ginger•cinnamon braised seitan

Brock and I hardly ever fight, but one of our more recent altercations was over, of all things, seitan.
He's generally not a picky eater-- I can give him just about anything for dinner and as long as there's a hunk of bread with it he says it's awesome.  But, as I found out, he does not like seitan that's even the least bit spongy...
My first attempt at making seitan for this recipe made a product that was a little spongy.  I thought it was still pretty good. Brock said he liked the flavor, but wasn't into the texture.  
He then brought up (several times throughout the meal) this teriyaki beef his mom used to make when he was a kid, and proceeded to suggest that I make my seitan a little more like that teriyaki beef.  
"That teriyaki beef my mom made when I was a kid was really good..."
"The teriyaki beef was chewier..."  
"You should try to broil this, like my mom did with the teriyaki beef..."  
I took it a little personally and I quickly became a little resentful of the teriyaki beef. 
First of all, this is not teriyaki (teriyaki does not contain cinnamon or red wine).  Second, this is not beef.  Third, I was so excited to use this method of smashing the ginger instead of peeling and chopping it (what a time saver!), and that just wouldn't work as well if I broiled the seitan ala said terriyaki beef.
We agreed to disagree for the time being.   But, this whole thing just made me more determined to stick with my original vision of the recipe and adjust the texture in other ways (I did not set out to make mock teriyaki beef and I was not going to end up with it).
But, attempt two came out even spongier.  It looked like animal brains and reminded me of a cheesy joke I'd heard: 
What do vegan zombies eat?
Grraaiins!
Ha ha.
These grain-brains went down the disposal without making it to the smashed ginger.
Then came attempt number three, which came out chewy and flavorful.
Even Oliver, the pickiest one in the house, was happily noshing his seitan. Brock was excited about it, too.
And there were no comparisons to other, dissimilar recipes.
And marital accord was restored.

I know this recipe looks a little complicated at first glance, but making the seitan from scratch was really pretty easy for me once I figured out how to adjust the firmness.  And, you can make the seitan ahead of time or even use store bought.*  With pre-made seitan, this comes together quickly and easily...  

And, of course, it's delicious.

the veggies:
-for the broth:

• 3 cups water
• 3 cups veggie broth
• 3 TBS soy sauce

-for the seitan:

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 cup cold veggie broth
• 3 TBS soy sauce
• 1 TBS sesame seed oil (or other oil)
• 1-2 TBS water, if needed

-for braising:

• 12 to 16 ounces of seitan strips
• 1/4 cup agave nectar (maple syrup or honey would also work)
• 1/2 cup seitan broth*
• 1/2 cup red wine 
• 1 TBS cooking oil
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 large piece of fresh ginger (about 3 inches long), left un-peeled and smashed with the broad side of a large knife

the love:
-for the broth:

1. Combine all the broth ingredients in a large sauce pot and bring to a boil.

-for the seitan:

1. Combine the wheat gluten, garlic powder and ground ginger in a mixing bowl.
2. In a small mixing bowl or large measuring pitcher, combine the 1/2 cup veggie broth, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until the mixture forms a stiff dough.
4. Knead for 3 to 5 minutes, kneading in a tablespoon or two of water if the dough is too stiff.**
5. Divide and stretch the dough into two flat "cutlets", and drop into the boiling broth.
6. Immediately reduce the heat to a simmer and cover.
7. Let simmer for 45 minutes.
8. Cool for awhile on the stove.  If you're not ready to use it yet you can store the seitan in its broth in the fridge.
9. When you're ready to braise the seitan, drain it, making sure to reserve some of the broth***, then slice it into strips.

-for braising:

1. Whisk together the agave, seitan broth and wine in a measuring pitcher or small bowl.
2. Heat a large skillet with oil over medium to medium-high heat.
3. Add the seitan and saute until it's browned on the edges.
4. Add the smashed ginger and cinnamon stick and stir for a minute.
5. Pour some braising sauce into the pan until the seitan is half-covered.
6. Stir and cook until the sauce is almost all gone, then add more.  Repeat until you've used up all the sauce and the seitan is still just a little saucy (this will take about two or three batches and about 20 minutes).
7. Remove the cinnamon and ginger and serve over rice or cous cous with a steamed green veggie on the side.

notes:


*If you want to use store-bought seitan, skip right to the braising and use 1/4 cup veggie broth, 1/4 cup water, and a tsp of soy sauce for the 1/2 cup seitan broth.
** This is the step where you can adjust the chewy- or spongy-ness of the seitan.  If you want it really chewy like Brock likes it, avoid adding extra water and knead well-- it will be very stiff.  If you want it more tender, add some water and knead a little less-- it will be like a firm bread dough.
***You'll use the reserved seitan broth in the braising sauce, but I also use a half-diluted solution to cook my rice or cous cous to make it more flavorful.

cheater•raspberry cinnamon rolls

Weekends are a cause for celebration in this household-- especially now that we've figured out how to keep the boys from waking us up before it's light outside.  We somehow convinced them to play in their room when they wake up instead of waking us up right away.  Never mind that to keep busy this morning they decided to remove every last book from their bookshelf, covering the floor with a colossal, sprawling heap of books.  My boys have quite a lot of books, and this makes a big...

