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, August 30, 2014

VEGAN POTAGE CRÈME DE CRESSON

[Cream of Water-cress Soup]

...I had to look back through the archives to make sure I hadn't done this one already...and I had not...

...Julia says this 'is a lovely soup, and a perfect one for an important dinner'...

...aren't all dinners important?...

...I happened to have some fresh watercress...and I wanted a nice cold soup as it's been pretty warm these last few days of summer... ...so...you start with some minced green onions... ...cook the onions in the Earth Balance...you know the drill...until translucent but not browned...and then add the watercress...not sure why it's hyphenated above in the recipe...my version of the book anyway... ...sprinkle with flour and beat in boiling stock...I used some Vegan White Chicken Stock...then you run that mixture through a food mill...which you already know that Julia prefers to the blender or food processor...as it leaves more little pieces intact... ...then I mixed up some 'cream' and vegan 'eggs'...thick almond milk and flaxseed goo... ...then you blend that in by 'driblets'... ...and finally off heat...you stir in some more Earth Balance...but if you're serving it cold as we are...you omit that... ...a perfectly delicious cold soup for the final warm days of August... ...all of Julia's cream soups are delicious and this one is no different...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the Butter
Almond milk for the cream
Flax seed goo for the eggs

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
pp. 41-42

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Vegan Petits Choux au Fromage

[Cheese Puffs]

...since we'd made a big batch of Puff Pastry for the shells...
...we went ahead and added some grated Vegan Swiss Cheese...and made some Cheese Puffs too...
...these were airy little puffs with the delicate taste of Swiss Cheese...Vegan of course...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the Butter
Soymilk for the water
Ener-G eggs for the eggs

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
p. 181

VEGAN PÂTE À CHOUX

[Cream Puff Paste]

...Julia describes these shells as 'quick, easy and useful'...
...I started by whipping up some Ener-G eggs...
...and I used soymilk instead of the water...got that hot...
...remove from the heat...then you pour in all the flour at once...this seems like a bad idea...but Julia says to do it this way...
...and beat vigorously to mix it up...
...then put it back over moderate heat...and beat it for a few minutes until it begins to leave the sides of the pan...
...then make a well in the center...
...and start adding your 'eggs'...
...beating them in thoroughly each time...
...make sure it's well blended...
...then add another 'egg'...
...and blend thoroughly again...
...and another...and so on...
...the last 'egg' will take longer to incorporate...
...then Julia says it should be used immediately...while still warm...so fill your pastry piper...
...and pipe your little puffs...
...and bake until golden and puffed...
...see how pouffy...

...Julia says you can fill them with any of the cream sauces...we had ours with some vegan cheese and ham...they were delicious little mouthfuls...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the Butter
Soymilk for the water
Ener-G eggs for the eggs

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
pp. 175-180

Saturday, August 9, 2014

VEGAN ENDIVES À LA FLAMANDE

[Braised Belgian Endive]

...Julia begins this recipe with a lament about how expensive endive is in this country...and says it's one of the better winter vegetables...so of course I'm having it during the heat of summer...
...they're cute little things though aren't they...
...so you trim the base...
...Julia says to layer the endives...but of course she's making 12 of them and I'm not...

...sprinkle with salt and dot with butter...
...sprinkle with lemon juice...add water...
...cover and boil rapidly until liquid is reduced...
...then cover with paper...I used parchment...
...and bake a really long time...again she was making a bunch of endives so I baked mine about 30 minutes...
...served with rice and a seitan steak...and a nice gewurztraminer that the Man picked out...
...they were really good...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the Butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
pp. 493-494