Vegan Ris de Veau Braisés a l’Italienne

[Vegan Braised Sweetbreads with Brown Mushroom Sauce]

...this is another Ris de Veau variation...and I still have a few of my vegan sweetbreads in the freezer...so I got those out...

...and first you make the VEGAN RIS DE VEAU BRAISÉS

...I did this part a little bit out of order...I added the cornstarch and tomato paste before removing the Vegan Ris de Veau...but I don't think it made any difference...

...and you were supposed to remove the vegan sweetbreads and slice them into 1/2 inch strips...and set them aside...

...and you could have done the mushrooms earlier...

...but you just need to slice and sauté the mushrooms...VEGAN CHAMPIGNONS SAUTÉS AU BEURRE...

...then add those back to your sauce and rapidly boil that down...

...correct the seasoning and add your vegan sweetbreads back to the sauce...

...Julia says "Rice or risotto, and buttered peas or creamed or braised spinach go well with sweetbreads..."

...it was a pretty perfect vegan meal...

...I was chatting with my sweet sissie and just mentioned that it's all about the sauce with Julia...it's definitely the sauce that makes this so delicious...

Substitutions

Seitan for the sweetbreads
vegan butter for the butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 411...

Vegan Bavarois au Chocolat

[Vegan Chocolate Bavarian Cream]

...remember this is a 'teaching' cookbook...Julia expects you to 'master' the main recipe and then proceed to the variations...but I wanted a chocolate cream...not an orange one...so I didn't start with the master recipe...but Julia says to " Use the same method and ingredients as for the master recipe for Bavarian cream, but omit the orange flavoring and make the following changes.

...so...starting in the 'chocolate' version...I grated some chocolate into some almond milk...

...and I needed some strong coffee...which I didn't have...so I brewed a cup...and it is really really strong...haha...

...and I pretty much used the Vegan Omelette recipe here...just without the 'savoury' components...for the egg yolks...

...then mixed the sugar...cornstarch...vegan eggs and chocolate milk together...Julia does this separately and then puts it into a saucepan...but I mixed mine directly in the saucepan...you don't have to be careful with vegan eggs...

...then whip up your vegan egg whites...

...which are just plain aqua faba...

...to stiff peaks...always so amazing...

...then fold the vegan egg whites into the chocolate cream...

...and spoon into little cups...

...then make a VEGAN CRÈME ANGLAISE...I should have put it into the little pitcher like I did in the original recipe...

...unmold your little cups of fluffy chocolate cream...

...and serve with the vegan creme anglaise...

...I spooned it over and tried to make an interesting pattern...it would have been better to pour it from a little jug though...

...and this was a really delicious dessert...

Substitutions

Vegan Egg for the egg
almond milk for the milk
aqua faba for the egg whites
...and the vegan creme anglaise if you're using it...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 599...

Vegan Ris de Veau à la Crème/Vegan Ris de Veau à la Maréchale

[Vegan Creamed Sweetbreads]

...this is just a variation on the VEGAN RIS DE VEAU BRAISÉS that I did a couple of weeks ago...

...so I just braised some of the vegan sweetbreads...I had made several...

...and added some of the braising liquid into the vegan cream sauce...just a roux...flour and butter and vegan cashew cream...

...and poured that over the vegan sweetbreads...

...and served with peas and french bread...and Vegan Concombres à la Grecque

...anything covered with vegan cream sauce is pretty delicious...these were too...

Substitutions

Seitan for the sweetbreads
vegan cashew cream for the cream...
vegan butter for the butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 412...

Vegan Concombres à la Grecque

[Vegan Cucumbers à la Grecque]

...Julia says that...many "vegetables may be prepared à la Grecque. In each case, make a court bouillon..."

...I've made a couple of these variations...like Vegan Céleri à la Grecque...and celery is another vegetable that we don't usually eat cooked...I mean as a side dish...we often eat it cooked in stews and other dishes...

...I've made several versions of cooked cucumbers too...which is not a dish that I was at all familiar with before The Vegan Version...like VEGAN CONCOMBRES AU BEURRE

...so I gathered my ingredients for my court bouillon ...aromatic broth...

...and got that cooking...

...got out my cucumbers...

...peeled and sliced...

...seeded...

...Julia gives pretty specific instructions for the slicing...haha...
..."Cut die halves into f 2 - inch strips, then into 2-inch pieces. "

...toss with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt...

...then drain and simmer in the court bouillon for about 10 minutes...

...then remove the cucumbers...

...and take the remaining court bouillon...

...and boil it down almost to a syrup...

...and then pour that back over the cucumbers...

...we had the cooked cucumbers as a side dish for another version of vegan sweatbreads...I made several last week and I want to use them up...so there'll be another vegan sweatbreads recipe soon...

......unlike some of her other cooked cucumber recipes this one is served cold...which makes it better...haha...cooked cucumbers are still not my thing...but they weren't horrible...the sauce is salty and flavorful and goes well with the cucumbers...

Substitutions:

None...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 538-539