FROZEN SPINACH

...Julia has very few convenience foods in Mastering the Art...and when she does...the titles are in English...

...she starts the description of this dish...'Although it never has quite the lovely taste of fresh spinach, frozen spinach is certainly one of the great inventions'...and I would have to agree...

...and like her other spinach recipes...the key is to have the liquid evaporate without overcooking the spinach...

...and so...she warns us that if we're going to cook more than one box...we need to use two saucepans...so that the liquid will evaporate properly...

...you start by unwrapping the block of spinach and defrosting it...just enough so that you can slice it...

...and you cut it into roughly half inch pieces...

...and then start by melting some Earth Balance...

...add the cubed spinach...

...and season with salt...

...and pepper...Julia also uses nutmeg...but none of us are fans of nutmeg...so I left it out...

...cover and cook for a minute or two...until the spinach has released its juices...

...and then uncover and raise the heat and cook until the liquid has evaporated...

Substitutions:

Earth Balance for the Butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 475 - 476

Vegan Poulet Sauté

[Vegan Sautéed Chicken]

Julia says that a true sauté is cooked entirely in butter...no liquid comes in contact with it until the very end...

...I did not know that...

...I made Tracey's Compassionate Breast...just like I did for the VEGAN SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE À BLANC...Tracey's blog no longer exists...so just email me if you want that recipe...

...they're pretty dry already...so I didn't follow Julia's drying advice...

...melted some Earth Balance and oil in a heavy skillet...

...put the seitan chicken in the hot oil/Earth Balance...

...Julia specifies turning with tongs...so I did...nicely browned...

...remove the seitan to a hot plate...and then add some finely chopped onion...

...and some white wine...optional...

...return the seitan to the pan...season with salt and pepper...

...add some herbs...

...cover and Julia says to set the pan over hot water...but I didn't do that step...

...Julia says to finish the sauce except for the final (butter) Earth Balance enrichment...

...so right at the end...just before serving...stir in some more Earth Balance...

...and pour the sauce over the seitan chicken...

...and your ready to serve...

...we had ours with sweet potato and Julia's take on frozen spinach...so I'll have to get that post up soon too...

Substitutions:

Seitan Chicken for the chicken
Earth Balance for the Butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 254 - 256