Buffalo Seitan, Baked Potato with Bacon-Scallion-Garlic Cream Cheese

Tonight I decided to please the misses missus and make one of the dishes that triggered a profound hunger in her tummy, that is, Buffalo Seitan. I did a riff on Vegan Dad's recipe for the ultimate vegan hot wingz except I changed a few things around for the breading and the seitan itself. I made a simple chipotle hot sauce, some vegan ranch, and a baked potato topped with a flavored cream cheese to round off the meal. The mushrooms in the seitan add a great depth of flavor and add to the wonderfully soft texture of the seitan. This meal could make the most pessimistic eaters praise seitan the same way any seasoned veteran vegan does. I recommend a nice light amber ale with this meal, nothing to heavy, but a good bit of bite is welcome to cut through some of the richness of the cream cheese and compliment the smoky hot sauce.

Buffalo Seitan

2 cup sliced mushrooms

1 large onion, chopped (about 2/3 cup)

2 garlic clove, chopped

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp each salt, cayenne pepper, cumin, sage

1 cup water
2 cup vital wheat gluten

1 cup fine bread crumbs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper
3 tbsp oil
2 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

METHOD
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a sided cookie sheet with foil and lightly oil.
1. Place mushrooms, onion, and garlic in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add oil, spice, salt and water and process into a smooth paste. Add gluten and process into a smooth dough.
2. Remove dough from food processor and roll into a cylinder about 14" long. Slice into 1" pieces and roll them into a smaller cylinders. Slice that in half if they are too long, then flatten slightly.
3. Mix together ground corn flakes, flour, paprika, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Combine soy milk and vinegar in a separate bowl.
4. Toss seitan in 2 tsp of oil. Toss seitan in corn flake mixture.
5. Dip seitan soy milk mixture, then toss in cornflake mixture again. Place on prepared cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 10 mins, turn over, then bake for another 10 mins.
7. Coat wingz with all but 1/4 cup of the sauce. Bake for 5 mins, then use a spoon to scoop up excess sauce and recoat the wingz. Bake for another 3-5 mins, until bubbling. Remove from oven and let cool 5 mins. Toss in remaining sauce and serve. Alternatively, keep sauce on the side and serve as a dipping sauce for those who are not as big of fans of spicy food.

Chipotle Hot Sauce

1 small can chipotles in adobo
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tsps salt
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup canola oil

Puree all ingredients in the blender. Put in a glass jar and use as needed.


Vegan Ranch

1 box silken tofu
2 tsps salt
black pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp dried dill
1 tbsp dried parsley
3 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp vineger
juice of 1 lemon

Puree all ingredients until smooth. Add the dried herbs last so that the whole mixture is not bright green. Let sit in fridge to let the flavors meld.

Serve up everything and enjoy!