Superlative Cheesesteaks!!!

Philly Seitan Cheesesteak with Daiya Cheddar Sauce, Sweet Peppers, Vidalia Onions, & Vegenaise

 

Superlative (adj)- of, relating to, or constituting the degree of grammatical comparison that denotes an extreme or unsurpassed level or extent 2 a:surpassing all others b:of very high quality (from Merriam-Webster)

    Well, that makes me feel like my English degree was worth while. I could have just said the best cheesesteak ever, but since I already used that for my tacos I needed something fresh, something meta. And I'm not just being hyperbolic. Oh, and I used to live in Philadelphia so I should get some street cred. And not that Pat's or Geno's bullshit. Philadelphia's Blackbird, the owner used to work at two of my favorite restaurants Philly's Horizons and NYC's Blossom, makes the meanest cheesesteak I've encountered until now. (If you go be sure to try the Cubano, which tops the cheesesteak.)The recipe comes from Cooking With the Vegan Zombie.Since the video continues detailed instruction, I'll post it below (as well as the recipe so you don't have to click back and forth). I'll post my results and pictures after the recipe. I know everyone is into the Vegan Black Metal Chef, but this one actually includes a recipe instead of entertainment or concepts. 

The "No-Killy Philly Daiya Cheesesteak" from Cooking With The Vegan Zombie

-Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients, then mix both together for seitan:

Dry
1 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup garbonzo bean powder (or chick pea flour)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp mesquite (I used this Mesquite Marinade because I couldn't find the powder)
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp turmeric

-Wet ingredients:
1 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce ( I used Annie's Organic, which Whole Foods had)
1 cup vegetable stock
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 cloves of shredded garlic
pinch of pepper

-add all ingredients together and form a dough. Cut in half and make two logs and place in casserole dish.

-Stock to cook seitan in:
1 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 diced onion
4 smashed cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp molasses
2 cups water
-Heat on stove 5- 10 mins
-Pour in casserole dish to cover seitan. Cover dish and place in oven 350 for 1 hour. Then flip seitan and continue to cook for 1/2 hour uncovered. If still too soft, then cook for another 20 mins.

Daiya cheese sauce
1 cup Daiya cheese (cheddar)
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
pinch of pepper
1 tbsp dijon mustard
Stir it all together over med heat and set aside.

Slice up your seitan, and saute it together with a diced onion and diced poblano pepper. Toast a roll of your choice and add Vegenaise and your seitan saute to it. Add Daiya cheese sauce and you're good to go...Enjoy!

D.I.Y. Seitan (Before)

     If you live anywhere outside of the reach of Ray's Seitan or Wheat Meat, then you really need to make your seitan. Ray's is so good, they don't have a website! I know it sounds daunting, but this is a must. Kevin at veganbrew.com gave me my first seitan recipe that I feel in love with, but this one is superb. As far as a local source of vital wheat gluten, I recommend Cali's Naturals. It's the only place in the valley that sells an organic version and for about $5 a pound, which is cheaper than the conventional stuff. This recipe would make a really good pepper steak as well. The secret to this one is all the spices that are added to the broth.

D.I.Y. Seitan (During)

D.I.Y. Seitan (After)

D.I.Y. Seitan (Post)

     I took the seitan logs and shredded them against the weird middle thing on a cheese grater. I've always wondered what that was for. It worked perfectly.

Daiya Cheddar Sauce

     As far as I know, most philly cheesesteak use cheese whiz, which brings back memories, but is kinda gross. This sauce was pretty good especially with the roll slathered in Vegenaise (seriously, don't try another brand). However, this recipe made enough that I was eating a cheesesteak a day for about a week, which was awesome after a long day of snowboarding. After the cheese sauce ran out, I just used regular Daiya cheddar cheese and the result was much cleaner. I can't decide which one was better, but I would LOVE to try both with the new pepperjack Daiya. Oh, and I used regular hoagie rolls the first time, which were okay. For a really good twist, slice up a baguette instead of a roll. The bread seems much studier, too. Oh, and I think I would caramelize the onions, too.

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