Our lovely Monkey Queen of Don’t Make Me Call My Flying Monkeys, was our May Daring Cooks’ hostess and she challenged us to dive into the world of en Croute! We were encouraged to make Beef Wellington, Stuffed Mushroom en Croute and to bring our kids into the challenge by encouraging them to create their own en Croute recipes!
I made my first batch of homemade Seitan for the challenge to make a vegan mushroom and Seitan en Croute!
It was delicious and easier than I expected, both the Seitan and en Croute.
I simply made a batch of Isa Chandra’s Seitan and seared it in a hot pan after boiling to give colour and flavour. Then made a mushroom duxelles by simply sauteing 350g finely chopped mushrooms with a small finely chopped onion and a pinch of dried thyme in a tablespoon of vegan margarine over a low-medium heat until almost a paste. Then unraveled a sheet of ready rolled puff pastry (in the UK Jus-Rol brand is vegan) and spread with the mushrooms then topped with the Seitan. I wrapped the sides over to cover, pinched the join to seal then turned it over so the seal was at the bottom. I sealed the ends, scored the top then brushed with soya milk. Baked in a preheated oven at 220′C for about 20 minutes until the pastry was golden and crisp. I served with potato and cauliflower mash and green beans with onion gravy. A real treat!
It’s worth noting that the simmering stock from the Seitan recipe I used makes delicious gravy. I simply fried an onion sliced into rings in a teaspoon of oil until just caramelised then stirred in a tablespoon of flour then gradually added the stock until thickened. It was the most flavoursome gravy I think I’ve ever eaten. This was enough for 2 so adjust onions and flour accordingly and just gradually add the stock. I’m afraid I didn’t measure as I was just taking spoonfuls from the stock pot.
