Street Food: Veggie-Style

Oh, street food. We watched Anthony Bourdain's tantalizing countdown of what otherwise might be considered "peasant" foods from around the world last week on Netflix. "Peasant" foods. That's what we love about the guy (despite his not-so friendly words about vegetarians at times): His work, at heart, communicates the significance and divine essence of lesser-prized grub from every nook and cranny of every country on every continent in the world.

As he notes quite often in this particular installment (Down on the Street: season 6, episode 5 -- it's a greatest hits of sorts), no street food story is complete without meat forcefully jammed into tube form. We're vegetarians, after all, but that doesn't mean we can't have our fun, too. So, let's journey on, friends, and create something great from our favorite wheat-meat, seitan.

We're talking homemade veggie dogs. Here's how this is going to go down. Today I'm sharing with you the secret to fashioning your own dogs. Enjoy them over the weekend with mustard or wait until Monday, when I'll show you how to top 'em right -- LOVER-style. Tuesday, I'll share with you a supreme homemade bun recipe that uses chocolate stout as its flavor base.

It's veggie street food. But you don't need to leave the comfort of your home to enjoy it.



What you'll need for six healthy dogs . . .

• 1-1/2 cup wheat gluten (found in the bulk foods section)
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 3/4 cup cold water
• 4 teaspoons tomato paste or other puree of choice
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons vegetable broth

Method . . .

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Mix all ingredients together and knead until well combined.
3. Portion into 6 balls and roll to form a tube shape.
4. Cut 6 six-ish-inch long pieces of aluminum foil and place each dog on a sheet.
5. Roll your dogs (as shown above), making sure they are tightly wrapped in the foil. I found it helpful to stretch mine a bit along the way (the mixture will be stretchy).
6. Tie 'em off (as shown below). Tightly, according to Stephen, for the best results.
7. We baked ours for about 30 minutes. Bake until they are firm to your liking -- and careful not to over-bake or they'll be stiff (that's what she said).

So, that's part 1. Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 (next week). And now I have a question for you. Yes, you. I'm not much of a book-reader. I'm usually too busy working, running, cooking/baking, eating, photo-taking, blogging, and reading blogs. But I read an article a few weeks ago about culinary-inspired book clubs. I thought it might be fun to start one. That is, if anyone is interested.

Here's how I'm thinking it would work. (UPDATE: Get all the details on the Foodie Book Club post).

• We come up with a reading list of 12 foodie-related books for the year -- one for each month. I'm actually thinking Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations might be a good start.
• Starting in March, we read the book. Then on the Friday of the last week of the month, write a post about it. This could be in the form of a review. Of baking or cooking something related. Of picking a favorite section and commenting on it. Etc.
• I'd post one of those McLinky Lists (like I do for the Blog Love Fests) on (never home)maker so that you could all share the link to your post about it. And keep it up all month for everyone to see. And you can all link to that specific post in your posts to share what everyone else thought about it.

What I'm asking is: Is anyone interested in participating in such a virtual "club"? If so, please leave a comment! If not, that's fine. But I plan to (at least try to) do it myself. I'd love company!

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