peeled and sliced

2 cups chopped carrots (about 1-inch pieces)

Roast

2 cups vital wheat gluten

¼
cup nutritional yeast flakes

¼
cup chickpea flour

1 tablespoon porcini mushroom powder (
see note
)

1 tablespoon granulated onion

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

½
teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

1
¾
cups cool tap water

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons Marmite yeast paste (
see note
)

4 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced

For the vegetables:
Mix together the vegetable stock, soy sauce, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss with the the potatoes, onions, and carrots in a mixing bowl and set aside.

For the roast:
in a large bowl, combine the wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, chickpea flour, mushroom powder, granulated onion, granulated garlic, salt, and pepper, whisking well. In a large measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the water, olive oil, soy sauce, Marmite, and garlic. Add the water mixture to the dry ingredients, adding a little more water as needed if the mixture is too dry. Using your hands, mix the dough in the bowl until well mixed and smooth. You will start to see the strands of gluten starting to form. Shape the gluten into a loaf and place in the bottom of a lightly oiled slow cooker. Pour the vegetables and stock on top. Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours, or until the seitan is firm to the touch and the vegetables are cooked. The seitan will spread some across the bottom of the slow-cooker.

To serve, remove the vegetables and seitan from the slow cooker. Cut the seitan into slices and arrange them on a serving platter. Surround with the vegetables and spoon the cooking liquid over all.

Porcini mushroom powder
is a wonderful ingredient, which can add additional flavor to recipes. It can be found online, but you can also make it at home with a strong blender and dried porcini slices. Wipe any dirt or debris off the dried mushroom pieces and add to a blender jar. Whiz them for several minutes until they are pulverized and powdered. Marmite can be found at well-stocked grocery and specialty stores (and online). Marmite is a yeast extract and also a nutritious savory spread, full of B vitamins. I like to use it to give a nice savory beefy-flavor to seitan and broths. If you can't find Marmite, you could try substituting red miso in the recipe.

This recipe is adapted from my sausage recipe
on the Everyday Dish website. These cutlets are meant to be used in the recipe for Skillet-Baked Panko Cutlets (see
page110
). The cutlets freeze really well, so you may want to make a double batch and freeze the extras.

MAKES 9 TO 10 CUTLETS

2 cups vital wheat gluten

¼
cup nutritional yeast flakes

¼
cup chickpea flour

2 tablespoons granulated onion or onion powder

1 tablespoon fennel seed (optional)

2 teaspoons granulated garlic or garlic powder

1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper, preferably freshly ground

1 teaspoon dried chili flakes, optional

1 teaspoon ground smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups cool water

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Fill the bottom of a large steamer with water and preheat. Alternatively, fill the bottom of a large pot with a little water and use a collapsible steamer insert.

In a large bowl, combine the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast flakes, chickpea flour, granulated onion, fennel, granulated garlic, black pepper, chili flakes, smoked paprika, dried oregano, and salt, mixing well.

In a large measuring cup or medium bowl, use a fork to whisk together the water, olive oil, and soy sauce and gently stir into the dry ingredients. Stir just until ingredients are mixed. If dough mixture is too dry, you can add another tablespoon of water or as needed.

Scoop
⅓
cup dough mixture at a time and shape into thin patties, about 4 to 4
½
inches across. Place the patties on a piece of aluminum foil (there's no need to wrap them up). Fill the bottom of a steamer with water and heat until simmering. Place the cutlets in steamer. It's okay to stack them so that they are over-lapping a little, but try to keep them as flat as possible since they will remain in whatever shape that they steam in. Cover the steamer and steam the sausages for 45 minutes, or until they are firm to the touch. Remove the steamer from the heat and remove the lid of the steamer so that the cutlets can cool for 10 minutes.