Ch-eitan Noodle Casserole

So using the chicken-style seitan cutlets from the last post, paired with Martha’s Béchamel sauce, we have a nice, down-home casserole to keep you warm on these getting-colder Fall nights. This is rich, so serve up with a salad so you get your veggies.

A couple of notes:

• I could not get my béchamel sauce to thicken with Martha’s suggested 1/4 cup flour. I doubled it. If you can make it work with 1/4 c., more power to you.
• The Béchamel Sauce recipe makes 4 cups. Seemed a bit much for the casserole, despite Martha’s call for the whole vat. I used about 2 1/2 cups worth.

Martha’s Ingredients for Tuna Noodle Casserole
Serves 6

coarse salt and ground pepper
10 oz. green beans, stem ends trimmed, cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
1/2 lb. gemelli or other short pasta
Béchamel Sauce (see below)
2 cans (5 oz. each) solid white albacore tuna packed in water, drained
5 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed, torn into large pieces
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Scrumpdilly’s Veganized Ch-eitan Noodle Casserole
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s, Everyday Food, October 2009

10 oz. green beans, stem ends trimmed, cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
1/2 lb. short pasta
2 1/2 c. Béchamel Sauce (see below)
salt and pepper
5-7 chicken-style seitan cutlets, cut into squares
5 slices bread, torn into large pieces
2 Tbsp. Earth Balance, melted

In a large saucepan of well-salted, boiling water, cook green beans until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer green beans to a colander and rinse with cold water, set aside. Return water in pan to a boil; add pasta and cook for about 3 minutes, short of al dente. Drain and rinse pasta.

Preheat oven to 350. In a 2 quart baking dish, combine pasta, green beans, and béchamel; season with salt and pepper. Gently fold in seitan pieces.

In a food processor, pulse bread until coarse crumbs form. Transfer to a bowl and stir in Earth Balance. Top casserole with breadcrumbs and bake until sauce is bubbling and breadcrumbs are golden brown, 25-30 minutes.

Scrumpdilly’s Veganized Béchamel Sauce
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food, October 2009
Makes 4 cups

3 Tbsp. Earth Balance
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
1/2 c. flour
4 c. unsweetened almond milk

In medium saucepan, melt Earth Balance over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add flour. Cook stirring frequently, until mixture is pale golden, has a slightly nutty aroma, and is the texture of cooked oatmeal, about 3-4 minutes.

Whisking constantly, pour in 2 cups almond milk, whisk, then add remaining almond milk, whisk until smooth. Cook mixture, stirring constantly along the bottom of pan, until boiling, about 7 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens and does not feel grainy when a very small amount is rubbed between two fingers, about 10 minutes.

Dinner is served

Chicken-style Seitan Cutlets (Ch-eitan)

Thank goodness I printed this recipe out looong ago. The original comes from Joanna, who lost all of her recipes recently, and I think this is one of them that disappeared into the ether. I’m posting it now, because before, I just had a link to Joanna’s site. Without it there, I fear these slices of wonderful will be lost forever.

Turns out this is my absolute favorite quick seitan recipe! I use it for many, many dishes: chikin ‘n’ fauxsage gumbo, chikin marsala, breaded chikin ‘n’ gravy, stir-fry, salad topping, and on and on and on. I’ll be using these babies later today in a Martha Stewart Entree I’m veganizing. So if you want to follow along, this comes first.

Joanna Voight’s Chicken-style Seitan Cutlets (Ch-eitan)
1 Bouquet Garni (see below)
2 1/4 c. vital wheat gluten
1/2 c. flour or chickpea flour
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
pinch freshly ground black pepper
2 c. cold water
2 Tbsp. grapeseed or light olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced

Prepare a Bouquet Garni with a couple bay leaves, a few sprigs of parsley, sage, thyme, oregano, and/or rosemary. Either tie together or put in tea bag or cheesecloth. Place in pot with about 2 quarts of cold water.

Combine vital wheat gluten, flour or chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, and black pepper in large bowl. In a large measuring cup, combine water, oil, and garlic. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix well, then knead gently until seitan dough is uniform and homogenous.

Between two sheets of parchment paper (or use a Ziploc bag), roll out a golf ball sized piece of dough as thinly as possible. Once rolled thin, slip it into the cold broth and repeat with remaining dough.

