Dinner Diary Day 8: Stroganoff

I make stroganoff for only the most momentous occasions: birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays. It’s one of the rare meals that we all love, so I would make it more except for the following extenuating circumstances:

1. It’s dish-intensive (by this I mean it uses two large pots, a colander, and a large cutting board).
2. It’s quite a bit of work (probably an hour of active time).
3. It uses seitan, which I can only get from Sprouts or a natural foods store.
4. It uses white wine, an expensive ingredient that I usually do not have chilling in my fridge, sad to say.

This recipe comes from Vegan with a Vengeance with some significant tweaks. It’s one of my favorite cookbooks for its yummy recipes but also the highly entertaining writing. The original recipe uses tofu rather than seitan, and even though we liked it with tofu, it just felt wrong to have a fragile block of soy simmering in gravy. Seitan, a denser, chewier protein, holds up better.

I warn you that we call this dish stroganoff mostly because we serve it over egg noodles. I don’t have a firm idea of what stroganoff is, and I’m quite sure I’ve never eaten it. Suffice to say this may not resemble the stroganoff that you know, but I can assure you it’s delicious and you won’t be sorry. If you try it and come up with a better name, let me know!

I made this for my husband’s birthday dinner after spending that morning making his German chocolate cake, and it felt like a lot. I had to numb my aching shoulders with the leftover wine (both the chilled bottle as a massager and an actual glass to drink).

My son loves the seitan, which he sneaks from the plate after I’ve browned it. My daughter adores the baby Yukon potatoes, which become silky smooth after simmering in that rich sauce. Speaking of the sauce, that’s my favorite part. It’s rare to find a vegan sauce so robust and flavorful. My husband doesn’t elaborate on his specific feelings about the stroganoff, but I’m pretty sure he would say it’s his favorite meal.

To be honest, some of the pleasure of this meal comes from the magic of making a vegetarian dish that’s hearty, filling, and dare I say meaty. Cremini mushrooms, the chewy seitan, and the miso-rich gravy with potatoes make a compelling case. I don’t think this matters at all to my kids, who have never eaten meat, but for my husband and me, who spent at least a portion of our lives as omnivores, it brings up all those nostalgic tastes and textures.  

You may have to go out of your way to find the seitan, which is ridiculous because it’s the easiest, most palatable meat alternative in the refrigerated section. Why major grocery chains carry tempeh, which is much more difficult to work with, but not seitan, is beyond me. Maybe it’s the terrible name (pronounced “say-tan”).

I once had a black shirt with red forks crossed in the middle that said: “Praise Seitan.” I gave it away after I had my first baby because I was getting alarmed looks from people in my conservative Virginia neighborhood. I should have kept it.  Anyhow, give seitan a try. It’s awesome in this recipe and also good as fajita filling, in stir-fries, and sandwiches.

Hoping I didn’t build up this recipe too much, here goes:

Stroganoff (adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance)

Serves 4-6

Time: 1 hour

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 package seasoned seitan (Don’t choose a special flavor like teriyaki or chipotle, you want the regular seasoning. And it doesn’t matter if you choose cubes or strips, just cut it into bite-size pieces that look good to you.)

6 oz. cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced

1 shallot, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup white wine

1 ¾ cup vegetable broth

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3 heaping tablespoons miso paste

1 lb baby Yukon potatoes, halved or quartered

1 package egg noodles

In a deep, large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat and cook the seitan until lightly browned, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add 2 tablespoons oil and the mushrooms, and cook until starting to brown, about 7 minutes. Transfer to the plate with the seitan.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil and saute the onion and shallot for about 10 minutes until they begin to brown. Add the garlic, thyme, and several turns of freshly ground black pepper and saute for 2 more minutes.

Stir the cornstarch into the vegetable broth until dissolved. Add to the skillet the white wine, soy sauce, miso, and broth mixture and turn up the heat, stirring to dissolve the miso. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Add the seitan, mushrooms, and potatoes.  

Make sure the potatoes are under mostly the gravy, then cover and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. There won’t be an abundance of gravy, but if yours seems extremely scant, you can add a splash more broth. Now’s the time to start the water for your egg noodles.

The stroganoff is done when the potatoes are very tender when fork-tested. Taste and add more pepper if needed. I have never thought this needed to be saltier, but if you do, I would add a splash of soy sauce rather than salt.

Serve over egg noodles.  When I’m feeling like an overachiever, I serve this with peas on the side.