Vegan Carottes à la Crème

[Creamed Carrots]

...this is another one of Julia's recipes that build upon a previous one...so first you have to make VEGAN CAROTTES ÉTUVÉES AU BEURRE...and this one is really simple too...

...you just add enough vegan cream to cover your cooked carrots...I used Mimiccreme...it's slightly sweet so it's perfect for this dish...and it's very very creamy...

...and then you just cook for an additional 15 to 20 minutes...until all of the cream is absorbed...

...and then before serving...you stir in some more Vegan Butter...we used Earth Balance...and you can also add parsley and chives...or one or the other...

...but I tasted this from the pot...and decided not to add either as it was soooo delicious...or delicieuse...

...I would say that this is just about the perfect side dish...for anything...

...so very creamy...

...and sweet and just plain good...we'll definitely be making this again...

Substitutions: subs from the VEGAN CAROTTES ÉTUVÉES AU BEURRE Earth Balance for Butter
Mimiccreme for the cream

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 478

VEGAN PETITES CRÊPES D'ÉPINARDS

[Spinach Pancakes]

...linking up with A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table's Eat you Greens...

...given my past history with Julia's recipes...you've been lucky to get one recipe a week...so I bet you weren't expecting two posts in one week...HA!...

...Pi(e) Day may be a questionable holiday...but St. Patrick's Day is not...

...so in honor of St. Patrick's Day...we made some pretty green spinach pancakes for breakfast...

...first you need to make VEGAN PÂTE À CRÊPES...which is a vegan crepe batter...

...and then you just blend in a cup of spinach...and you'll get this pretty bright green batter...

...and you film a pan with Earth Balance...I used a cast iron pan...on medium low on my stove...

...pour a bit of the batter onto the pan just like you're making pancakes...

...then using the back of a spoon...begin to spread the batter out thinly...

...it will start to dry...

...be careful...once it starts to get dry you're more likely to pull up and tear a bit of the crêpe...

...then when it is mostly dry on top...

...use your spatula to loosen the crêpe around the edges...

...then...catching the edge of the crêpe with your spatula maybe halfway under the crêpe...slide the crêpe and turn it over...

...this is what the underside looks like when you flip it over...slightly browned with tiny bubbles...

...after a few minutes...flip the crêpe back over...this will be the top side...

...Julia says to fold the crêpes in quarters...

...we had ours for breakfast with some tofu scrambled with some peppers and onions...a little more green...

...this was such a pretty and colourful meal...

...and the crêpes were tender and delicious...I'll definitely make them again...probably not for breakfast though...

Substitutions:
Flax Seed Goo for the eggs
Earth Balance for Butter
Almond Milk for the milk

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 474

VEGAN TARTE AU FROMAGE FRAIS

[Cream Cheese Tart - Hot or Cold]

...This was our Pi(e) Day Pie...Julia says that it's very simple to make and that it is really a quiche...

...first you make a sweet short paste...Vegan Pâte Brisée Sucrée...

...then you cream together some vegan cream cheese (we used tofutti)...butter (we used Earth Balance sticks)...and sugar...

...then mix up some vegan 'eggs' I used the recipe for the Vegan Omelettes...and I added just a pinch of turmeric for some yellow colour...but next time...I think I'll use less or leave it out altogether...

...then combine the vegan egg mixture and the cream cheese mixture...and turn it into your partially baked crust...

...and pop it into the oven...

...it sets up nicely...and it is just a bit puffy...Julia says if you serve it cold it will deflate and cannot be repuffed...we just had ours cooled...not warm or cold...

...the only fresh fruit I had in the house were grapes and apples...so I added a few grapes to each plate...

...it was creamy and quiche-like...

...it was delicious...we'll be making it again at some point as there's another version that has prunes in it...

Substitutions:

...all of the substitutions for the vegan short paste...Vegan Pâte Brisée Sucrée...
tofutti cream cheese for the cheese
earth balance for the butter
...and I used the Vegan Omelette mixture for the eggs...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
pp. 647-648

Sauce Aurore

[Béchamel with Tomato Flavoring]

...remember at the end of the post about the VEGAN GNOCCHI DE POMMES DE TERRE...I put a couple of baggies of plain gnocchi in the freezer...and since I'm trying to use up everything in the chest freezer as part of our spring cleaning around here...we got one of those baggies out over the weekend and made another sauce recipe...

...this is just the VEGAN SAUCE BÉCHAMEL with some tomato paste and herbs added... ...you just start stirring in tomato paste...

...until you achieve the colour you desire...

...then you add some vegan butter...we used Earth Balance...

...and some herbs of your choice...we used basil and parsley...

...just poured it over the warmed gnocchi...

...and served...

...it was so creamy and good...not really like any tomato sauce I've had before...I really liked it...

Substitutions:

Vegan butter for the butter - we used Earth Balance
Vegan milk - we used almond milk


Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
p. 62

Vegan Bitokes à la Russe

[Hamburgers with Cream Sauce]

...it was time for some nice warm comfort food...

...I started with some vegan 'burgers'...

...make the burgers just like we did for the VEGAN BIFTECK HACHÉ À LA LYONNAISE

...once the burgers were done...I sautéed them in a mixture of this (new to me) vegan butter substitute and oil...drain the leftover fat from the pan...

...and then add some vegan bouillon...

...and boil that down...scraping the 'coagulated bits' from the bottom of the pan...

...season with salt...remember to go sparingly with the salt if your broth was already salty...pepper, lemon juice and nutmeg...

...then add some vegan cream...and boil rapidly for a minute or so...stir in some vegan butter and herbs...

...Julia says to spoon the sauce over the burgers...but it was so much like a southern gravy...

... that I put in the gravy boat...

...just served quite simply with some peas and corn...(both from the freezer)

...poured the creamy gravy over the bitokes...

...doesn't that look amazing...

...and trust me...it was delicious...creamy...hearty...and oh so good...

Substitutions:

Vegan butter for the butter - we used a new Spectrum Canola Spread
Vegan cream - we used soy milk mixed with Better Than Milk Powder to thick creamy consistency
Vegan burger - this was the most time consuming part of the recipe...feel free to use your favorite prepared veggie burgers instead...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
p. 302