Gluten: The Wheat Meat!

Gluten: The Wheat Meat!



Gluten (long version)


10 C. whole wheat flour
5 C. water
Put in mixer with dough hook. Knead 10 minutes. Remove hook. Dough should be very stretchy. Cover dough with more water. Knead by hand and pour off starchy water. Take one handful of dough & rinse under a trickle of water until rubbery. Repeat until all dough in rinsed. After washing gluten, place on an oiled sheet of aluminum foil (on a cookie sheet). Bake 350° for 15-20 minutes. Grind to look like ground beef (and then cook like beef) or instead of grinding can cut into “steaks” and simmer about 45 minutes in broth, then pan fry. You can also simmer it in broth and then grind it up as well.



Quick Homemade Gluten

(Makes 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pounds or 2 to 2-1/2 cups)
This is the basic recipe for gluten.
2 cups gluten flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1-1/4 cups water or vegetable stock (or another broth of your choice)
3 Tablespoons lite tamari, Braggs liquid amino acids (Health food store), or soy sauce
1-3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil (optional)
Add garlic powder and ginger to flour and stir. Mix liquids together and add to flour mixture all at once. Mix vigorously with a fork. When it forms a stiff dough knead it 10 to 15 times.
Let the dough rest 2 to 5 minutes, then knead it a few more times. Let it rest another 15 minutes before proceeding.
Cut gluten into 6 to 8 pieces and stretch into thin cutlets. Simmer in broth for 30 to 60 minutes.


Broth:
4 cups water
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
3-inch piece of kombu (a type of seaweed)
3-4 slices ginger (optional)
Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring broth to a boil. Add cutlets one at a time. Reduce heat to barely simmer when saucepan is covered. Seitan may be used, refrigerated, or frozen at this point.



Laura Cannon’s notes:
The quick homemade gluten recipe as well as other recipes can be found at http://www.vrg.org/recipes/vjseitan.htm . On there are recipes such as: Seitan Stew, Seitan and Shiitake Mushroom Stroganoff, Seitan Fusion Sauté, Barbecued Seitan, Seitan-Squash Sauté, & Mock BBQ Pork. Seitan (say-tahn) is basically gluten that is flavored. Although we may not be vegetarian, it helps to be used to these recipes and make the ones we like on occasion in case we aren’t able to obtain meat. It is a good substitute. It can also help to stretch the budget!


Other places that seem good to look for information and recipes are:
http://www.ellenskitchen.com/recipebox/wheaties.html
http://dianagrayministries.net/recipes/5-meat-meatsub.html


Other vegetarian sites are helpful in finding things like egg substitutes (which I found you can substitute in a recipe to have 1 egg = 1 Tbsp. flour or cornstarch). I also use nutritional yeast to make a cheese sauce or mock cheese. It is not the same as the real thing, but it is a good substitute to which I have grown accustomed to the flavor as my mom made it growing up. Again, it’s great for low budget and also when you can’t get the real thing. I also like it for convenience sometimes. < br/>

WARNING: Some people have an intolerance to gluten. Some may not even realize they have it until later. For this reason, there are so many gluten-free products. You can overdo anything – meat, water, wheat, etc. I recommend keeping a mixture of options. Other options, though, will help us to eat meat sparingly (as read in D&C).