Posted on November 28, 2009 - by Lisa Madison

FRESH Recipes: Holiday Seitan Loaf w/ Mushroom Gravy

Eating Liberally’s gobbly-good holiday seitan loaf with mushroom gravy

By: Kerry Trueman
Kerry Trueman is co-founder of EatingLiberally.org, a netroots organization and website that promotes sustainable agriculture, and Retrovore.com, a website for farmers, gardeners, and eaters who favor conservation over consumption. She blogs about climate change, low-impact living and sustainable agriculture for the Huffington Post, AlterNet, the Green Fork, EatingLiberally, among other websites, and authored a chapter on ecological eating for Rodale’s Whole Green Catalog (September 2009).
To make the loaf:
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup cooked pinto beans
1 cup vegetable broth
1/3 cup yellow miso
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon dried cilantro
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
freshly ground salt and pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic till translucent. In a blender or food processor, combine the beans, broth, miso, and tamari. Add the onions and garlic and process till smooth.

Combine the wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, and seasonings in a large bowl and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well (it’s easiest to use your hands.)

Shape the dough into three loaves and wrap in tinfoil. Place in a steamer for 40 minutes. This method of cooking yields a moist loaf; to brown and crisp them on top, place them in a loaf pan and bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for half an hour or so. You can also slice up the loaves and crisp them in a frying pan.

To make the gravy:

½ ounce dried mushrooms (shitakes or porcinis, ideally)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
1 cup thinly sliced leeks
1 cup fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 12 ounce carton firm silken tofu
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons yellow miso
3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
¼ cup nutritional yeast
freshly ground pepper and salt to taste

Soak the dried mushrooms in a ½ cup of hot water while you prepare the garlic, leeks, and fresh mushrooms.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and sauté the leeks till translucent. Add the garlic and shitakes and sauté for another five minutes or so. Add the flour and stir, coating the leeks and mushrooms.

Place the dried mushrooms and their liquid in a food processor or blender. Add the tofu, the water, miso, tamari, nutritional yeast, and seasonings. Blend well, then add to the pan, stirring thoroughly. Whisk for several minutes, till the mixture thickens.

Place the gravy in the blender or food processor and process till smooth. Serve hot over slices of the seitan loaf.