It is believed that Mulligan stew was a creation of American hobos around the turn of the century. It was a community dish formed by whatever people happened to have on hand. Now that traditional hobo culture is not so prevalent in America, Mulligan stew has come to resemble Irish beef stew with an American bent. This version uses seitan in place of beef, beer with the broth, and is chock-full of root vegetables. Once again, I will be dedicating this stew recipe to an important person in my life. This time, it's my little brother, Ben.
Beer enthusiast and renowned world champion in extreme volume talking, Ben has been a father for all of two months. Not only that, but over the past few years he's been putting down all kinds of roots, from getting married and buying his first home, to working as an electrical engineer AND going to school for his MBA. Add a new baby to the mix and you have the makings of a true super dad.
Like most siblings, Ben and I have had our differences as well as fun adventures, but I don't think anyone has made me laugh as hard or as many times as he did while we were growing up.
This is a good stew to make for your brother. If you don't have one, it's also a great dish to make on St. Patrick's day, or really any day that you're craving something warm and hearty.
First, you need to make some seitan. Click here for full instructions and step-by-step photos on making seitan. Cut the seitan into bite-sized pieces.
Then, get started on the base of the stew, which includes onion, garlic and celery. After the veggies are soft, stir in tomato paste, vegetable broth and some Irish stout. I recommend Killian's, which is made without the use of animal ingredients.
Now stir in a bunch of root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, potatoes and turnips. Add some barley and herbs, and simmer everything together for an hour. While it's cooking, fry up your seitan pieces in margarine until nicely browned.
Once everything's finished, add the seitan to the pot along with some fresh parsley and simmer five minutes longer. Look at that beautiful pot of stew you just made! Time to grab a spoon.
Mulligan Stew
Serves 6-8
Important: Be sure to give yourself enough time to cook the seitan. For a quicker recipe, you can use store bought seitan.
Ingredients
Seitan
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cups mushroom broth or vegetable broth
Stew
4 tablespoons vegan margarine, divided
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups Irish stout beer (recommended: Killian’s)
4 carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into 1/2” chunks
2 (carrot sized) parsnips, peeled and sliced diagonally into 1/2” chunks
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2” chunks
1 large turnip, peeled and cut into 1/2”chunks
3 tablespoons dry pearl barley
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 sprig rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Method
- Prepare the seitan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly oil a lidded casserole dish with non-stick spray. Combine flour, nutritional yeast and vegetable stock powder in a large bowl. Mix the water, tomato paste, vegan Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce in a small bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until a dough forms. Adjust amount of water or gluten as needed (see tip). Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then form into a loaf. Place the seitan in the casserole dish and cover with 2 cups of mushroom broth. Cover and cook for 40 minutes. Flip the loaf, then cover and cook for another 40 minutes. Remove the seitan from the dish and allow it to rest until cool enough to handle. Cut into bite-sized chunks.
- Prepare the stew. Melt 2 tablespoons of the margarine in a large, heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and celery. Cook 5-7 minutes or until onion is translucent.
- Mix in tomato paste, vegetable broth and beer, then add all remaining ingredients except for the parsley and seitan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of soy margarine in a large pan over medium heat. Sauté the seitan pieces on 2 sides for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Do so in 3-4 batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan and adding more margarine if it becomes too dry.
- Once the stew is finished simmering, add the seitan to the pot along with the chopped parsley and cook 5 more minutes.