Joe's Big Batch Seitan

This is a great batch of seitan. I really like the versitility of the recipe as you can put in flavorings you like. This one really goes well with spanish or mexican dishes.

Joes big batch recipe

4.5 cups of Vital Wheat Gluten
1/2 cup nutritional yeast

Stir well

1 Tbls Safflower stems
1 Tbls paprika
1 Tbls Webber's Smokey Mesquite
1 Tbls garlic powder
1 Tbls black pepper
1 Tbls onion powder
1 Tbls sea salt
1 packet Sazón Goya
get in the Latin sections of grocery or Mexican /Spanish store

In a 2 cup measuring cup add
1/4 to 1/2 cup soy sauce or Tamari or Bragg
1/2 cup molasses
then fill the cup with cold water to make two cups and pour on top of the wheat mixture
then add 2 more cups of water to the mix

Start out by mixing gently then as it soaks up the liquids you can mix it harder and knead it well. If it is too wet you can just ad more vital wheat but do it by a couple of spoons full at a time.

Get a couple of big pots with water boiling only about two thirds full of water

Shape the mixture into a fat log and cut it into fat cutlets and drop them into the boiling water
Boil them for 110 minutes

Get the water to come to a full boil again after dropping them in and then you can turn them down so they do not boil over and cook uncovered for the rest of the 110 minutes.

Get ready to take them out. You should have a couple of wire racks set up with a catch tray under them.

Joe puts them into plastic bags and freezes them into meal portions. he saves the broth that the seitan was cooked in as it is very flavorful. He says he cuts a couple of the fat cutlets up and pours some of the broth over them, seals the bag and freezes them like that. He uses this product for many dishes - I saw him making tacos with some that he had crumbled up!

He said if you want other seasonings in the mix rather than the ones he uses just go ahead and add what you want an omit what you think you would not like from the ingredients. He said he is always experimenting with the flavors.

He was fun to watch and I hope he stops by to make my weekly supply of seitan!

Restaurants Suck!

From http//:www.cookingwithdennay.com Well said Dennay! It’s no surprise that chain restaurants and some independent ones suck! A recent visit to an Olive Garden further solidified something I have always known; chain restaurants are a complete waste of my time and money. The economy is in the toilet, jobs are scarce and service industry hires not only don’t want the job their doing, but feel they are actually entitled to something better. What suffers most is the quality of the food and service. I know; if you don’t like the restaurant, don’t go, right? You are absolutely correct; since you really do in most cases, get what you pay for. Chain restaurants, with photos of what the food should look like on the plate before it is served should not be expected to deliver anything more that mediocre food and service. If you want something better either stay home or go to a restaurant where the prices are nonexistence. I am currently on a one woman crusade to locate “great” eateries in my state, whether it is a chain or not, it does not matter, unfortunately this journey is leading me down a dark and dingy road. My sour experience at the Olive Garden ended with a waiter bringing us all of our food, salad, bread sticks, appetizer and entree at the same time and placing it all at the little “table-for-two.” Here we are trying to eat everything…it was just a mess. It did not help that the size of the lasagna square is never the same, but comes in small, medium and large (depending one who is cutting it) and that getting my sweet tea topped off is never a priority to the wait staff. Look, I know it’s not all Olive Garden restaurants, I can only discuss the location I went to which was at North Park Mall in Charlotte. It doesn’t stop there however; I was on the rather ritzy side of Charlotte, South Park and dined at a Sushi Burger joint that left me feeling just a bit nervous. Why did I stay, well, I want to give every eatery the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, the restaurant did not fit the bill. First the joint was hot, not cool or cold, but hot, steamy hot. Look people, if your air conditioning is not working properly and you are serving sushi, close the doors and call the repair man. Second, stop staring, you cannot get a feel for what customers thinks about your food by staring them down, damn. You would have thought these guys were in fear of being shut down. Maybe it was the temperature of the restaurant. HOT! I am not giving up on The Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar, I will visit it again when they least expect it, but I tell you what, they better get that damn air conditioning working!

Seattle!!!

I absolutly love Seattle! I am here visiting my son and his partner and to spend time with an old friend who is flying in this Sunday to spend 11 days with me. We are both foodies! We are going to have a lot of fun here! Just going and doing what we want to do. This morning my son took me out to breakfast at Gearldine's and it was wonderful! I was told that on weekends there is a long line to get into eat breakfast there, no doubt, as our breakfast was delicious. I just had a basic breakfast,and was happy to see that their hashbrowns were homemade! Most places are serving frozen potato products so it is a prize to find a place serving REAL fresh food! I will blog more about my trip later! Most likely when I get home. But I will take notes so I will be able to share things with you about my trip! I live in Anchorage, Alaska and do not leave the state often so everything is like eye candy here! I am definately going to dine at one of Tom Douglas' restaurants and have some of his Tripple Coconut Cream Pie!

I co-authored a book!

Well it is not about cooking, but it has a couple of my favorite recipes in my section of the book. The title of the book is "Our Book: Sisters in Strength".

It is on sale on Amazon.com in paperback, color, black and white and we have a Kindle Version as well.

We have a second book coming out which will be titled. "Our Book: Brothers and Sisters in Strength"

The stories are about portions of the lives of the authors and discusses how they got through rough spots in their lives. Additionally, they tell about how some of their experiences made the who they are today.

The new book will talk about the relationships men and women have and their answers to relationship difficulties both in life and in the workplace. Keep a look out for the second volumn which is targeted to come out in the fall.

What are we having?

Tonight we are going to have Shrimp Stuffed Halibut Olympia! We love it, but my recipe is very dedcadent!

1 (5 - 8 pound) skinned filet of 2 inch thick halibut

1 pound thawded, raw Sea Pac, medium shelled, deveined, tail removed Shrimp - once cleaned and wiped dry cut a pocket down the middle of the filet

1/2 pound butter

3 very large onions 1/4 inch wedge sliced

2 lemons (1 thinly sliced)

Pam

Salt and Lemon Pepper to taste

dill weed and paprika for garnish

Rinse Halibut and shrimp, drain and lay on triple thickness of paper towel to absorb all of the water. Take more paper towels and pat the shrimp and halibut to completely remove all excess water.

Spray large oblong glass baking dish with Pam and pour a light coating of butter on the bottom of the pan. Place all of the sliced onions on top of the butter on the bottom of the pan.

Place the shrimp into the melted butter to coat then stuff the shrimp into the pocket made in the middle of the halibut filet.

Use the remainder of the melted butter to dip the cold halibut into into butter on both sides and lay the stuffed halibut on top of the sliced onions.

Pour the remaining butter over the stuffed halibut.

Sprinkle salt and lemon pepper on top of the halibut to taste.

Squeeze the juice of one lemon on top of the buttered Halibut.

Places the thinly sliced lemons on top of the halibut overlapped in rows as though they represent scales (even though halibut has no scales it makes it look fancy!)

Sprinkle with dill weed and Paprika (optional)

Bake at 350 degrees until the temperature of the center of the halibut becomes flaky and is not at all translucent.

March 31, 2011

I am trying to learn to use Quinoa so I am goign to collect links to read and share.

http://chetday.com/quinoa.html

http://www.quinoa-recipes.com/Quinoa_Pages/What_Is_Quinoa.html

http://www.quinoa-recipes.com/index.html

http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.aspx?WithTerm=quinoa

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Garlicky-Quinoa-and-Garbanzo-Bean-Salad/Detail.aspx

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Our-Book-Sisters-in-Strength/149801758406774?sk=app_2309869772

This is a Book that I co-authored with 11 other women. It was a wonderful project and a way to share with others what our lives have been like and how we got to where we are today.