Sauerkraut and Seitan "Spare Ribz": A Meal from My Childhood

Vegan MoFo 2015 Day 2: Recreate a meal from your childhood.

If you asked me about the primary culinary influence that shaped my childhood I would have to say 'Italian'. My father's side of the family is Italian and my paternal grandmother gave my mom all her traditional recipes when my folks got married. Most of my childhood food memories revolve around homemade pasta sauce, ravioli, braciole, lasagne, and the list goes on...

However, my mom's side of the family is Polish, and my great grandmother was from a region on the border between Germany and Poland. This dish is a reflection of my mom's heritage, and a meal that we ate often in the fall and winter. This dish evokes memories of cozy winter nights around the dinner table with my family.

Seitan works great with this, but so would tofu, grilled portabella mushrooms, tempeh, or chickpeas. Slices of apple and a sprinkle of caraway compliment the kraut beautifully. When it's baking in the oven, the aroma is a divine mingling of sweet and savory; it makes me hungry just thinking about it!

This is simple to assemble: put a generous layer of your favorite sauerkraut (I used homemade) in a baking dish, tuck in some apple slices, and sprinkle caraway seeds over the top.  Be sure to pour in plenty of the sauerkraut brine too. (You probably won't need to season with any salt because of the sauerkraut, but add black pepper if desired.)

If you use ready-made seitan you can add it now, and bake at 375°F for ~30 - 40 minutes. When you take it out of the oven, the sauerkraut should be gently simmering in its juice. If you're making the seitan from scratch, you'll want to bake, steam, or braise it separately and then add it to the sauerkraut a few minutes before it comes out of the oven.  

I made may own seitan this time around; the flavor profile is tailored to the dish. Here's what I did:

"Seitan Ribz" 

1 cup cooked white beans

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce (or a little less of regular soy sauce)

1 Tablespoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon whole grain mustard

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

pinch of onion powder

1-2 twigs fresh thyme, removed from stem

splash of white wine or apple cider (optional)

2/3 cup water

black pepper to taste

1 1/2  cups vital wheat gluten

Preheat the oven to 375°F (if you plan on baking or steam-baking). 

Put the vital wheat gluten in a mixing bowl. Put the rest of the ingredients in a food processor and blend into a smooth liquid. Taste the liquid for saltiness. You probably won't want/need to add any salt; the mixture should be quite savory, but not exceedingly salty. Add the wet ingredients to to the vital wheat gluten and mix/knead gently to get a elastic, non-sticky seitan dough. If the dough is too wet, add more vital wheat gluten as necessary.

Shape the dough into a round and cut into two equal parts. Roll each piece into an oblong shape to about 1/2" thickness. Score the "ribz". At this point, you can cook the seitan anyway you like. When I make thin cutlet-type seitan pieces like these ribz, I like to steam-bake it.

To steam-bake, place the seitan on a cooling rack (brush the seitan with a little olive oil at this point if you feel so inclined) and then place the rack in a cookie sheet. Add 2 cups of water to the cookie sheet and put the whole lot in a 375°F. The seitan will bake and steam at the same time. Check the water level every so often; you'll probably need to add another cup or two during the process. If the seitan is rolled out to 1/2" thickness, it should take about an hour to cook--turn the seitan over halfway through. When it comes out of the oven, the seitan should be soft and springy, but not doughy.

Seitan ribz in to steam-bake

This is a dish that sauerkraut lovers will enjoy. Served with potatoes and a leafy green salad, it excites the senses while being warming and comforting at the same time--perfect for autumn and winter evenings.

And finally, I wanted to end my MoFo posts with a mini round-up of posts from other MoFoers, but I can't find the blogroll. Some people are creating their own lists. I guess it's just taking them some time to compile it? I don't have a smartphone so can't do the # search on Instagram. Sigh...such is life.