Ode to Guinness – Drunk Seitan with Noodles

Guinness is 250 years old this year.  I’ve heard of people having Guinness parties and making dishes to incorporate this very dark beer in commemoration of its birthday.  If you’re one of these lunatics then here’s a recipe for you.  It is a take on a recipe from one of my favorite vegan cookbooks, Vegan Planet.  If you’ve experimented with soy “meatless” products and with tofu but haven’t tried seitan, DO give it a try.  It’s basically just a wheat gluten (I’ll get around to posting a recipe for that soon) and the texture is a lot closer to meat than tofu could dream of being.  Like tofu, it takes on the flavors of whatever you marinate or cook it in.  You can find seitan in most hippy dippy co ops if you don’t want to try to make it yourself.

yeah...looks kinda "brain" like and gross in the package...but trust me...it's good in the recipe

Alex says this is by FAR his FAVORITE dish.  I packaged up the leftovers but within an hour he’d pulled it out and ate it too.

You’ll need:

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/2 pound (or one package) seitan, cut into thin strips (you can use up to a pound of seitan if you prefer)

10 -15 baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and diced

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 tablespoon light brown sugar or natural sweetener

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup Guinness (I was lead to believe that beer was, in fact, not vegan…but it is listed in this vegan recipe soooo…I don’t know)

1 tablespoon molasses

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled

1 bay leaf

1 cup vegetable stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 package of wide egg noodles (or your favorite pasta…I made this not vegan by using egg noodles..)

Step One: Sautee seitan (say that ten times fast). Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat then add the seitan and mushrooms.  Brown seitan on all sides, about ten minutes.  Dump it into a bowl and set aside.

Step Two: Sautee onions. If you prefer, you can sautee the mushrooms with the onions instead of the seitan…with the onions they’ll probably get a lot softer ..with the seitan they’ll taste a litle “meatier” …it’s up to you.  Heat 2 tablepsoons of olive oil in the skillet.  Add onions, cover, and cook until softened.  About 5 minutes.

Step Three: Stir in. To the onions, add the brown sugar and cook uncovered until the onions carmalize, about ten minutes.  Be sure to stir frequently.  Then add the flour and cook for a minute or two.  Stir in the beer, molasses, mustard, vinegar, thyme, and bay leaf.  Add the stock.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Step Four: Simmer. Let this mix simmer, stirring occassionally, until thickened (10-15 minutes).

Step Five: Noodles. Meanwhile.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add salt to the water then add a packet of wide egg noodles.  Let boil for 11 -12 minutes.  Drain.  Coat with a bit of olive oil and stir.

Step Six: Seitan. Add the seitan to the simmering mixture and give it ten more minutes to simmer.  Then remove the bay leaf.  Taste.  Adjust seasoning as needed.

Step Seven: Heaven. Plate a bed of noodles.  Pour some seitan stew over them.  Enjoy!