This year we decided to host a Thanksgiving potluck, veggie style. (of course) I wanted to make something that the meat heads would say 'this is the best thanksgiving ever!' So I stumbled upon an special thanksgiving blog post from a recipe book I have, Vegan Yum Yum. After hesitating and reading how hard it is to make your own seitan I sucked it up and bought the stuff to make it. And with little tweaking managed to figure out a better consistency for the wheat meat. (dough)
Stuffing:
3 shallots
1 large apple
2 cups of mushrooms
3 gloves garlic (roasted)
7 Fresh Sage Leaves, chopped
2 Thyme Sprigs, leaves only
1cup of pecans & walnuts mixed (roasted with butter)
5 cups of cubed sourdough bread
1 cup of vegetable broth
salt & pepper
(note: this stuffing is so good on its own you can place it in a oiled caserole dish and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.) I had extra so I made it both ways!
Take 3/4 of a 1 pound loaf of sourdough and slice into cubes, with the crust on. Spread out the bread on a baking sheet and bake at 300º F for 30 minutes, tossing half-way through.
In a large, deep skillet, heat oil and saute shallots until beginning to color at medium heat. Add mushrooms and continue to cook until soft. Add herbs, roasted garlic, apple and roasted nuts. Add bread and toss. Add broth 1/2 cup at a time over low heat until stuffing is softened but not overly soggy. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.
Makes 4 quarters. (8 servings)
Seitan
4 x 1/3 Cups 100% Wheat Gluten flour
1/3 Cups Chickpea Flour
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp Salt
2 1/3 Cups Warm Vegetable Broth
Mix all ingredients until well combined. Add the vegetable stock and gently mix with your hands until all of the dry mixture is moistened. You should have a soft, squishy, wet dough. Knead a few times, and agitate the dough by squeezing and pressing it.
Dump the dough out onto a large cutting board and use your fingers to press it out to a 12×18″ rectangle. If the dough is too springy, let rest for 15 minutes before rolling it out. Cut the dough into quarters:
Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium - high heat with some olive oil. Briefly pan-fry the seitan pieces until just barely golden brown on both sides. This gives color, flavor, and kick-starts the cooking process so your pieces will be easier to handle.
Place stuffing on top of a piece of seitan, covering the whole surface. Roll up the seitan, stretching it to make as tight a roll as possible. Let the roll rest on the seam.
With kitchen twine or any cotton string you have, tie up the roulade so that it doesn’t unroll.
Place the tied roulades on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Lightly brush with olive oil. Bake at 350º for 30-40 minutes, turning half-way through, until golden brown.
These were pretty time intensive, and a bit of work because seitan is hard to work with. Make sure you use a non stick pan to fry them, the seitan can be very sticky. Even though they were a bit of work, they were well worth the work, and I will defiantly make them again for Christmas.
