hail seitan

posting this here because I love this recipe, but keep loosing it.


Seitan Roasts -- Mark X

The chicken roast is great to make, and then cut into strips or cubes and freeze for use in stir-fries, casseroles, fajitas, "mock chicken salad" or use to make seitan "crab cakes", whatever! I also like to slice the roast into lunch meat style thin slices (particularly the ham roast) and put on sandwich with vegenaise--DELICIOUS!!

My other favorite is to make the chicken roast, cut off several patty sized slices from the loaf, fry in a little oil until well heated, but not until browns and crisps on the outside. Then top with spaghetti sauce and some soy cheese or deborah's pizza cheeze, and nuke for a minute to melt the cheeze. Voila, tastes like veal Parmesan!

"Chicken" Roast
Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a large bowl, mix together:
2 cups vital wheat gluten flour (1 box arrowhead mills)
1 Tbs nutritional yeast
2 Tbs powdered vegan chicken broth or bouillon
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp pepper (optional)
1/4 tsp of turmeric (optional, but it gives the roast a yellowish hue, reminiscent of real chicken!)

Gluten liquid: In separate bowl mix together:
1 Tbs olive oil (optional)
1 + 1/2 cup of water
Pour into flour mixture.
Stir/knead until is a dough ball
(add additional water or gluten flour if needed to get proper consistency. All of the flour should be well incorporated
but the dough should be firm and not tacky to the touch).
Knead vigorously for additional 1 minute

Basting liquid: Whisk together in measuring cup:
2-3 Tbs of chicken broth powder
1 Tbs of olive oil (optional)
then add enough water to make 3/4 to 1 cup (see below for precise measurement) total liquid

Set aside basting liquid
Spray a bread loaf pan with cooking spray:
Stretch gluten ball into a loaf and place in loaf pan (ensure it has room to expand in the pan). Pour basting liquid over
the gluten loaf (loaf should be 1/3 to 1/2 submerged in the liquid (no more). Baste over the loaf.
Cover with foil and bake in oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Baste every 20 minutes or so.


Beef variation:
Eliminate turmeric. Substitute beef flavored broth for chicken broth throughout recipe. Add 2 Tbs of soy sauce to gluten liquid, reducing water by same. Add 1 Tbs of A1 sauce and 1 tablespoon of vegan Worcestershire to basting liquid and reduce the amount of water accordingly.

Ham variation:
Eliminate turmeric. Substitute ham flavored broth for chicken broth throughout recipe. Add 1 Tbs soy sauce and 1/2 to 1 tsp of liquid smoke to gluten liquid and reduce water by same amount. Add 2 Tbs of soy sauce, 1 tsp of liquid smoke and 1 tsp of brown sugar to the basting liquid. Reduce water accordingly.

Basic seasoned gluten roast:
Eliminate turmeric. Substitute vegetable broth powder in lieu of chicken broth throughout recipe. Omit nutritional yeast. After gluten and basting liquid are in the loaf pan add a cup or so (depending on size of loaf pan, but allow room for seitan to expand) of the any of the following vegetables: Carrots, onions, leeks, celery, garlic, or other vegetables appropriate for a pot roast. You can then eat the veggies when the roast is done, but they are pretty soft.

Traditional Asian Gluten roast
Though not truly traditional, because in Asia they usually simmer the gluten.

Omit all spices. Add only vital wheat gluten flour to water. for basting liquid, add 2T of soy sauce to the basting liquid, reducing water accordingly, and add several strips of sea vegetable (kombu, wakame, hijiki, nori, or whatever you got).

Your Customized Seitan roast.
You can really monkey with this however you want. You could try to make a fish roast, if you could get some seafood broth to substitute for the chicken broth. You can also have mexican roast, by adding in chili powder, red pepper, cumin, and adding some dashes of hot sauce to the basting liquid. You can also make a curry loaf, adding in a table spoon or two of curry powder in lieu of the chicken broth. I also like mixing in some paprika, and cumin and red pepper to the ham variation, and adding some ketchup (2T) the gluten liquid to get kind of a pepperoni type of roast.

Last thought, an italian sausage roast. Go with the ham variation. Omit turmeric. Substitute red pepper for black pepper. Add 1 T of sage and another of thyme to the dry ingredients. Eliminate brown sugar in basting liquid. 2 tsp of Italian seasoning mix (basil oregano). Be sure to include oil.


from http://www.vegsource.com/articles/deb_seitan.htm



{edit}
some changes/mods I find I like:
I use 1 Tbsp Vegetarian Better than Bullion in the gluten liquid instead of dry powder
add 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast to dry mix instead of one
omit turmeric
1 Tbsp each onion and garlic
(occasionally I'll add 1 Tbsp Mrs. Dash onion & herb as well)
add only 1 Tbsp soy sauce and 1 Tbsp oil to basting liquid - no bullion.

also a note that this takes A LOT of needing to get the proper consistency, it starts out really loose and squishy but eventually becomes quite elastic with enough kneading, then I just roll it into a loaf shape and squish it around until it fits into the loaf pan.

NY Sheep and Wool

some pictures of me and the Llama at Rhinebeck this year.


(this one was taken by our friend Jess)



and of course, some of us with the Llama's namesake: Llamas!







his grandma knit the hat
I knit the sweater (baby poonam)
I also sewed the wrap, and the blankie.

A sweater and other things

so what have I been up to these last couple of months? mostly just enjoying my little guy, but there has been quite a bit of crafting as well.

first off, the Baby poonam, i finished this before The Llama was born, but it was way too big to begin with, luckily, he finally grew into the sweater just as the weather started getting nippy.







Pattern: baby Poonam
(ravelry link to my project page for specs)

as for stuff I've been workign on recently, there is a cute little bunny binky I made to help with bedtime and naps, he sleeps much better with his bunny.



bunny blanket buddy
(ravelry link for specs)

the Llama loves bright colours the cotton chenille yarn is really soft, yet washable, a plus! there's another one in the works too, but, well, it'll look pretty much the same when it's finished.

on the sewing front, as the weather cools it becomes more important to keep the Llama warm on our daily walks, so I modified one of my old jackets (pack rat for the win!!) into a babywearing coat.



we both stay toasty, and he loves it!