VEGAN CAROTTES GLACÉES

[Vegan Glazed Carrots]

...this is one of the easiest of Julia's recipes that I've tried so far...and just one pot...really...

...you're supposed to peel and cut carrots in 2 inch pieces...but I just used baby carrots instead...

...the recipe calls for brown stock...so I mixed up a packet of the brown stock my Mom sent a while back...Thanks Mom!...

...add a couple of tablespoons of turbinado sugar...and some pepper...

...a few tablespoons of Earth Balance...and you're done...

...and cook for a long time...30-40 minutes...until the carrots are tender and the liquid has reduced to a syrupy glaze...add a little bit of salt and pepper...

...roll the carrots gently in the syrup and turn onto a hot vegetable dish...

...these were really lovely...tender and sweet...delicious...and easy...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for Butter
Vegan brown stock for stock

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

p. 479

Vegan Fricassée de Poulet à l'Indienne

[Vegan 'Chicken' in Curry Sauce]

Maria at Little Things are Big posted about a tofu curry meal that she pulled together out of the cupboard...and she inspired me to do the same...sort of ...of course I picked up MtAoFC...and found this recipe...

...basically you just follow the instructions for the VEGAN FRICASSÉE DE POULET À L'ANCIENNE...and while the tofu is cooking in the butter (read Earth Balance) - you add some curry powder...

...then you continue with the FRICASSÉE recipe adding the vegetables and vegan cream and egg substitutions...

...I arranged my pearl onions and mushrooms in an alternating pattern around the edge of the dish...

...and served it over jasmine rice...it was so perfect...a nice mild curry dish...exactly what I was craving...

Substitutions:

Earth Balance for Butter
Vegan Cream for the Cream
Extra Firm Tofu for the Chicken
Vegan Chicken Bouillon for the Chicken Stock
Flax seed goo for the eggs

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking


pp. 261

Vegan Épinards Gratinées au Fromage

[Vegan Spinach Gratinéed with Cheese]

The grocery store had the Earthbound Organic Spinach on sale again...not for 99¢ but for 79¢...(which is amazing as it's usually $3.79)...so we're having spinach again...and we're likely to have it again and again as I bought three of the big plastic boxes...(I know there's a lot of waste involved there...it is recyclable though)...

...this recipe was really easy...and I'm quite the pro now with the PURÉE D'ÉPINARDS SIMPLE...which you'll need to make first...

...mix some of the cheese in with the spinach...

...mix the rest of the cheese with some breadcrumbs and sprinkle on top...you're supposed to heap up the spinach for some reason...

...then bake for about 30 minutes in the upper portion of the oven and brown the breadcrumbs lightly...

...that's it...and even Scout likes spinach with cheese and breadcrumbs topping it...

...using one entire plastic box of spinach only makes this small amount...just enough for 3 people...of course at that price you could use more than one bin...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for Butter from the Epinards Simple and also to butter the dish for baking here
Vegan Parmesan for the Swiss

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

p. 471-472

VEGAN ASPIC DE POMMES

[Rum-Flavored Apple Aspic, Unmolded - a cold dessert]

...with all the deck building and just adjusting to the new summer schedule - I've been away from the Vegan Version...but I have been cooking, of course...

...this dessert looked interesting and very 60s-ish to me...

...you peel, quarter and core some apples...

...add some lemon juice...water...and sugar...

...oil your mold with a tasteless oil...I used Canola...

...boil your apples for about 20 minutes...they should become sort of translucent...

...make a decorative pattern with some glacéed fruits in the bottom of your mold...I also added a couple of parsley leaves...

...add the rest of your glacéed fruit to the apple mixture...then add some rum (off heat)...I only had this cherry flavored rum - so that's what I used...

...I spooned a little bit of the liquid over the glacéed fruits and leaves and set that in the fridge to set...after testing it when it was cool...I have little hope that the aspic will gel enough to be servable...it seems like a sticky jelly to me now...

...but I poured the rest of the syrup into the mold and set it in the fridge...

...now on to the CRÈME ANGLAISE...

...now for the moment of truth...the unmolding...

...well...as I thought - it's a bit too sticky...and not nearly as pretty as the mold it was molded in...

