That's not French!

Now, I hope this doesn't offend my French readership (Hi, Aunt Marilyn!) but I have never had Boeuf Bourgiugnon. It has always seemed either too fancy, too beefy, or too involved for me to make at most points in my adult life.  And I've never had occasion to order it at a restaurant.  It seemed as though my bourgiugnon ship had sailed.  But then I happened upon this recipe in The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen for Seitan Bourguignon, and it seemed like the perfect dish for a Saturday night in.  Not authentic, I'm sure, but interesting enough to pique my curiosity.

And it turned out great! (Of course it did, otherwise I wouldn't be writing about it!) Although I made the mistake of not reading the recipe thoroughly enough when I decided to make it, and didn't realize it took 2-2.5 hours to prepare (mostly marinating and simmering, not active work).  Good thing we had a late lunch!

Seitan Bourguignon
from The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen
by Peter Berley

Now, I have not had the best luck with evenly reducing quantities across a recipe so that, as in this case, a 6 serving recipe becomes a more manageable 4 servings, but I think I got it right this time!  :)

1 large bulb garlic, cloves peeled and left whole (I got Kevin to help me with the garlic peeling, since it added to the overall time before I could get dinner on the table)
3/4 cup olive oil (no joke, but it will be worth it, I promise!)
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh sage
2 sprigs fresh parsley
1 1/2 cups dry red wine, preferably from Burgundy (we got a perfectly nice bottle from our neighborhood wine shop for $15, and you still get to drink half a bottle!)
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp mirin
Salt and pepper to taste
2 strips orange zest
1 lb seitan, cut into 1 inch cubes (Berley really wants me to make my own seitan, but it's relatively easy to find good stuff in the store, and so much easier!)
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, sliced into bite sized chunks
1 celery rib with leaves, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp flour
3/4 lb cremini or white button mushrooms, halved if small, quartered if large
Chopped parsley for garnish

This first part is going to sound ridiculous and unnecessary and time consuming, but don't skip it!

In a small pan over medium heat combine the garlic and oil and simmer.  Reduce heat to low and poach the garlic until it turns pale gold, about 20 mins. Strain the oil into a glass container, reserve garlic.

In a large bowl, whisk together the wine, soy sauce, mirin, 3 Tbsp garlic oil, salt and pepper. add the fresh herbs and orange zest. Add the seitan, cover the bowl and let marinate 1 hour at room temperature (This is the part I didn't read so well ahead of time.  I probably only marinated for 30 mins, but it turned out just fine.)

In a heavy, flame-proof casserole over med heat, warm 2 Tbsp of the garlic oil. Add onion and a pinch of salt and sauté until the onion softens, about 5 mins.  Add the carrot, celery, tomato paste and flour.  Cook for 5 more mins, stirring often.

Pour all but 1/4 cup of the seitan marinade over the casserole, and stir well.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 40-50 mins.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

While the veggies simmer, toss the mushrooms with the seitan, leftover marinade and 1/2 Tbsp garlic oil.  Spread this mixture in a single layer in a baking dish or sheet pan.  Roast in the oven for about 30 mins, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned.

Remove the herbs and orange zest from the roasted seitan, add the seitan-mushroom mixture to the pot and stir to combine.  Add the reserved poached garlic (I chopped this so there weren't whole cloves of garlic floating around) and a bit more water if the stew is too thick.  Simmer for 10 mins to meld the flavors.

Top with chopped parsley, and serve!

And for those of you who were not counting, this means there is about 1/3 cup of garlic infused olive oil leftover for you to do with as you please.  I served some with bread, for dipping, and I'm sure it will show up in place of regular olive oil in future recipes!