[Vegan Crab or Lobster in Chaud-froid]
...Julia says this recipe follows the general pattern of the
VEGAN SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE EN CHAUD-FROID, BLANCHE NEIGE...
...I'm using regular mushrooms for the lobster this time...as Julia says to shred the crab or lobster...I'm adding a nori sheet to get that flavor of the sea...
...the Man came into the kitchen while it was cooking and said..."What smells like fish?"...haha...
...I removed the nori...because we're going to save this cooking liquid and boil it down later...
...shredded the mushrooms just using two forks...
...then we sauté some shallot or green onion...
...add the shredded mushrooms...
...1/8 teaspoon of english dry mustard...
...a pinch of cayenne...I only did about 1 shake...
...add some cognac and boil it down rapidly...
...then boil down the cooking liquid we reserved earlier...
...we're going to use it in place of the fish sauce...
...add vegan cream...this is almond milk mixed with about a tablespoon of flour...just to thicken it up a bit...
...add the tarragon...Julia says a sprig...mine was dried and I added a pinch...
...fold the sauce into the vegan crab (mushrooms)...
...and then arrange it in little porcelain shells...I was thrilled to find these when we cleaned out the cupboards for painting as I was almost certain that I gave them away before we moved...
...and then we decorate each one with some tarragon leaves...and I added a little red pepper flower at the top...
...they turned out really cute...again...this was probably more of a 1960's' dish...I'm not sure anyone really serves little decorated appetizers anymore...but they are fun...cute and tasty...
Substitutions
Vegan crab or lobster - we used mushrooms and nori
Vegan Cream - we used homemade almond milk with a little bit of flour - cooked until thick like cream
Vegan butter...we used Earth Balance
Recipe here:
Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 553-554
