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, December 30, 2014

Vegan Sauce au Cari

[Light Curry Sauce]

...after all that rich food during the Christmas holiday...we wanted something light and different...so we thought we'd try Julia's Sauce au Cari...it's just a Béchamel sauce made with curry flavorings...
...and it starts like so many of Julia's recipes with onions cooked in butter (Earth Balance) over low heat without allowing the onions to colour...
...then you stir in the curry powder and cook for a couple of minutes...
...then you add the flour and stir over low heat for a few more minutes...
...then you add boiling milk - we just used regular almond milk...and let that simmer for about 15 minutes or so...
...then you stir in cream...we used thick almond cream...you can use the recipe here - just don't add the vanilla and dates...
...then...just before serving stir in a couple of tablespoons of Earth Balance...
...Julia says this sauce is good with vegetables...
...so we added some regular mixed vegetables...frozen...
...and served this sauce with the vegetables over steamed rice...and topped it with some tofu strips...
...oh my...this is so very good...

Substitutions:

vegan milk for the milk - we used almond milk
vegan cream for the cream - we used homemade almond cream
Earth Balance for the butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
pp. 63-64

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

VEGAN MARINADE AU VIN

[Wine Marinade]

...this is the third of Julia's Marinades for Pork...and it's the best one...it's perfect for a holiday meal...

...Julia says it's a 'special 2- to 4-day marinade which gives pork a taste akin to that of wild boar, marcassin...'

...and she says that if you're going to marinate for more than 3 days you'll need to cook the carrots onions and garlic...I wasn't going to leave mine that long so I didn't cook them...
...but your start by rubbing the vegan pork medallions with salt...based on the first marinades saltiness...I went lightly with the salt...
...then you mix some white wine (or vermouth...which I almost never have), vinegar, oil, garlic, carrots, onions, peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme and some other herbs if desired...
...then pop in the medallions...cover and refrigerate...
...this is what it looks like after 2 days...
...you scrape off the marinade and dry thoroughly...
...you can cook them any way you like...we just pan fried ours in a little oil...
...and served Thanksgiving style with some vegan stuffing, steamed broccoli, and Grandma's Mashed...
...these were just so juicy and good...
...definitely worth the little bit of trouble to make the marinade ahead of time...

Substitutions:

Vegan Pork for the pork of course...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
p. 377

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

VEGAN MARINADE SIMPLE

[Lemon Juice and Herb Marinade]

...the second of three pork marinades...Julia says this one gives a slightly different flavor than the dry one...
...you start by rubbing salt and pepper onto the vegan pork...after the last one...I only used a little bit of salt shaken on...not dredged...
...then you mix up some lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, thyme, sage, and bayleaf...
...and dunk your vegan pork in...
...cover and marinate 1 to 3 days...
...this was an overnight marinade for us...so this is the next day...
...just scrape the marinade off and dry well before cooking...
...again...we just sautéed our medallions in canola oil...
...and served with some stewed potatoes and vegan broccoli coleslaw...recipe at Affectioknit...
...and these were a lot better than the MARINADE SÈCHE ones...if only because they weren't as salty...
...but the lemon juice adds a nice something to the vegan meat too...and they were delicious...

Substitutions:
...no substitutions for the marinade...
Vegan Pork for the pork of course...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
pp. 376-377

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

VEGAN MARINADE SÈCHE

[Salt Marinade with Herbs and Spices]

...Julia says this marinade is her favorite 'as it tenderizes...and accentuates the natural flavor...'

...so we thought we'd use some of our Vegan Pork Medallions...and mixed up a marinade...
...just salt, pepper, sage/thyme, alspice, and ground bay leaf...I didn't have any...so I ground some up in my Coffee Mill...
...gave it a stir...and pressed the medallions into the mixture...
...coating each side...
...Julia says the minimum marination time is 2 hours...and that 6-12 hours are even better...we covered ours and put it in the fridge overnight...
...before cooking...you have to scrape off the marinade...
...and then dry thoroughly...
...we sautéed our medallions in canola oil...
...and served with butternut squash, a corn/green bean succotash...and some fluffy steamed rice...
...they looked and smelled so good...
...but they were a little bit too salty...so in future I think I'll just use the herbs and salt lightly like you normally would...but the flavor was really good...and you could certainly do this marinade with tofu or seitan too...

Substitutions:
...no substitutions for the marinade...
Vegan Pork for the pork of course...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
pp. 376

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Vegan Cassoulet

[VEGAN FRENCH BAKED BEANS]

...Julia spends a lot of space telling us about Cassoulets...and likens them to Boston Baked Beans...and says that the recipes are subject to endless dispute...

...and she says..."that the concoction of a good cassoulet is a fairly long process...you can prepare it in one day...but two or even three days of leisurely on-and-off cooking are much easier..."

...so here goes...and 3 days later...you'll have your dinner...haha...
...start with some 'dry white beans'...Julia gives several French varieties...but we of course went with American Great Northerns...as that's what we have available here...
...drop the beans in rapidly boiling water...
...she puts in a humongous half pound of pork fat...so I used some unsalted cold pressed coconut oil to replace the fat...
...so you simmer the beans and fat for an hour and a half...skimming when necessary...
...and you want the fat to 'lose itself' in the beans...
...Julia says to use the recipe for pork loin on page 380...that's the VEGAN RÔTI DE PORC POÊLÉ...but I used my little vegan pork nuggets from the Asian store instead...
...and put that in the pot with the beans and fat...
...and an herb bouquet garni...which I, of course, put in my tea ball...
...and simmered for an hour and a half...
...then you make the roast lamb...
...so I used my lamb seitan recipe from VEGAN GIGOT EN CHEVREUIL...
...cut into chunks and browned...
...and then you make sausage cakes...which Julia says is a substitute for Saucisse de Toulouse...
...I basically used a recipe that I've used before...Bryanna's Breakfast Sausage...but I used Julia's spices...allspice, bay leaf, cognac, garlic, and truffle...an interesting mixture...
...shaped into patties and baked as usual...
...and then browned...
...and finally...we come to what Julia calls 'the final assembly'...
...basically...you just layer all of your ingredients...beans...vegan meat...beans...vegan meat...
...beans...vegan meat...beans...vegan meat...etc...it's a lot of food...
...the top layer of vegan meat should be the homemade sausage patties...
...and the final layer is beans...Julia says you can refrigerate at this point and then for the final cooking bake for an hour...
...as the cassoulet bakes...a crust will form on top...
...Julia says to break through this crust and spoon the liquid back on top...
...you do this several times...
...but in the end...she says the final crust should be left intact...
...and broken through as you serve...
...I love beans almost any way you can make them...and this is no exception...
...this time-consuming recipe (which Julia describes as an 'Order of Battle')was definitely worth the trouble...this was a delicious, rich and heart meal...

Substitutions:
Coconut Oil for the Pork Fat
Vegan lamb
Vegan Sausage
Vegan Pork

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
pp. 399 - 404