Got No Beef Broth & UPCYCLED Veggie Dogs | Easy Vegan Seitan & Veggie Hotogs | The Vegan Good Life W

“Got No Beef” Broth Makes 2 quarts, or 8 cups From The Homemade Vegan Pantry by Miyoko Schinner (Ten Speed Press, 2015) This rich broth gets deep, dark color and flavor from the long caramelization of the bouquet garni at the beginning. It can seem a little fussy, but you needn’t be a slave to the pot during this process; you can do other things in the kitchen and just check on the process every few minutes to give it a stir. I don’t know if it tastes exactly like beef broth (I haven’t had it in 45 years!), but it certainly has the requisite umami of such a stock and stands in beautifully for it. 2 tablespoons oil or water for sautéing 1 pound onions, diced 12 ounces celery, diced 8 ounces carrots, diced 8 cups water 4 ounces mushrooms, sliced 1/4 cup dried porcini or shiitake mushrooms 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 tablespoon miso 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 6 cloves garlic Salt to taste In a stockpot, heat the oil or water. Add the onions, celery, and carrots, and sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt. Now, you’re going to spend thirty to forty minutes caramelizing the vegetables. Turn the heat up high, and start to sauté the vegetables, making sure that the heat remains high in order to prevent the vegetables from getting too watery. As the vegetables soften and become drier, turn the heat down. It’s okay if they start to stick to the pan; you actually want to encourage that without burning. You don’t need to stir the whole time, as the vegetables need to be left alone for minutes at a time to brown. As they stick, just scrape them with a wooden spoon. Keep the heat at a level where they will stick and get brown, but not burn. Keep doing this for awhile, turning the heat down as necessary, until they are quite reduced and nicely browned; the bottom of the pan will have stuff stuck to it as well. Now add the water, which will lift off the caramelization at the bottom of the pan. Add the mushrooms, porcini, soy sauce, miso, balsamic vinegar, and garlic. Cover the pot, and bring to a boil. Then turn it down and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain through a sieve, pushing the juices out of the vegetables. Wait! Don’t throw away those strained veggies! Turn them into hot dogs or sausages. For hot dogs, puree them in a food processor, add some tomato paste, garlic, onion and garlic powder, some salt or soy sauce, a few squirts of liquid smoke, and a 2 to 3 of cups of vital wheat gluten, depending on how firm you want it. Knead it together, form into skinny logs, wrap tightly in aluminum foil, and bake in a 350˚F oven for an hour. If you want sausages, omit the liquid smoke, and add some sausage spice and Italian spice mixture instead. You can also bake this in a larger log (although it will take 2 hours), and make lunch meat. Play around with the seasonings – add cracked pepper, fennel, sundried tomatoes, olives, etc., to make tasty variations.