Friday, January 09, 2009

Duxelles in Bruxelles


A couple of nights ago I was peering around the health food shop that is across the road from me, and I found in their (rather meager) fridge, a huge hunk of seitan. That doesn't sound very appetizing does it? But really, that's all it was, a big roast-looking hunk of seitan. I was feeling like a challenge so I decided to throw it in with the other goodies (like all natural, all organic, sugar free peanut butter!).

Anyhow, in one of those cooking sprees that accidentally turned out to be an ode to the cooking of my youth (because I also made a classic-my-mom-pasta-salad for our lunches today) I felt inclined to turn the hunk o'seitan into a roasty type dish, with some carrots, brussel sprouts, gravy and...drum roll...my first attempt at a Duxelles stuffing.

Now, according to the fountain of knowledge, otherwise known as wikipedia, (my credit as a researcher just went down by five points), Duxelles style stuffing was crafted in the 17th century by a French chef. One would usually mince mushrooms, onions, herbs and fry them up in butter to make a paste that you would then ram inside a poor unsuspecting piece of meat. I however, with the constant advice of one Master Chef Kevin Healey, decided to go with: wild mushrooms, olive oil, organic yellow onions and some herbs d'provence. Voila. When it was all done, the bits that weren't sticking to my cast iron pan, I added to my seitan, place the whole shabang in a casserole dish and added a bit of veg stock.

The brussel sprouts and carrots were coated in maple syrup (eh?), and a little bit of frozen olive oil. I was most impressed with the veg! They turned out amazingly scrumptious. The hunk o'seitan was ok.....but then again, I never really liked roast when I was a kid (sorry mom). The gravy was great - a rip off from the Miso Gravy recipe in How It All Vegan.

The pasta salad is wicked and I can't wait to gobble it up for lunch!

13 comments:

Alicia said...

I tried coating Brussels sprouts with maple syrup, but carrots? great idea! And the stuffing sounds also amazing. Wouldn't it be nice to stuff a squash with it?
It's unbelievably cold! (and all my friends are super excited because it's snowing in Madrid!)

Anonymous said...

If I ever find the courage to try sprouts (the only green veggie I like is Brockers~ I'm a terrible vegan!) then I am roasting them in maple syrup! I LOVE roasted carrots though (no real surprise there!).

jessy said...

ooooh - maple glazed veggies sound woooonderful! i love brussels & maple syrup - this is going to be so yummy! i'm gonna have to try it out soon! delicious! i've never heard of this Duxelles style stuffing - but it sounds pretty tasty! glad it was so good - and yay for tasty pasta salad, too! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

p.s. - we use this recipe for buns & rolls and such. we've made them all whole wheat before & added in a tbsp or two of wheat gluten to make them extra soft. they're really yummy, and feel free to double the recipe so you've got lots of buns for leftovers!

Jenn said...

sounds delicious - don't forget to deglaze your pan - you can do that with wine, broth or even a bit of water - that will get the stuck bits off the pan. :)

Anonymous said...

Sounds really interesting and yummy. I need to get me some seitan!

Jen said...

i like seitan, but i make it myself because the prepackaged stuff is way too expensive. my quagmire, is that i can never get that awesome texture that commercially made seitan has.

Bianca said...

Yum! I love stuffing faux meats, but don't do it often enough. I was a huge roast fan as a kid, so I bet I'd have loved this.

By the way, I'm totally a bad newspaper reporter and rely on wikipedia occasionally for historical info...not for important stuff of course, but you know when I have to write fluffy stories on upcoming events (like Justin Timberlake coming to town or something). It's such an awesome crutch.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

They LOOK super-scrumptious :o)

Katie said...

Good for you for taking up a challenge! It sounds tasty.

Lisa (Show Me Vegan) said...

those maple covered veggies do sound good! I bet the syrup complemented their sweetness really well.

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

YAY for Brussels sprouts! As their newest fan, I must say that they look extra yummy!

Anonymous said...

Can you hear me ooohhhing and aweeing over here? So glad you're finding warm things to eat to keep out this cold! -14 today! Yikes!

T said...

Sounds like a ballsy experiment and it looks great! Reminds me of the hezbollah tofu stuff people were coming up with...