Homemade Seitan II: Seitan Ribs

Awhile ago I posted a recipe for homemade seitan where you wash the starch off all purpose flour dough. It makes a very tasty meat substitute, but it is time consuming and annoying to do. There is an easier way to make your own seitan: vital wheat gluten. It is simply gluten flour, flour that already has the starch removed. I have not bought it before because plain flour is usually cheaper. But I found a small box on sale for $2.99 at my local health food store (two hippies got into a fight in the check-out line so I stepped behind to display to get out of their way and noticed the box on the shelf).

The beauty of vital wheat gluten is there is no washing necessary. Just mix the ingredients, knead lightly, and boil. Takes at least half an hour off the prep time. Awhile ago I saw a blog for BBQ seitan ribs, which I magically cannot find again, so I decided to made a similar recipe.

Vital Wheat Gluten Seitan

1 cup vital wheat gluten 

3/4 cup vegetable broth 

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tps smoked paprika 

1 tps chili powder

1 tps garlic powder

6 cups water or vegetable broth

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs paprika

1 tps garlic powder

1 tps cumin
2 cloves of garlic, skin removed and crushed

In a small bowl, add vital wheat gluten. Shift through it a bit to get any clumps out.

Add the remaining 3/4 cup vegetable broth, 2 tps soy sauce, smoked paprika, chili powder, and garlic powder. 

Knead the ball for a minute or so, just until it all comes together and is smooth. 

Let it rest for 5 minutes, then knead a few more times. 

Divide and mold into desired shapes. I tore mine in half, flatten out one half into slab for my rips, and made a patty and nuggets with the other half. 

Add combine the remaining ingredients into a large pot. Add the seitan pieces and cover with a lid. 

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it starts to boil, reduce to simmer and cook 45 mins to 1 hour. 

Turn off the heat, leave the lid on and let it cool in the stock.

Once cool, remove the stock. It's ready to be used right away or can be stored for later.

Seitan Ribs

1 large, flat seitan steak 

BBQ sauce(used any style or brand you like, I used a sweeter one)

BBQ rub (again, any style or brand you like, mine was just a mix of random spices I had in the pantry: paprika, chili powder, turmeric, cumin, and chipotle)

Pre-heat the oven to broil or heat up the grill.

Cut the strips into the steak like rips.

Now brush on BBQ sauce. 

Rub the seitan steak with the BBQ rub. And yeah I know, traditionally you don't put sauce on it if you have a rub but that what I recipe I based this on said and I like the combination.

Bake for 30 minutes or so, until the seitan has a crunchy blacken crust. I am not sure on the grill time since I don't have a grill. I really wish I could the site I got this recipe from.










I think I like seitan better this way, but in the end I will go with whats cheapest. So unless vital wheat gluten is on sale, I will just make the flour dough and wash the stretch out. But I will totally make these ribs again sometime. They are chewy and smokey, so delicious. 

Seitan ribs, green beans, and olive bread. 

Special Report: Harts Flea Medicine Kills

So, like I promised, this blog will still majority of the time be devoted to vegan food and recipes, and not be over-preachy. But this issue upsets me so much that my journalism background had to come out.

A few days ago I got a new kitty because my building has a small rat problem and I've wanted a companion for awhile. I got her from an animal sanctuary where she was in a room full of other kittens, so it's not surprise she had some fleas. As a broken college kid, I did not have the money to buy her expensive Advantage or Frontline. My mom warned me that cheap stuff from the grocery store does not work, but it was was all I could afford without bugging my parents for money. So I picked up some Hartz Ultra Guard One Spot for Cats and Kittens. It was only $9.99 for a 3 months supply. I put it on Penny when I got home and was curious what was in and why it was so much cheaper than vet recommended brands. Wikipedia told me methoprene, the active ingredient, is an insecticide that interrupts the life cycle of fleas eggs. But it does not actually kill adult fleas. That annoyed me because it was the adult fleas not the eggs that were causing Penny to itch and chew fur off.

Then I Googled "Hartz" and several links about lethal the products are came up. I clicked on one called Hartz Victims, a site where people post their stories on what happened to their pet when they used Hartz products. Some of them very recent. As I read, I looked down to see Penny grooming herself and panicked. I scooped her up and ran to the bathtub. I washed her neck first was baking soda and normal soap, then I scrubbed her whole body in Dawn. I felt so guilty, I chose money over her health. I was afraid I poisoned her. My new little friend, only 9-months old. As I scrubbed her, I was worried I'd have to rush her to an emergency vet in the middle of night from a grand mal seizure or something.

However, besides being annoyed at the multiple baths, she seemed perfectly fine and the product was only on for an hour. But I decided to stay in and watch her the rest of the night. I poked her every once and awhile to make sure she would response like a normal kitten, and she did. She even discovered that she can snap the string on my eye mask to wake me up, so I knew she was all right.

Penny was lucky. Although some people have used Hartz for years on multiple pets and have no adverse reactions whatsoever, I did not want to risk it on my baby. I found more website, more horror stories, and even Youtube videos. What upsets me the most is that this product is still allowed on the shelves. If this was a human product, it would have been removed and the company sued to death after the first death. But, because it is for animals, it is allowed to stay. The EPA forced them to reformulate their cat products in 2006 but not its dog product. But this did not do much good because there is still numerous reports of cat and continued dogs death well after 2006.

So, please do not use Hartz products. Your pet might be  lucky enough to be one of the ones who has no reactions, but your money goes into making more products that can potentially kill another pet. There are some risks with all chemical flea medicines, but nothing like Hartz (I read a few stories about Sergeant, another cheap grocery store brand too). Advantage can cause a reactions if improperly used, like if it is put on in the wrong place where the pet can lick it. The stories you read about Hartz happened when the owners did nothing wrong. From what I can gather, methoprene is lethal to your pet in large doses and there is way more in one single tube of Hartz than needed to kill your pet.

