Cookbook Challenge Week 4. VwaV - Seitan Portobello Stroganoff

I really can't believe it's already Week 4. Halfway through no less! I have been slacking the past week or so, for Week 3 I only made 2 recipes out of the 3 I had planned. But this week is all about Vegan with a Vengeance. This is the first vegan cookbook I owned, my mom gave it to me for Christmas 2 years ago while I was still a vegetarian. As much as I love all of my vegan cookbooks, especially Veganomicon, this one will always be my favorite. I've made some pretty badass dishes from it that I know I will keep going back to because they are just that good.

For the Cookbook Challenge I decided to step out of my comfort zone of tried and true recipes and try some new stuff(except the seitan, I've made that before.) Technically I made 3 recipes from the book on Sunday but 2 went together for a meal and the other was just dessert so I am still planning on making at least one more good meal and maybe another dessert by weeks end.

I decided to make Seitan Portobello Stroganoff with homemade seitan, homemade pasta and Coconut Heaven Cupcakes. I definitely had my work cut out for me. I spent the entire day in the kitchen!

Let's start with the pasta...

I haven't busted out my pasta machine in a few years so I figured no better time than now to dust it off and crank out some sheets of fresh fettuccine to go with the Stroganoff. I forgot how easy it actually is and now that I've been reminded I can see more fresh pasta in my cooking future. Probably only on weekends though, it is easy but a little time consuming. The results are so much more worth your time than the $1 you spend on a package of dried shit at the grocery store. It cooks almost instantly, it has a fresh taste and you can customize the dough however you want by adding different flours, seasonings, oils or even pureed greens. I kept it simple for this recipe just in case my pasta making skills had disappeared. Luckily they are still here! I am really looking forward to trying out some different flavor and flour combinations to create the perfect pasta but in the meantime I will give you the recipe I used.

Fresh Vegan Pasta

1 2/3 cup flour - I used AP
2/3 cup water
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn garlic powder
1 tblspn truffle oil (or olive oil if thats what you have)

On the counter or in your mixing bowl(I took the lazy Kitchenaid route) Dump the flour, salt and garlic powder into a little mountain.

Using your finger make a well in the middle, like a volcano.

Pour the water and oil into the well and using a wooden spoon or your dough hook mix until it comes together to form a dough.

Dump onto floured surface and using your hands(don't forget to flour them too!) knead for about 5 minutes, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky.

Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes, I cover it in saran wrap for this step.

Once rested divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Taking the first section using your hands roughly make the dough into a rectangle shape and start running through your pasta machine on the thickest setting 2-3 times.

Repeat with every setting going down to thin out the dough. Dust with flour as needed.

At this point the pasta sheet should be very long. I cut it in half or thirds(depending on the length I would like my noodles to be) and then run each shorter sheet through the pasta cutter.

Put on a drying rack, hang on a broom or door for at least 30 minutes before cooking. If you are going to store them, dry them out for longer and seal in a bag with as much air removed as possible. You can also freeze the noodles prior to cooking.

When ready to cook, bring water to a boil and submerge noodles. Once the water comes back to a boil and the noodles float to the top, they are done. This will vary from 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on thickness and freshness of the pasta.

Now onto the Seitan Portobello Stroganoff. If you are a PPKer reading this, than I know I am not the only one who is chuckling at the word "stroganoff.' I've never had any type of stroganoff before this one(are there different kinds?) so I didn't know what to expect, except deliciousness of course! I got what I expected, and more. It looks like something a mean old cafeteria lady who reeks of cigarettes would plop onto your plate in school, or maybe even prison. Don't let the looks fool you into thinking it will be as unappetizing as it looks. This dish is packing some serious flavor on so many levels. It is so hearty and savory with a nice little kick at the end from the dijon mustard. I promise you, make this recipe and you will love it.

Last but definitely not least, let's talk about the Coconut Heaven Cupcakes. Using the word 'heaven' in the title is no joke. These cupcakes really are like dying and going to heaven(if you believe in that sort of thing). If you are a cupcake lover and especially a coconut lover, these babies are for you! Coconut cupcake with coconut frosting, hell yes. There is something about shredded coconut that gets me every time, I just can't say no. I only shared these cupcakes with a few people but heard only awesome things that these are going to become a standard cupcake for me. I have recently started using vanilla bean paste in place of vanilla extract in my baked goods and have noticed  huge difference in flavor. The biggest difference though was in these cupcakes, the vanilla and coconut flavors were totally balanced so neither one was too overpowering. Although it is much more expensive, the level of flavor it adds is worth the extra money for the paste. All those little black specks you see in the frosting in the picture below isn't a screw up, or pepper or any other weird shit, it's actually the vanilla!

