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 29, 2011

Vegan Gâteau de Crêpes à la Florentine

[Mound of Vegan French Pancakes Filled with Cream Cheese, Spinach and Mushrooms]


...Since we were all out of omelette recipes for our Sunday Brunch for Lunch - we found another yummy recipe to take their place...and since our grocery store had the bags of organic spinach for 99¢ again - we'll have another meal featuring spinach...

...Julia describes this one as 'an amusing entrée' which I thought was amusing...

...First you'll need to make some CRÊPES...

....and some Sauce Mornay...

...and some ÉPINARDS BLANCHIS...

...then make the cream cheese and mushroom filling...

...sauté some mushrooms and shallots for about 5-6 minutes...

...mash some Tofutti cream cheese in a bowl with some
Flax Seed Goo for the eggs...

...add some salt and pepper...

...and your mushrooms and shallots...and mix well...

...now the fun part...start layering your Crêpes in a buttered round baking dish...

...top with mushroom filling...

...then another Crêpe your spinach and creme sauce...

...then another Crêpe...

...and some more mushroom and cheese...

...finish off with your prettiest Crêpe for the top...

...sprinkle on some vegan cheese - we used Daiya mozzarella style...

...dot with Earth Balance...

...pop it in the oven for about 1/2 hour...

...and serve...we had ours with some lovely braised leeks...

...a very pretty presentation...

...cut into wedges...

...so pretty and Spring-y this meal was...

...the Crêpes were tender and perfect and the spinach and cream cheese filling was very creamy and rich...

...it was delicious...Julia suggests 24 Crêpes for this stack...we thought that was quite a bit too much for three people of normal appetite so we cut back considerably...but if I were to make this for company - I'd go all out and have a huge stack - although I don't think I'd get more than 10 or 12 in my round baking dish...

Substitutions:
Flax Seed Goo for the eggs
Earth Balance for Butter
Tofutti Cream Cheese for the cream cheese
Daiya Mozarella for the grated cheese

See the supporting recipes for their substitutions.

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 193-194

VEGAN PÂTE À CRÊPES

[Vegan Crêpe Batter]

This was a lot easier than I thought it would be...


...just put all of the ingredients into the blender...I used flax seed goo for the eggs - almond milk for the milk and Earth Balance for the butter...

...blend that up - scraping down the sides to make sure all the flour is incorporated...

...it should just coat a spoon...refrigerate it for a couple of hours - so make it before Church if you're using it for brunch...or make it the night before...

...Julia says that the first crepe is always a trial one to test the consistency of the batter and the heat of your pan...so I wasn't too upset when I tore the first one...

...but I was more careful and the rest were perfect...

...I remember fondly the upside down crepe pan that my brother gave my Mom for Christmas one year - and the crepes we made on the stove with it sure were fun...

Substitutions:
Flax Seed Goo for the eggs
Earth Balance for Butter
Almond Milk for the milk

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 191-193

VEGAN POIREAUX BRAISÉS AU BEURRE

[Vegan Braised Leeks]

...Don't leeks just remind you so much of Springtime...even if the ground is still covered with snow...


...trim the roots...

...slice lengthwise...

...and rinse well under running water...

...place in an oven proof dish...

...cover with water...

...add some Earth Balance...

...and some salt...

...bring to a boil and cook until leeks soften...about 30-40 minutes...I can tell this is going to be one of Julia's long (really long) vegetable cooking times...

...cover loosely with foil...and bake 20 to 30 more minutes until leeks have taken on a slightly golden colour...

...perfect!...

...Julia says these accompany roast beef, steaks, or turkey...but we had ours with our Gâteau de Crêpes à la Florentine and it was perfect for that too...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for Butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 495

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Vegan Épinards à la Crème

[Vegan Spinach braised in Cream - Creamed Spinach]


...this was a lovely and very green spring sidedish...

....first - just follow the recipe for ÉPINARDS BLANCHIS

...then put a little bit of Earth Balance in a pan...

...stir over medium high heat to evaporate the humidity from the blanched spinach...

...then sift on a little bit of flour and cook for a couple of minutes...

...then add lots of cream - I used Wildwood plain creamer...

...and cook for an astounding 15 minutes longer...

...then off heat - add some more Earth Balance...

...then as you're supposed to garnish this dish with boiled egg - I made the same 'eggs' that I had made for the Vegan OEUFS POCHÉS...

...I just added a little bit more agar agar to make the 'egg' firmer...

...it worked perfectly - and I was able to slice them easily...

...so - sliced and garnished...

..it was a really good, rich and creamy sidedish...

...I'm getting quite used to Julia's version of spinach...this was really good - I'm thinking it would go well with Ham Seitan for an Easter dinner too...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for Butter
Wildwood Creamer for Cream
Vegan Boiled Eggs for Egg garnish

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

p. 471

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

VEGAN TARTE AU CITRON

Vegan Lemon Soufflé Tart


...I made this tart for Pi(e) Day 3.14...it was a lovely fresh lemon pie...


...make a sugar crust shell...

...and bake it...

...then start the filling with some flax seed goo and sugar - don't worry about it not forming a ribbon - I just beat it until all the sugar is dissolved...

...grate some lemon...

... and add that to the 'egg' and sugar mixture...

...squeeze your lemon...

...and add some fresh lemon juice...

...Next I added about 3 teaspoons of soy protein powder - still experimenting with egg replacers...you're supposed to cook this over simmering water to avoid cooking the egg yolks - but as that was not a worry for me - I just microwaved it for a minute and it made a lovely thickish pudding - it's supposed to coat a spoon...

...next still experimenting with my fluffy egg white mixture I mixed some agar agar with water and microwaved that for a minute until thick - mixed some clear gel and Versawhip (if you've not tried this stuff you must - it's amazing) - added the agar and started whipping - it starts out like pudding as you can see here...

...then as you continue to whip it gets more voluminous and fluffy - like egg whites...lovely...

...then you just fold that into the lemony pudding...

...fold delicately so you don't lose the volume of the fluffy stuff...

...pour it into your prebaked shell...Julia says she thinks this pie is best eaten hot - so we ran ours under the broiler for a few minutes - the top will brown a little bit like a meringue - but don't leave it too long or the agar based fluff will melt...so we had ours warm with tea...but I had some cold and I think I like it better cold...so it's just up to you...I'll probably make this again and I don't think I'll cook it at all - just let the fluff set up a little bit and it'll slice just fine...You can also use lime instead of lemon - then it's Tarte Aux Limettes...

Substitutions:
Same substitutions as before on the crust
Flax seed goo and soy protein for the egg yolks
Versawhip 600K and clear gel and agar for the egg whites


Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

pp. 643-644