Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Merguez Flavored Seitan Sausages




Somehow we ran out of prepared seitan in both the refrigerator and freezer. I wanted to make something unusual today, and decided to try my hand at making a Merguez flavored seitan sausage. If you are unfamiliar with merguez it is a North African spicy lamb sausage that is also popular in French cooking. The traditional sausages are very “lamby” and a bright red color. They are also juicy from the fat and red pepper.

Obviously mimicking lamb was going to be a problem but I knew I get the spice blend right. I used the spice combination from cookbook Charcuterie. I added the oil and whole wheat bread crumbs to try to mimic the juiciness of the original.

Merguez Flavored Seitan Sausages
Makes 8 sausages

Ingredients:

1 roasted red pepper
1 ¼ cup of water
½ tablespoon of agave
¼ teaspoon of hot pepper flakes
3 cloves of garlic
½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of sweet paprika
1 tablespoon of oregano
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
2 tablespoons of canola oil
½ cup of whole wheat bread crumbs
10 ounce box of vital wheat gluten


Directions:

Combine the roasted red pepper, water, agave, pepper flakes, garlic, black pepper, paprika, oregano, salt and canola oil in your blender. Puree until everything is completely combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into a large powder and add the whole wheat bread crumbs. Add the vital gluten to the wet ingredients and combine with your hands. Continue to smush and knead until dough forms.

Remove 8 pieces of aluminum foil from the roll that are about 12 inches length each.

Remove the seitan dough from the bowl and move it to a cutting board. Form the dough into a big log shape. Cut the dough into 8 roughly even pieces. One piece at a time roll the dough into a snake (like you did in kindergarten). The seitan snakes should be about 6 inches in length. Put the seitan snake into the aluminum and roll them into the foil like you are covering a candy. Twist the ends to close the sausages. .

Put water in the bottom of your pressure cooker until it reaches the bottom of your removal steamer basket. Place the seitan sausages in the cooker and lock the lid.

Cook the sausages under pressure for 10 minutes. Then turn off the heat and allow the pressure to come down naturally.

Remove the sausages from the pressure cooker and allow to cool a little so that you can remove the foil without burning your fingers. This should take about 10 minutes.

Put the sausages in a container with a lid and refrigerate until needed. If you are going to eat them in a 4 days wrap them completely in plastic cling wrap and place them in a zippered freezer bag. I have kept these in the freezer for months and they were fine when defrosted.

You can use these as you would any other sausage. I tend to put them into dishes cut into chunks, but you can serve them on a bun with sautéed peppers and onions if you like.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 180.94
Calories From Fat (22%) - 39.55

Total Fat - 4.48g
Saturated Fat - 0.42g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 146.47mg
Potassium - 102.11mg
Total Carbohydrates - 8.59g
Fiber - 1.43g
Sugar - 0.35g
Protein - 27.47g

Comments:

The flavor of these sausage is good and the texture is softer than my usual sausages. Since I added fat and bread crumbs I don't know which item made the largest difference in texture. I will continue to experiment with this in the coming weeks. I can't wait to use these sausages tomorrow.

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