September 05, 2008Chicken-Style Seitan Cutlets
 Behold: the boiled chicken-style seitan recipe. I actually went back and renamed the other recipe Seitan Deli Slices, because that's how I use that recipe, as a substitute for Tofurky or Field Roast. The texture of that seitan is very firm and chewy, and the flavoring is already in the seitan. However, if what you want is a tender texture with a more mild flavor (like a chicken breast), you need to boil your seitan. I'm sorry. I know that a lot of you are terrified of boiled seitan recipes and have found comfort in the arms of aluminum foil, but preparing seitan that way will always result in a sausage-like firmness. Never fear: this recipe is easy! Trust me! I have a kid. When I say: "Honey, I need a half hour to make dinner," I need to deliver. Chicken-Style Seitan Cutlets dry: 2 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour or chickpea flour 1/4 cup nutritional yeast 1 T onion powder 1 tsp salt pinch freshly ground black pepper wet: 2 cups cold water 2 T grapeseed or light olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced or microplaned suggested bouquet garni: bay leaves parsley sage thyme oregano rosemary Parisien Bonne Herbes Place a large heavy-bottomed 4 quart pot on the stove filled with 2-3 quarts of cold water. Assemble a bouquet garni and place it in the pot. I like to use a tea bag designed for loose leaf tea and tie it off with a piece of string, but I've also used cheesecloth successfully. You could also just put the herbs directly into the water, which is what I used to do, but then the herbs get stuck to the seitan, and you have to strain the broth into the storage container... it's a lot easier to just use a bouquet garni and then toss it in the trash or compost. Combine your dry ingredients in one bowl and your wet ingredients in another bowl. Add wet to dry and mix well, then use your hands to knead the seitan mix gently for a few minutes until uniform and homogenous. Between two sheets of parchment paper, roll out golf ball sized pieces of seitan dough as thinly as you possibly can. If a cutlet tears a little from being rolled out too thinly, no big deal! Just re-form it into a ball and have another go at it. When it's very thin, slip it into the cold broth and repeat with the rest of the seitan dough. There is no need to be a perfectionist about this. When all the cutlets have been rolled out and placed in the pot, allow them to rest in the cold water for 10 minutes or so. Then bring the water to a gentle boil, reduce to a low simmer, cover, and allow seitan to cook for an hour. When you come back, all the cutlets should be at the top and some will be sticking together slightly. Don't worry about that. Take the pot off the heat and leave them in the water for at least a half hour, until cutlets are easy to handle. You can cook with them right away, but I prefer to transfer them at this point to a container with the broth, refrigerate them for a few hours or overnight, and then cook with them later. You will need "cook" these before eating them. Think of them as you would raw tofu: it's safe to eat right out of the container, but it needs to be flavored and cooked for maximum taste. The cutlets pictured above were pan-fried in a small amount of olive oil until they began to brown. I took half of these pan fried cutlets and tore them into small pieces to make a chicken salad, and then I marinated the rest in a balsamic-maple syrup-mustard glaze and lightly pan fried them again. Enjoy!
posted by joanna @ 4:02 PM
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