Seitan Piccata with white wine and caper sauce

My friend gave me a vegan "Candle Cafe Cookbook" last Christmas. On the cover there was a dish that made my mouth water just from looking at the picture. It was their famous "Seitan Piccata with white wine and caper sauce" dish. Until then I didn't know that the Candle Cafe was a famous vegan restaurant in New York.....I usually don't drink white wine and don't keep capers in the fridge all the time so I could not make it right the way. However, I bought all the necessary ingredients few days later and whipped up this delicious dinner. This recipe was easy to prepare, yet amazingly fancy, even the biggest boldest meat-eater would ask for seconds. If I was dating someone new this is what I would prepare for a romantic dinner. It was so good that I had to make it the very next day again from the leftover ingredients. I have been making this dish ever since and there are never any leftovers. I love the combination of lemony sauce with capers and parsley and I love the way the seitan tastes in the sauce. I have made it with tofu as well, but it was not as good. Candle Cafe Cookbook has other amazing recipes that i tried and loved, such as Mushroom Risotto, Summer Borscht, and Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting.

Here is a picture of Seitan Piccata with white wine and caper sauce that I made recently. I made it with roasted potatoes that I cut into circles. I use unbleached all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour and I don't always use shallots. The serving size 4-6 is about 2-3 servings for me :-)

"Seitan Piccata with white wine and caper sauce"

Serves 4 – 6

6 seitan cutlets

1 cup dry white wine

Whole wheat flour for dredging

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

1 cup vegetable broth

½ cup diced shallots

2 Tbs. unbleached flour

½ cup onions

4 Tbs. soy margarine

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp sea salt

¼ cup drained capers

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Dredge the seitan cutlets in the flour, shaking off any excess. In a sauté pan, heat 2 Tbs. of the olive oil over high heat and sauté the cutlets until crisp and golden brown, about 30 seconds per side. Place each cutlet on individual plates or a platter.
2. Heat the remaining olive oil in the pan. Add the shallots, onions, garlic and capers, sauté and stir until softened, about 1 – 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half. Whisk in the lemon juice and allow to reduce a bit more.
3. Add the broth and the unbleached flour and bring to a boil Reduce the heat and simmer for about 1 minute. Whisk in the margarine, parsley, salt, and pepper. Pour over the seitan cutlets and serve at once.

This recipe was posted on this blog with a kind permission from Clarkson Potter/Publishers

(Candle Cafe Cookbook (Page 119) by Joy Pierson, Bart Potenza and Barbara Scott-Goodman,

© 2003 by Joy Pierson and Bart Potenza, and published by Clarkson Potter)