Civet of Seitan and Courico Tacos!

Civet of Nonboaring Seitan

Yet another take-off of a Bourdain recipe, originally called Civet of Wild Boar. I thought civet was some kind of musky scent (appetizing, I know), so I looked it up in my Scrabble dictionary (yes, it was handy). They define it as a catlike mammal (still unappetizing and getting worse), so I looked online. In this context it's a stewlike concoction usually made with gamier animals that have been marinaded in red wine, leeks and onions. Ooookkk. At least it's making sense, even if it sounds disgusting. I took the easy way out and subbed seitan and can say this would satisfy any hard-core meat eater. This looks a little more involved than some of the recipes, but it comes together in a big way and isn't as complicated as it sounds.

Civet of Nonboaring Seitan

8 oz seitan ( about 1 cup), cut in 1 inch cubes
2 carrots, cut in 1 -1 1/2 inch lengths
1 cup onion, sliced in 1/2 moons
1 cup leeks, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup red wine

Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil (for searing)
2 Tbsp eb (for searing)
1 Tbsp flour
bouquet garni*
1/2 cup wine
1/2 cup broth
2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp grated dark chocolate

Day 1: Marinade the cubes, carrots, onions, leeks and garlic in the red wine in ziplock bag overnight.

Day2: Using a collander over a bowl, strain the liquid out. Pick out the seitan, but keep everything else in the collander. Keep the marinade liquid in the bowl, too. Heat the oil/eb in a large frying pan. Toss the seitan with a little salt and pepper to season. When it's sizzling hot, sear all sides of the seitan, then remove it and set aside. Keep the pan hot, and add the rest of the vegetables. Turn the heat down to about medium and cook until the vegetables start to carmelize, probably about 15- 20 minutes. Stir in the flour, cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the 1/2 cup of wine in the second batch of ingredients and reduce by 1/2. Add the seitan, bouquet garni, broth and reserved marinade. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until thickened and saucy.

Now from here, the recipe sounds a little crazy. Pick out the seitan and the carrots. Yes, really. Put them aside. Using that same collander in a bowl, strain out the other vegetables. We're wastefully done with those. Put the seitan, carrots and the saucy part from the bowl back in the frying pan and heat. Stir in the vinegar and grated chocolate. When it's heated throughout, check the seasonings and eat.

*A bouquet garni is just a fancy way of saying tie together a stalk of parsley, 2 stems of thyme and a bay leaf. Mine didn't stay together at all and it doesn't matter because it just stays with the vegetables you throw out. So just toss them in.

We had this with Israeli cous cous on the side. Bad move. It really calls for some kind of potato. Or you could get away with rice or maybe eggless noodles, since it's a lot like a stew.

You can't really see it in the picture, but we also had CSA cauliflower with that CSA brocooli! Delicious!

Whew, that was a lot of typing! For a break, feast your eyes on this tester for Crack of Noon: Courico Tacos with Caramelized Pineapple Salsa. I think it might be my all time favorite taco idea. So much flavor, with a good amount of heat balanced with the incredible salsa! The cookbook would be worth the cost for this recipe alone.

Courico Tacos with Grilled Pineapple Salsa

Tonight's Dinner: Joni's Cheater Mac and Cheese (again). We need something quick and easy. We're getting ready to go to Vermont and planning a food fest there: Pennycluse (never been there), A Single Pebble and Stone Soup, of course. We're hoping to get some great food in Albany on the way and find lots of other cool places and things! If you've got a suggestion, let me know.