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From: ewj@hscfvax.UUCP (850039@P.Fuller)
Newsgroups: net.veg
Subject: Re: Vegetarian Cookout
Message-ID: <120@hscfvax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 1-Jul-85 02:43:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: hscfvax.120
Posted: Mon Jul  1 02:43:23 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 3-Jul-85 08:19:01 EDT
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Organization: Health Sciences Computing Facility, Harvard University
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The following recipes are for those of you interested in 
cookouts and also for those of you wondering about ``burgers.''
Hope you are not put off by the great length of this recipe
listing, but what can I say?  These recipes are from a book
on wheat gluten (seitan) which will be out by the Spring of
1986.  There is a questionnaire at the end for those 
adventurous gourmands among you who actually complete the recipes.  

This preparation will produce a thick sticky substance
resembling chicken or veal after it is cooked.  
It can be preapred
in a variety of ways.  In the Orient, this food is often referred
to as Buddha-Food since the Buddhist monks often used it as
a meat substitute (those who were vegetarian).  

The first step
is to wash the starch out of the wheat flour.  What to do with this
will be covered in the book.  After the starch is gone, you are left
with the gluten which is what makes bread dough sticky and makes
this seitan delicious.  Hope you get through this recipe and enjoy it.  
I am especially interested in readers/cooks/ eaters comments so
I can have the greates possible previewers of the recipes.  All
to perfect the instructions, ingredients, etc.

Copyright (c) 1985 Leonard Jacobs

I.  BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR CREATING GLUTEN (UNCOOKED SEITAN) FROM
VARIOUS FLOURS:

SEITAN   1

To make 2 1/2 c. uncooked:
4 cups whole wheat flour
4 cups unbleached white flour
3 1/2 to 4 cups water

     Preparation of gluten for making seitan occurs in four
phases. They are mixing, kneading, resting, and rinsing.
After the rinsing, the gluten of the wheat will have been
separated from the starch and bran.  All three of these
elements may be reserved in one of a number of ways (explain
elsewhere). Most commonly, the gluten is cooked soon after
its preparation, and this is what we usually call "seitan ."

     The varieties of gluten/seitan I call \#1,\#5, and \#6 are
made in basically the same way.  In this recipe I have only included 
\#1.  It is helpful to use a
mixing bowl which is at least four inches taller than the
size of the dough it is to contain, although it should be
able to fit into your kitchen sink for most efficient
processing.  A large stainless steel mixing bowl (12 qt?) is
adequate for making the larger amounts of seitan listed
above, and will be very comfortable for the smaller amounts,
but smaller bowls of course may be used.  Do not use a
wooden bowl as it could be damaged by the time it spends in
water.

     Put all the flour for the batch of dough into the bowl.
In the case of mixed flours, the flours should
be well blended with a fork prior to adding the water. Add
the water one to two cups at a time, and mix well with a
spoon or paddle after each addition. When all the water has
been added, begin to mix with one hand while holding the
bowl steady with the other.  If this is done with the bowl
in the sink, it will make additional water accessible (you
can operate the faucet with your dry hand) in case the
mixing hand need water on it to prevent excessive sticky
dough from accumulating on it. This is when the telephone
always rings.

     Begin to knead with the ``mixing'' hand and continue to
knead for 50 or 60 strokes with a motion which scoops up a
generous handful of the dough from the bottom of the bowl
and deposits it on top of the dough in the bowl, to be
pushed down firmly with the backs of your fingers.  Rotate
the bowl a few inches in between kneading strokes to achieve
thorough mixing.

     Let the dough rest for 20 to 30 minutes.  If you have
to leave for an extended period of time, cover the dough
with a damp cloth, as if leaving bread to rise.  It is
during this time that the gluten develops, so be sure to
allow at least 20 minutes at this point.  If the gluten does
not develop well, much of it will simply turn into batter
and wash away in the next phase.  After the resting period,
knead the dough again, with damp hands, for 20 or so
strokes.  You should be able to notice that the consistency
of the dough, while still fairly soft, is much more dense
than before.

     It is during the rinsing that you will actually
separate the gluten from the starch and bran.  When you tell
your friends about this, they probably will not believe you
until they try it themselves!  With the bowl containing the
dough placed in the sink, run lukewarm water into the bowl
at the edge of the mass of dough.Fill the bowl with water.

     Begin to manipulate the dough by lifting 
it in both hands, and compressing it gently but firmly
between the palms of your hands.  Repeat this about 15
times, then run more water slowly into the bowl.  Repeat
this squeezing motion under the stream of water, picking up
a new double handful of dough every so often and squeezing
it under the running water.  Turn off the water, or direct
it away from the bowl, and continue to pick up dough from the
bottom of the bowl and compress it a few times between the
palms.  The water should now be very thick and white. Pour
it off into a large measuring cup (the easiest way I know of
to transfer it ), and pour from the measuring cup into a
large (one gallon is good) glass jar.  If you have extra
jars, you can save up to 3-4 gallons of this ``starch water''
which will, in about 2 hrs.  time, separate in to layers,
the top of which may be poured off. (more about this in another
section).  Repeat this method of filling the bowl with
water, squeezing the dough thoroughly, and pouring off the
milky starch water.  You may want to save only the water
from the first one or two bowlfuls.

     After two complete cycles, the dough can be treated
much more vigorously.  Continue to squeeze the dough under
gently running water, but as you observe the developing
gluten, which you can recognize by its stringy,elastic
qualities, you can increase the strength of the water stream
and the vigor of your squeezing, until you are really
stretching and pulling the gluten in all possible
directions.  You may alternate water temperatures, as warmer
water makes the gluten softer and cold water makes it more
rubbery.