Vegan MoFo - BBQ Seitan and Ice Cream Sandwiches

I've been going nonstop all day it feels good to finally sit down and blog! My day started an hour earlier than I would have liked it to thanks to the Daylight Savings Time stuff. I thought clocks switched tonight but apparently it was last night. I had my alarm clock set for 8 so when it went off and I started getting out of bed I looked at my cell phone and realized it was really only 7. I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't. Usually if I wake up earlier than I need to, or just don't feel like getting up, I can stay in bed and Gizmo will stay sleeping. The second I lift my head, sit up or make any noise she is wide awake and in my face ready to go. That's what happened this morning. I'll just go to bed a little earlier than normal tonight to make up for it.

Even though I've been going going going all day, I've been home and in my sweats so that was a plus. And I got to spend a lot of time with my dogs, even bigger plus. I started my day with a few small buckwheat pancakes that my mom made. I was a little hesitant because I always imagined buckwheat as a bland starchy thing but I was wrong. These little pancakes she made were great. Even just plain, which is how I had my first two. My third had a little smear of Earth Balance and a drizzle of agave nectar. I am definitely going to be looking more into using buckwheat now!

After breakfast I decided to make use of the new running gear I got so I leashed up my 12 year old bloodhound and went for an hour long walk/jog/run. It was really cold out, he's old and I'm out of shape so we alternated. Hopefully if I/we keep up with it, it will be more running than walking!

I spent the rest of my day cooking, doing dishes, making Gizmo's food for the next month and stoking the fire for Gizmo and Dain to lay in front of it all afternoon.

While Gimli followed me everywhere I went, ALL day.

Today was the day I decided I was going to face my seitan fears and just make it. I didn't want to do anything too complicated with it since it was my first time so I went with the Simple Seitan recipe in Veganomicon. After I mixed everything together I started getting a little discouraged because it didn't look appetizing, at all, but I was determined to see this through.

After I got it boiled, simmered, strained and cooled I took a cutlet out of the fridge and sliced it up

While I had the seitan simmering, I was also making the Backyard BBQ Sauce from Veganomicon. It has been years since I have made homemade BBQ sauce so I was really excited about this. I did make a few changes though. I used shallots instead of onion, I added wayyyyy more garlic than the original 4 cloves, I used brown sugar instead of white, apple cider vinegar instead of white, no liquid smoke, can of diced tomatoes with zesty jalapenos, and a healthy squirt of ketchup. I let that simmer for the entire hour the seitan was cooking and when it was done I threw it in the Vitamix to smooth it out. This is a really versatile sauce that can be changed however you like, mine came out more of a sweet and spicy version which is just fine with me.

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I wasn't really hungry for a meal but I was really anxious to try the seitan so I took my slices and lightly fried them in a skillet. When they were heated through I gave them a coating of the BBQ sauce and cooked for another minute or two. While that was cooking I grated some Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack and warmed a pocketless pita in the microwave. It made the perfect little snack wrap. The seitan was perfectly firm but still tender. And also slightly chewy and meaty. I will definitely make it a few more times exactly as the recipe is to make sure I have the hang of it before I start changing and adding things. All in all my first time seitan was a sucess. I don't what I've been so afraid of!

Prior to eating my snack wrap, while the the BBQ sauce and seitan were still cooling in the fridge I decided to make some ice cream sandwiches. I started out with the basic chocolate chip cookie recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar but added a little dash of cinnamon to the dough. Usually when I make these cookies I am able to roll them into little balls in my hand so I figured these would be perfect because I'd be able to control the size and shape better than a regular drop cookie. For some reason todays batch did not want to be rolled at all. It was a gooey mess when I tried. I quickly gave up and grabbed and ice cream scoop. I did my best to make sure they were all the same size and shape even though I knew they were going to spread alot more than normal due to the wetter than usual dough. They still came out great, albeit a little thinner than usual due to the spreading. After the cookies cooled I pulled a pint of my favorite coconut ice cream out of the freezer and went to work scooping the ice cream and pressing the cookies together. Once they were pressed together I rolled them in flaked coconut, wrapped them up and tossed them in the freezer. I just had one and it was the perfect little dessert. Two cookies and a small serving of ice cream all together in a sandwich? Yes, please.

That, my friends, was the perfect end to a long day in the kitchen.