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, September 27, 2016

Vegan Caneton aux Cerises...Caneton Montmorency...

[Roast Duck with Cherries]

...Julia says that peaches and cherries are good garnishes...and we'd done the peach version earlier...Vegan Caneton aux Pêches...back in February...and we had the Orange version Vegan Caneton à l'Orange for Christmas one year...and the VEGAN CANETON RÔTI for Thanksgiving...so it just seems to me like duck dishes belong with cooler weather...

...and so with the weather finally turning cooler...we made the version with Cherries...
...and I used the mock duck from the Asian store again...instead of making my own 'duck' from Yuba...
...so first you roast the duck...
...Julia specifies 36-48 cherries...
...toss those in a pan with some lemon juice...
...add some port...
...and some sugar...
...basting the roast vegan duck...
...add the cooking juices from the vegan roast duck to the cherries...
...poach the cherries...keeping the sauce below a simmer so the cherries don't shrivel...
...remove the cherries with a slotted spoon...
...and boil the sauce down to reduce and thicken it...
...arrange the vegan duck on a platter...
...and arrange the cherries around it...
...serve with the sauce in a warmed bowl...
...and pour a little bit of the sauce over the vegan duck to serve...
...we had ours with wild rice pilaf and green peas...
...so delicious...Julia is right...cherries are a perfect accompaniment to Vegan Duck...

Substitutions:
Mock duck or Yuba duck for the duck
Earth Balance for the butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 278

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

FUMET DE CHAMPIGNONS

[Mushroom Essence]

...Julia says that Mushroom Essence is simply the reduction of the cooking liquid from the Stewed Mushrooms and is used as a concentrated flavoring for sauces...

...she even says you can use canned mushroom...shocker...I know...
...the only instructions are to drain the CHAMPIGNONS À BLANC
...and then you just boil that down until it's almost a syrup...
...Julia even says that if you're not going to be using it right away you can freeze it...so that's what we did...I'll let you know when I take it out and use it...

Substitutions:
None

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 512

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

VEGAN CHAMPIGNONS À BLANC

[Vegan Stewed Mushrooms]

...Julia says that this is how you prepare mushrooms when they are to be used in white sauces...so this is what I did for the Vegan Filets de Poisson Gratinés à la Parisienne
...first your trim and wash your mushrooms...
...then add some lemon juice and Earth Balance to water...
...then add your mushrooms and toss to cover them with the liquid...
...and then cover and boil moderately fast for about 5 minutes...and set aside until ready to use...

...and that's it...a pretty simple preliminary recipe...but since you don't actually just eat them at this point...it just sort of ends here...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for Butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 511

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Vegan Filets de Poisson Gratinés à la Parisienne

[Vegan Fish Filets Poached in White wine; Vegan Cream and Vegan Egg Yolk Sauce]

...when I originally made VEGAN FILETS DE (Tofu) POISSON POCHÉS AU VIN BLANC...I used tofu for the fish...
...but this time I'm using Fishless Filets...
...but you can see that they are breaded...and this recipe calls for poached fish...
...so I just defrosted the filets...and peeled the breading off...

...and then proceeded with the master recipe for poaching...
...drain the poaching liquid and reduce it...
...then add some flour...
...butter...I used Earth Balance...Julia says to add milk...and I could have added vegan milk at this point...but I had plenty of Cashew Cream...so I just used that instead...

...oh...and flax seed goo for the egg yolks...
...boil rapidly for about a minute...then thin with more vegan cream if you need to...
...by accident I added my poached filets back to the cream sauce...
...but you were supposed to put them in a gratin dish and pour the sauce over...so I redid it that way...

...Julia says you can add any of several shellfish garnitures at this point...but I added some mushrooms...and I'll tell you all about them next time...
...I used some Daiya Swiss for the cheese...
...just grated and sprinkled over the top...
...dotted with Earth Balance...
...and just before serving...run under the broiler to brown the top of the sauce...

...it was really creamy and delicious...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for Butter
Cashew Cream for the Cream
Flax Seed Goo for the egg yolks
Daiya Swiss Cheese for the Swiss Cheese
Gardein Fishless Filets for the Fish

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

p. 211-212