Tested Recipe: Crispy Sweet and Sour Seitan

When i saw this on Vegan Yum Yum, i knew that the Seitan O' Greatness would be perfect. I decided to go with the garlic sauce, as i am a garlic fiend! Here is the original recipe. (I apologize for the poor pic quality, my camera is very retarded.)
Starting the sauce, ooh look at all that lovely garlic! I added some red pepper flakes for kick and a dash of onion and garlic power for some more flavor. Cause you know, you can never have too much flavor.

Frying up the seitan in the peanut oil, it's so fragrant. The oil is the only part i don't like of the recipe. I'll try frying with some water next time, cause i had to drain them on a lot of paper towels.

The finished sauce, thick and glossy. I subbed arrowroot powder for cornstarch as i have a pound of it. The garlic released some great oils as it heated, and i added another dash of red pepper.

With some carrots and broccoli added right in, topping of sesame seeds.

This was really good, the perfect blend of spicy and sweet. I realize now that i used sushi vinegar instead of seasoned rice vinegar but it still came out great. I had to drain the seitan a lot to get the oil off, and i forgot that my vinegar had msg in it (i got it in chinatown, what should i expect!?), but this will be in my regular rotation for sure.

Tested Recipe: Tip Top Tofu Loaf

Got this recipe from La Dolce Vegan. Due to copyright protection, i can't post the recipe, but i can tell you that it contains olive oil, tofu, onions, garlic, ketchup, tamari, dijon (i omitted this, bleh, mustardo), parsley (i used cilantro), pepper, oats, and tahini. Here's some lovely pr0n shots:

I glazed the top with some ketchup and vegan worcestershire sauce, per the usual meat loaf. It turned out alright. Omni Evan liked it more than i did, but i think i crubled the tofu too much and it was bland. Next time, i'll cook up a nice gravy and crumble the tofu less or use some gimme lean for meaty heft.
Overall i'm not too impressed. C+

The Seitan O' Greatness

This recipe has taken over the internet in a matter of days, and for a good reason, no boil seitan is a dream come true. This is my second run of the Seitan O Greatness.

Original Recipe:
1.5 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp allspice
3/4 cup cold water
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce)
1-3 cloves garlic, crushed well

(1) Preheat oven to 325°.
(2) In a large mixing bowl mix dry ingredients. Mix the rest of the ingredients (liquid ingredients) in a smaller mixing bowl. Wisk well until mixed.
(3) Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well, then knead for several minutes.
(4) Form into a log (6-8" long), wrap tightly in foil, twisting ends.
(5) Bake for 90 minutes.

Notes:
When done baking, unwrap and leave out to cool all the way.
I tweaked the recipe by adding some liqid smoke, more minced garlic, and onion powder. Here is a shot after a few minutes of kneading and shaping. It started to turn my hands and cutting board orange!

All demure and wrapped up in tin foil...

I used my toaster oven just like SusanV from the Fat Free Kitchen. If you look closely, you can see my reflection on the left, ready to chomp on the tinfoiled (ouch!) seitan.

After 90 mins in der toaster oven, i've never been to delighted to see a warm steaming brown log.

I didn't wait until it fully cooled to slice a yummy piece off. This is absolute perfection, i can see stews, stir frys, sammiches, and the like in my near future.