[Vegan Lobster Thermidor]
...Julia says that although none of them are difficult...the many steps in this recipe are why this dish is so expensive...
...and she's definitely right about the many steps...
...the first thing I had to do was find a substitute for the lobster...and Julia's description of the poor creatures treatment is pretty graphic...
...I decided to try Lobster Mushrooms...which were impossible to find fresh...
...I've tried both vegan lobster and vegan shrimp in the past and found them to be...well...odd...the texture and the taste of the faux meats did not appeal to me at all...
...that decided...you start with some white wine...
...and a bunch of herbs...and I added a couple of strips of nori for a little bit more flavor of the sea...the mushrooms have a slightly oceanic smell about them as well...
...add some onions, carrots, celery, and the lobster mushrooms...cover and cook for about 20 minutes...
...meanwhile...Julia says you can prepare the mushrooms...just stew them for 15 minutes or so...in some Earth Balance, and lemon juice...and season with salt...
...remove the lobster mushrooms from the cooking liquid...and set aside...
...then add the leftover liquid from the mushrooms to the cooking liquid...
...and boil to reduce...
...next...make a roux...add some vegan butter to a pan...I just reused the mushroom cooking pan...
...Julia adds a little bit more flour to this one for some reason...
...cook for a couple of minutes...
...without browning...
...then add the cooking liquid...
...bring to a boil...stirring constantly...and cook for about a minute...
...I'm using this unsweetened creamer for the cream...
...Julia says to film the top with a tablespoon of cream...but it would take several spoonfuls to film the top...so I didn't do that...
...I mixed up some Vegan Egg for the egg yolk...
...and added some mustard and cream...then you're supposed to add some horrid parts of the dead lobsters as well...but I omitted that...
...then you add your vegan egg yolk mixture to the previously thickened liquid...and bring it back to a boil...
...and thin with more cream...
...we're nearing the end now...add some more vegan butter to another pan...
...and sauté the lobster mushrooms...
...then add some cognac...
...and sauté...cooking until the lobster mushrooms are bright red...they pretty much already were...
...add the sautéed mushrooms to the lobster mushrooms...
...and then add the sauce...
...I transferred the mixture to an au gratin dish...(not having any dead lobster hulls)...
...top with some vegan cheese...swiss if you have it...I did not so I used vegan mozzarella...and parmesan...
...dot with vegan butter...
...bake in the upper third of the oven for 10-15 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned...
...Julia doesn't give any serving suggestions...so we had ours with boiled potatoes and fresh spinach...
...it was really good...in the way that most things smothered in vegan cream and butter are...and then gratinéed...it was delicious...
Substitutions:
Vegan cream for the cream...I used unsweetened Almond Breeze Creamer...
"Vegan Egg" for the egg yolks
Lobster Mushrooms for the Lobster
Vegan Mozzeralla for the Swiss cheese
Vegan Pamesan for the Parmesan cheese
Mastering the Art of French Cooking (pp. 221 - 223)