Once all cutlets are in the pot, allow them to sit in the cold water for 10 minutes. Then, bring the water to a gentle boil, reduce to a low simmer, cover, and allow seitan to cook for an hour (the cutlets will float to the top).

Remove from heat and allow cutlets to cool in water for about 30 minutes. Transfer to a container with the broth and refrigerate until ready to use. Although safe to eat raw, they’re much better seasoned and cooked in your favorite recipes.

Cheeeze Flautas with Cilantro Pesto

No time for chit-chat. I’m on my lunch hour and I’ve teased you enough with my two previous posts, both of which were prep-posts for the ingredients in these wonderfully Fall Flautas. Veganizing Martha’s Muffin – Entree Week’s first completed entree is both satisfying and delicious. Pair with a nice salad, some guac, and/or a few beans and you’re set! Thanks to Gluten-Free Vegan Family for helping me soften my corn tortillas. Uh, yeah, much easier than Martha’s way, which I tried on tortilla-softening-FAIL night.

Martha’s Ingredients
Serves 4

1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3/4 c. pepitas (green hulled pumpkin seeds)
1 c. loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
8 corn tortillas (6″), softened by moistening and lightly toasting over a gas burner (turn with tongs)
2 c. grated Monterrey Jack cheese
1/4 peanut oil

Scrumpdilly’s Veganized Cheese Flautas with Pepita-Cilantro Pesto (adapted from Martha Stewart Living Magazine, Oct. 2009)

4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided into two, 2 Tbsp. batches
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c. pepitas (green hulled pumpkin seeds)
1 c. loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
8 corn tortillas, softened by placing several between two paper towels and microwaving for 30 seconds
2 c. grated (or crumbled) vegan Pepper Jack cheeeze (either pre-packaged or homemade)
2 Tbsp. peanut oil

Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a saute pan over medium-low. Cook garlic until golden, about 1 minute. Add pepitas; cook, tossing, until toasted, 2-3 minutes. Pulse to a paste in a food processor. Add cilantro, lime juice, and remaining olive oil (2 Tbsp.); pulse until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread some pesto on a softened tortilla, top with cheese. Roll up tightly and place seam-side down until ready to cook. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Heat peanut oil in a medium skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Pan-fry flautas in 2 batches, seam sides down, 1 minute. Using tongs, roll to brown evenly, cooking 1 minute more. Drain on paper towels, dabbing tops to remove excess oil.

Pepita Cilantro Pesto

I knew when I started the flautas at 10:00pm I’d be in trouble. It’s getting late for my too-little-sleep-this-week body, I’ve been consumed with other projects, and I was in a hurry to get the flautas done, so I could photograph and write about them. Didn’t happen. It all went wrong in trying to soften up those damn corn tortillas. Impatience got the best of me, so I’ll try again another night when I don’t have a billion things going on.

For now, though, feast your eyes on part of the flauta stuffing – Pepita/Cilantro Pesto. That’s right, boys and girls, the pumpkin seed brings a fall twist to the world of pestos and those little, crispy “flutes”. Thank you and Goodnight.

Pepper Jack

I’m completely stoked about Veganizing Martha’s Muffin – Entree Week! Why? Because I get to hand-make some of the ingredients in each of the recipes. Ingredients that I’ve always wanted to make, even though they’re readily available all made up and packaged and stuff. But I want to make them, and I am.

So tonight, I present to you my first handmade block cheeeze, Pepper Jack. I made this batch last night using the recipe from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak. Although mine looks like I used the optional tofu listed in the recipe, I did not. Despite its looks, it tastes damn cheeezy, which surprised me, although I’m not sure why that was shocking. The recipe has the requisite cashews and nutritional yeast, so cheeezy came easy. This block is too much for the Martha entree I’ll be veganizing, so I thought I’d use some of it in the salad I had for dinner tonight. Get ready y’all and Martha! Vegan entrees coming your way.

Salad with Pepper Jack

Corn Cakes tell the hush puppies to get lost

Move over hush puppies, there’s a new appetizer in town! Holy crimony! These suckers are good! Veganizing was super-easy, so I got these on the first try. Fresh corn totally makes these yummy-rific!

Martha urges us to serve with a Smoky Tomato Coulis (and sour cream), but I was serving chili tonight and thought that would go just as well. Altered from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook, I give you a veganized version of corn cakes. Veganizing Martha’s Muffin – Appetizer Week ends on a high-five!

