I'm always veganizing recipes that I love...so...I'm working my way
through all of the amazing recipes in Julia Child's
Mastering the Art of French Cooking...
...making a Vegan Version of each one...... sometimes successfully - sometimes not...Recipe Count 518/524 (from Julie's count)...but really 629

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Vegan Sole à la Nantua

[Vegan Fish Filets with Vegan Écrevisses]

...Julia says this about this variation of the VEGAN SOLE À LA DIEPOISE..."Same as the sole à la dieppoise, but the fish is garnished with écrevisscs, and shellfish butter, page 104, rather than plain butter is beaten into the sauce."
...so getting ready to poach the tofu filets...finely chop some shallots or green onions...
...add your tofu filets...some more onions...and dot with vegan butter...
...I'm also adding some wakame for some 'from the sea' flavor...
...and white wine...
...and cover with waxed paper...
...and then into the bottom third of the oven...
...I'm using my vegan shrimp for the écrivisses (crayfish)...to make the vegan shellfish butter...
...just whizz that together with the stick blender...
...Julia says 8-12 minutes should be sufficient...and obviously my tofu was already 'done'...
...so take the filets out of the poaching liquid and reserver it...
...make your vegan white sauce...and add in your vegan shellfish butter...
...and strain in the reserved poaching liquid...
...arrange your tofu filets and vegan écrivisses in a serving dish...
...and top with the sauce...
...we served it with a spinach and arugula salad and some grilled french bread...
...it was a nice lunch...
...the tofu filets were tasty and of course the sauce was delicious...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the butter
tofu for the fish
Vegan écrivisses
all the subs for the VEGAN SOLE À LA DIEPOISE

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 216

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Vegan Quenelles de Volatile/Veau

[Vegan Veal, Chicken, or Turkey Quenelles]

...this variation of Vegan Quenelles is just the same as the VEGAN QUENELLES DE POISSON...just using vean chicken instead of vegan fish...
...you'll need a Cream Puff Paste VEGAN PÂTE À CHOUX...
...I'm using ground up vegan chick'n...
...just add that into your pâte...
...using two spoons form your quenelles...and drop them into your boiling broth...
...simmer the quenelles in the broth...
...until they float...
...then we made these as Quenelles au Gratin...arranged them on a gratin dish...
...and cover them with your sauce...this is a bechamel flavored with some of the cooking stock...
...top with bread crumbs and vegan cheeze...
...we served with roasted broccoli and a salad...
...these were pretty yummy...and we definitely liked them better than the fish ones...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the butter
Vegan Cheese...we used Violife
Vegan chick'n...
all the subs for the pâte à choux

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 189-190

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

VEGAN ÉPINARDS À LA BASQUAISE

[Vegan Gratin of Spinach and Sliced Potatoes with Anchovies]

...I was a little skeptical of this dish...as I am of most things that have anchovies in them...
...you braise the spinach in vegan stock...we used Washingtons...
...and you know spinach...it cooks down considerably...
...and you stir some vegan cheese into the braised spinach...we used Violife...
...slice the potatoes thin and cook in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes...
...butter your baking dish with vegan butter...
...for the mashed anchovies...I used capers and nori...
...and just mashed it together in my mortar and pestle...
...then you layer the potatoes in the baking dish...
...and the mashed vegan anchovy mixture...and the spinach and cheese...
...and top with bread crumbs...
...and then bake it for about 30 minutes...
...we served it with vegan meatloaf and a salad...
...it was surprisingly good...I was afraid that the fish-y flavor wouldn't go well with the spinach...but it was really a nice cheeze-y casserole...

Substitutions:
Capers and Nori for the anchovies
Earth Balance for the butter
Vegan Cheese...we used Violife

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 474-475

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

VEGAN SOUFFLÉ AUX BLANCS D’OEUFS

[Vegan Cheese Soufflé with Egg Whites Only]

I basically followed this recipe for Vegan Chocolate Souffle just without the sugar and chocolate and sweetened vegan condensed milk...
...so for the soufflé mixture...I used aqua faba, xanthum gum, flour, EnerG egg replacer, and Earth Balance...and then added some Violife shreds...it looks promising...light and glistening...
...and it rose and baked up looking nice...
...we served it with a salad, steamed broccoli and an Okinawan sweet potato...
...and it was really good...light and fluffy and cheeze-y...I think I'll tinker with the soufflé recipe a little more...I have a few more to do...and since I don't really know what a non-vegan souffle was like...I'm just working from an idea...

Substitutions:
aqua faba, xanthum gum, flour, EnerG egg replacer, and Earth Balance
Vegan Cheese...we used Violife

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 173-174

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Vegan Boeuf à la Catalane

[Vegan Beef Stew with Rice, Onions, and Tomatoes]

...Julia says "Here is a hearty dish from the Spanish-Mediterranean corner of France. Serve it with a green salad, French bread, and a strong, young red wine."

...I had actually intended to make the vegan lamb version of this dish first (Pilaf de Mouton à la Catalane Lamb or Mutton Stew with Rice, Onions, and Tomatoes)...while I still had some vegan lamb...but this is the master recipe...so...
...I gathered the ingredients...the can of tomatoes is only there in case I don't have enough of the fresh ones...
...you start by frying some bacon...I used bacon bits...
...and then you remove that to a casserole...but I just put it onto a small plate...because I'll be removing the handle from my pot and putting that into the oven...
...then you brown your vegan boeuf...I'm just using Gardein here...
...then brown your onions...
...and remove them...
...then stir your rice in the same pot...until translucent...
...I did this next bit a little bit out of order...put the vegan beef back to the pot and added some thyme...
...and some saffron...I don't use saffron a lot and this is nearing it's expire date...so I'm happy to have a recipe to use it up...
...add a crumbled bay leaf...
...add the stock and the wine...I used a shiraz...because that's what we had on hand...and I think it makes a good 'cooking wine'...
...add the chopped tomatoes...I wound up not needing the canned tomatoes...
...add the rice...vegan bacon and onions back to the pot (casserole)...
...then I just push the red button to remove the handle...and this pot becomes a casserole...
...then into the oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (per the recipe)...but we only had ours in the oven for about 45 minutes...and most of the liquid was absorbed and it was 'done'...
...and it was perfectly cooked...
...Julia says to "delicately fold the vegan cheese into the casserole"...I just grated it on top...(Violife)
...this was a really delicious and fairly easy casserole...and really was just the one pot...

Substitutions:
Vegan beef - we used Gardein
Vegan beef stock - we used Washingtons Brown


Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 321-322