I’m not going to lie. This is not a quick or easy recipe to make - but it’s damn good, can feed a bunch of people and might be worth your time if you really want to wow some friends or family during the holidays.

THE Discerning Brute’s Holiday Roast in four parts:

1 - PORCINI SEITAN

INGREDIENTS

1 full bag of vital wheat gluten flour (22 oz. Bob’s Red Mill works great)
1/2 bag of mixed nut flour (I used 8 oz. of Pamela’s Nut Flour Blend)
2 med-large Korean sweet potatoes (purple-red skin, white-yellow flesh)
Liquid Vegetable Stock (5 boxes of 32 0z.)
1.5 cups dried porcini mushrooms, powdered (use a coffee-bean grinder for best powdering results)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
3 Tbs bouillon (I use Seitenbacher powder or Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base )
4 large bay leaves
baking twine
fresh thyme
1 Tbs Salt
1 tsp all-purpose seasoning

DIRECTIONS

Bring 16 cups (or 4 boxes) of vegetable stock to a simmer in the a large soup pot.
Add the potatoes and cook for 30 minutes until soft (you can test softness with a fork, which should be able to easily go through the whole potato).
Meanwhile, using a coffee-grinder or blender, powder the dried mushrooms into a fine flour. A coffee-grinder will work better than most blenders for this.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the gluten flour, nut flour, mushroom powder, nutritional yeast, salt, and all-purpose seasoning.
Remove the potatoes and place them in a mixer, blender or food processor. You can also mash them by hand. Add the mashed potatoes into the mixing bowl with the gluten flour mixture.
Slowly pour 4 cups (the remaining box) of the vegetable stock and the bouillon into the dried mix, very gently folding and pulling it (this will create a better texture) with your hands until combined. *The goal with seitan is not to over-mix it. You want the gluten to form strands and various textures throughout.
The raw seitan should now have a bread-dough consistency. If it's too wet, add more flour. If it's too dry, add a bit more stock. Using your hands, pull and twist the dough a few times.
Using your hands, pull and stretch the seitan into a flat, round shape, like a pizza.
Place the dough into the soup pot full of stock, letting the sides naturally create a bowl-shape with your dough. Add the bay leaves and, cover and let simmer for 45mins - 1hr (the seitan will increase in size, so make sure there's room for that to happen). **You can move on to the Stuffing and Gravy while this is simmering.
Pour the stock off into a container. SAVE THE STOCK which you’ll use in the gravy. Without breaking it, gently remove the seitan from the simmering pot and set aside on a large cutting board or clean surface. It should have taken on a concave shape, but if not, do not despair!
Continue onto the Yuba Skin and Mom’s Matzo Stuffing below:

2 - YUBA SKIN

2-3 packages of Yuba sheets ( I used Hodo Yuba sheets)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp kosher salt (or sea salt flakes)
2 tsp brown sugar (or other sweetener)
1 tsp black pepper
wax paper
spool of cotton or hemp cooking twine

DIRECTIONS

In a mixing bowl evenly combine the oil, paprika, garlic, salt, sugar and pepper.
Gently unfold the yuba, which should be quite thin and large (the goal is to keep the pieces as large as possible, but they are somewhat fragile).
Place the yuba into the bowl, and massage the oil mixture into as much surface area as possible. Leave it in the bowl for now.
Lay down several pieces of wax paper on the counter, creating a large surface to work with.
Using the cooking twine, create a grid of 2 ft. pieces (7 pieces x 7 pieces works), all with loose ends, on the wax paper.
Place half of the unfolded yuba sheets on top of the twine wax paper.
Now place the seitan on top of the yuba in the center.
Move on to the stuffing below:

The Discerning Brute’s Holiday Roast: Porcini Seitan with Mom’s Matzo-Stuffing and Crispy Yuba Skin.

3 - MOM’S MATZO STUFFINZG

INGREDIENTS

2 boxes matzos (I used organic matzos from Manishewitz)
2 large onions, diced
4 celery stalk, sliced thin
1/2 lb. crimini mushrooms, chopped or sliced
1/2 stick (or 4 oz.) of vegan butter (I highly recommend Miyoko’s)
running tap water
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325º .
Melt the vegan butter in a large skillet on medium heat.
Add the onions, mushrooms and celery. Sauté until the onions are clear and turning golden.
In a large bowl, crush all of the matzos by hand into small pieces (this is called farfel).
Run water over the crushed matzo and drain immediately (this should take less than 10 seconds, do not leave the matzoh sitting in the water or it will turn to mush).
Mix in the onions, celery and mushrooms, and add salt to taste (I recommend at least 2 tsp).
Place as much as you can of the stuffing into the center of the seitan that you set aside. If you need to cut away pieces of the seitan to make a larger area, cut from the center outward and try to only cut partially so as not to completely detach pieces (doing this will give you more seitan surface-area to close over the stuffing.
Enclose the stuffing with the sides of the seitan.
Add the remaining yuba on top to cover the seitan.
Close it all up, tying it off with the cooking twine. You should now have a stuffed seitan covered in yuba and secured with twine.
Place the whole thing in a large casserole dish or pot, cover with lid or foil, and bake in the oven at 325º for about 40 mins. (for the last 5 mins, remove the lid/foil and broil for 5 mins to crisp the yuba skin.)
While baking, start the Gravy below:

4 - GRAVY

1/2 stick (or 4 oz.) of vegan butter (I highly recommend Miyoko’s)
2 large onions
2 cups of diced crimini mushrooms
4 cups of warm vegetable stock from the seitan pot
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup corn starch
1 Tbs salt

DIRECTIONS

Melt the vegan butter in a large skillet on medium heat.
Add the onions, mushrooms and nutritional yeast.
Every 5-8 minutes for about 25 minutes, add 1 cup the seitan stock at a time, allowing the liquid to cook off, mixing occasionally.
In a blender, combine the mixture with the corn starch until smooth (if you prefer a semi chunky gravy, only blend 1/2 of the mixture and then recombine).
Remove the seitan from the oven, cut away the twine.
Serve the gravy on top of the stuffed seitan.

TIPS

Serve with cranberry sauce, and garnish with fresh herbs like thyme. Makes fantastic leftover sandwiched, especially on toasted baguette or pretzel bun!