Martha’s Ingredients
Makes 20 2 1/2″ cakes

4 ears fresh yellow or white corn, kernels shaved from the cob
1/2 c. yellow or blue cornmeal
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 c. buttermilk
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 scallions, white and green parts, finely chopped
Canola oil for frying

Scrumpdilly’s Veganized Corn Cakes
Makes about 20, depending on how many you eat while you’re cooking them

3 Tbsp. Earth Balance, melted and cooled
3/4 c. rice milk
3/4 tsp. apple cider vinegar
4 ears fresh yellow or white corn, kernels shaved from the cob
1/2 c. yellow or blue cornmeal
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. corn starch
2 green onions, white and green parts, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. canola oil for frying

Melt Earth Balance and set aside to cool.

Add apple cider vinegar to rice milk and set aside to curdle.

Cover and bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Blanch the corn briefly, about 1 minute, and drain. Mash lightly with a fork to break up some of the kernels; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, cayenne pepper, and corn starch.

Add cooled butter to curdled rice milk, then add rice milk mixture to dry ingredients. Stir just until mixed. Fold in the green onions and corn.

Heat the oil in a skillet or griddle (iron skillets work nicely) over medium heat. Place heaping tablespoons of the batter in the skillet/griddle and cook until golden, 1-2 minutes per side. Serve immediately.

Hush Puppies Lookin' Good

I ended up making two more batches of hush puppies last night, experimenting with sugar amounts, types of non-dairy milks, and different levels of spice. I think I got the recipe pretty close to down-pat. Close enough that I ate some hush puppies as leftovers today and exclaimed, “Wow!” So I share with you, my veganization and southernization of this Martha Stewart recipe for hush puppies from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook.

Martha’s Ingredients
Makes about 3 dozen

4 c. peanut oil
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. yellow cornmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds/ribs removed, minced
2 large eggs
1 c. buttermilk

Scrumpdilly’s Hushpuppies (Veganized and Southernized)
Makes about 10-15

4 c. peanut oil (or 1/2 peanut; 1/2 another oil)
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. rice milk
1 c. yellow cornmeal
1/2 c. flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 jalapeño pepper, seeds/ribs removed, minced or 1 Tbsp. green onion, green part only, minced
5-10 drops Tabasco (optional)

Set aside peanut oil or peanut oil combination until ready to heat for frying.

In a measuring cup, add the apple cider to the rice milk, set aside to curdle.

In a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add minced jalapeño or green onion and mix until well distributed.

Add Tabasco to rice milk mixture, then add that to cornmeal mixture. Stir until well-combined and a ball of dough is formed. Roll into golf-ball sized balls.

Heat oil over medium-high heat (iron skillets work nicely) until oil is at about 370-375 degrees or until droplets of water sprinkled on top of the oil crackle and pop. Once oil is hot enough, gently roll balls off a spoon into the oil, being sure not to overcrowd the pan – about 5-6 at a time works well. After hush puppies are in skillet, fry for 2 minutes on one side. Gently turn puppies over. Once all turned, fry for 1 minute. Balls should be a dark gold-brown. Remove from oil and place on paper towels to “blot” oil and cool slightly.

I’m only doing this, because I’m exhausted. I’m operating on too little sleep and too many hush puppies (another two batches tonight). So you’ll get this and like it. I know that even my good friends don’t know this stuff about me, so there you have it. Read it and learn, effers.

Brought to you by Lauren of Whoa Wren!
1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Almond. By far the creamiest, most versatile (can go sweet or savory), and the most delicious!

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
Well, I’m choosing an appetizer, an entree, a side dish or salad, and a dessert from Martha Stewart’s Empire of cookbooks or magazines to veganize. We’ll see how quickly I give up and go with my own stuff.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
Earth Balance and sea salt or cooked in oil and sea salt.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
I can’t remember anything being too disastrous. Some just tasting gawd-awful, so it ends up going to the compost pile.

5. Favorite pickled item?
New York style pickle – extra sour.

6. How do you organize your recipes?
Depends. Some in folders. Mostly cookbooks.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
Compost and disposal.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)?
Seitan, rice, and gravy.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
Nana’s cucumber and onions in a big jar of vinegar.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Mint Chip or Mocha Almond Fudge.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
Large Henkel knife or Black and Decker mini food processor that I’ve had for close to 25 years.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Black pepper or garlic.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
Vegetarian Epicure Book Two by Anna Thomas, maybe. I’ve had this one just over 20 years. Recommended by my good friend, JAS.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Raspberry with seeds. I like the crunch.

