My Wieners, Let me show you them.

By Monica on October 16th, 2007

So Joni posted this recipe for seitan wieners just in time for Oktoberfest.  Smothered in kraut and mustard, they look amazing!  While my experience with wieners is subject for another blog entirely, my experience making gluten flour into edible food items is very limited.  At the risk of sounding like a vegan newb, I was amazed at how the gluten turned into a rubbery mass almost before my eyes, like some sort of mutant, delicious silly-putty.  So much fun, I can’t wait to experiment more!

To be expected, Joni’s professional wieners turned out much prettier than my amateur wieners.  I don’t know if I didn’t wrap them tightly enough in foil or what, but my wieners grew quite sizeable in the oven.  I know wieners often have a mind of their own and are prone to doing all sorts of undesirable things, but two of my wieners came bursting out of their foil wrappers in the oven and became massive super-wieners about 4″ thick!

The rest of the wieners did not break their protective foil barriers, but they were still impressive in girth.  They barely fit into a bun, but I stuffed them in anyway and covered them up in saurkraut and mustard.  A credit to Joni’s recipe, they tasted fantastic despite whatever error I made to make the wieners swell up like they did.

And what could be more appropriate to serve with Oktoberfest wieners than a side of German Potato Salad from La Dolce Vegan?

Houskovy Knedliky - Czech Bread Dumplings

By Monica on September 28th, 2007

As an absolute mainstay of Czech cuisine, I knew I had to modify and perfect dumplings in order to be a happy vegan. Dumplings, be they bread, potato, yeast, or egg, are usually served with meat and gravy dishes. Very different than an English or American dumpling, Czech dumplings are thick, heavy, and could easily be a meal themselves.

Fortunately, I have been successful in veganizing my Babi’s dumpling recipe; these taste exactly like the original. (Babi being short for babička, the Czech word for grandmother.) This is a raised yeast bread dumpling, perfect for sopping up the gravy of your choice. In my house, it was traditional to cover them with applesauce, saurkraut, and then smother them in whatever gravy accompanied the meal. Usually there was a slab of roast pork there too, but I’m still working on veganizing that!

Be forewarned that this recipe makes a lot of dumplings, like two gallon freezer bags full. They freeze wonderfully though, and you can use them in so many dishes that they never go to waste. Also, if you have a large mixer with a dough hook, I highly recommend using it to spare yourself from a lot of heavy mixing.

Houskovy Knedliky - Raised Yeast Bread Dumplings
2 cups rice milk, warmed
1 package dry yeast
1T sugar
Ener-G egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs
1/2t salt
5 cups flour
2 slices bread, cubed

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm milk. Add prepared Ener-G egg replacer, and salt. Gradually stir in flour and mix well. When dough is mixed, form into one large ball, cover, and set aside in a warm place until doubled (about one hour).

When doubled in size, remove from the bowl and work bread cubes into the raised dough. Divide evenly into 6 loaves.

Cook, covered, in a large kettle of boiling water, making sure dumplings have room to expand. Boil dumplings 7 minutes on each side. Do not uncover pot except to turn dumplings.

Remove from water and place on a board to drain. Poke each with a knife to allow steam to escape. Using thread, slice loaves into individual 1″ dumplings.

Make sure you try one warm with a little bit of earth Balance!