Now we’re cooking
Posted in veggie food on 11/29/2009 04:13 pm by karenWhen The Cop is at work, so not subject to the meals I cook, I make things he doesn’t like and text him to tell him about it. Today, I’m using a new cookbook (Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker). Yes, a crockpot.
And I’m not sure how I got interested in this, but I also managed to find a recipe for making seitan from scratch. It’s super easy, particularly with the KitchenAid mixer.
Quick Homemade Gluten
(Makes 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pounds or 2 to 2-1/2 cups)
2 cups gluten flour
1-1/4 cups water or vegetable stock
3 Tablespoons Tamari
Add liquids to flour mixture all at once. Knead with KitchenAid bread hook for 5 minutes.
Let dough rest 15 minutes before proceeding.
Cut gluten into 8 pieces and stretch into thin cutlets. Simmer in broth for 50 minutes.
Broth:
4 cups water
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
Bring broth to a boil. Add cutlets one at a time. Reduce heat to barely simmer when saucepan is covered.
11/30/2009 at 3:42 am
Is it good? I had a seitan burrito yesterday…
11/30/2009 at 5:00 am
It’s good!
It’s especially good when you think about the fact that the flour costs $3.99/pound, which is almost what a single one of the little packages at the store costs. If I make it from scratch, I get 16 servings for that price. AND it’s easier than driving all the way over to the natural food market to get it!
11/30/2009 at 9:31 am
Yes I find that the little prepared soy things often have a a weird, cardboard kind of aftertaste too….
Not so for the seitan burrito I had at Caravan of Dreams yesterday.
Made me fart though, that thing. I have to admit it!
11/30/2009 at 11:33 am
Amazing. So… there is something about the cooking process that renders or activates the flour’s protein, or something?
11/30/2009 at 1:31 pm
Karen, my friend who has 2 young children has become a slow cooker (it’ll always be a Crock Pot to me) fanatic. She raves and raves- and she’s vegetarian too. She keeps tempting me to come over with her stew!
I like how you tell the Cop about what he’s missing (knowing he wants to be missing it!)
12/01/2009 at 5:00 am
Not sure how much the cooking process affects the protein, Owl. It may simply be to stabilize the dough — I’m thinking of how you start with dough for pasta or bread. Does the heating process really affect the nutritional aspects of the food, or is it all about making it more palatable/less runny? Cooking science is actually pretty interesting! Haha! Is it wrong that I like the mad scientist part of cooking more than the Martha Stewart “we’re gathered at an aesthetic table” aspect?
Liz, I think “crockpot,” too! The actual pots themselves look WAY more high tech than the clunky old orange clay cylinder my Mom used to have. One great thing is that you can slide the ceramic part out of the heating element: means I can pull the whole thing out when cooking/serving is done and store leftovers right in the ceramic “bowl.” This is my kind of slacker appliance!
12/01/2009 at 7:11 am
Hey, thank you for posting this, I will try it!. I wonder if they will have gluten flour at the Whole Foods.
12/01/2009 at 2:22 pm
I can get in to cooking so long as it feels like playing with a chemistry set, yes.
But the hostessing thing? Sigh. We’ll see what happens when I’m living in the town where dinner parties with professors is the only entertainment in town…
12/01/2009 at 4:56 pm
So, that stuff is good? Because it looks a bit like Alpo, no offense, really really no offense.
12/01/2009 at 4:57 pm
One more question…is gluten a form of protein? Or is it a form of carb? Not sure what exactly this is that you made. Again, this is not intended to offend. I just really don’t understand.
12/01/2009 at 5:55 pm
Yup, it’s good! You can try it at Caravan of Dreams.
Seitan, 1/3 cup (30g)
Calories: 160
Protein: 23g
Carbohydrate: 11g
Total Fat: 0.5g
Fiber: 2g
General Info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten
http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/health/1927002/
12/02/2009 at 8:47 am
I’ve eaten Seitan stir fry with pesto sauce at Caravan of Dreams, and you know what? I couldn’t SEE the seitan! That was, as Martha says, “a good thing”! Because it was YUMMY! Not so pretty…but under all that pesto sauce and all those veggies…who knew?!
12/02/2009 at 8:48 am
Hi all,
I actually prefer my seitan pan fried until crispy (or rolled in some olive oil and roasted at 450 deg. for a similar effect). It’s really delicious and it removes all of the “alpo-ness” of the thing.
And as for the gas: in addition to being crazy high in protein, it’s packed FULL of fiber. So buyer beware.
Thanks for posting this Karen, the pre-made stuff is so expensive. I’m going to just allow the extra time to make my own from now on.
And Owl: unfold that apron and get thee to a muffin tin. hahahaha.
12/02/2009 at 8:54 am
Oooh, Liz, now I want pan-fried seitan. I LOVE crispy foods!
And Owl, academic entertaining is SO much better than Martha Stewart entertaining. Academics are fun! fun! fun! They won’t try to one-up you about dumb things like cars and vacations and kids’ accomplishments and all that kind of stuff. You can actually have conversaaaaaaations!
Oh, I totally imagine you in a plaid wool skirt and tights, walking around campus with a fallen leaf caught in your hair. Just like a character in an Updike or Roth novel. Hahahaha!
12/02/2009 at 9:12 am
Muffin tin, check. Tights, check.
We’ll see if seitan goes with root vegetables…