Seitan Curry

1/2 recipe PPK seitan
(I added cumin and coriander to the broth-tomato paste mixture but it didn't change the taste much)

Marinade:
dash coconut milk
dash Worcestershire
½ tsp curry paste
½ tbsp peanut butter
¼ cup veg broth
1 lime, juiced
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Curry Sauce:
1 tsp red curry paste
1 can coconut milk
dash (vegan) worcestershire
1/3 cup broth
2 tbsp brown sugar
¼ cup whole Thai basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

5 mushrooms, chopped
1 red pepper, sliced
1 1-inch chunk ginger, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 green onions, chopped

Cut the seitan into small chunks and let it sit in the marinade while you prepare the curry sauce and the vegetables. Brown the seitan with the marinade in a tablespoon of oil. Heat the curry sauce until it begins to boil and add the vegetables and the browned seitan chunks. Simmer for 15 minutes and serve with rice.

Spicy Cucumber Salad

1 cucumber, sliced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 shallot,minced
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
dash sriracha
dash (vegan) worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped

Combine all of the ingredients except for the peanuts. Let it marinate for an hour. Sprinkle with peanuts just before serving.

Cucumber Sake Cups

Easiest cucumber cocktail ever. I just scooped out the center of a big chunk of cucumber (leaving the bottom, obviously) and filled it with sake. Mine were pretty small; they probably held a bit less than an ounce of liquid. The original recipe tried to get all fancy and add extra fruity flavors to the drink but I think the hint of cucumber you get from drinking the sake out of a cucumber is all the extra flavor it needs.

Sandra Lee's version

Lentil, Radish, and Cucumber Salad with Goat Cheese

I was all excited about making these two recipes but when I finally got off my ass to make them, my asparagus was moldy because I got the nasty crap at Whole Foods instead of the Farmers' Market after finding out on Thursday that it mysteriously switched to Wednesdays. So I combined the recipes.

Seitan Cacciatore

16 oz seitan, chopped
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 ( 28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
3/4 cup veg broth
3 tablespoons drained capers
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves

Sprinkle the seitan pieces with the flour to coat lightly. In a large saute pan, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the seitan pieces to the pan and saute just until brown on a few sides. Set aside. Add the pepper and onion to the same pan with some more oil and saute over medium heat until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms and cook until they start to brown. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, broth, capers and oregano. Return the seitan chunks to the pan and turn them to coat in the sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Continue simmering over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle the basil on top and serve over pasta.

Adapted from Giada's Chicken Cacciatore.

Seitan Bourguignon

~2 oz veggie bacon, diced
3 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 recipe of PPK seitan (or about 2 packages), cut into large chunks

10 baby carrots, sliced in half diagonally

5 pearl onions, sliced

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup of full-bodied red wine (I used Pinot Noir)

leftover seitan simmering broth or 2 cups of veggie broth

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 sprig of thyme

bay leaf

18 pearl onions, braised in broth (recipe follows)

1/2 pound quartered fresh mushrooms sautéed in butter (recipe follows)

chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Sauté the bacon in 1 tbsp oil over moderate heat for a few minutes. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Add a few more drops of oil and sauté the seitan chunks until slightly browned on all sides. Remove and set aside. Add some more oil if necessary and brown the carrots, onions, and celery. Combine the seitan, bacon, and veggies in a casserole dish and sprinkle them with the flour. Toss it to coat everything with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the seitan and return to oven for 4 minutes more. Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 250-300 degrees. Transfer everything to a pot (or use the casserole if it's stovetop safe) and stir in the wine and enough broth to almost cover the seitan and veggies. Add the tomato paste and herbs. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then put it back in the casserole, cover it, and set in lower third of preheated oven. Let it simmer for an hour or until ready to serve.

While the seitan is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.

Before serving the seitan, add the cooked mushrooms and onions to the casserole and put it back in the oven, uncovered, until it starts to simmer again. Garnish with the parsey and serve with mashed potatoes.

Braised Onions:
18 baby onions

1½ tablespoons butter

1 ½ tablespoons oil

½ cup of broth

1 sprig of thyme

1 bay leaf

When the butter and oil are hot, add the onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling the onions so they brown evenly. Add the herbs and broth, cover and let them simmer for about 30 minutes until the liquid has evaporated.

Sauteed Mushrooms:
2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon oil

½ pound fresh mushrooms, quartered

Heat the butter and oil. When it's hot, add the mushrooms. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring often until the liquid evaporates and they start to brown.

Adapted from Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon

Bagels, Take One

It's probably a bad idea to replace all-purpose flour with whole wheat, but it worked. Dunno what the hell bread flour is, but I had some leftover vital wheat gluten from (finally) making my own (absolutely delicious) seitan, and I heard adding a little bit of wheat gluten to the dough makes it more like bread flour, so that's in there too.