Dinner party number two!

Tonight was my second dinner party. It was a lot of fun. My friend Amethyst and her boyfriend, Daniel came over. The food was good and the conversation was intriguing as well. Sometimes it is good to spend time with people that you do not share as many core beliefs with. It is good for my sense of reality.

I also invited Jamie! It was really nice to see Jamie with a smile and a good plate of food, she is so amazing. It has been too long. We have both been involved with our own things and have been mildly neglectful of our relationship. I am determined to make myself more available to the people that matter the most and she is at the top of the list.

As for the food, I started early while waiting for the delivery of my new washer and dryer. I then spent the day cooking and doing the laundry.

The menu: Pineapple Sesame Seitan, Beet Chips (Amethyst's request), Stuffed Avacado, and fiddlehead cashew cream dip with raw carrots For dessert, Deconstructed Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.

I will be posting a few of the other recipes from dinner in upcoming posts, today I will share the seitan. I enjoy feeding seitan to meat eaters. There is always a skepticism and weariness.


Pineapple Sesame Seitan

The marinade

2 pounds of seitan
2 cups of pineapple juice
2/3 cup of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of vegetable broth powder
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 teaspoons of sesame oil

Combine juice, oil, sugar, soy sauce, and vegetable broth powder in a saute pan and heat on med-low until it simmers. Just as it simmers, pour the liquid into a baking dish and marinate the seitan for 2 hours.


The roast

Take the entire marinating pan (if bake-safe) and place in the oven at 375 degrees for 1 hour (or until all liquid has roasted off). You will need to occasionally (every 15-20 mins) baste the roast to avoid drying out.


The fry

1 cup of pineapple juice
1 cup of pineapple (cubed)
1/2 cup of bell pepper (sliced)
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon of corn starch

In a frying pan, add the vegetable oil and bring to med heat. While the oil is heating, slice the roasted seitan in length-wise strips. Gently place the seitan strips into the hot oil and allow to fry for 5 minutes. The flat edges should begin to brown. Once they are browning, flip and add the peppers and pineapple. The pineapple will get a nice scorch and you can add the remaining ingredients, adding the corn starch last. Stir in and let fry for about 8 minutes.