Cooking with Celia: Seitan Beer Stew

Had some wonderful seitan stew from Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago, and when I went back to get more (okay, okay, when I sent Rafael to get more . . . ), they didn't have it. I decided to make my own, which, of course, involves beer. Rule #1 of cooking with Celia: if it can be cooked in beer, it's better. I used a Coors nonalcoholic, which is what we have around in these sad times, but you can use whatever you like to drink. You could also sub 10 oz. of low-sodium veggie broth (reduce salt by half if regular), but then it wouldn't be "beer" stew, would it?

Serves: 4-6

Prep time: less than 15 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

¼ cup canola oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup chopped onion

1 tsp. dry rosemary

1 tsp. dry thyme

1 tsp. cumin powder

1 tsp. dry oregano

1 tsp. salt (1/2 tsp. if using regular soy sauce)

½ tsp. - 1 tsp. black pepper

6 oz. sliced portobello mushrooms

½ each red, green, yellow, & orange bell peppers, slivered (or two whole peppers of different colors)

16 oz. ready-to-eat seitan

2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp. maple syrup

1 bottle beer

2 tbsp. flour

1. In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic until light brown. Add onions and spices. Sauté until translucent.  Add mushrooms, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes until mushrooms are slightly cooked. The mushrooms will release some moisture when they are ready. 
2. Add peppers and simmer, covered, another 5 minutes or so until the peppers are wilted. 
3. Add seitan and simmer, covered, another 5 minutes. Add soy sauce, syrup, and beer. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes. 
4. In a small bowl, mix flour with about ½ cup of stew liquid with a fork. Keep adding liquid from the stew and mixing until you have a thick, lump-free mixture. Add to the stew and stir. Simmer for about another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The stew is ready when the liquid is the consistency of gravy. To speed up the process, simmer uncovered.

Serve over rice, with a nice green salad and, of course, more cold beer.