Monday, October 02, 2006

Mustard Crusted Seitan & More

This weekend was filled up as usual. Saturday I stopped in at my aunt's and helped her shop for the holidays. Sunday, I had to get my cooking done before heading to my father's house. We had a family dinner before Yom Kippur started. Then we fasted from Sunday evening until sundown today (Monday).

Tonight, I was trying to decide what to make for dinner. I'd thought about tortilla espanola from VwaV with some leftover pimientos de padron, but I was tired and wanted something quick.

Since I had left over seitan, I decided to attempt something I missed from my non-veg days. I used to love the mustard crusted chicken at funky restaurant not too far from my house. Now I've learned that the chicken/meats are really not what I loved, it is the tastes that they are cooked in.

How do you make mustard crusted seitan? Well, I spread a thin layer of dijon mustard on each fillet of seitan, dipped it into breadcrumbs and then pan fried it. The verdict? 9 out of 10 stars! If I had homemade bread crumbs rather than canned, the coating would have been crunchier because crumbs would not be as fine. I might also add some mustard seeds to the bread crumbs before dipping in the future. I'm getting braver about just trying things in the kitchen.

Where did the seitan come from? Well, yesterday I made seitan from VwaV to use with the entree, I cooked to bring to the family dinner. Note: Not a huge fan of VwaV seitan, it is a little spongier than I prefer. Last week I had picked up an acorn squash and a celebration squash and I decided to stuff them. First I steamed the squashes. Then I made some vegan cornbread from The Angelica Home Kitchen.

Once the bread was done, I crumbled half of it into a bowl. Then I went to work on the rest of the stuffing. I sauteed chopped onions, celery, carrot, and garlic. Next I mixed the veggies with the bread, cubed seitan, chopped up squash and sage/thyme. After that, I stuffed the squashes with the mixture and baked them. At dinner, I served the squashes with mushroom gravy.

My aunt made two desserts for Sunday's dinner. She was nice enough to experiment with egg replacer and use margarine, so I could partake. She made mun cookies. Mun is a Yiddish word for poppy seeds. They were tasty. The second dish she brought was cranberry walnut tart. It was also very good. Behold my aunt's vegan desserts!

I also brought coconut lime cookies from Vive le Vegan, but no photo as I have baked those tasty buggers before.

11 comments:

KleoPatra said...

*drool* *drool*

Oh wow... *drooling*

I'll have to post again! Drooling from your post and the food here, Jody!!!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

yummy sounding seitan -- so creative and i love how you recreated an old favorite. kudos to your aunt for braving the egg replacer! :o)

Emmy said...

Rob would totally love the mustard crusted seitan! I'm not a mustard fan at all. It looks pretty though :) The stuffed acorn squash looks scrumptious!! And that is awesome your aunt made vegan desserts for you :) The tart sounds and looks tasty.

Crystal said...

Wow, your Seitan looks way different than mine did. Hmmm...I need to try another recipe. I agree that it was kinda spongy.

Looks like great food!!

-Crystal

Unknown said...

I love that mustard crusted idea!

urban vegan said...

"Mustard crusted." It's so much fun to say. I can;t get that phrase out of my head now.

You aunt sounds amazing. Does she want another niece?

funwithyourfood said...

wow what a great way to break the fast!
Glad you're doing it so well

teddy

VeganHeartDoc said...

Shana tova :) I should have broken the fast at your place!

Nikk said...

Mmmm...mustard! :)

That acorn squash looks great, I should try that with mine!

Anonymous said...

im drooling too! i love to lean new ways to do seitan, thanks for share it!

Catherine Weber said...

Oooh, that cranberry walnut tart looks incredible! Yum.