Seitan, also known as wheatmeat

[bbkaren]

OMG wafflehouse! That's hilarious!

I need to print this out and figure out if I can get a lot of these things. The gluten and chickpea flour, are they healthfood store, gourmet food store, ethnic store, specialized kind of things?

[Sage0925]

OMG wafflehouse! That's hilarious!

I need to print this out and figure out if I can get a lot of these things. The gluten and chickpea flour, are they healthfood store, gourmet food store, ethnic store, specialized kind of things?

You can get chick pea flour at a health food store, but it's a lot cheaper at an Indian food store, or an Indo-Pak grocery store...they call it Besan.

We can get wheat gluten flour at out local grocery store, and we live near Boise, ID, which is not exactly a cultural mecca...LOL I can also get nutritional yeast at the same grocery store, but they sell it at healthfood stores, as well. We buy vital what gluten by the 25 lb bag...cheaper that way.

[Sage0925]

1 gallon water (to boil loaf)

Dry Ingredients
2 cups vital wheat gluten flour
2 Tbs. granulated onion
2 Tbs. paprika
2 Tbs. whole fennel seed (coarsely ground)
2 Tbs. whole caraway seed (coarsely ground) I am not a big fan of caraway seed...I only use a ground tsp.

1 Tbs. salt
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground black pepper

Wet Ingredients
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. molasses
1 Tbs. vinegar
Cheese cloth (one double thick 24-inch by 16-inch piece)
2 - 6-inch pieces of string
I also use a 1/4 tsp of liquid smoke, but, as you please.

Instructions

1) In a large pot, bring 1 gallon of water to a simmer.
2) In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten, onion powder, paprika, fennel, caraway, salt, cloves and black pepper.
3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the vegetable broth, oil, molasses, and vinegar.
4) Combine wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.
5) Form into a 5-inch by 8-inch loaf that will be about 1_ -inches thick.
6) Place corned beef loaf on cheese cloth and roll-up like a big flat rectangle tootsie roll (not to tight). Tie each end with a piece of string.
7) Place in simmering water, cover, and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Take roast out of liquid and remove cheese cloth. Serve warm or place in refrigerator to make sandwiches with later.


I got this off of Youtube...the only variation besides the liquid smoke and the less amount of caraway, is I use pickling spice and beef boullion in my boiling water...again, do not violently boil seitan...keep it to a low simmer. I also add beef boullion to my dry mix instead of salt.

[Sage0925]

I've not tried this one, and I can't remember who the original author is.

Dry Ingredients:
* 2 c. vital wheat gluten
* ½ c. nutritional yeast
* 2 Tbsp. vegetarian beef broth powder (my co-op sells this in bulk, but you can omit it without affecting the recipe too much; you’ll just want to increase the salt by about ½ tsp.)
* 2 Tbsp. onion powder
* 1 Tbsp. smoked paprika (I would use reg. paprika and liquid smoke)
* 1 Tbsp. fennel seeds (ground)
* 1 Tbsp. caraway seeds (ground) (again, I would use 1 tsp of ground caraway)
* 4 juniper berries (ground) YUCK! I don't use these at all.
* 1 Tbsp. sea salt (I'd use beef boullion powder instead of salt)
* 1 tsp. black pepper
* 1 tsp. dried mustard
* ½ tsp. cloves
* ½ tsp. allspice
Wet Ingredients:
* 1 c. + 2 Tbsp. vegetable broth
* 2 Tbsp. olive oil
* 1 Tbsp. liquid smoke (hickory flavor)
* 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
* 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
* 1 Tbsp. tamari or Braggs (I use soy sauce)
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir to combine. Knead with your hands for a couple minutes, until everything is well combined & strands of gluten start to form, like so:Fill a large pot with about 12 cups of water, and add 2 bay leaves & 1 Tbsp. of whole juniper berries. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to keep the water simmering. (If you like, in place of some of the water, you can add some red wine or even some beer; I had half a bottle of beer leftover from my Chocolate Stout Cupcakes, so I just dumped that in the water to use it up!)
On a clean surface, shape the seitan into an oval (about 8” by 5” with a 1” thickness). Don’t stress over the size. If it’s roughly the size & shape of a roast, you’re good. Wrap the seitan in a double-layer of cheesecloth, and roll the ends like a Tootsie Roll (not too tight, though; the roast will expand a bit while cooking). Secure with string (or just tie the ends in a tight knot if you have enough fabric to do so).
Place the corned seitan roast in the simmering water. Cover and simmer on medium-low heat for 1 hour, turning the roast a couple times during the cooking process to ensure even cooking.
When done, remove the seitan from the pot (I use tongs to do this), and allow to rest/cool on a plate or cutting board for about 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, unwrap the cheesecloth.

Again, I would use pickling spices (bay leaf, coriander seed, allspice [whole], mustard seed) in my broth, along with some powdered beef boullion. Save the broth you cook in...I stuff mine into a ziplock bag, and stuff it in the freezer, and reuse it.

[Sage0925]

Ack...correction...I've used both recipes...the first one wasn't as good as the second...I've just realized that, going through my recipe files.

