Steam Baked Seitan Cutlets with a hint of Worcestershire

(pictured: Seitan cutlet with sea salt and asparagus from last night)

I was decidedly unproductive yesterday. It is amazing what a headache does to my ability to get things done.

My precious husband requested that I make seitan cutlets yesterday because they are one of his favorite things to have for dinner. Once I started adding breadcrumbs and steam baking the cutlets he really embraced this from of seitan. These come out crispy on the exterior, but tender while not being spongy on the interior. The flavor is very mild but with a subtle umami background from the nutritional yeast and Worcestershire. I use these mild cutlets where I would have previously used chicken breast. They are really good sliced on a salad with Caesar dressing. Here I what I did.

Steam Baked Seitan Cutlets with a hint of Worcestershire
Makes 8 cutlets

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups water
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1 tablespoon onion flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce – vegan
2 cups fresh whole wheat bread crumbs
2 cups vital wheat gluten
commercial pan spray (or pump mister filled with olive or canola oil)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (convection).

Combine the water, garlic, ginger, onion, salt, pepper, yeast and Worcestershire sauce in your blender. Puree until the liquid is thoroughly combined. Pour the liquid into a large bowl. Add the fresh breadcrumbs to the liquid and allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes so the bread will become completely moist. This is more important if you are using dried breadcrumbs. Add the vital wheat gluten to the wet mixture and knead well.

Form the seitan dough into a rough ball and cut the ball into 8 pieces. Using your fingers and palms of your hands form each smaller seitan piece into a cutlet shape. I let mine form whatever shape they choose. I like the organic shapes the dough will form.

Heat a heavy bottomed skillet (I use cast iron) over medium heat. Spray the pan with oil and cook three cutlets at a time until crisp and lightly brown. Then flip and cook the other side. I would say it took 3 minutes per side to get a nice brown crust. Move the crisped seitan to a large roasting pan or half sheet pan and continue cooking the remaining cutlets.

Add ½ cup of water to the bottom of the pan with the cutlets and bake for 20 minutes. Now remove the pan from the oven so that you can turn it around and add another ½ cup of water and bake another 20 minutes. The cutlets are now ready to be used or frozen. I use a stainless steel roasting pan and the cutlets release easily from the pan. If you have trouble add a little water and that should loosen the cutlets.

To reheat, I put the cutlets in a cast iron pan with a few tablespoons of water or sauce and cook for a few minutes. I don’t turn the cutlets, as I want the top to remain crispy. These cutlets turn out crispy on the exterior but tender (not spongy) on the interior. If you are reheating them from frozen you may want to recrisp the exterior before serving.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories -200.47
Calories From Fat (7%) - 14.43

Total Fat - 1.5g
Saturated Fat - 0.29g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 384.24mg
Potassium - 124.34mg
Total Carbohydrates - 16.63g
Fiber - 2.14g
Sugar - 1.86g
Protein 27.11g

Comments:

I like to a have at least 2 of these in the freezer at all times. Then I know I can make a really fast dinner by adding a big serving of vegetables. They defrost well in the microwave but you will need to put them into a skillet to get them a little crispy once they have been frozen (assuming you like crispy that is).

At our house these are normally served with a gravy, sauce, or salsa. Like chicken breast I think they need a sauce to give them a big flavor pop. Plus ….. I like to make sauces so it is a twofer for me.

These cutlets are very similar to a recipe I posted here. By eliminating the lemon and mustard this version has a more neutral flavor than the prior recipe.
I will be back in a while with a seitan sausage recipe.