Veggie Meat!

Have Cake Will Travel has led us into the land of temptation. Yes, we’re back into making gluten … but this time we’re not doing it the hard way, and we haven’t even gotten around to posting about the sort-of-hard way. No, this time, we’re doing it the insanely easy way, and eating the whole darned thing in a single evening!

OK, you didn’t just hear that. No. Not at all. Of course we were good enough to space out our gluten consumption over a few days, and a few meals. Umm. OK, no, we weren’t. This went down our gullets all in the same night, sadly (but only “sadly” because we wish that we had more!).

This is the very basic “seitan ‘o greatness” recipe to which we were pointed by Have Cake, Will Travel back in the day.

• 1.5 cups 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
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 cups water
• 4 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce

We didn’t do much else but follow directions, but we were so wildly successful that it won’t be long before we thoroughly subvert it to our own fiendish uses. (chilies flakes, anyone?) Please note I said we didn’t do “much else.” We did add great heaps of sage and diced apples and garlic (next time we’ll ease up on the garlic or add it in powder) to imitate St. Helena’s Gillwoods Café chicken apple sausages — which, granted, we haven’t tasted, but it always sounded good. Next time we may use mushrooms… sweet potatoes… chives… The possibilities are endless.

Despite the pretty presentation (just for you out there in blogland), we gnawed on this for like 15 minutes before it ever hit the plates. It was terribly tempting, and … after the first bite, it was basically the end, for this dish. We don’t know how it is that Have Cake Will Travel ever leaves the house except to buy gluten powder, this stuff is so good!

DO follow the links to the recipe, and DO try out your creative muscles on this stuff!

Sorry for the short post — after snorting up peppers (not my eyes, my nose, of all things) my endless sniffles have morphed into some kind of evil sinus infection. Anyway, I have to stop blogging … and order more gluten powder.

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