     When the gluten has formed a fairly solid mass, and
there are no longer any small loose pieces floating about
but it is all quite elastic and holding together well, you
may put it into a colander with large holes (not a strainer)
and finish the rinsing process this way, as most of the
starch has been either saved or discarded. The remaining
kneading is to remove any traces of starch which are still
evident. Squeeze the seitan firmly, away from running water.
Any water which comes out of it should be almost clear.  If
there is much starch present in the finished seitan, the
texture will not be as good when it is cooked.

     In spite of the length of this description, the total
time for rinsing need not be more than 20 minutes for a
double batch (5 cups seitan), once you have practiced it
once or twice.

III.  BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR VARIOUS METHODS OF COOKING
SEITAN

SIMMERED CUTLETS OR CUBES

2 cups uncooked seitan
4 cups water
1/4 to 1/2 cup tamari (for ``strong tamari broth seasoning''use 1/2 cup)
3" kombu
1 tablespoon sesame  oil
4 to 6 1/8" slices fresh ginger root

     Slice the seitan into 6 slices each 1/2 inch thick, or
10 to 12 slices each about 1/4 inch thick. When cooked,
these will almost double in thickness.  Uncooked seitan may
also be cubed before cooking, to be used in stews or
skewered dishes, or other recipes calling for cubes.  The
edges have quite a different appearance than those cut from
larger pieces of seitan already cooked.

     When the broth is to be seasoned with one of the
seaoning mixes, use those ingredients instead of the above.
After bringing the water and kombu to a boil, remove the pot
from the heat and add the necessary seasonings.  Allow it to
stand for five minutes before adding the gluten, then
proceed as follows:

     Bring to a boil all of the ingredients for the broth.
Reduce the heat and add, one by one, the gluten slices.
Gluten may also be cut up into small pieces.  Cover the pot
and simmer for about 2 hour.  Boiling the cutlets will result
in a more spongy texture.  Stir the pieces occasionally by
lifting and repositioning them to minimize breakage.  After
about 2 hours, most or all of the broth will be absorbed
into the cutlet pieces.  If any remains, save it for
flavoring gravies or other sauces or soups.  Even when the
pieces are well-cooked, they may be fairly soft and tender;
at this point they are still very ``breakable,'' so handle
them carefully.  They will become firmer as they cool, which
is best done by allowing the seitan pieces to remain in the
broth so they will be less fragile when removed.


PEPPERONI SEITAN

2 cups gluten flour
one recipe sausage seasoning

SAUSAGE MIX
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 1/2  tsp.  sage
1/2    tsp.  nutmeg
1/2    tsp.  dry mustard
1/2    tsp.  black pepper
4      tsp.  paprika
1 1/2  tsp.  salt


STOCK FOR COOKING

4 cups water
2 tablespoon tamari
4" kombu

     Combine the dry ingredients.  Drizzle the oil over the
surface of the seasoned flour and mix in well with a fork.
Pour the water slowly over the flour-oil mixture, working in
rapidly with a fork so all the ingredients are moistened.
Knead well to blend.  Divide the dough and string each into
four equal parts.

     To cook:  form each of the four pieces of seitan into a
cylinder.  Tie with the string to maintain the cylindrical
shape:  wrap the string around the cylinder in a spirallic
line,then crossing it in the opposite direction using the
same winding motion.

     Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  and heat the broth
in a heavy covered ovenproof pot or dutch oven.  When hot
put the cylinders into the broth and simmer 20 minutes to
1/2 hour.

     Bake for 20 minutes then lower oven heat to 275 degrees
F.  Turn the links every 20 minutes until most of the broth
is absorbed.  When turning for the last time, dribble 1
teaspoon of oil over the top of each one.  Remove the cover,
and bake 15 minutes more, turning every 5 minutes for even
browning.

     These cylinders will more than double in size while
cooking, so select a pot large enough to accomodate the
finished size. Cool the pieces of seitan thoroughly before
carefully removing the string.

If you got this far why not go a little further and
fill in the enclosed questionnaire.  And if you get an
appetite for more of this food, send me mail directly
and I will send you more to try.  200 recipes at last 
count and still counting.

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PEOPLE PREPARING SEITAN DISHES:

Please answer "yes" or "no" or give  any  other  comment  as  you
wish.

1. Were the directions clear?

2. What kind of additional information  would  you  like  to  see
presented for the given recipes?

3. How easy/hard was it to make, relative to how it sounded?

4. Would you make it again?

5. Could the dish be arranged in what you consider an  attractive
way?

6. Who was it prepared for?

7. Did they( the diners) like it?

8. What is the number and/or name of the recipe?.

9. What kind of comments did they have  (  solicited  by  you  or
otherwise?)

10. Would you suggest a name for this recipe?

11. Which brand of flour did you use for your preparation?


ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE TASTING:

1.  What is you visual impression  (assuming  the  dish  you  are
    tasting has not been demolished or otherwise messed up)?

2.  What is your initial taste impression?

3.  Would you like to prepare this dish yourself?

4.  If you are inclined, please enter a  title  for  this  recipe
    (please be positive)

5.  Please make any other additional comments below:

THANK YOU VERY MUCH ...I HOPE YOU HAVE ENJOYED YOUR ``RESEARCH !''

Please send responses direct via mail.

--Leonard Jacobs