Wednesday, November 23, 2011

It's Not Too Late! Make Isa's Seitan Roast for Thanksgiving!

I know I had planned to make the lovely Tami's delicious Gobbler Roll for tomorrow, but then, last night, Isa released the recipe for an amazing vegan centerpiece loaf, the Seitan Roast Stuffed with Shiitakes and Leeks and I just couldn't help myself.  So, I just made it (please forgive me, Tami, I'll make it up to you!!).

I took pictures of the rolling process, which I learned from watching one of my all time favorite chefs, Jacques Pepin, make his beautiful Buche di Noel (yule log) with Julia Child in their series, Jacques and Julia, Cooking at Home.  I adore Jacques and Julia!  I highly recommend the series (it's not vegan, though, obviously!).

Without further ado, here is how I made Isa's lovely Stuffed Seitan Roast:

 Mix the wet and dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. 

 Now your dough is going! Knead it until it is nice and doughy.  

 OK, here is my first trick: Spread the seitan dough out ONTO your aluminum foil that is already set up.  Just push the dough out into a 12x10 rectangle with your hands right on the foil.  The dough is nice and moist and will not stick to the foil.  Then, load up your stuffing (I used a cornbread and vegan sausage stuffing!)


 Now, in the style of the Buche di Noel (a lovely, cream filled chocolate Christmas cake that Jacque Pepin makes) use the foil to tightly roll your seitan around the stuffing.  Pull the foil up around the dough (with two hands!) to get it rolling, then, tighten the foil over the dough by pushing your hands over the foil and down over the roll, like you are rolling sushi.  You can probably even just keep pulling the foil over the roll and it will go!

 Keep pushing the dough and rolling it forward with the foil! It's fun and easy!  Then, just push/stroke that seam together with your fingers. You don't need to take the roll off the foil at all, just smush it together.  The dough is very soft.


 I just pushed the ends in, like I was wrapping a present, to seal them.  I forgot to take a picture of the sealed ends! Sorry!

Roll your seitan loaf closer to the top of the foil, closer to the top than you see it here, and then roll the foil over the seitan loaf all the way down, then just seal the ends.

 Wha Lah!!

Bake as directed.  

Rejoicing in the glow of Seitan Roast success!


XOXO

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

9 comments:

  1. This is fantastic. I saw your comment on Isa's post and was stoked to see you've already gotten your post and photos up - well done! I only saw her post tonight, so I'm thinking this will be our Christmas dish. Can't wait to hear how it turned out for you!

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  2. Thanks, Lisa! My son went to bed super early tonight so I went crazy cooking and blogging :-)

    I'll post Thanksgiving meal pics ASAP!

    XOXO

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  3. Can't wait to see the finished product! I was thinking that I might want to try this out for Christmas, since we've already got our Thanksgiving meal planned out.

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  4. Yep, I bookmarked that recipe yesterday! Some other year (for Thanksgiving), though.

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  5. Cliffhanger is right! You big tease. Happy Thanksgiving.

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  6. Thanks for posting! I'm not wild about vegan foods trying to imitate meat, so I avoid the Tofurkey roast as wannabe-turkey (even though I like the taste). The seitan roll you made LOOKS different in its proportions---almost like a baguette or something, but yummier than mere bread??
    I don't know why this recipe should only be baked for holidays? Good food is appropriate any time.

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  7. Thanks, everyone! Pics coming soon...;-)

    XOXO

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  8. Thank you so much for posting your pictures! I am making this tomorrow, and the rolling process I visualized after reading the recipe was *not* what you did at all. I think I would have had a mess on my hands if I hadn't popped over here. Definitely needed the visual!

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  9. Melissa, so glad it helped!! FYI: The rolling technique I used is NOT the same as Isa's technique, so if you try to match up her post exactly with my pics, it won't match. I didn't think I could do it her way!

    My technique is borrowed from both Jacque Pepin (in his making of a filled chocolate souffle cake) and sushi making!

    Also of note: If you sub the VWG at all, also make sure you spray the foil with some olive oil before spreading out the seitan so the seitan doesn't stick to the foil. You can spray it anyway to be safe, if you want, which I did do.

    Happy Holidays!!

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