I Make Meat

So I was taking a cursory inventory of the pantry the other day.  I need to go shopping one of these days, so I wanted to get started on a list.

I keep most of my baking stuff in a large bin that sits on the pantry floor.  I was rooting around in there looking for bread flour.  Nope.  All out.  But I did find a package of Vital Wheat Gluten.  I bought this a long time ago to help make my 100% whole wheat bread rise more.  But then I switched to a different recipe that is half whole wheat/half bread flour -cheaper, and my husband likes it better.

But what to do with this Vital Wheat Gluten? I’d hate to throw it out, what a waste!

Well, in my Internet wanderings I’ve come to find out that you can actually make your own “meat” from Vital Wheat Gluten! This versatile meat-substitute is called seitan, and can be used in many different recipes.

At first, the recipes seemed kind of hard and called for ingredients I don’t have (like nutritional yeast flakes, whatever that is).  So I was a little discouraged.  But then I found this recipe at In a Vegetarian Kitchen with Nava Atlas. I have all this stuff.

This Gluten was really old.  It said “Use By 5/2008″.  But it was worth a try. It was kind of fun - after mixing everything up it was sticky and elasticy.  Then I sliced it up and dropped the chunks into a pot of simmering broth.

Eh! It really poofed up.  I wasn’t expecting that.  Next time I’ll use a bigger pot.  After 30 minutes of “gentle simmering’ it was ready.

So, how was it? Well, it wasn’t bad, but I probably can do a better job with a little more practice. I think the fact that the gluten was a little on the old side was also a factor in its only being “ok”.

When my husband got home I nagged him into trying a piece.  He tasted it and then said “I never want to eat that again.” Thems fightin’ words if I ever heard ‘em.

I even took a picture to share my amazing accomplishment with the world, but my husband said it looked like “squished brains in Tupperware.” My, isn’t he on a roll tonight.  Well, just in case he’s right I’ll wait to supply pictures until I perfect my technique.

Why bother then?

Well, of course it’s much cheaper than meat.  It’s totally cool that it’s possible to make your own, too. Seitan is an excellent source of protein, and it can be very versatile. A 4 oz serving has 77 calories and O grams of fat.  Of course, you can always fry it if you want to.

So I think I’m going to work on refining my technique.  Even if I can’t completely convert my meat eating hubby, this can still be a valuable money-saving tool.  I think I can really like this stuff, because I’m not all that fond of meat.  I like chicken and turkey, but still, it is kind of gross sometimes.

I’m sitting on the sofa writing this on my laptop as my husband watches the basketball game.  When I told him what I’m posting about, he said “The problem is that you’re calling it MEAT.  It’s not MEAT.” Okay. I’ll call it “meeet”.  There. Problem solved.  Here endeth the post.