Once back home from Sydney I was eager to have some fun in the kitchen. I pulled out Vegan Soul Kitchen and committed to some serious cooking, preparing my own seitan in the slow cooker throughout the afternoon, then trying two new Soul Kitchen recipes for dinner.
I was a little surprised that Bryant Terry didn't include a seitan recipe in his book, but there are plenty of others around. I had a go at the moo-free seitan in Vegan Sandwiches Save The Day and it proved very successful. Once the seitan slices were dredged in arrowroot and shallow-fried by Terry's method I got pretty excited. "I think I've made chops!" I told Michael. We tested a small piece; it was very juicy inside and crisp on the outer.
The other handy thing about making my own seitan was all the gluteny stock I ended up with. Much of it was used for the mushroom gravy that these 'chops' were simmered in. Terry has an elaborate recipe for making mushroom gravy from scratch, but I reckon any vegetable stock would be A-OK.
Smothered in mushroom gravy and some wilted cabbage, I'd wager that this seitan was as hearty as any slab of meat. On the side we ate steamed rice and sweet coconut-ginger creamed corn, another neat vegan variation on a homely dish dreamed up by Bryant Terry.
Smothered seitan chops
(adapted very slightly from Bryant Terry's Vegan Soul Kitchen)
mushroom gravy
2 tablespoons olive oil
250g mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons wholemeal flour
1 cup soy milk
1 cup stock
salt and white pepper
~1/2 cup olive oil
5 tablespoons arrowroot/tapioca flour
500g seitan, sliced into 1cm thick medallions
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups stock
1 cup cabbage, finely chopped
2 jalapenos, minced (I used pickled ones)
2 tablespoons parsley, minced
Prepare the mushroom gravy in a medium-sized saucepan. Set that saucepan over medium heat and warm up 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Drop in the mushrooms and saute them for 5 minutes. Add the other tablespoon of olive oil and the flour and stir them through the mushrooms; cook them, stirring regularly for about 10 minutes. Gradually stir in the milk and the stock, then salt and pepper to your preference. Simmer the gravy for around 15 minutes, continuing to stir it often. Take the gravy off the heat and set it aside.
Pour a substantial layer of oil in a large frypan and set it over medium-high heat. Place the arrowroot in a shallow bowl. Dredge each piece of seitan in the arrowroot to lightly coat both sides and drop it into the frypan, frying it until golden on both sides. Repeat with the rest of the seitan. When they're finished frying, drain the seitan chops on absorbent paper; when all the chops are done, turn off the heat and clean out the pan.
Set the frypan back on medium-high heat and pour in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to lightly coat the base. Add the onion and fry it for 3-4 minutes, then reduce the heat and continue sauteing until the onion is thoroughly softened and starting to brown, another 10 minutes. Stir through the garlic and saute for a further 2-3 minutes. Pour over the mushroom gravy and the stock and bring it all to the boil. Add the seitan chops back in and reduce the heat, cover the frypan and simmer it all for 30 minutes (plenty of time to cook some corn and rice!).
When the simmering is done, add the cabbage and the jalapenos to the pan, gently fold them into the sauce, and continue simmering everything for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle over the parsley and serve.
