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