Chicken Seitan Italiano

I love seitan. If I had to pick just one protein between tofu, tempeh and seitan, it would have to be seitan. Second would be tofu, which is pretty interesting considering that I've hated it for about 20 years. More on that in another post.

Ages ago, jdfunks from Get Sconed!, and one of my personal cooking heroes, posted a chicken style seitan recipe that she sometimes uses. I've been meaning to try it ever since and finally did. It's got great taste, picks up seasonings well, cuts beautifully, and is really easy to make. Because I can't leave well enough alone, I'm trying to play with the texture a little. But it's great as is! If you want to check out the recipe, it's here. If you're curious, it makes about 20 oz of seitan, so you'll have some to save or freeze. You'll need a batch of whatever chicken seitan you like to start this recipe.

One more thing: this recipe looks tedious. It really isn't! Most of the ingredients are pantry items. Once the cutting is done, most of the recipe is just simmer time.

Chicken Seitan Italiano
Serves 3 or so

8 oz chicken seitan cutlets
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp herbes de provence
salt and pepper
2-3 Tbsp olive oil (to panfry the seitan, but keep it in the pan after)

1 Tbsp earth balance margarine
1 shallot, diced (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 red or green pepper, diced
1/4 cup celery, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 cup white wine
2 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp italian seasoning (dried)
2 Tbsp capers
2 Tbsp sundried tomatoes (the oil packed kind, or reconstitute)
2 tsp rosemary, fresh
2 tsp thyme, fresh
2 tsp tarragon, fresh
salt and pepper, if needed- taste before salting!

Heat the pan on medium heat and add your olive oil. Mix the flour, herbes de provence, salt and pepper together. Dredge the cutlets and panfry them on each side. Remove from pan and keep warm in a 200 degree oven.

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the margarine to the pan, then the shallots, peppers and celery. When lightly sauteed, add the garlic and cook a few minutes. Don't let it burn. Add the mushrooms and stir for a few more minutes. Add the wine and lemon juice and cook until it is reduced by half. This may take about 15 -20 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the seitan and salt and pepper), and let it simmer until saucy. If you prefer, add a little cornstarch in broth to thicken it up. Check the seasonings, then serve over the seitan cutlets.

This is another great dish from Isa. It's a tester for the new brunch cookbook and it's a Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puff with Navy Bean Gravy. I've never considered myself to be a sausage and gravy type of person. I was wrong. This is so flavorful and addictive. When you're making it, it works really well if you stick your fork in the gravy then the tempeh mixture and just shovel it in your mouth as fast as you can. At least it worked for me! Another winner from Isa!

MAJOR EDIT: on the left WAS a picture of the dish from Isa...but it turns out I used phyllo dough not puff pastry, so I took it down. Trust me, it would have been prettier with the right dough. But it still tasted incredible! Thanks to Sawdust and Diamonds of the PPK for figuring it out.

Tonight's dinner: oh wait, let me tell you about last night's dinner! Ma Po Tofu! Recipe coming soon!