I first saw this recipe on Yeah… and thought I’d try it out as a possibility for when my parents visit next weekend. They are coming to celebrate my dad’s birthday, so I thought it would be nice to make/reinvent foods that he enjoys. I remember my mom making ribs for him when I was a kid, but I have to admit that I never really developed a fondness for them. They’re too human-like. I was never really a fan of anything that resembled my own body parts. Anyway, so I’m happy that I tried this recipe out first before trying to serve it to guests. They were edible and freakishly rib-like, but the flavor was a little weird to me. I think it may have been the paprika and I may the recipe again without adding it to see if it is better.

I did make my own BBQ sauce for them, which I’m pretty proud of. The sauce was a tad spicy, but really, really tasty. For a hearty side dish (aka a backup in case the ribs were unsuccessful), I made the delicious BBQ beans from Vegan Planet. I also modified the corn bread recipe from there and made the best cornbread I have ever had. Sooooo yummy! It’s a great book and not very expensive if you buy it from Amazon. I totally recommend it for your home library.

I wanted to try a more chicken-y approach to the seitan recipe that I tried earlier in the week. By this, I mean that I wanted to try marinating it and grilling it, the way that one might prepare piece of chicken. So… I used the same recipe (except that I had all of the ingredients this time, minus the poultry seasoning) and I prepared it exactly as the recipe states. After it was done steaming, I marinated it in some lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, olive oil and grill seasoning for about 2 hours. Then I fired up the grill. When they were done grilling, I cut into one of the cutlets to test the firmness of the inside. You’ll recall that my chief complaint about seitan is the sometimes mushiness of the center. Yep, these were a little mushy in the middle, so I decided to remedy that by sticking them in the oven while I finished preparing the side dishes. The result was a less chewy center with a very crispy outside. Hmmm… not exactly what I was going for, but not totally inedible either. Emma even choked down a few bites, which really surprised me.

I’m not giving up on this, though. I think it’s totally do-able, but I just need to practice a little with cooking the seitan. Once I figure out the best cooking method or combination of methods, we will be in business.

On the side, we had some kale that I cooked in veggie stock. Boy, do I LOVE kale. We also had some dilly potatoes. I took about 7 baby yukon gold potatoes (my favorite) and quartered them. Boil for about 3 minutes and remove from the water. In a skillet, heat 2 TB non-dairy butter and add the potatoes. Allow them to brown up a bit, then add about 2 cloves of chopped garlic. When the garlic has cooked (and the potatoes are tender), sprinkle in about 2 TB of chopped fresh dill and season with S&P. Delish!

I’ve never been a big fan of seitan (made from wheat gluten). I’ve tried it a few times (purchased from the store) and even tried making it a couple of times, but I’ve found that it always turns out tasting funky with a really soft, mushy texture. Feeling adventurous and somewhat inspired from reading Vegan Dad’s blog, I decided to give one of his recipes a try. I settled on this recipe, except that I shaped it into patties before steaming and I did not make the stuffing. In the midst of making it, however, I discovered that I only had about a cup of wheat gluten and no poultry spice, so I omitted the poultry spice and cut back on the water by 1/4 cup. At the end, it was still a little too mushy feeling and I started adding oat flour until it thickened up a bit. Why oat flour? I have no idea… I guess it was just handy at the time.

Anyway, I did not have high hopes for this seitan recipe considering the amount of substitutions/additions/subtractions/etc. and I decided to make up a batch of nut burgers as a back up. I used a cookie scooper to scoop out the burger concoction onto a baking sheet, thus making nut balls. They turned out good, but a little on the crumbly side.

When the seitan was done steaming, I used this recipe to bread it. The only substitution there was panko bread crumbs in place of traditional because I love the crispiness from the panko. I baked the patties for about 15 minutes per side after spraying them with the oil.

So, the moment of truth… I cut into it, took a bite and, to my surprise, they were really, really good. I think I might be on to something here, so be on the look out for more seitan recipes in the future. I just had leftovers for lunch and it was still good (although better last night when the breading was still crisp).

For those converts who are missing chicken, this would be a really good recipe for you to try out. And for those who are not (yet) converts, this would be a really good recipe for you to try out. I just read something super gross about chicken that I didn’t know and will pass along. Apparently, they are kept so crammed in their cages that disease runs rampant. To keep the diseases in check, their feed is laced with small amounts of antibiotics and arsenic. Yes, arsenic. Doesn’t that sound delicious?!

On the side, I tried out a new recipe for cornbread, which didn’t impress me all that much. It was actually my attempt at veganizing it, so maybe that had something to do with it. I was good, but not what I was going for.  I have a few changes in mind, so I will try those out first before posting the recipe.