Vegan Gratin de Poireaux

[Vegan Gratin of Leeks]

...Julia gives some options for the sauce...I used the VEGAN SAUCE BÉCHAMEL/SAUCE VELOUTÉ

...Julia says to cut your leeks in crosswise sections 2 inches long...and she also says to use only the white...well...my leeks were a pale green pretty much right to the roots...so I only used the tender part...but they are obviously not pure white...

...then you boil the leeks with salt, vegan butter and water...over moderately high heat...

...until the liquid is almost evaporated...

...then you lower the heat and let them stew for 30-40 minutes...this recipe takes a long time...but not very much of that time is active or intensive...

...slice some ham seitan very thinly...

...and make your VEGAN SAUCE BÉCHAMEL/SAUCE VELOUTÉ...

...then get a dish for your now very, very tender leeks...

...and wrap each one in seitan...

...arrange them in your dish...

...and pour over the vegan Béchamel sauce...

...dot the top with vegan butter...

...and bake in the top third of the oven for 30-40 minutes...until nice and bubbly and browned on top...

...with the seitan wrap I guess these could be the main dish...

...but we had ours with simple baked tofu and steamed spinach...and a glass of Chardonnay...

...it's one of those dishes that's pretty to serve...

...and it was the star of the show too...

...the leeks were tender and sweet and the seitan was a nice complement...and the creamy vegan Béchamel sauce was perfect...I'd definitely make this recipe again...

Substitutions: Almond milk for the Béchamel
Earth Balance for the butter
Ham Seitan for the ham

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (pp. 155-156)

Vegan Soufflé au Café

[Vegan Coffee Soufflé]

...this is just another variation on the VEGAN SOUFFLÉ À LA VANILLE...the coffee one...

...so basically you just steep some coffe in half of the milk for the master recipe...but Julia says you can use instant coffee if you want...

...and it makes a very nice mildly coffee flavored dessert...I enjoyed it...it wasn't even as coffee coloured as I had thought it would be but tasted sweetly of coffee...

Substitutions

Almond milk for the milk...
Vegan Egg for the egg yolk
Aqua Faba for the egg white

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 617

Vegan Oeufs en Croustades à la Béarnaise

[Vegan Poached Eggs and Mushrooms, Béarnaise Sauce]

...Julia gives no introduction at all for this recipe...it's one of the variations on recipes in the EGGS chapter...

...so the first thing you need are some vegan poached eggs...I've made them several times before...and again...I followed this recipe for the vegan whites...VEGAN OEUFS POCHÉS

...the agar and cornstarch make them stiffen up as they cool...

...but instead of using the potato center for the yolk...like I do for hard boiled vegan eggs...I made Sam's vegan egg yolk...just a little thicker so that it would remain jiggly in the vegan poached egg...

...let the white set up in my big spoon for a sort of egg shape...

...then I scooped out a little divot...

...and filled that with some of the vegan egg yolk...

...and then covered it with another thin layer of the vegan egg white mixture...

...now on to the sauce...mince some shallot or green onion...

...and then mince some mushrooms and wring them out in a clean towel...now...I think you can probably skip that part...as the minced mushrooms don't really need to be that dry for this sauce...IMO...

...saute the mushrooms and the onions together...

...then sprinkle on the flour...

...and then the port...and let that cook for a minute or so...

...then add the vegan cream...this is almond cream...

...and then cook and continue to add the cream...

...until nice and thick...

...then make your croustade of choice...mine is just toast...but Julia also suggest pastry cups if you want to be all fancy like that...

...spoon over some of the sauce...

...then warm the vegan poached egg...

...and add it on top of the croustade/sauce...

...and top with some more sauce...

...and it makes a very pretty dish...

...it would be perfect for a brunch...

...the flavors all go together quite nicely...

...and it was pretty delicious...

Substitutions: Vegan Egg White
Vegan Egg Yolk
...almond cream for the cream...just a thicker version of homemade almond milk...
Earth Balance for the butter

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (p. 120)

Vegan Sauce Rémoulade

[Vegan Mayonnaise with Anchovies, Capers, Pickles and Herbs]

...Julia says this sauce is just the Vegan Sauce Tartare with the addition of some anchovy paste...

...so I just subbed some Nori granules for that...and made some Vegan Mayonnaise...

...and then you just mix everything together...

...it's a nice thick sauce...and I'm sure you could use it just like we did the Vegan Sauce Tartare on some vegan fish...or just on tofu since this will already have that sea-flavor...

...but I defrosted a couple of cups of garbanzo beans...

...and made a quick vegan tuna salad...it was a perfect sauce for that...

Substitutions: Vegan egg yolks for the egg
Nori granules for the anchovy paste

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (p. 91)