I was originally trying to make a chicken nugget recipe. Until I stopped eating breaded foods, that's exactly what these were. Feel free to bread them if you like. In my physical cookbook, I have this recipe labeled as Mystery Nuggets. I blame that on the cookbook I had as a kid, which had ridiculous names for all the recipes. I wish I could remember the name of the book.
How are these different from other fake chicken recipes? Most of them are really bland. Vegetarian/Vegan doesn't mean that they don't eat herbs, though with some recipes they might think so...A lot are really tough and make me feel like I am gnawing on my shoe's sole. Others are like battered vegetables that resemble a sad, bland, soggy vegetarian Korean pancake. By the way, I adore Korean pancakes and hate anything that resembles them but just tastes and feels like depression. Do these taste like chicken? Nothing vegetarian is going to taste just like it. But I promise that with the use of herbs and spices, this version is less boring than most recipes I have seen.
I found a way to soften the rubbery texture. Cut down the gluten as far as it can go. These also use up some of my plant milk pulp. These do take a while to make, so a lot of times I make dozens and dozens of them at a time and freeze part of them.
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Vegetarian Chicken Cutlets
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tbsp white wine
1/2 cup milk pulp or cooked beans
In a skillet over medium heat, add your oil and onions and cook them for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the wine and cook for another minute. Take the onion mixture and add it to a blender. Add the water, bouillon, and milk pulp and blend till smooth. Dump this mixture into a large bowl, add the rest of the ingredients except the gluten flour. Once everything is combined, add the gluten flour. The gluten flour seems to combine ingredients together, and it's nearly impossible to add anything after it's been added. Divide your dough into 2. Shape them into two logs. I make mine chicken nugget-sized in diameter. Wrap the logs in parchment paper, then in aluminium foil. Put a steamer basket in your Ninja foodie or other types of Instant Pot. Add water just till it barely starts coming through the holes in your steamer basket. Add the two logs and cook for 30 minutes on the pressure cooker setting. Let cool on your counter and refrigerate overnight. Or if you made extra logs, freeze them. Thaw them when you are ready to use. Next, slice them to your desired thickness. Prep the brine, which will soften them and add more flavor.
Mystery Nugget Brine
Combine all the ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil and add the nuggets to the broth. Turn to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Let this brine cool, and store the mixture in the brine in the fridge for at least 4 hours. The longer they sit, the softer they will become. When you are ready to serve them, I like to sprinkle some
Creole seasoning and a little bit of garlic powder, and lightly fry them.
Save the broth and use it to flavor rice or make a gravy for mashed potatoes, as shown in the picture above. For my gravy, I usually only add
coconut oil,
unbleached flour, and ground
black pepper. The secret to delicious gravy is browning the flour.
Food is the most primitive form of comfort.
- Sheilah Graham Westbrook
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