What the....?

Mustard-Tamari Glazed Seitan w. Asparagus and Simple Potato Pancakes

Really..what the fuck?? I had made such a commitment to myself that I was going to post everyday up until our beach vacation this Saturday and I've failed. Summer has gotten to me and Reno has gotten to me. She is needing my undivided attention lately and is only happy if I'm laying on all of our couch cushions on the floor watching her stand and raising our arms over head going "TA DAAAA...TA DAAA...TA DAAAAAAA!" She is "napping" in her play yard rignt now. By "napping" I mean laying down, singing to one of her toys. She will fall off soon and then it's off to the land of many dirty dishes for me. While I have these few precious seconds....




...I've still been obsessed with mustard and seitan. I took the rest of the GIANT cutlet from a post or two below and sliced it in odd shapes, to make it look more appetizing, plus I like odd more then even and can even get a little OCD about it. Enough into this glimpse of my crazyness..I sauteed the seitan w. garlic and then added the asparagus towards the end. I like my aparagus crisp once it starts getting too soft I'm turned off. At the end of cooking I made a mixture of whole grain dijon mustard w. tamari and a little bit of olive oil and poured it over the seitan/asparagus mixture and stirred until everything was completely coated. The result was delicious!! The texture of the seitan was perfect and meaty and complemented the sauce perfectly. Asparagus and mustard are a perfect combination as well.



Simple Potato Pancakes

Before I decided to make the seitan for this dinner all I was really planning on making were Potato Pancakes. I love them. Peter loves them even more that I do. I usually add all different types of stuff to my pancakes but decided to kept them very simple (and thick.) I also HAND GRATED these suckers! Now that's love and you can taste it!

Simple and Thick Potato Pancakes

makes: I have no idea

2 large red skinned potatoes
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tea salt
fresh black pepper to taste

*grate the potatoes with a box grater into a bowl and drain most of the liquid when finished. (if I grate these is a processor I don't drain because they become nice and moist...with a box grater they seem to become way more liquidy)

*add to potatoes the thinly sliced onions and minced garlic and combine. Then add the flour. If the potatoes are still really moist after adding the flour keep adding a few tablespoons more of the flour at a time until the mixture holds together nicely.

*add salt and pepper.

*pour enough canola oil into the biggest pan ya got until it covers the bottom of the pan. When oil is heated I take a big spoon and scoop up a pile of potatoes and gently drop them into the oil. Don't press them flat at this point. When the bottom is golden brown after 3-4 minutes flip the pancakes with a spatula and then press them flat and cook another 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.

*remove the pancakes from the pan and place on a plate or baking sheet tray lined with paper towels or a brown paper bag to soak up some of the oil and sprinkle with salt. Keep them in a warm oven while you cook the rest of the potato pancakes.

*Serve with cold applesauce (room temperature just won't do) or tofu sour cream.