DH is really missing chicken breasts right now, and I have no interest in going and buying some, dividing them up, and preparing it for him. I found a few recipes for chicken-like dishes using homemade seiten on fat free vegan. Has anyone made seitan? Do you have a reliable recipe for it? I've been reading recipes but they all seem a little different in terms of cooking method and time, plus a few variations in ingredients. I can buy it, prepackaged, which I've done before, but the closest grocery with it is an hour away, and I don't have time to make the trip this week. Any suggestions?
I have a reliable labor intensive recipe. It always works. Though usually I buy vital what gluten and use that. Its more expensive, but fast and way easier.
Anyway... here is what I use when I do make it:
8 c whole wheat flour
8c white flour
6 cups cold water
Mix the flours and water together and knead for 10 to 15 minutes, adding water of flour if needed, until you have a very smooth ball of dought with no cracks in it. Kneading is what develops the gluten. It should bounce back when you punch it.
Put this ball of dough in a bowl large enough to old it and add enough cold water to cover the ball completely. Let is soak under water for one-half hour at least, preferrably 1-2 hours.
Then begin kneading it under water, kneading out all the starch and being careful to hold the gluten together. Change the water when it gets quite milky from the starch, and keep changing it until the water stays almost clear. The last part of the kneading should be done in a colander (not a strainer) under running water.
If the dough disintegrates in the kneading-washing you must try another brand of flour.
Then you can bake it for 45 minutes at 450. Then slice it and use whatever seasoning you plan to. Boil it for 30 minutes in the seasoning.
or you can:
Shape 2 cups of raw gluten into an oval loaf and place it in an oiled loaf pan. Pour 2 cups of flavoring broth over it. Cover Tightly with aluminum foul and bake at 250 for 10 hours or overnight, turning the gluten over after 5 hours.
Or you can:
Cook the gluten in a pressure cooker with 6 cups of liquid for 45 minutes.
This recipe came from Simply Heavenly by Abbot George Burke. It came out in 1994. It can be a little hard to find, if you would want it. I'd try used at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com. It is a vegan cookbook with a lot of gluten ideas. It it one of my favorites. In the book they have seasoning broths to make gluten versions of beef, chicken, ham, fish, and a couple of others.
I make seitan regularly, and keep some in the freezer for convenience. This recipe only takes about 5-10 minutes to prep, the rest is bake time. These are especially good sliced for sandwiches. I've also taken chunks of it, ground it in the food processor and used it as hamburger substitutes.
I don't have the minimum posts to be able to post a link, but you can find the recipe here:
I really like seitan and I go through periods of times where I make a lot and eat it. I've tried turkey recipes that are pretty good but never a chicken recipe.
I've made so many kinds of seitan, but for really quick and easy you can mix 1 part wheat gluten with 1 part water, knead well for maybe 5 min (a stand mixer with a dough hook is great for this!) cut into the shape/size you want then drop into broth flavored to your taste. For chicken flavor I'd do poultry herbs (thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary) black pepper, soy sauce and nutritional yeast. I've read that resting the dough for about 20 min or so after kneading and dropping the dough in cold and then bringing up to a boil helps with the texture, so that's how I usually do it. After you bring it up to a boil, bring it down to a simmer for about 45 min, remove from heat and let the whole thing come down to room temperature. I think seitan tastes better after it's been sitting around in broth for a day or so, so I try to plan ahead and make big batches and freeze the extra.
You can also bake seitan in the oven, this is the one I usually make, it's omni approved by my hubby and brother.
Last edited by shananigans; 06-02-2009 at 02:56 PM.
I made some this weekend and baked it. DH did not like it at all. I refuse to give up on making it at home, so I'll just keep trying until I find a way he finds tolerable. Thanks for the input ladies!
I'm a little confused about the Soy Curls. On their website they show only one ingredient: soybeans. But you sound like you're talking about somehting with flavor.
Its not fermented but its dehydrated. I'd liken it possibly to dried fruit or even more like those dried fruit strips. You have to rehydrate it and best to rehydrate it with something flavored (similar to TVP) although you can rehydrate it with water alone.
Seitan?
