BBQ Seitan Ribz and Mushroom Chicken Burgers

Today, I made two more BBQ items.  I made Susan Voisin's Barbecued Seitan Ribz from her FatFree Vegan Kitchen blog.  I also made another burger from Joni Marie Newman's cookbook, The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet.  Today, I made Mushroom Chicken Burgers on page 96.

The ribz were definitely the easier of the two to make.  Basically, I mixed the ingredients together, kneaded it for a minute and a half to two minutes, and then baked it.  After that, it was smothered in BBQ sauce and put on the grill.  You can see one of the Mushroom Chicken Burgers next to the "ribz" wrapped in foil.

The Mushroom Chicken Burgers were a multi-phase item.  I only had whole flax seeds, so the first order of business was to grind them in my food processor attachment that came with my immersion blender.  I don't know why, but I hate grinding flax seeds.  It's really unreasonable as it's so incredibly easy to grind them.  I ended up grinding all of the rest of the flax seeds I have and put the majority of them into the freezer.

I had to reconstitute the TVP in veggie broth, chop mushrooms (baby bella mushrooms that I got at the Farmer's Marker yesterday) and garlic, and then saute the mixture.  I crumbled the tempeh (which I had to use before next week sometime) and added it to the mushroom mix and sauted it for an additional 5 minutes, then added all of the ingredients together.  I will say, I did NOT like the way these came together.  I will also say that my cooking method is probably to blame in part.

I didn't want to add a bunch of oil to the mushrooms, garlic, and then tempeh when it was added.  I initially started with maybe 1 tablespoon to 1½ tablespoons of olive oil to saute the mushrooms.  But when I added the garlic, I didn't want to use more oil, so I added a splash of veggie broth.  Once I added the tempeh, I added more broth.  I don't think I let it cook long enough to cook off all of the broth.  I should have sauteed it a couple of minutes longer to dry it out.

When adding all of the ingredients together, it wouldn't come together.  The dough was too moist.  I kneaded it for a few minutes (good grief, it was like glue on my fingers), but it still didn't want to come together.  I ended up adding 1/4 cup of wheat gluten.  I tried 1/8 cup first, but that did nothing.  So, I added another 1/8 cup.  It still didn't seem like it did much, but I figured if I added more, it would change the integrity of the burgers.  SO, I used a paper towel to coat my trusty tupperware hamburger press with olive oil, grabbed a spoon, and began making burgers.

Surprisingly, the burgers held together OK (with minimal handling) once I put them in the press and formed the burger.  I wrapped each burger loosely in foil so I could steam them on the Weber grill.  The burgers really didn't stick to the hamburger press, which I thought was a good sign.

The Mushroom Chicken Burgers are a moister burger.  They did well in the foil method on the grill.  These burgers would not hold up being put directly on the grill, in my opinion.  I enjoyed the flavor, which is definitely on the "chicken" side, but not really like chicken.  I had mine with mustard.

Overall, my grilling experiences with vegan burgers and ribz was a good one.  I will make both of the burgers from this weekend again.  I'll definitely make the ribz again.  It was nice to cook my food on the grill along with my sons' food so we could all have BBQ for the holiday weekend.

Herbed Breakfast Sausage Patties

I bought the Vegan Diner: Classic Comfort Food for the Body & Soul.  I received it a couple of weeks ago, but haven't made anything out of it.  Today, I decided to make Herbed Breakfast Sausage Patties.  I don't know why I wanted to make it as I've never been a big breakfast sausage fan, but I was looking for a tofu breakfast scramble and it just sounded good when I ran across the recipe.

This sausage dough was incredibly easy to make.  I loved the fact that all but 3 ingredients were whisked together. Then I only had to whisk the water, olive oil, and soy sauce (I used low sodium Tamari) and just stir it into the dry ingredients with a fork.

I used a coffee scoop to measure out the dough into 1/8 cup increments.  I don't have a small burger press, so I just used my hand to flatten the dough mounds into patties.  They came out fine.  I think part of the charm of breakfast sausage patties is that they aren't perfect patties when made at home.

I used my Wolfgang Puck Rice Cooker with the 3 stainless steel steamer trays to steam the patties.  I steamed the patties in the top steamer tray for 10 more minutes after removing the patties in the lower trays just to make sure they were done.  This rice cooker was an excellent investment and relatively cheap.  I only paid $50 for the entire set.  At the time of purchase, I had no idea I would stop eating meat and would use it repeatedly to make steaming seitan a snap!