Gigantic. 

Mess.  

And this isn't the first time they've done this first thing in the morning.  Something about that pre-dawn glow makes them want to destroy their room (or is it just something about being a boy that makes them want to destroy anything, at any time?).

But, on the bright side (as in bright from the sun, as opposed to the bright of a Buzz Lightyear book light shining in your face at five AM on a Saturday), we did get to sleep in until 6:45 this morning!  This is pretty big for us.  It probably doesn't sound great to those of you who get to experience the joy of really sleeping in, but on a weekday at that same time Brock would already be on his way out the door and the rest of us would be in the middle of our frenetic race to finish breakfast, get dressed, gather school stuff and get to school (within 10 minutes of) on time. 

So anyway, I was in a celebratory mood this morning and wanted to make something special.  This something special also had to be easy and fast because my boys had worked up an appetite destroying their room, and I almost never have the foresight or energy to start cinnamon rolls from scratch the night before.
In comes the store-bought dough, which is a favorite of ours to make in the dutch oven when we're camping.   Since we're still in the depths of winter here in the mountains and we won't be rolling out the tear drop trailer anytime soon, this "cheater" version of cinnamon rolls has snuck its way into my kitchen of late.  At least the local store carries an all-natural brand...  It's still loaded with sugar, but is free of partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, and other offenders you might find in other store-bought dough.  

Roll in some raspberries and mix some cream cheese into the frosting, and I like to think  there's a tiny bit of something in these that's good for you (and besides, we're celebrating, right?).  
This is not the kind of cinnamon roll you can pick up and eat or pick apart with your fingers (unless you're Oliver and you just don't care).  You'll want to get out the forks because these are a gooey mess-- in a wonderful, delicious, weekend morning kind of way...
Happy weekend, friends!

the (non) veggies:

• About 25 fresh raspberries, washed
• 1 roll of pre-made cinnamon roll dough (I use a 17.5 oz package containing 5 rolls and a regular icing packet)
• 1/2 cup cream cheese

the love:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° and get out a baking pan (I like to use a pie plate for this).
2. Pop open your dough and unroll a single cinnamon roll on a plate or cutting board.  Tightly re-roll the dough, squishing in a whole raspberry every inch or two, for a total of about five berries per roll.  
3. Repeat with the remaining rolls and raspberries, and don't worry if you're loosing some of the cinnamon paste from between the dough-- just spread whatever came off back on top of the rolls once they're all rolled up again.
4. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until your rolls are golden on the edges and no longer doughy in the middle (but they will still be gooey from the raspberries).
5. While the rolls are baking, whisk together the cream cheese with the icing that came with the cinnamon rolls.
6. Let the cinnamon rolls cool for just a couple minutes before frosting (if you can stand it), then glob the frosting on thick.
7. Slice and fry up some veggie sausage and brew a cappuccino for on the side, and toast to the weekend.

grandma gen's•spiced glazed nuts

The sanity level in my household is already questionable-- I don't need the craziness of Christmas pushing anyone over the edge.  This is one reason why I try to keep the holidays simple for my family (without taking away too much of the fun).  But there are some things you just can't skip-- the things it just wouldn't feel like Christmas without.  For example, Grandma Gen's Spiced Glazed Nuts.

Every year, my Grandma Gen would show up for our Christmas celebration with a big holiday-themed cookie tin full of these nuts.  We would dig into them while we opened gifts, and they'd be gone a lot sooner than something containing so much salt, sugar and fats (albeit good fats) should be.  
My mom says the recipe actually came from a next-door neighbor of ours when I was young, but at some point Grandma got a hold of the recipe and made it hers.  
She just turned 90 and I wouldn't be surprised if she's still making these nuts this year (they're that good, and she's still rockin' it well enough to whip out a few pounds of Christmas nuts).
Since I haven't been back to Minnesota for Christmas in years, I've started making them myself.  And now I can't help but to double the recipe, pack some into holiday-themed bags with ribbons and hand some out with our Christmas cards.  It's a nice little gesture that people really seem to appreciate.
And these people don't have to know how ridiculously easy they are to make...


the veggies (or nuts, etc):*

• 1 lb roasted, salted mixed nuts, plus a little extra**
• 1 egg white***
• 1 TBS cold water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt

the love:

1. Preheat your oven to 225° and line a large sided cookie sheet with parchment.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the egg whites and water until bubbly.
3. Add one pound of the nuts and mix until evenly moist.  If there's egg mixture pooling at the bottom of the bowl after mixing, add some extra nuts then stir some more.
4. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cinnamon and salt.
5. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the nuts and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
6. Spread the nuts out evenly onto the cookie sheet.
7. Bake for an hour to 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until the nuts are no longer gooey (they will still be a little sticky until they're completely cool).
8. Cool completely and store in airtight containers, such as Christmas tins or bags, and  don't forget to share.

tips:

*I often double this recipe, which seems to work fine-- just make sure you use two pans to give the nuts enough room.
**I usually get a big thing of mixed nuts and a smaller can of cashews.

***If you or someone you're gifting to can't have eggs or are vegan, you might try this recipe for Eggnog Spiced Nuts recently posted on Peas and Thank You.  These nuts looks equally (if not slightly more) tasty, but a little less simple.