[Sage0925]

Meat eaters won't even complain about these...ask me how I know. And I make double this recipe, and freeze what I won't use right off...seitan freezes very well.

2 1/4 C vital wheat gluten (aka wheat gluten flour)
1/2 C nutritional yeast flakes (adds a meatier taste to the whole shebang, and extra protein)
1/4 cup chickpea flour or other bean flour (I use 1/2 soybean and 1/2 chickpea flour, but, whatever you can get your hands on)
1 TBS chix boullion powder
2 TBS granulated onion
1 to 2 TBS fennel seed (this is what makes it taste sausage-y, IMO) I lightly pound 1TBS in a mortar.
2 tsp black pepper (fresh ground coarse is best, IMO)
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp of dried chili flakes (You can omit this if you don't do hot and spicy well, but it doesn't add that much heat, IMO)
1 tsp smoked paprika (I haven't been able to find this particular commodity, so I use reg paprika, and throw in some liquid smoke, available at most grocery stores where they sell BBQ sauce, into my liquid mix)
1/2 tsp dried oregano (Is she kidding? use a whole tsp)
1/8 tsp ground allspice (yes, this sounds weird, trust me, it's necessary)
2 1/4 C cool water (don't use hot, it makes this stuff impossible to knead)
6 to 8 garlic cloves, minced or pressed (I just add 4-6 tsp of granulated dry in the dry mix, myself, but, as you please)
2 TBS olive oil (Just use whatever you have in the house)
2 TBS soy sauce

Note...I go heavy on the spices, usually using rounded tsp or TBS, but I'm a flavor junkie.

1. Mix together all the dry stuff
2. Mix together all the wet stuff in a separate bowl.
3 Mix them both together...if it's too dry, add more water...you want to end up with something that has the consistency of a rubber band. If it's too grainy, you probably have too much salt in it...put a bit more water in it, and then start adding a little more wheat gluten at a time.
4. Here's the really icky part...scoop 1/2 cup of the mixture (have fun with that, it's like trying to separate a mass of rubber bands) and shape into logs.
5. put into a piece of aluminum foil, and roll up...in order for this crap not to burst and make a mess, make sure that you have at least 2 thicknesses of foil rolled up...not two PIECES of foil, two THICKNESSES. Got it?
6 Twist up the ends, and steam for 30 mins.
7. let cool, chunk into ziplocks, and either refrigerate or freeze, unless you are going to use them right away.

Before I use them, I fry in a little bit of oil. They make great subs with some spaghetti sauce. I usually slice them up, fry lightly in a bit of oil, then stir fry with pasta and veggies.

Cook this stuff in spaghetti sauce and serve it over pasta...they won't know it isn't meat unless you tell them.

[Sage0925]

If your seitan is too grainy, and not the consistancy of a ball of rubber bands, chances are you have too much salt in the mix...just add a bit more water, and add a bit more gluten flour, a sprinkle at a time, and knead til well mixed before you add more.

I just LOVE this stuff...way cheaper than meat, and close enough that most people don't gripe too much. 2 cups of wheat gluten yields about 2 pounds of seitan (roughly), and you don't need to worry about shrinkage or cholesterol. I make the beef seitan roast (I have another recipe for that for the crock pot that's pretty good), grind it up, fry it in a bit of oil, and voila, you have ground beef...I've used this in pierogie recipes...delish!

I've got a couple I haven't tried yet...do ya'll want those, or do you want me to try them first? I've got a seitan pepperoni that I might try out this weekend.

[Sage0925]

BTW...if you want to make seitan chicken patties, just use the General Tso's seitan recipe, and add about 1-2 tsp of poultry seasoning to the mix, and the same to your simmering water. Shape into patties instead of nuggets, and simmer for about an hour. We grind this up and use it in ground chicken recipes... I also fry it lightly in oil, and serve the patties with McCormick's Instant Chicken gravy. I know I rattle on about McCormick's a lot, but trust me, you don't want to use the cheapo store brand gravies...they taste like crap.

We have a few restaurant supply places in town...usually, I buy their instant gravies...much cheaper that way.

[Sage0925]

You can get chick pea flour at a health food store, but it's a lot cheaper at an Indian food store, or an Indo-Pak grocery store...they call it Besan.

We can get wheat gluten flour at out local grocery store, and we live near Boise, ID, which is not exactly a cultural mecca...LOL I can also get nutritional yeast at the same grocery store, but they sell it at healthfood stores, as well. We buy vital what gluten by the 25 lb bag...cheaper that way.

You can make your own chickpea flour if you've got a decent mill.

[Sage0925]

Please.... POST AWAY. I'm an avid meat lover, but I could always use an alternative, especially if meat gets hard to come by.

I'm an avid meat lover, myself, but for one thing, the budget doesn't always allow for it, and the quality these days is questionable. I don't want to kill one of my layers just so we can have meat on the table. *shrug* Seitan is close enough for me. Homemade is best...what the store charges for pre-made packaged is just obscene. Like a little 8 0z package for 5 bucks, when I can make it at home for less than a third of that. And I can pick and chose my seasonings.