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 518/524 (from Julie's count)...but really 629

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

VEGAN CAROTTES À LA CONCIERGE

[Casserole of Creamed Carrots with Onions and Garlic]

...just from the title...I didn't think that I would like this dish...as carrots don't seem like they should be with onions and garlic...they're a sweet thing in my book...more suited to glazing...

...but Julia calls this a 'hearty' side dish and says that it can even be used as a meatless main dish...
...of course you start out with a bunch of carrots...
...peel them...and slice them into 1/4 inch pieces...my Grandma's old Veg-O-Matic makes short work of that...
...I put them in a casserole with the onions...and olive oil...

...Julia says to cook them in a covered saucepan...but this is a casserole...and I already have the oven on...so into the oven they go...
...after they've cooked a bit...add the garlic...
...and then instead of mixing the flour in with the carrots and onions...I mixed it into my cream...and I also went ahead and added the Vegan Egg now...as I want my 'eggs' fully cooked...Julia has you add them at the very end...and just stir them into the hot dish...

...oh...and of course I omitted the nutmeg...as I'm not a fan...
...baked until all the veg was tender...
...and served with rice...TVP Beef strips and peas...
...and it was a slightly sweet and savory side dish...
...I liked it a lot better than I thought I would...

Substitutions:
Vegan beef flavored bouillon
Vegan Egg for the egg yolk
Cashew Cream for the cream and the milk

Recipe here: Scribd and then search for Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 480

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Vegan Sauce aux Câpres

[Caper Sauce]

...I did not grow up eating capers...and I was an adult the first time that I ever had them in a marinara type red sauce at a fancy Italian restaurant...they are the edible flower buds of the Flinders Rose...and they have (to me anyway) an earthy...flowery...almost pine-y flavor...that goes well with spicy/tomato-y things...

...I would not have thought to pair them with a creamy sauce...but Julia throws them into a Sauce Batarde...and says to eat it over 'boiled fish'...which sounds rather horrible...
...the very first thing you do is make a couple of cups of VEGAN SAUCE BÂTARDE (aka) SAUCE AU BEURRE...and I used my cashew cream for the cream this time...
...I got a small jar of capers...just a little too much for this recipe...
...in this little two line recipe...Julia says to beat in the capers...
...before adding the final butter enrichment...
...for the boiled fish...I cut little slits into a slab of extra firm tofu...
...to mimic the flakiness of fish...
...and then boiled it with a piece of nori...
...wrapped around the tofu...it sure smelled fishy enough...
...and looked surprisingly fishy as well...
...see perfectly flaky boiled tofu-fish...
...we had a nice tomato soup for the first course...
...and then just simple peas and potatoes with the sauced boiled tofu-fish...
...the sauce was surprisingly good...
...it was creamy with a little pop of saltiness when you bit into a caper...

...the boys were not fans though...so this sauce probably will not be repeated...but it was good in it's uniqueness...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the butter
Cashew Cream for the cream in the Sauce Batarde

Recipe here: Scribd and then search for Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 65

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Vegan Clafouti aux Pruneaux

[Plum Flan]

...I made another clafouti...it's one of our favorite desserts...they always turn out well...they're pretty...and they taste good warm or cold...
...and since the Man's favorite fruit is the plum...I really should have made this version first...
...and I decided to make...and serve it in the Man's Mamaw's old old old cast iron skillet...I like it...it's rustic and pretty...
...I added one tofu egg to the mix this time...and I think the texture is better...so I'm going to continue to do that in the future...
...I didn't have kirsh, cognac, or orange liqueur...so I mascerated our plums in brandy...and then added them to the batter...
...ready for the oven...
...just out of the oven...
...served warm...
...see that perfect texture...the last one I made was a little too pancake-y...this one is much better...nice and custard-y...
...a sprinkle of powdered sugar...
...so pretty...
...and delicious...

Substitutions:
1/5 of a block of tofu for one of the eggs...
EnerG Egg Replacer for two of the eggs...
Earth Balance for the butter
Almond milk for the milk


Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 657

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Vegan Quiche aux Épinards

[spinach Quiche]

...Sunday after Church we made these little spinach quiches...

...using exactly the same process as for the VEGAN QUICHE AUX OIGNONS
...I mixed up the 'egg' ingredients...a combination of garbanzo flour (besan), EnerG egg replacer, and Vegan Egg...and added some cashew cream for the cream...
...cooked some shallots in some Earth Balance...
...and then added some spinach...and cooked it until the water had evaporated...added some salt and pepper but I didn't add any nutmeg...
...then gradually added that to the vegan egg and cream mixture...
...and stirred it in...
...greased a muffin tin with Earth Balance...because I'm not using a pastry crust...these little quiches form their own crust...
...poured the spinach/egg/cream mixture into the prepared muffin tin...sprinkled with Daiya cheese and dotted with Earth Balance...
...and baked for about 25 minutes...until they were set and the edges were slightly browned...
...popped the little quiches out of the tin...look at that perfect crust...
...just served with a simple side salad and a vegan biscuit...

...these are so cute and delicious...I'll definitely be making these again...

Substitutions

Earth Balance for the butter
Cashew Cream for the cream
EnerG, Vegan Egg, and besan for the eggs
Daiya Cheese for the cheese

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 153