Recap: The Chicago Vegan Chef Showdown

This weekend was the Chicago Vegan Chef Showdown. All proceeds from this event went to Mercy For Animals life-saving work to help promote veganism and reduce the suffering of farmed animals in the United States. Each team or contestant had to use Upton's Naturals seitan (any one of their varieties) in their dish as they were hosting this event. The event was held at the Funky Buddha Lounge here in Chicago on July 23rd. The turnout was incredible! Over 200 people showed up to support the competitors, MFA, and Upton's Naturals. Vegan Miss competed with one of my favorites, my deep dish vegan pizza. My friends and I spent the whole day before making pizza after pizza; in total, fourteen! So much pizza! We had quite the assembly line after a while going on in the kitchen. ;]

Though Vegan Miss did not place, two of MFA's great volunteers, Meagen and Blythe, won third with their cheeze and seitan ravioli's. A company called the Rootsy Vegan won first place with their jerk seitan which was really good. Dishes of the day were a "beef" curry with raita and rice, seitan tacos with a mango salsa, empanadas (won second, very tasty - indeed!), corn bread muffins with seitan and a glaze, seitan and pasta, and others. Kelly Peloza of the Vegan Cookie Connoisseur and Seitan Beats Your Meat was competing too - right next to VM! Congratulations to all the winners and great job to all contestants! We all worked really hard.

I very much enjoyed this event and the preparations I had to make ahead of time. We made business cards, a sign, a new blog layout, and did a little antique shopping to decorate the table. Alas, there was to be a flier with the recipe instructions, but time became an issue and it was never printed.

Many, many thanks to Chicago Soydairy for helping this blog doll out with a massive amount of Teese mozzarella. Could not have done it without them! 


Photo Credit: Louis McGill

Stuffed Crust Pizza

Stuffed Crust Pizza

* Prep Time: 1 hour
* Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
* Ingredients (for dough):

• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup bread flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp yellow cornmeal & flour (used to dust counter to roll out dough)

* Ingredients (for pizza filling):

• 1/2 package Upton's Naturals All Natural Italian Sausage*
• 1 package mozzarella flavored Daiya*
• 1/2 package mozzarella flavored Teese, cut into slices*
• 1/2 package Lightlife Pepperoni slices*
• 1 cup baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup (yellow or white) onion, sliced (optional)
• vegan Parmesan cheese*
• dried basil, for taste

* Ingredients (for sauce):

• 1 8 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• Salt & pepper, to taste

* Recipe:

1. In a separate bowl, combine water, sugar, and active dry yeast to activate yeast and let sit for at least 5 minutes.  
2. In a mixer, add the dry ingredients and mix on a low setting using a bread hook. When the yeast is ready, add it to the mixer with the olive oil. Let the dough form in the mixer until it forms a uniform ball and starts to climb the bread hook. (If you do not have a mixer, then combine the dry ingredients with the bowl of yeast, kneed until smooth.)
3. Remove and let stand for about 45-50 minutes or until it doubles in size. You want the crust to be more fluffy for your end product, so you should allow more time for the dough to rise.
4. While waiting for the dough to rise, prepare the other ingredients. To prepare the sauce, add all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and let simmer on low heat until ready to use, stirring occasionally.
5. In a lightly oiled skillet, add the seitan and lightly brown. Prepare the mushrooms (and onions, if using) now while you have the time.
6. Once the dough has risen, punch it down and then use the the cornmeal and flour to dust the counter. Form an even roll.
7. Stretch the dough to fit a round pizza baking pan and allow some dough to hang over edges. Lightly dust with flour to prevent the dough from sticking.
8. Preheat the oven to 450°F. 
9. Cut the Teese into short 1-2" sticks about 1/4 inch thick. Line the edge of the pizza, overlapping the teese just slightly. Once the Teese is in place, take the extra dough hanging over the edge and fold over the Teese to seal it.  Add the the sauce followed by the toppings, then the Daiya cheese and Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle dried basil over the cheese for a little added flavor. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until crust is a nice golden brown.
10. Remove and let cool enough that you can handle. Slice and enjoy!

* Note: Upton's Naturals is a local Chicago seitan company. They sell their faux meats here in Chicagoland. You could use other seitan-style meat crumbles such as Boca Ground Crumbles, Gimme Lean Sausage by Lightlife, or Yves Meatless Ground Round Original. As many of you have heard, Daiya is great. You can find it at Whole Foods as well as vegan websites such as VeganEssentials.com. Teese is a local soy cheese made by Chicago Soydairy. You can order it online from vegan websites as well. I used these two types of cheese for this pizza specifically since they melt well and taste good. Please try to use these brands if you can get a hold of them. For the pepperoni, I used Lightlife's Deli Pepperoni. You could also use Yves Meatless Pepperoni. Lastly, for vegan Parmesan I used Vegan Topping by Galaxy Nutritional Foods which you can also find at your local health food store or places like Whole Foods.