So, the recipe says to let the sausage patties cool completely before removing them from the foil.  Then, the patties should be refrigerated, preferably overnight, before pan frying and consuming.  I removed the patties from the steaming trays and put them on a cookie rack to cool.

OK, did you think that I would make these on a Sunday morning and follow the directions exactly?  Ummm ... NO! :)  Hey, it was Sunday morning.  What better time to eat breakfast sausage????

I threw one into my trusty skillet and browned it to perfection.  One thing I did learn from browning these is that it would have been better if I had used a flat surface, instead of my hand, when forming the patties.  While the bottom of the patties is flat, the tops are not making it brown unevenly on one side.  Of course, that did NOT affect the taste.

Herbed Breakfast Sausage with Pancakes and Earth Balance

I asked my oldest son if he wanted a vegan sausage patty.  His response was exactly one word, "YUCK!"  However, he did say that the sausage patties smell like regular sausage patties and he didn't know how that was possible.  :::chuckle:::  My response, you ask?  I replied, "That's because I'm a great cook!"  He agreed.

This recipe actually yielded 15 sausages for me.  I think using the coffee measuring cup helped with that.  The sage flavor is very strong.  I thought with adding 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, the sausages might be too spicy, but they aren't spicy at all.  It's been years since I had breakfast sausage, but from my memory, these taste close.  I'll definitely be freezing the dozen I have left for future use and I'll definitely make this recipe again.  It's easy, quick, and yields great results!

A post blog entry note:  I did a nutritional analysis on these patties based on the 15 that I got from the recipe.  The results are per patty:  61 calories, 13 from fat; 1g fat; no saturated or trans fats; no cholesterol; 226mg sodium; 5g carbohydrate, 1g fiber; 7g protein.

Seitan and Brussels Sprouts with Pantry BBQ Sauce

I was all set to make Seitan & Broccoli with Pantry BBQ Sauce tonight.  I had 3 balls of Savory Seitan in my freezer, so I pulled one out and defrosted it in the microwave.  I had 3 stalks of broccoli that I needed to use ... a day ago.  :::sigh:::  Soooooo, I improvised.  I looked to see what other veggies I had.  I pulled out a pound of Brussels sprouts and about 6 oz. of sliced mushrooms.

I followed the recipe pretty closely, except that I added the Brussels sprouts to the pan after the onion had cooked.  Then, I added the mushrooms after about 5 minutes.  I totally forgot to add the garlic, but it was good without it. Finally, I added the sliced seitan.  Some of it actually browned, but mostly it didn't get real brown, just nice and hot.  I added the sauce and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.  VOILA!  The most delightful dinner.  I did not put mine over rice, but just ate it as is.

I have to say that the BBQ sauce was a very nice compliment for the Brussels sprouts.  In fact, I think this BBQ sauce would be good on a lot of foods, including burgers.  It is very tasty!  This was an excellent choice for dinner.  I'll definitely make this again with any veggie I happen to have on hand.

Fork-and-Knife Reuben

This post will be parts 2 and 3 for my St. Paddy's Day meal, which I'm actually eating tonight.  My dinner of choice is the Fork-and-Knife Reuben out of American Vegan Kitchen. Last night, I sliced the Savory Seitan ball into thin slices.  I made the marinade and put the seitan in it to marinate overnight and all day long today.

The seitan was ready to cook when I got home tonight.  First, I made the sauce and put it in a bowl in my fridge to chill while I cooked the seitan.  I have a huge skillet that accommodated all of the pieces of seitan since I was only making a half batch.

After it had heated through for 7 or 8 minutes, I added the marinade and cooked it until the marinade was almost gone.  I didn't have any rye bread, so I used double fiber bread.  I spread Dijon mustard on one slice, added a layer of seitan, added a layer of sauerkraut, and then added a drizzle of the sauce.  The recipes only calls for the sauce on the outside of the sandwich once it's done, but I HAD to put a generous drizzle on top of the sauerkraut.

Next, I popped the sandwich in a parchment bag and put it in my Rocket Grill to grill for about 2 minutes.  What came out was perfection!

I drizzled more sauce on the finished sandwich, grabbed a fork and knife, a cold beer, and sat down to enjoy my creation ... compliments of American Vegan Kitchen and Tamasin Noyes, of course! :)  This is a most excellent cookbook.  I have loved everything I've made out of it. I highly recommend it.

