Course # 3 - Seitan Oscar

As luck would have it, this year I was in charge of entrees. For quite some time the classic dish Veal Oscar had been on my mind. I wanted to try and veganize this dish so it would be cruelty free, yet still delicious. It was a success, but still needs a bit of tweaking. I used a slight variation of Julie Hasson's Italalian Sausage Cutlet recipe (which will be in her upcoming Vegan Diner cookbook) to replace the veal. It was breaded in herbed panko crust and sauteed. For the crab I substituted thinly sliced marinated, alder smoked tofu. I topped it off with a Bearnaise sauce which was a variation of Isa's Vegan Brunch Hollandaise recipe. Traditional Oscar is served with steamed asparagus. This version has marinated and grilled spears.

I found some cute tiny yellow fingerling potatoes. I couldn't resist using them for this. These were roasted with garlic and herbs. Breaking from tradition, I developed a red wine reduction and sauteed some fresh shiitake mushrooms for a garnish. The recipe of the red wine reduction is MIA. I'm hoping it will re-surface. When it does I will post it here. In the mean time here are some pictures for you to feast your eyes on.

Assembly line

Seitan Oscar

Wine makes us happy.

Vegan MOFO Day 18 - Iron Chef - Sushi

I love sushi. I love the way it looks. I love the whole ritual involved with eating it. My creation for this week is a departure from the traditional sushi I adore. I didn't have time to go to the grocery store to prepare, so this was pantry digging creativity.


Azuki Sushi Cakes
Makes four 4 inch cakes

1 cup sushi rice
1 1/4 cups cold water
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 sheet nori crumbled

Filling

2/3 cup dried shitake mushrooms
1 c water
1/4 cup tamari
1/4 teaspoon 5 spice powder
3/4 cup azuki beans
2 green onions, green part only chopped
1/2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 Tablespoons veganaise
1 teaspoon wasabi powder
1 cup panko crumbs

In 2 quart saucepan mix rice and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to low and cook for about 20 minutes until water is absorbed. When cooked add in rice vinegar and sugar. Let rice cool in large bowl.

While rice is cooling make filling. Bring water, tamari, and 5 spice powder to a boil. Pour over dried shitakes to rehydrate. In a medium sized bowl mix azuki beans, green onions, ginger, sesame oil, veganaise, and wasabi powder together. Salt to taste.

When rice is cool enough, mix in crumbled nori into rice. To make cakes have bowl of cold water handy for hands to prevent rice from sticking while forming. Take about 3 T rice and flaten into a circle. Put about 1 T filling in the center of the cake. Top with approx 2 T more rice. Form into round cake. Put panko in shallow wide bowl. Dredge cake gently into panko. Place in refrigerator until firm, about 1 hour. Preheat large iron skillet. Coat bottom of pan with canola oil adding 1 T toasted sesame oil. When oil is hot, gently place cakes into pan leaving plenty of space between cakes for flipping. When cake is golden flip to the other side* and saute until the other side is golden (approx 5 minutes per side). Drain on paper towels.

Make sauce.

Sauce

1/3 cup veganaise
1 Tablespoon Chinese hot mustard
1 teaspoon mellow miso

Stir together sauce ingredients until smooth.

To serve cakes, place 2 cakes on each plate. Top with dollop of sauce. Garnish with chopped green onion (optional) and sesame seeds.
*Warning - the cakes are very delicate. Flip very gently or they may fall apart.

I had some leftover filling, so I thought I would make some rolls. We had these with hot mustard seasoned tamari.