Deep Dish Pizza

Many people think it is impossible to veganize certain things. I am to prove people wrong. With the exception of something such as say oysters rockefeller, most things can have meat and dairy-free alternatives. The task at hand this time was vegan deep dish pizza and it was successful!

Deep Dish Pizza

* Prep Time: 45 minutes
* Cook Time: 20 minutes
* Ingredients (for dough):

• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp yellow cornmeal & flour (used to dust counter to roll out dough)

* Ingredients (for pizza filling):

• 1 package Upton's Naturals All Natural Italian Sausage*
• 1 package mozzarella flavored Daiya*
• 1/2 package mozzarella flavored Teese, cut into slices*
• 1 cup baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup (yellow or white) onion, sliced
• vegan Parmesan cheese*

* Ingredients (for sauce):

• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• Salt & pepper, to taste

* Recipe:

1. In a separate bowl, combine water, sugar, and active dry yeast to activate yeast and let sit for at least 5 minutes.  
2. In a mixer, add the dry ingredients and mix on a low setting using a bread hook. When the yeast is ready, add it to the mixer with the olive oil. Let the dough form in the mixer until it forms a uniform ball and starts to climb the bread hook. (If you do not have a mixer, then combine the dry ingredients with the bowl of yeast, kneed until smooth.)
3. Remove and let stand for at least half an hour or until it doubles in size.
4. While waiting for the dough to rise, prepare the other ingredients. To prepare the sauce, add all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and let simmer on low heat until ready to use, stirring occasionally.
5. In a lightly oiled skillet, add the seitan and lightly brown. Prepare the mushrooms and onions now while you have the time.
6. Once the dough has risen, punch it down and then use the the cornmeal and flour to dust the counter. Form an even roll and cut in half. Lightly oil one half and place it in a zip lock bag in the freezer for another day.
7. Roll or press out the dough into a circle that will fit in a round, 9 inch cooking pan (I used a spring form pan for this). Lightly oil the baking pan and lightly dust with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Place the dough in the pan so that it climbs up the sides to make a wall.
8. Preheat the oven to 450°F. 
9. Begin layering the ingredients. To keep it authentic, add the seitan sausage first, then the mushrooms and onions. Sprinkle a layer of vegan Parmesan cheese. Now for the cheese: add half of the Daiya for the next layer, being sure to spread it as evenly as possible. Then add the sliced Teese followed by topping it with the remaining Daiya. Sprinkle oregano over the cheese for a little added flavor. Add the pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
10. Remove and add a layer of the sauce. Place in the oven again and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
11. Remove and let cool enough that you can handle and remove from pan. Place on a cutting board, slice, and serve.

* Note: Upton's Naturals is a local Chicago seitan company. They sell their faux meats here in Chicagoland. You could use other seitan-style meat crumbles such as Boca Ground Crumbles. As many of you have heard, Daiya is great. You can find it at Whole Foods as well as vegan websites such as VeganEssentials.com. Teese is a local soy cheese made by Chicago Soydairy. You can order it online from vegan websites as well. I used these two types of cheese for this pizza specifically since they melt well and taste good. Please try to use these brands if you can get a hold of them. Lastly, for vegan Parmesan I used Vegan Topping by Galaxy Nutritional Foods which you can also find at your local health food store or places like Whole Foods.

Vegan Teese Brand Cheese Sticks

Vegan Teese Brand Cheese Sticks

* Prep Time: 2 hours
* Cook Time: 20 minutes
* Ingredients:

• 1 mozarella Teese, ends cut and then cut into 1/4" wide sticks (some will be funny shaped since the Teese is a roll)*
• 1 cup of egg re-placer mixed to liquid as directed (more maybe depending on use)*
• 1 can organic Italian herb breadcrumbs*
• Italian seasoning
• "Parmesan" cheese*
• Sea salt
• Olive oil

* Recipe:

1.  Combine breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, Parmesan cheese, and salt salt on a plate.
2. One by one, dip each stick in egg re-placer then dredge in seasoned breadcrumbs and gently press any loose crumbs. Place aside. 
3. Once all of the sticks have been dredged, repeat the process by placing the first dredged stick in the egg re-placer and dredge a second time. 
4. Place on a cookie sheet or other container so the cheese sticks are not touching each other and place in the freezer until frozen, at least an 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours.
5. In a skillet, place enough olive oil to cover half of the stick while laying down. Fry until golden brown, gently flipping to fry the top side. 
6. Gently remove from oil and place on a wire rack to allow oil to drain and cool.

* Note: If the cheese sticks are too hot, they will just fall apart when you bite into them. Wait a bit for them to cool. One may try baking them too, but I did not. For these cheese sticks, I used Chicago Soydairy's Teese cheese. For egg re-placer, I used Bob's Red Mill Vegetarian Egg Replacer. For bread crumbs, I used Edward & Sons Organic Italian Herb Breadcrumbs. Lastly, for Parmesan cheese, I used Galaxy Vegan Topping.