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 551/524 (from Julie's count)...but really 629

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Vegan Caneton Rôti à l’Alsacienne

[Vegan Roast Duck with Vegan Sausage and Apple Stuffing]

...initially I thought this would be a 'difficult' recipe...but then I thought...I don't really need to make a big seitan roast duck for this...I can just stuff some baked tofu squares for theduck and it will be just as delicious...but if I were making this for a party or for company...of course I'd do the big seitan roast...
...first I baked some slabs of tofu marinated in some vegan chicken broth with some mushroom powder and marmite for that little bit of earthiness or gaminess that I imagine the duck has......
...I rehydrated some TVP sausage and cut up an apple...
...add some sugar, cinnamon, sage and cognac...
...and make a slit in the tofu...
...generously stuff the tofu slices...and pour over the cooked down mixture from above...we also added some vegan beef bouillon to that...
...and roast in the oven...
...we served our on little individual au gratin dishes with some peas and carrots and crusty french bread...
...stuffing like this is delicious...and very autumnal...this would make a perfect thanksgiving dish stuffed into a big seitan roast...

Substitutions:

Tofu for the duck
TVP sausage
Vegan broth

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking (pp. 275-276)

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

VEGAN VEAU PRINCE ORLOFF

[Vegan Veal Gratineed with Onions and Mushrooms]

...Julia says..."This delicious creation is fine for a party as it may be prepamJ in the morning and reheated in the evening. The veal is cooked and sliced, re-formed with a spreading of onions and mushrooms between each slice, and covered with a light cheese sauce."

...and remembering that MtAoFC is a teaching cookbook...it incorporates several previous recipes...

...so you start with VEGAN VEAU POÊLÉ...and slice that keeping the slices in order...
...then you make the VEGAN SOUBISE...
...next you mince some mushrooms...
...and put them into the corner of a scrupulously clean kitchen towel...
...and twist them to extract their juice...
...then sauté them with some green onions...
...make a thick velouté sauce...I used Washington's Brown sauce for the veal roasting juices...
...then Julia says to put the vegan soubise through a sieve...or electric blender...
...so I thought I'd use my little Emmie food processor...
...and maybe I should have used the Vitamix...because I was surprised by how long it took to get a semi smooth paste...
...mix that into the duxelles...
...Julia says it should hold its shape in a spoon...
...then take your vegan veal slices in the order they were sliced from the roast...and spred some of the rice/duxelle mixture on...
...and just continue with each piece placing them into the casserole dish in order...
...then add some vegan cheese to the velouté sauce...
...pour it over the sliced roast...
...add some more vegan cheese on top and dot with vegan butter...
...heat in the oven until bubbly and slightly browned on top...
...we served it with peas carrots and a salad...
...it's pretty delicious...creamy and comforting...

Substitutions:

Seitan for the Veau
Earth Balance for Butter
Almond milk for the cream
Vegan Cheese for the cheese

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking (pp. 355-357)

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Vegan Croquettes

[Crèmes Frites, Fondues, Cromesquis]

...I've been putting this recipe off for quite a while because I really though these little 'fried crèmes' would be a total fail...I thought they would just burst and disintegrate when they were fried...

...so I was quite shocked when they turned out perfectly...haha...
...Julia says to make your cream extra thick as you spread it in a dish about an inch deep and let it solidify...I used vegan cheddar instead of vegan swiss...
...after it sets up you cut it into one inch cubes...
...dredge it in flour and a vegan egg wash...I mixed some almond milk and flax seed goo for that...
...and then into some white bread crumbs...
...if they get misshapened...Julia says to sort of squish them back into little cubes...
...I set up the deep fryer on the back porch...I almost never deep fry food...and I always fry outside...
...they did not explode as I thought they would...but fried to a perfect golden brown...
...you can see that one in front has just started to ooze a little bit of cream...
...so I broke one open and gave it a quick taste...it is so delicious...crispy and creamy...
...we had them on little sticks as an appetizer with a glass of wine...
...these are really delicious...and I think that I'll use this exact recipe and method to make them into jalapeno poppers in the future...really really good...

Substitutions:

Earth Balance for Butter
Almond milk for the cream
Flax Seed Goo for the egg yolk
Vegan Cheese for the cheese

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking (pp. 202-203)

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Vegan Quenelles de Crustacés

[Vegan Shrimp, Lobster, or Crab Quenelles]

...these are just a variation of the VEGAN QUENELLES DE POISSON...so you just follow that method for making the Cream Puff Paste VEGAN PÂTE À CHOUX...and instead of shredding up the vegan fish...
...so I got some vegan seitan shrimps out of the freezer...and shredded those with two forks...
...using Julia's two spoon method of making cute little dumplings...er quenelles...haha...
...and cooked them in a Nori based broth...
...plopped them onto a heated server...
...and spooned over some melted Earth Balance...
...served with a salad, peas and carrots and crusty French bread...I got the heel...YAY!
...these little dumplings are pretty delicious...

Substitutions:
Vegan Butter...we used Earth Balance...
Vegan eggs...we used Just Egg for the yolks and Aqua Faba for the whites
Vegan Cream...we used Silk cashew cream
Vegan seitan shrimp

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 187

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

VEGAN ROGNONS DE VEAU EN CASSEROLE

[Vegan Kidneys Cooked in Butter— Mustard and Parsley Sauce]

...Julia says this can be a main course or an hors d'oeuvre...
...once again...first your sauté the Vegan Kidneys...I used the mushroom/walnut idea from this recipe Vegan Farce aux Rognons...and made that into a paste and added it to the veal seitan recipe...it makes a tender and tasty seitan...
...then you remove those to a chafing dish...
...next...you'll need some minced shallot...not much...
...and some lemon juice...
...I used the same pan...
...added some white wine...but you can use vermouth...which I never have on hand...
...then make some mustard butter...I used violife plant based butter...
...and then swirl that in a spoonful at a time...
...and then for some reason you're supposed to 'rapidly' cut the vegan kidneys into 1/8 inch slices...
...and add them to the sauce...heat them through but don't bring them to a boil...
...mince some parsley...and sprinkle that on top...
...we served ours as an hors d'oeuvre...with rounds of toasted French bread...
...it was good...and relatively simple...especially if you already had the seitan on hand...

Substitutions

Vegan butter...we used Violife
VEGAN GIGOT DE PRÉ-SALÉ RÔTI
black walnuts and mushrooms for the rognons

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 415-416