Seitan O' Greatness
Posted by deuceO on Jun 05, 2007 · Member since Nov 2006 · 548 posts
I've got a batch of Seitan o' greatness in the oven right now:
http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=15959&p=1
I'm super excited about it, seems like I'm going to be able to have some kind of sandwich again! :D
Just curious to those that have made it, what was some of your favorite ways to eat it? Sandwich toppings, in casseroles, etc? Also, I've heard baking seitan creates a nicer texture than boiling it. Could I take the regular seitan recipe from VwaV and bake it instead of boil it? ???
BAKE IT! It's a million times better, in my opinion...tastes sort of like sausage that way. It's good on crackers, in sandwitches, cut up in mac and cheese, just on it's own- unlike TVP or tofu, it's just plain awesome on it's own.
I made Seitan O' Greatness this weekend and only have half a log left! ;) Baking it is BY FAR the best. When I tried boiling, all I got was rubbery unappetizing balls. Baking it does create a sausage like log with great texture and flavor! I eat it sliced on homemade bread and just on its own as a snack. MMMMMMMMM.
That's it, I'm going to have a piece right now!
;D
I threw some seitan in a stir-fry sort of dish recently... It amazed me how firm and, well, meaty the texture was!
I had a seitan "cheesesteak" sandwich at a local restaurant a bit ago, but they prepared it in such a way that it was far too spongy. Still, I like the idea and might try doing it at home sometime soon. Thanks to those who suggested baking it! I'll have to give 'er a go...
We tried the seitan o'greatness last week and we loved it! I added a bunch of spices and maple syrup and it was quite pepperoni/hard sausage type. Will likes it sliced on sandwiches and we put some on pizza. I'm thinking of the chili sin carne (or something to that effect) from VWAV for the rest....
I use the Vegan Pastrami recipe from Farm Sanctuary's Vegan Vittles book. If anyone wants it, let me know and I'll post it. They also have a few variations of it. I use it in sandwiches, tofu scrambles, stews, pasta, almost anything.
I still do boil seitan all the time, but l do like the difference in texture I get from baking it when I go in that direction. My mistake is that I sometimes over cook it and it turns out like a roll of flavored, hard bread. :o
Dave, please do post the Pastrami recipe. In my meat eating days I considered making my own real pastrami but a) cuts of meat are different here and b) I don't have a large enough fridge for the soaking process, or 10 days worth of patience. I'm sure the vegan recipe has to be easier!! 8)
We've only had it baked once, and my husband overcooked it so it was like hard tack! We'll have to try it again, because it was practically inedible that time.
My favorite favorite way to eat it is not so suitable for summer, because it's heavy, but I'll still be eating it these next few months. I take some or all of the broth you used to boil it in, then make a stew with sauteed onions and roasted garlic, shiitake mushrooms, and fresh green peas. You make a roux with whole wheat flour, add the broth, the pre-cooked veggies, and seitan, then thicken it up with cornstarch and nutritional yeast. So so so tasty. You can also throw some fresh spinach in at the end to wilt right quick.
I made this and was so surprised about the texture but was dissapointed on the taste. I wanted it to taste more like pepporoni. Anyway, this is the best way to make seitan. I've tried boiling it but it came out like rubber. I would definitely reccommend this recipe to anyone with a littel change in the spices. Dave, that pastrami recipe sounds so good. It would be great if you could post it. Thanks!
This is my favorite Seitan O'Greatness recipe so far:
Dry Ingredients:
1.5 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Wet Ingredients:
3/4 cups cold water
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp Better than Bouillon
1/2 inch piece of ginger, grated
1-3 cloves garlic, minced
Preheat oven to 325°.
In a large mixing bowl mix dry ingredients.
Mix the liquid ingredients in a smaller mixing bowl.
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients.
Mix well, then remove from bowl and knead for several minutes (usually 3-5 minutes).
Form into a log (6-8" long), wrap tightly in foil, twisting ends.
Bake for 90 minutes.
When done baking, unwrap and leave out to cool.
I'm not sure exactly where it came from originally, I got it from my mom (Bookmama).