Savory Seitan - St. Paddy's Day Part 1

My goal is to make Fork-and-Knife Reubens in American Vegan Kitchen (p. 106) for St. Patrick's Day.  However, knowing what I do about cooking for a vegan diet, I figured I should start looking at preparation NOW.  :::chuckle:::  Actually, I have to keep the office open for OT on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so I wanted to get a jump.  Tonight, I made Savory Seitan (p. 5) in American Vegan Kitchen in preparation for my Reuben dinner on St. Paddy's Day.

I'm making the slow cooker version.  I only needed to form 4 balls out of the dough, which was easy enough.  My dough was stickier than I'm used to (for homemade seitan), but I forged ahead.  It's in my slow cooker for the next 8 hours (really longer if you count the "warm" time it will have while I'm still snoozing at 4:30AM).  I did not have any veggie broth in my house, so I used 2½ cups of No Chicken broth (Imagine), 4 cups of water with 1½ teaspoons No-Chicken Better than Bouillon, and 2 cups of water with ½ No-Beef bouillon cube.  How does that sound for variety? :::chuckle:::  I had to add the last (no-beef variety) so that the water would cover the seitan balls as stated in the recipe.  After three hours in the crock pot, the seitan balls have grown.

After slow cooking all night in the VersaCooker, my seitan looks like it's done.

 

Since this is the first time I made the Savory Seitan recipe, I'm hoping it looks like it should.  It looks good to me.  I saved the broth and stuck it in my freezer to use to make more seitan or to use as a gravy base.  I only kept one seitan ball out and froze the other three to use in future dishes.

So, my seitan is prepared for the Reuben sandwich for St. Patrick's Day. I'll be making the marinade, probably tomorrow, as realistically, I have to work until 7PM on St. Paddy's Day, and I won't feel like cooking at 8PM when I get home, so I'll eat these on Wednesday.  I'll also make the Reuben Dressing on Tuesday night and put it in the fridge until Wednesday.  I'll marinade the seitan all day on Wednesday and then pull it all together when I arrive home.

I have wanted to make these Fork-and-Knife Reubens for a LONG time (ever since I got the cookbook a while back), and now, I'm finally doing it.  I cannot wait!!! 

I leave you with a shot of Kobe, "My Girl", the one who had ACL surgery at the end of January.  She has stolen Skittles (my Yorkie) bowl of food (after Skits ate most of it) and took it to the living room to polish it off.  Kobe is the smartest dog I've ever owned.  I totally love her, but then, I love my other two dogs, too.  :)

Ethiopian Stew

I have been trying to use up items I have in the freezer, refrigerator, or pantry for meals.  I haven't made a soup or stew in a couple of weeks, so I went searching for recipes. I wanted something that would make good use of the spices I have acquired.  I chose Ethiopian Stew from Vegan Dad's blog.

The recipe list included both yellow split peas and red lentils.  I had yellow split peas from another recipe I made, and luckily, I picked up some red lentils in the bulk section of Whole Foods yesterday.  I boiled the split peas for about 40 minutes while I prepared the veggies.

I diced carrots and potatoes and then sliced onions and minced some fresh ginger.  I decided to add one homemade Vegan Filet Mignon (from the freezer) and 1 cup of chickpeas (also homemade from the freezer).  I love having the seitan in the freezer ready to use and add to my dishes.  It saves me a lot of time and a lot of sodium and preservatives that store-bought seitan contains.

I warmed the spices in the olive oil. I only used 2½ tablespoons of olive oil instead of 4 and I could have cut that down to 1 tablespoon.  I added the onion and ginger, and while that was sauteing, I minced some garlic and added it to the pot.

After the onions had softened, I added the diced carrots, potatoes, and Vegan Filet Mignon and let that cook for a couple of minutes.

The recipe calls for a spice mix named Berbere from Vegan Dad's blog.  I didn't feel like trying to cut that down to add it to the dish.  So, instead of using that, I just grabbed a few spices.  I added ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika, ¼ teaspoon of red cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and ½ teaspoon of dried jalapeno pepper.  (I must have wanted a little heat!)

I threw in some frozen beans.  I had a yellow bean/green bean/carrot mix, so I tried not to grab the carrots, but I did get a few in there.  I almost left out the beans as I'm not crazy about green beans in stews and there's already split peas, lentils, and chick peas in it.  But, I though, might as well since they are in the ingredient list.  I did not add the tomato paste.  The stew was thick enough with the lentils and split peas.

