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 29, 2015

VEGAN BOEUF À LA MODE

[Vegan Beef Braised in Red Wine]

...Julia describes this dish as a 'wonderful party dish'...and of course she uses one large piece of meat...and I chose to use TVP strips instead of a large seitan roast this time...
...you marinate the TVP strips with aromatic vegetables, herbs, cloves, bay leaf, halved garlic cloves...
...and red wine...of course...Julia says to make it a young one...
...then when you're ready to cook...drain the marinade...and add a few cups of stock...I used G. Washington's Rich Brown Seasoning and Broth...and I omitted the other ways Julia says to add body to the sauce...
...while the braising is in process...Julia says to cook some carrots and onions and set them aside...
...remove the bay leaf and the halved garlic cloves after the braising is complete...
...we served ours with some parslied turnips (Vegan Navets Persillés), mashed potatoes, peas and cornbread...
...garnished with the carrots and onions...the Vegan Beef Braised in Red Wine was delicious...

Substitutions:

Beef Flavored TVP Chunks for the Beef
G. Washington's Rich Brown Broth for the Broth

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 309-312

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Vegan Navets Persillés

[Parslied Turnips]

This recipe is just the VEGAN NAVETS À L'ÉTUVÉE...with the addition of some parsley...

...Julia says that yellow turnips or rutabagas as they are commonly called here...are almost unknown in France 'as food for humans'...I'm guessing that means they feed them to their animals...but she says you can use them interchangeably...

...Scout definitely prefers the sweet yellow turnips to the stronger flavored sometimes peppery purple and white variety...
...we just boiled the turnips (rutabagas) for a really long time until the water was almost completely evaporated...
...then added some more Earth Balance and a generous sprinkling of chopped parsley...

Substitutions:

Earth Balance for Butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 487

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Egg Yolk and Cream Enrichment

[Sauce Parisienne - formerly Sauce Allemande]

...not sure why this title is in English...and the bracketed subtitle is in French...that's sort of backwards...

...we had this for breakfast...as a sort of tofu Benedict dish...it was delicious...

....Julia says there are many varieties of Sauce Parisienne...flavored with fish, onion or mushroom...
...but to get the sulfur-y flavor of egg yolks...I simply used some Kala Namak...the sulfur tasting black salt from the Himalayas...
...so first you make the VEGAN SAUCE BÉCHAMEL
...then just add the cream...I simply used homemade cashew cream...1 cup cashews and 4 cups water blended in the Vitamix until creamy and smooth...
...a little bit of lemon juice..
...the Kala Namak...(black salt)...not much...just an egg-y hint of flavor...
...some white pepper...
...then finish with a couple of tablespoons of Earth Balance...
...off heat...just before serving...
...we spooned it over some fried tofu...which we often sub for fried eggs...
...to make a sort of vegan version of Eggs Benedict...

...it was really good...

...Julia spends quite a bit of time explaining how to keep from curdling the eggs...and how to remedy any stringy bits in your sauce...but with the Kala Namak none of that is a problem...

Substitutions

Kala Namak (black salt) for the eggs
Earth Balance for the butter
Cashew Cream for the cream

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 60 - 61

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

VEGAN FONDUE DE POULET À LA CRÈME

[Chicken Simmered with Cream and Onions]

...Julia describes this dish as 'rich and delectable...and Scout for one would agree...he loved this sauce so much...
...of course Julia starts with directions of how to handle and cook the chicken...drying it thoroughly...

...I made my regular Chicken Seitan...recipe for VEGAN SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE À BLANC...
...turning it in hot butter (subbed Earth Balance)...for 4-5 minutes...
...then removed it to a dish...
...add thinly sliced yellow onions...covered and cooked for about 5 minutes until fairly tender...but...you guessed it...NOT browned...
...return the seitan...
...cover and cook...
...Season with salt...white pepper and curry powder...
...pour in some dry white wine...
...and cook until the liquid is almost entirely evaporated...
...bring some vegan cream to a boil in a small saucepan...
...and pour it over the 'chicken'...
...keep it at the barest simmer...
...baste the 'chicken'...Julia says the cream may look a little curdled...but will be smoothed out later...so don't worry...
...remove the 'chicken'...
...and boil rapidly...
...until the cream coats the spoon...
...juice a small lemon...
...correct the seasoning and add the lemon juice...
...smother the 'chicken' in the sauce...
...Julia suggests rice and peas with this dish...
...so that's exactly what we had...
...it was truly delicious...

Substitutions:

Vegan Chicken of your choice...we used VEGAN SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE À BLANC...but baked tofu or a store bought vegan chicken would be good oto...it really is the sauce that makes this dish...
Vegan Cream for the Cream
Earth Balance for the butter


Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 262-263

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

VEGAN DAUBE DE BOEUF

ESTOUFFADE DE DOEUF
TERRINE DE BOEUF


[Casserole of Beef with Wine and Vegetables - Hot or Cold]

...not sure why this recipe has three titles...

...The original meaning of Estouffade was a type of rich Brown Stock...and The modern meaning of Estouffade is more a variant of braising - a cooking technique which refers to a type of French Braise whereby the Meat is Marinated in wine before being Seared and then very slowly Braised in a small amount of liquid...(source)

...and the Terrine...is for when one might serve this dish cold...a terrine is a meat, fish, or vegetable mixture that has been cooked or otherwise prepared in advance and allowed to cool or set in its container, typically served in slices...(source)

...so now you know...
...this is a delicious vegan stew...
...and it starts with some beef flavored tvp chunks from the SDA store...but you can of course get them from Amazon...
...just add boiling water to cover and let sit for a few minutes...
...place the beefish bits in a bowl with some wine, olive oil, seasonings, herbs, and carrots and onions...marinate for at least 3 hours Julia says...
...meanwhile...simmer some veggie bacon in some water...and drain...
...line your casserole with the vegan bacon...
...prepare your tomatoes...these are some of the ones we froze whole...so just chopped and seeded...
...once again...I put my herbs (thyme and bay leaf)...into my little tea ball instead of in cheesecloth...
...and at this point you are supposed to take all of the chunks of meat out of the marinade and dust them with flour...but I omitted this step and just added a heaping teaspoon of flour to the marinade liquid...it's just for thickening...I also did not layer my vegan meat and vegetables...
...but just put everything into the casserole together...
...bring it to a simmer...and then cover...
...and cook slowly in the oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours...it smelled so delicious...
...I removed the tea ball...Julia says to skim out the fat...but of course there wasn't any...and the flour thickened up the sauce quite nicely...
...we served it with Mashed Potatoes...Rutabaga...and green peas...
...this was so perfect for the chilly early fall weather we've been having...

...really delicious...

Substitutions:

Vegan Beef Chunks...ours came from SDA store...
That's it everything else was vegan...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 322-324