:) :)
Seitan O'Greatness is in many vegan blogs all over the Internet. My personal favorite variation is Veggeroni from www.fatfreevegan.com. It's not as spicy (although you can adjust it to your own tastes).
Dave, please do post the Pastrami recipe. In my meat eating days I considered making my own real pastrami but a) cuts of meat are different here and b) I don't have a large enough fridge for the soaking process, or 10 days worth of patience. I'm sure the vegan recipe has to be easier!! 8)
Here ya go yabbitgirl,
From Vegan Vittles: Seitan Salami, Pepperonni & Pastrami,
Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (I've left it out and it's fine with out it)
Salami & Pepperoni Seasaonings:
1 Tbl. paprika
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. of dry mustard
1/4 t. onion granules
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
Pastrami Seasonings:
2 Tbl.paprika
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. black pepper
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
1/8 t. ground allspice
Liquid Ingredients:
3/4 cup water
4 Tbl. tomato paste
2 Tbl. soy sauce
2 Tbl. olive oil (I double that amount)
3 cloves garlic pressed
1 t. salt
Place the gluten, NY, and the seasonings you are using in a large mixing bowl and stir.
Place the water, tomato paste, soy sauce, olive oil, and salt in a med. mixing bowl and whisk together. Pour into dry mixture and mix thoughly. If there is still flour around the edges mix a "tiny" amount of water (drips).
Now knead the gluten in the mixing bowl for a minute.
Form the gluten into one long log. Wrap the log in tin foil tightly and twist the ends.
Bake at 350.
Salami and Pastrami for 1 1/2 hours
Pepperoni for 60 minutes.
Unwrap the seitan and transfer to a cooling rack. When completey cool wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for several hours before eating
Have a few beers, glasses of wine, shots, or any other cocktail of choice while waiting (my own additional advice). ::)
ENJOY! :)
-dave
Hmmm. It looks to me like the Seitan O'Greatness is based on the Vegan Vittles recipe.
Veddy inte-resting... ::)
well...bookmama...I'm not sure who wrote and came up with the recipe first.....Vegan Vittles was published and written by Joanne Stepaniak in 1996 for Farm Sanctuary. When was the recipe for "Seitan O' Greatness first published? ;)
well...bookmama...I'm not sure who wrote and came up with the recipe first.....Vegan Vittles was published and written by Joanne Stepaniak in 1996 for Farm Sanctuary. When was the recipe for "Seitan O' Greatness first published? ;)
The S O'G has been drifting quite a bit around vegan blogs in the last few months. That's why I figure it's based on Joanne Stepaniak's recipe since I knew it (the recipe) had been around quite a while longer than that. We've had that cookbook for several years--I just hadn't used that recipe. But even the instructions for baking it are the same.
Hey Drummer Dave -
Thanks for posting that recipe. You Rock. 8)
I made it this morning, and highly recommend it to everyone! For those of you who have not tried seitan yet in all of its amazing forms, you are really missing out...
OK, I finally jumped on this Seitan O' Greatness bandwagon. I made my very first batch of this late last night (thankfully, taking advantage of our cooler-than-average temperature). I pretty much followed the recipe that Lachesis posted over on PPK. The only changes I made were to use 1 T paprika, rather than 2 t. I also subbed a vegan steak sauce for the vegan worcestershire. I used 3 cloves of crushed garlic. My seitan turned out really well. I like the texture of the baked seitan so much more than the boiled. (Eeewww--This veg Chinese place I use to frequent served the boiled variety in a number of different sauces, but I could never get over the fatty, blobby texture.) I look forward to trying different seasonings. I want to make a gyro version with Greek spices soon.
FYI everyone, for those of you concerned with keeping the temperature of your kitchens down over the summer but still want to partake of the Seitan O'Greatness goodness ( ;) ), I have found baking the seitan log in my toaster oven delivers the same level of texture perfection as the conventional oven at a fraction of the kitchen heat!
:) :) :)
seasonings. I want to make a gyro version with Greek spices soon.
Willwolf, please post your recipe to your Greek style seitan, that sounds sooo good! :)
Thank for the recipes Dave and Bookmama! :D