Rosemary-Hazelnut Encrusted Seitan

In my last post I mentioned that I was taking over a locally-focused vegan column for my local newspaper’s food blog. I am the new I Eat Plants columnist at Small Bites, the food blog on LoHud.com (that would be Lower Hudson Valley, the region where I live).

It’s been exciting, and it forces me to blog every week. Some of my content you’ve seen before if you’re a regular reader- like my Vegan Kimchi Recipe, but you didn’t see my Rosemary-Hazelnut Encrusted Seitan recipe if you were only looking here, no you didn’t!

I’ve posted about this before, but I wasn’t happy with my recipe. It’s now worked out, and makes a delicious meal- and would be perfect for the holidays.

Bonus- I used mustard that I made myself- but that’s a subject for another post. See, I’ll have to blog more in the future. 🙂

Rosemary-Hazelnut Encrusted Seitan- I finally made one I was happy with!

Rosemary-Hazelnut Encrusted Seitan

Ingredients

• 10 oz seitan slices or chunks
• 3/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, skinned
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tbs minced rosemary
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 cup almond or soy milk
• 2 tbs stone ground mustard
• 1/2 tsp agave nectar (or sugar)
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup water (as needed)
• oil for frying

For the Seitan:

• 3/4 cup vital wheat gluten (or “gluten flour”)
• 1 tbs nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 3/4 cup vegetable broth
• For the seitan broth:
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce, optional
• water as needed

Make the seitan:

1. Add the gluten flour, nutritional yeast (if using) and garlic to a medium sized bowl and whisk together.
2. Add the vegetable broth, and mix with your hands until it comes together in a ball.
3. Kneed the ball for 3-5 minutes, let it rest for 10, and kneed again for another 3-5 minutes. Shape into a small loaf.
4. Mix the seitan broth ingredients together either in a small slow cooker (2 quart), or a medium pan on the stove.
5. If using a slow cooker, add the kneeded seitan loaf to the slow cooker, and cook on low for 6-8 hours (perfect to do over night!). If using the stovetop, bring the broth to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Add the loaf, and simmer for 1 hour, turning occasionally. The broth should completely cover the loaf; if it does not in your pan/slow cooker, add water or additional broth as needed.
6. Allow to sit at least 15 minutes before slicing.

For the coating:

1. Grind the hazelnuts, flour, rosemary, salt and pepper together in a food processor and add to a shallow dish.
2. Mix the mustard, water and agave together in another shallow dish (the water should just thin the mustard out to a thin yogurt consistency).
3. Add the almond or soy milk to a third small dish.
4. Take a slice of the seitan, dip it into the mustard mixture, coating on both sides.
5. Dunk the slice into the hazelnut/flour mixture, turning to coat.
6. Dunk it into the almond/soy milk, and then back into the hazelnut/flour mixture. This all works best if you can use one hand for the wet, and one for the dry!
7. Repeat with remaining seitan slices.
8. Heat about a 1/2″ of oil to about 325F to 350F (medium, of you’re not using a thermometer. This all works fine in a cast iron skillet), and add the seitan gently. Fry until golden on both sides, being careful not to burn it.
9. Serve with your favorite side dishes!