Overall, this is not a spicy stew, even with all of the "heat" that I added.  It really didn't make a big heat difference, probably because this makes a full pot of stew.  I liked the beans in it more than I thought I would.  And, if I had left out the seitan, I wouldn't have missed it because this dish has so many different and complex flavors.  This is like "health" in a bowl, in my humble opinion.  I enjoyed it.  It's a nice, hearty, fall or winter dish.  Since we woke up to icy rain this morning in Chicago, it's a perfect fit!

Roasted Acorn Squash Risotto

OK, I'll admit, it seems a little late in the season to be fixing acorn squash, but it came in my veggie box at the beginning of the month and I need to use it. I'm not a fan of acorn squash, but I decided it was time to try it again, so I ordered it.  I also have a butternut squash I roasted today to make a bisque, but that will be for a later post.  So, I went in search of a great recipe for the acorn squash and I found Roasted Acorn Squash Risotto on VegWeb.com.  Even a non-acorn squash fan can appreciate this risotto recipe.  It is excellent!

First, I roasted the acorn squash along with my butternut squash.  I peeled it after it had roasted and cut it up, or rather made it into portions as it was rather soft.  

I am not sure what vegetarian sausage links would be, especially to have 8 of them, so I used two Tofurky Italian Sausage made with sun dried tomato and basil.  I diced them into 1/2" slices and then cut each slice into 4 pieces.  Next, I sauteed the sausage until it was brown.

I didn't have any sherry, so I used a Fine Tawny Victoria that I had, which is a sweet Port wine.  (VERY tasty, too, I might add!!!)  I figured it was close to sherry.  I don't drink sherry, so I don't really know.

I microwaved the broth (I used water and no salt added veggie bouillon cubes) so it was very hot.  I ended up using 4½ cups of hot broth water to make the risotto so it would be creamy, with just a hint of firmness to the rice.  After standing at the stove stirring for an eternity, my risotto was done.  I added a bit of red cayenne pepper and some more curry powder and a generous sprinkling of fresh ground black pepper.  This risotto ROCKS!!!  There are a few reviews on VegWeb that state the risotto needs more salt.  I didn't add salt when I was cooking this and I didn't add salt to my dish.  It was plenty salty for me, but I stopped cooking with a lot of salt years ago.

This is the first time I've made risotto and I consider it to be a success!  I will definitely be making this dish again.  While it's a pain to have to stand at the stove and stir the rice constantly when adding the water a cup at a time, it's definitely worth it.  This is an excellent dish!

Spicy Seitan, Potato, and Cabbage Stew

It seems like every week this winter, I am making soup.  This week is no exception.  Today, I decided to make a soup that contained cabbage, since I have a head of cabbage to use.  I searched for cabbage on VegWeb.com and came across Spicy Seitan, Potato, and Cabbage Stew.  Luckily, I had everything at home including homemade seitan.  

I still had about 5 Vegan Filet Mignon in my freezer.  I thought one would be perfect for this stew.

I made my sons some pasta in my rice cooker and as that was cooking, I began chopping the onion, shallot, garlic, and carrots for the stew.  I stayed pretty close to the recipe.  I did add about 1/2 teaspoon of dried jalapeno pepper flakes. They really aren't very hot, so I thought they would add to the flavor of the stew.  Also, I didn't have any "hot" green chilies, so I added a 4 ounce can of fire roasted green chilies.  I also put a squeeze of Sriracha sauce in the stew.  I'd say it was only a teaspoon or two.  That concerned me seeing as I scorched my mouth on that sauce not so long ago.  Sheesh!  Sriracha is H-O-T.

The only other substitution I made was I used No-Chicken Broth.  I thought I had plenty of quarts of veggie broth here, but evidently I've made more soups than I thought, so I was down to only No-Chicken Broth or Mushroom Broth.  

I still have half of a head of cabbage left.  I've already decided what I'll be making.  I found a recipe for Brussels Sprout Heaven.  This is a combination of Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and grape tomatoes roasted at 425º for about a half hour.  I may add some yellow onion wedges to this.  I totally LOVE Brussels sprouts and just bought a pound at Whole Foods on Tuesday.  This will definitely be my dinner tomorrow night.  One of the comments on the recipe page stated the person served it over quinoa.  I have some quinoa, but I have never tried it.  I think it's time to break it out.

I liked this stew.  Mine turned out with a bit of a bite.  If you don't like spicy foods, I'd make sure to use mild green chilies and omit the Sriracha sauce all together.  One thing I'll do the next time I make this is shred the cabbage versus leaving it in 1" ribbons. The seitan added a nice flavor to the stew, but this would be equally as tasty without it or substituting some sliced Italian Tofurky sausage.  I also think that some white beans (navy or great northern) would be great in place of the seitan.  Overall, this is a great stew for January in Chicago.

