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

Saturday, November 23, 2013

VEGAN MOULES À LA MARINIÈRE - II

[Mussels Steamed with Wine, Flavorings, and Bread Crumbs]

...it's been cold and drizzly here...normal November weather to be sure...and it's perfectly normal to want soup in weather like this too...

...first you'll need some seitan moules...and some onions cooked in Earth Balance until tender and translucent but not browned (I need to count how many times Julia says that)...I didn't photograph that part as I've done it a lot...
...add some dry white wine...
...and some fine white bread crumbs...Julia suggests a 'homemade type' of bread...
...stir in your herbs...
...and your vegan mussels...and cook over high heat...
...pour into a soup tureen...remove the bay leaf so no one gets that in their bowl...
...and serve...
...Julia says to ladle the mussels and sauce into soup plates...
...so I guess it's not technically a soup...
...not a soup...but we enjoyed our mussels and sauce like a soup...

Substitutions:
Seitan Mussels for the Mussels
Earth Balance for Butter


Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

p. 228

Saturday, November 2, 2013

...VEGAN SAUTÉ DE VEAU MARENGO

[Brown Veal Stew with Tomatoes and Mushrooms]

...with the cooler temperatures we were all in the mood for a nice stew...

...Julia calls this dish 'uncomplicated'...and 'hearty'...

...and I agree with the 'hearty' part...
...I started with a seitan roast...detailed instructions here...
...browned the seitan in some oil...
...then while the onions were browning in the leftover oil...I tossed the seitan with some salt pepper and flour in the casserole...
...then I added the wine to the browned onions...
...Julia then puts the wine/onion mixture into the casserole...but I just left it in the pot and added the tomatoes...
...Julia used button mushrooms...which would probably have been prettier...but I used sautéed mushrooms from the freezer...I had gotten a packet of them out of the freezer a couple of days ago to put on top of a baked potato and I wanted to use them up...

...and this was sort of a mistake...or I was just rushing through the recipe...as Julia doesn't add the mushrooms until after the baking...ooops...
...then added the herbs...
...and the garlic...
...and then I put everything in the casserole...
...put it in the oven...
...and baked for about an hour and a half...
...then I took it out of the oven...
...and poured the contents into a seive placed over a saucepan...
...this was to reduce the sauce of course...but probably because seitan doesn't give off any 'juice' (as dead animals tend to do)...and because I had used previously sautéed mushrooms...
...very little 'juice' dripped into my pot...so I didn't have anything to reduce...
...we served it 'en casserole' as Julia suggests with rice...
...(and a side of green beans...not suggested by Julia)...
...and it was very delicious...very...

Substitutions: Seitan for the Veau

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

pp. 361-362