On to the food. I spent yesterday trying to perfect seitan so that the texture is super soft and a little flakey and layered (if that made sense). Basically I am trying to mimic the seitan that is custom made for Horizons. I have had seitan very close to that before and it was the raw seitan sold in bulk at Essence of Life in Toronto (in Kensington Market). Super soft & tender texture when cooked but not spongey at all. I make seitan all the time with different textures for sandwiches, cutlets, etc., but nothing even close to that texture.
Attempt #1. Whole wheat flour & bread flour kneaded, rested and rinsed (and rinsed, and rinsed) and then, flattened and stretched with a bit of oil into irregular pieces and then slow baked in a broth made from water, soy sauce, bragg's and minced garlic. Texture was better than using vital wheat gluten but not even close to how I wanted it.
Oh well, I had to cook it up anyway so I marinated it in olive oil, salt, pepper, spanish paprika, onion & garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne, soy sauce, braggs and sugar for an hour or so. Then it was panfried and glazed with the reduced marinade and served on top of Israeli couscous pilaf with a side of asparagus. Even though it wasn't the texture I wanted, dinner was still delicous!
Stay tuned for more adventures in seitan making. In the meantime, here's a bonus Shadow pic from March.
NICE TO "SEE" YOU!!!!!!!! :-D
ReplyDeleteWell it's about darn time. :p
ReplyDeleteHeh, thanks Mindy. :p
ReplyDeleteHURRAY... you're back!
ReplyDeleteThat looks amazing. I'm a failure at making seitan. The best I've made was from scratch, rinsing and kneading the flour. Very time-consuming.
By flakey and layered, you probably mean like real meat? I know some vegans frown on that. But if it converts more people to veganism, bring it on.
BTW, how do you cook Israeli couscous? Does it have the texture of tapioca, ie the "bubble" in bubble tea?
Yeah, it was the long kneading & rinsing method which is time-consuming but not as bad as I thought. I've made it the long way a few times and I do like the texture and taste better.
ReplyDeleteAnd by flakey and layered, yeah, it is more like a super soft but not spongy seitan version of soy curls (you know how soy curls sort of flakes right?). If you go to Essence of Life, they have raw seitan in bulk which cooks up with amazing texture.
As for frowning on things like seitan, I don't really care what other people think. I'm vegan purely for ethical reasons. If it's vegan and produced fairly, then it's all good.
As for Israeli couscous, the texture is like orzo but they're round. Cooking is easy. First you toast the couscous in oil or margarine, then add your water or vegetable stock (ratio is approximately 1:1.5 couscous to liquid) and then cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed (probably 15 mins I think). If you're using a bouillon cube, throw it in when you're toasting the couscous so it can permeate it a little before adding liquid.
Your blog is great as well. Your meals are very rich and hearty but still healthy. Will add u to my blogroll so I can keep in touch.
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