Tokay Mustard Sauce with Vegan Filet Mignon

I follow a wonderful blog called The Iowa Housewife.  It's not a vegan blog.  It's a "life" blog.  Sue and her sister Myrna post delicious recipes.  Sue cooks and Myrna bakes. (OK, that's simplifying it, but they are very talented!)  And although blog isn't vegan, I have gotten wonderful recipes from this blog.  It's probably my favorite blog.  It's one of those blogs that I can get lost in for an hour and be delighted with the cooking tips, recipes, and stories that are posted.

Tonight was one of those nights that I got lost on Sue's blog and ran across a recipe for Cognac Mustard Sauce that I wanted to modify for my Vegan Filet Mignon.  And, I did!  It doesn't look as elegant as Sue's sauce, which is a deep, rich brown, but it was extremely tasty.  Since I made 6 Vegan Filet Mignon on Christmas Day and I only ate 1, I thought I should find tasty recipes to use the rest in.  (I froze 4 portions.)

The sauce is pretty easy to pull together.  Melt the Earth Balance in a measuring cup in the microwave and then combine all of the other ingredients.  I used a Tokay port wine, since I didn't have any cognac.  Tokay has a raisin and tapioca taste to me, so I thought it would work.  I sliced the Vegan Filet Mignon, placed it in a skillet, and poured the Tokay Mustard Sauce over the seitan and cooked it on medium for about 5 minutes.

While I made the sauce and warmed it with the seitan, I had thrown 3 scoops of an organic brown rice blend (bulk section of Whole Foods) in my rice cooker.  I added a No-Beef Bouillon cube to the water along with 1 teaspoon of Earth Balance, so the rice wouldn't foam up.

When the rice flipped to "warm," I was ready to dish up my plate and eat.  I had sliced Vegan Filet Mignon with Tokay Mustard Sauce and brown rice.  I posted my modified recipe of Sue's Cognac Mustard Sauce below.

Tokay Mustard Sauce

4 teaspoons Earth Balance

2 tablespoons SO Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer

2 tablespoons Tokay (port dessert wine)

2 teaspoons coarse ground Dijon mustard

4 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce

Vegan Filet Mignon, thinly sliced

Melt the Earth Balance in the microwave and then add the remaining ingredients.  Whisk together (will look a little grainy).  Slice the seitan and put it in a skillet.  Pour sauce over the seitan and heat through, about 5 minutes or so.  

Thanks to Iowa Sue for a wonderful recipe!!!  :)

Vegan Filet Mignon and other dishes

It's Christmas Day.  It's quiet at my house.  My Mom is here taking a snooze on the couch while Miracle on 34th Street is on the TV.  My sons are with their father at his sister's house for an early Christmas dinner.  They were supposed to eat at 2 PM, and then my youngest son planned on coming home for more food when my dinner is done around 6 PM.  However, he still hadn't eaten at 3:30 PM, so I think his plan is off schedule. 

I knew the Vegan Filet Mignon would take 2½ to 3 hours to make, so I started making them around 3 PM.  Because Tracy said (in her blog entry) that the seitan might stick at first, I put them on a rack.  However, the seitan was expanding to the point that I thought it would get stuck under the handles on the rack, so after about 20 minutes, I removed it.  The rack left little ridges in the "steaks" that kind of resemble grill marks.

While the seitan is simmering, I put some potatoes in a pan to boil for the Crash Hot Potatoes.  They are a two-stage side dish that takes extra time to cook.  I will say that they are well worth the extra effort.  Although they don't require anything at all, once prepared, I am making some Slow-Cooked Mushroom Gravy as I think they will be scrumptious with it and I bought a lot of mushrooms!

It took a VERY long time to get everything prepared.  The gravy took much longer than I expected.  But, as was the case the first time I cooked it, it was well worth it.  Funny thing, my younger son asked me if I had beef patties in the pan.  I told him no.  Then my older son looked at the Vegan Filet Mignon and told me it looked like beef. It actually does look like beef.  I think the marks from the rack make it look even more so like meat versus seitan.  

It was a very tasty dinner.  I still have 5 Vegan Filet Mignon pieces that I'll be freezing for other meals.  I already stuck the gravy in the freezer.  The Crash Hot Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts turned out perfectly.  It was just a nice Christmas meal followed by a glass of Tokay, which is a sweet dessert wine with flavors of tapioca and raisins.  Merry Christmas everyone!