I asked my mom the next day if she would order me some Advantage from Petco for Penny and she agreed. I will never put cheap products on her again. I don't believe your pet needs silk pillows and $10,000 food everyday, but if you are a responsible pet owner, you will buy quality products to ensure your pet has the best chance to live a long, happy life. I plan on keeping Penny for as long she will grace this Earth, and I promise to make her life a good one. 

DO NOT BUY HARTZ BRAND PRODUCTS AND SPREAD THE WORD!!

Links:

http://www.hartzvictims.org/

http://www.hartzkills.org/

http://www.hartzsyndrome.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxZ0w3uL9Qc&feature=share

"Cheesy" Breadsticks and Mushroom Sauce

I had pizza night last night because I have plans for tonight (Bad Geology Movie Night for the geology club, geeky I know) but I still wanted my pizza night. When I was about what kind of pizza to make, I thought of Pizza Hut, which made me think of its breadsticks. So I decided to make some. But, a big pile of cheesy bread is not a healthy dinner, so I decided to add some more veggies to sauce to add some more nutrients. There was sale on mushrooms at the store (99 cents a pound!) so I went with a mushroom sauce with some fresh basil from patio garden.

Mushroom Sauce
1 cup button or white mushrooms, de-stemed and diced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup red wine (I used Pinot Noir)
1 can tomato sauce
Handful fresh basil, chopped
Red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

Wash, de-stem, and dice the mushrooms. Chop the onion and garlic too.

Heat some olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

Add the mushrooms and cook until they release most of their water.

Add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions begin soften and the mushroom water evaporates.

Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Scrape up the stuff up from the bottom.

Add the tomato sauce and stir well.

Add the red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste.

Cook for a minutes so all the flavors come together.

Take it off the heat and add the chopped basil.







This would be lovely over pasta, but it's an even better dipping sauce for breadsticks...

"Cheesy" Breadsticks
1 pre-made pizza dough (try mine)
Italian Seasoning
Garlic salt
Vegan mozzarella cheese (I used Daiya)









Pre-heat the oven to as high as it will go and spray a pizza pan with cooking spray.

Roll your pizza dough into a rectangle. This dough I made last week and froze.

Cut into about 1 inch strips.

Arrange the strips on the pizza pan.

Sprinkle with desired amounts of Italian seasoning and garlic salt.

Top with desired amount of mozzarella.

If you want some extra flavor and crunch, you could brush on some olive oil before you put the toppings on.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until the dough is slightly golden. I like mine on the softer side but you can bake them longer if you want more crunch.

I had my breadsticks and mushroom sauce with a side of olives for bit more salt. And of course the rest of my Pinot Noir.

Warning, this dinner may attract your new 9-month old kitty.

Meet Penny, got her from an animal sanctuary on Tuesday. 

Jack-O-Latern and Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

I love Halloween. It's my favorite holiday. Like I said in my Halloween Taco Rice Bowl post, I am named after Elizabeth Montgomery's character Samantha from the TV show Bewitched, so this holiday is pretty much made for me. If I could get away with it, I'd still go trick-o-treating (and don't pretend like majority you wouldn't too!) As fun as dressing up and getting free candy was as a kid, my favorite part was actually carving pumpkins. It was good quality time I got to spend with my family while having fun and being creative. Those are some of my most cherished childhood memories. What kid doesn't love to get messy and throw pumpkins guts at their brother? And, there was always the delicious toasted pumpkins seeds afterwards too. I haven't carved a pumpkin in several years sadly. Now that I am not living in the dorms anymore, I decided it was time to carve and toast seeds again.  I also decided that I would spiced up my seeds this year, ya know be a little more adult. I divided my seeds in two in order to make some savory and some sweet.

You don't have to carve your pumpkin like I did, you can just cut it in half length wise and scoop out the seeds. But what fun is that?

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
1 large, ripe pumpkin
Oil or cooking spray
Savory Seasoning
1 tsp curry
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic salt  powder
Sweet Seasoning
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp ginger
1 tsp black strap molasses

Setting up to carve on my balcony. 

First thing, carve your pumpkin. Since this can be get messy, I decided to do this on my balcony. You will need two bowls, a big knife, a smaller pairing knife, a spoon or ice cream scoop, and a dish towel to wipe your hands.

Draw the desired design on your pumpkin while it's still whole.

Cut a circle around the stem, clean off the gunk and set aside.

Ew, slimy.

Scoop out the membranes, but separate out the seeds. The little tiny ones can be discard though.








Carve the design. I am not the best artist, but I like mine cock-eyed and crooked-toothed. I named him Igor.

Meet Igor. 

Clean up the edges and put the stem back on.

Put your beautiful pumpkin on display for everyone to enjoy.

Now for the seeds....









Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.

Rinse the seeds very well and get all the gunk off.

Dry them well too.

You can either oil or spray a baking sheet. Oil can give the seeds a bit more flavor but adds more calories. I just spray mine.

Spread the seeds into a single layer.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once they are lightly golden, they are done.

Combine all the savory seasonings a bowl and add the seeds while still hot. Toss together to coat.

Combine all the sweet seasonings in another bowl and add the seeds while still hot. Toss together to coat.







Now you have a lovely jack-o-latern and delicious pumpkin seeds.

But, there is more a simple pumpkin can yield. Those slimy, nasty membranes can be added to a compost pile to give nutrients to your garden (assuming you have one). The pieces you cut out can be roasted in the oven and make a tasty addition to your dinner.

Baked tofu, pesto smashed potatoes and a side of roast pumpkin