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Vegan gumbo.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
Seitan, then tofu, then tempeh.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Supper. Evening/night.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Dog treats.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Vegan meatballs, frozen spinach, and Purely Decadent Coconut Milk ice-cream.

20. What’s on your grocery list?
Won’t make it until the weekend.

21. Favorite grocery store?
I shop at several, but I LOVE going to my local food co-op.

22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet.
Nana’s cheese balls. Or crawfish etouffee.

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa’s because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
Vegan Dad, Yeah that Vegan Shit, Kittee’s Cake Maker to the Stars, and Irreverent Vegan.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
I’m almost finished with the Trader Joe’s vegan (and large) “snow caps”.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
That plum vinegar stuff, what’s it called?

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Lemongrass and leeks terrify me.

Hush Puppies look okay, ultimately FAIL

First things first. I rarely eat fried foods. I think I eat french fries about four times a year. Fried anything else, a rarity.

Screeeech. But being from Louisiana, I do love me a good ol’ hush puppy. My favorites are from The Chimes in Baton Rouge. So that’s what I had in mind when I flipped open The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook to page 57 and saw the recipe for hush puppies.

Ugh. My first attempt at Veganizing Martha’s Muffin – Appetizer Week was about as pitiful as the picture above. Kind of okay in that you could tell what it was supposed to be, but off-focus in taste and authenticity. FAIL on first bite.

Part of the failure is my own fault. But I attribute a substantial part of what went wrong to the poorly-constructed, original recipe. Martha, Martha, Martha! Everyone knows that a hush puppy is all about the cornmeal! Yours? Big balls o’ flour. That ain’t right!

So here is what I learned from last night’s experiment in veganizing Martha’s hush puppies:

• Listen to my intuition, especially if I think aloud, “that much flour! and so little cornmeal!”
• Do not let my fear of deep frying influence my decision to use less than half the oil suggested for the recipe. No matter what, hush puppies need deep frying; they need submerging to come out right.
• Speaking of deep frying, hush puppies need to be fried in peanut oil. That, I got right! Peanut oil imparts a nice flavor to the supposed cornmeal in the recipe.
• Use tongs. That big ol’ spatula was too awkward and dorky.
• Have confidence in my substitutions (or lack of), the flour was too much of a player and messed things up, not my tweaks.
  
• Adding in some sugar was the right choice for my Chimes hush puppy replication. But I’ll use Tabasco instead of cayenne next time.
• Next time? But yes. This fail was not epic enough to abandon the vegan hush puppy project. I’ll try again!

Chocolate Cake Truffle - The Money Shot

Cake Truffles – Step Three – The Coating

Step 3.1 – Create Truffle coating in small batches (see below)
Step 3.2 – Coat Truffles in small batches
Step 3.3 – Chill in refrigerator or freezer

Step 3.1 – Create Truffle coating in small batches
Once your balls are completely chilled, you’re ready to coat them in the luscious chocolate (or whatever flavor) shell. As with the cake and the frosting, you can use any of your favorite coating flavors…chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, ramma-lamma-ding-dong! FUN!

Chocolate Coating

Makes 1 small batch
1 c. dark chocolate chips (vegan)
1 – 1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening

Simulate a double-boiler by putting chocolate chips in a large glass measuring cup and placing the measuring cup inside a larger pot that is filled with water to reach about 1/2 way to the top of the chocolate chip line.

Bring water to boil to begin melting chocolate. Once boiling, turn heat down to medium-low. Stir chocolate until completely melted – it will be thick. Stir in vegetable shortening to thin chocolate into a more workable consistency. If it’s still too thick, add more shortening a teaspoon or so at a time. If too thin, add more chocolate chips.

Step 3.2 – Coat Truffles in small batches
The cake balls are easiest to coat when they are chilled. This is why you want to coat them in small batches, so that you can coat some while the others stay chilling.

To coat: Dip one ball in the melted coating and roll until completely covered. Lift out with a spoon, gently tapping the ball several times along the inside edge of the measuring cup to get excess coating off the ball. Once most of the excess coating has made its way back into the measuring cup, let the coated cake ball slide off the spoon and onto a sheet of wax paper to cool.

Step 3.3 – Chill in refrigerator or freezer
After coating first small batch, place in the refrigerator to chill for 10-15 minutes. Once coating has completely chilled, place in candy wrappers to serve. Start process again with next small batch.