MOFO - Day 14 - AVK Seiatan

Every once in a while you run accross a recipe that is just perfect for what you need. This savory seitan is the perfect recipe for making recipes that need a good toothesome cutlet. I love to use this recipe for things like chicken fried seitan (shown below with jalapeno gravy), seitan parmesan and one of my favorite conversions, Seitan Oscar.You can also cut thiem into smaller pieces. They make fantastic chicken fingers or faux wingz. Get creative! These cutlets will make you happy.

Savory Seitan

2 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 cup soy flour

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon browning sauce, optional

1/4 cup red wine, or additional broth

1 1/2 cups plus 4 cups chilled vegetable broth, divided

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon canola oil

In a medium bowl, combine the vital wheat gluten, yeast and flour. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, ketchup, olive oil, browning sauce, wine, 1 1/4 cup vegetable broth and garlic. Mix well and add to the dry ingredients. Stir together with a wooden spoon, adding the remaining 1/4 cup broth, if needed to make a firm but workable dough. Knead for about 2 minutes, or until a cohesive dough is formed.

Let the dough rest for 15 minutes, then divide it into 10 dough balls. Place a dough ball between two sheets of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll it out to 1/4 inch thickness. The cutlet will shrink some during cooking, so make it about 1-inch larger then you want it to be when cooked. Continue with the remaining dough balls, keeping the cutlets separated so they don't stick together.

Preheat oven to 300 F. Heat the canola oil in large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, add the cutlets in a large roasting pan and cover with the 4 cups of broth. Cover the pan tightly with foil and place in the oven. Bake 1 hour, turning once. Let the cutlets cool in the broth. The seitan is now ready to use or store until needed.

Printed with permission from American Vegan Kitchen (Vegan Heritage Press, 2010). Copyright Tamasin Noyes

There is an option for slow cooker method in the book.I am a huge fan of crock pot seitan recipes. It takes about 10 or 15 minutes to whip up your seitan dough, roll it into one or two roasts, depending on the shape and size you want. Put it in enough cold stock to cover your roasts and let it go on low for 8 hours. I like to add black peppercorns, bay leaves, smashed garlic cloves and a few sprigs of fresh parsley to the stock or broth for a little extra flavor!