I have been wanting to try Joanna’s Chicken Style Seitan Cutlets for some time because they looked really nice and I haven’t had a lot of luck with other boiled seitan recipes. Rolling the pieces between parchment paper worked a lot better than what I have done in the past and my dough seemed really nice so I thought these cutlets would turn out just perfect. I decided to make broccoli polenta at the same time as the cutlets so I would be able to watch over them and make sure that the water didn’t boil- if it does then the seitan turn out spongy. I put the cutlets in a big pot and went to make my polenta and the water didn’t boil. As I was stirring the polenta I was inching the temperature up on the seitan so that it would start to simmer. Finally it did, I turned it down a little, covered the pot and watched as the simmer stopped. With the polenta cooling now I had nothing left to do but stand over my pot of seitan and watch to get it to simmer. I was worried that if it wasn’t simmering it wouldn’t cook right either so I boosted the heat a little more and hoped for the best and went into the living room. Five minutes later I came back to check and the pot was rapidly and frantically boiling. NOOOOOO! I couldn’t believe it after all that time. What a disaster.
The seitan cutlets finished and they tasted pretty good but the texture was all wrong so I decided to chop them into pieces and add to another dish where texture wouldn’t play a role. I came across this recipe in the Veganomicon for Braised Seitan with Brussels, Kale, and Sun-dried tomatoes. I checked and I had everything but the Kale so I supped spinach and made the recipe. It was terrific! The polenta was already chilled and I broiled it while the braised seitan finished up. When It came time to plate the dish I knew there was only really one plating option and so Brussel Sprout’s Tower of Seitan was created and it was delicious! The sun dried tomatoes went so well with the Brussel Sprouts, I don’t think I ever had that combination before and the broccoli polenta was so good a creamy. A perfect meal.