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posted March 23, 2009 9:57 AM PDT

Corned Seitan

This is the recipe that I based mine off of:

http://livingliberally.org/eating/blog/Seitan-Fit-Saint-Veggie-Hack-St-Paddys-Day

I made a few changes, and cooked it a bit differently. Mostly because I was lacking ingredients, but also because I didn't like the way some of the stuff looked. Here's how mine went:

Dry Ingredients:

• 3 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1 cup TVP
• 1 cup dried minced onions
• 3 Tbs. paprika
• 2 Tbs. Garlic Powder
• 1 Tbs. whole fennel seed (coarsely ground)
• 2 Tbs. whole caraway seed (coarsely ground)
• 3 tsp. allspice
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 2 tsp. thyme
• 1.5 Tbs. salt
• 2 tsp. ground black pepper

Wet Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Braggs Liquid Amino
• 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
• 2 drops liquid smoke
• 3 & 1/2 cups water

I basically doubled the volume of the recipe. I chose to keep the fennel, carraway and cloves at the same measurements. I also didn't double the salt, because I was adding soy sauce. If I had to do it again, I would cut the fennel and cloves in half and also use less salt (1 Tbs. max). They weren't overpowering, but they definitely stood out from the other spices which I don't think they should do. If I had vegetable broth, I would use that instead of water. Also, garlic powder is better than whole garlic in this recipe, because it's mixed with the dry ingredients and evenly distributed. I also didn't have nutritional yeast.

I added TVP because I like the way it affects the texture, plus it adds a better protein. This may have been a bad idea, because a lot of stuff fell off the "roast" when I cooked it. If you opt not to use the TVP, use an extra cup of gluten.

Method:

Thoroughly mix all dry ingredients. Add about 3/4 of the liquid to the dry mix. Mix it until you no longer see any dry gluten. If there's not enough liquid to accomplish that, add some more. Let it rest for 15 minutes to soak up moisture. Knead it a little bit. It will fall apart because of all the particulate crap in it. Don't worry. Try and form it into something resembling a ball. Once the gluten sets when it cooks, it will hold together better.

I cooked mine in a slow cooker using maybe an inch or two of water. It does not need to be covered with liquid though. I didn't season the water at all because there's enough seasoning in the mix that it won't need it. 2 hours on high, and then 5 or 6 on low and it's done. Resist taking the lid off while it cooks.

Using a slow cooker makes the roast really juicy, and not rubbery at all. Because of the TVP, seeds and onions, this thing will have a tendency to fall apart a bit in the cooker. Wrapping it in cheesecloth would probably help that... however the end result would probably be more dense, and less moist (which may or may not be a good thing.) The chunks that do fall off are still good to eat though.

If you don't have access to a slow cooker, then you can simmer it for a few hours too. I would cut it into smaller chunks first though. Alternatively, you could wrap it tightly in foil or parchment paper, and bake it at 350 for an hour or so.

last updated March 23, 2009 10:58 AM PDT