Lately I've been craving comfort food - those things I ate from childhood that now that I'm vegetarian just aren't going to fly. When I was growing up we used to eat this wildly weird thing called city chicken. It was pork - on a stick, breaded, then either baked or fried (my mother was a fan of frying). Why was it called chicken? I have no idea. But I remember loving it.
So yesterday I decided the craving was strong enough for me to come up with a vegetarian alternative. I made my own seitan (you don't have to - just buy your favorite) and the result is this:
City Un-Chicken
Up to 1 lb of seitan (or a package of your favorite brand), cubed
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbl. turkey rub (if it's against your sensibilities to buy this, just mix up a combination of paprika, sage, thyme, garlic salt, pepper. rosemary, and onion powder)
salt and pepper to taste
Egg replacer for dipping
Wooden skewers
Olive oil for frying
In a shallow dish, mix up your egg replacer. On a dinner plate, mix together the dry ingredient. Thread seitan cubes onto wooden skewers. Roll them first into the egg replacer, then into the flour mixture. In a large skillet, fry them in a scant amount of olive oil (don't use canola - it just stinks something awful) or spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Fry until seitan is brown, turning until all sides are cooked, about four minutes each.