...but at least it held it's shape...

...and was servable...

...we just poured over some of the CRÈME ANGLAISE...

...and it was surprisingly good...I really thought that it was going to be like eating a big spoonful of apple jelly...but it wasn't sickeningly sweet...and it's the cream sauce really makes this dish...

...again...I don't know exactly what occasion I would ever serve this recipe for...but I'd probably just mold it in a nice round bottomed mold so that the presentation would be a little more smooth...

Substitutions: None - HA - another vegan recipe...but I should mention that there are subs in the cream sauce...and I wouldn't serve this dish without that...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

p. 627-628

VEGAN CRÈME ANGLAISE

[Vegan Light Custard Sauce]

...this is the accompaniment for the ASPIC DE POMMES...but it's used in other recipes as well...

..I started with some clear flax seed goo - for the egg yolks...

...and added some sugar...

...then whisked in some corn starch...

...and some boiled almond milk...this step is done in the original recipe to keep from scrambling your eggs...but as I'm not using eggs - it's probably unnecessary...

...then poured that mixture back in the pot...

...and cooked it - stirring with a wooden spoon - until lightly thickened...

...added some vanilla...off heat...

...and stirred that in...

...it's not super thick - like a pudding - it should just coat a spoon...

...poured it into a little cream pitcher...and served it with the ASPIC DE POMMES...

...it was delicious...and totally made that dish...this is also one of those master recipes that is used with a lot of other recipes...and it's very very good...

Substitutions: flax seed goo for the eggs
almond milk for the milk

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

p. 588

VEGAN CHOU-FLEUR AUX TOMATES FRAÎCHES

[Vegan Cauliflower Gratinéed with Cheese and Tomatoes]

I've already told you about my local grocery store's insane sales on spinach - they recently also had these cute little Cauliettes on sale for 99¢...and I had these little tomatoes that were about to go bad...so this was the perfect recipe to use them up...

...first you make the CHOU-FLEUR BLANCHI...

...the recipe calls for seeded peeled tomatoes - but I wanted to use my little grape tomatoes...so you arrange the cauliflower in the center of a buttered baking dish and place the tomatoes around the edge...

...season with salt and pepper...

...and some melted Earth Balance...

...it's very pretty like it is...

...spinkle bread crumbs on top...

...and cheese...I used Daiya Mozzarella...

...bake until warmed through and nicely browned...

...it was really good and pretty...and it tasted sort of like pizza with a cauliflower crust...

Substitutions: only Earth Balance for Butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

p. 459-460

VEGAN (TOFU) THON À LA PROVENÇALE

[Vegan Tofu Tuna or Swordfish Steaks with Wine, Tomatoes, and Herbs]

...Julia says this can be served either hot or cold...we had ours hot...but I tried some leftovers today for lunch cold and she's right - it's very good cold too...

...start with a marinade...salt, lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper...I also added some kelp granules for a sort of marine flavor...marinate a couple of hours...

...sauté the tofu-tuna in olive oil until lightly brown...

...arrange tofu filets in a dish...

...chop some onions and tomatoes...

...you'll need some garlic too - just mashed...

...cook some onions slowly without browning...add your garlic...

...and tomatoes...

...some thyme...

...and oregano...a little salt and pepper too...

...pour your sauce over your filets...

...pour in some wine and bake until the filets are simmering...

...remove the filets to a serving platter...

...and put the sauce in a pan...boil it down (remember Juila cares not at all how many pots and pans you use) and she says to add some tomato paste or meat glaze for added depth of flavor...I added some vegan bouillon...

...this next part was kinda weird...as it's a sort of uncooked roux - I've never done that before - just make a paste of flour and Earth Balance...

...then stir it into the sauce - off heat...

...it thickened up the sauce right away - and I guess there was enough heat to sort of cook the paste...

...pour the thickened sauce over the filets stir in some fresh parsley and serve...

...we had a nice big chopped lettuce and arugula salad...

...and per Julia's suggestion - some green beans and potatoes...

...it was lovely...

Substitutions:
Tofu for Tuna
Earth Balance for Butter
Vegan Bouillon for meat glaze

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

p. 219-220