Vegan Charlotte Malakoff au Chocolat

[Vegan Almond Cream with Chocolate]

...Julia says to use the ingredients for the master recipe...VEGAN CHARLOTTE MALAKOFF AUX FRAMBOISES...but without the strawberries...because you'll use chocolate instead...

...I used Baker's...because that's what I had on hand...

...4 ounces...

...melted in a little bit of coffee...

Julia says to make the almond cream as directed in the master recipe...but fold the melted chocolate into it, and only 1/4 cup of orange liqueur...I did not use any orange liqueur...

...and then...if you can find them...you can use vegan store bought Ladyfingers...but if not...you'll have to make some VEGAN BISCUITS À LA CUILLER...and they really are delicious on their own too...

...and then I made the whipped cream...just aqua faba and a little bit of sugar...

...this is seriously always so amazing...and delicious...and cheap...and lowfat...

...then fold in the chocolate almond cream...because of the pulverized almonds...it's not perfectly smooth...

...but just fold it in a bit at a time...

...until it's all incorporated...it's so delicious...like a chocolate mousse...

...I lined the mold with a round of parchment...and then arranged my ladyfingers on top...

...and then carefully stood up a row of ladyfingers around the edge...

...and started carefully filling the mold...I didn't want the standing wafers to fall over...

...all done...and into the fridge...

...after a few hours of chill time...I cut off the tops of the standing ladyfingers...so that I could invert the mold...

...all pretty uniform in height now...

...a plate over the top and a quick flip...

...and it unmolded beautifully...

...and held it's shape quite well...I'm always a little bit worried that things like this won't set up properly...

...but it's really pretty...

...nice and round and tall...

...I sliced it with a pie server...and it stayed in a triangular shape without spilling...

...and it's so delicious...really...one of my favorite desserts ever...

Substitutions:

Vegan Margarine for Butter - I used Earth Balance...
Vegan Whipped Cream - I used whipped aqua faba...


Mastering the Art of French Cooking (pp. 607-608)

Vegan Fonds Brun

[Vegan Brown Stock]

...Julia says that 'Brown stock is used for brown sauces, consommes, and for the braising of vegetables...and I plan to use the broth for cooking some collards in a little bit...

...she also says...'To give the stock a good color, the meat, bones, and vegetables are browned before they go into the kettle...and she does this in the oven...

...but I thought I'd use my new grill/griddle to accomplish that...it's quicker...and I get a nice caramelization using the griddle...

...Julia puts her herbs in cheesecloth...but I use my tea ball for that...it's thyme...bay leaf...parsley sprigs...and 2 whole cloves...

...put that and the browned veg into a pot...with some celery...a clove of garlic...

...I added a beef bouillon cube and covered it all with water...

...and some Gardein beefless tips...

...set it over moderate heat...and then there's a really long cooking time...maintain liquid at a very quiet simmer — just a bubble or two of motion at the surface — for 4 to 5 hours or more...

...and then I just poured the broth into a jar to use a little bit later...

Substitutions:

vegan beef bouillon
Gardein beefless tips for the beef shank meat, cracked beef and veal bones

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (p. 110)

Vegan Farce Duxelles

[Vegan Mushroom Stuffing]

...we had about half of the Vegan Poulet Rôti leftover and I thought this stuffing would be a good way to serve it again...

...mince some mushrooms and then twist the mushrooms into a ball in the corner of a towel to extract their juice...

...mince some shallots or green onions...

...and saute them in hot butter and oil with the shallots or onions for 5 to 8 minutes...

...then to sub for the liver and gizzards...I used some black walnuts...I've had good results using walnuts as a sub for iron-y tasting offal...

...pour the wine into the mushroom cooking skillet and boil it down rapidly...

...adding the breadcrumbs...

...and the vegan cream cheese and vegan butter...

...Julia says to do the 'mixing' in a bowl...but I used used the same pan for everything...

...added tarragon and parsley...I wanted to add sage...of course...as that's the herb I most associate with stuffing...but I did not...haha...

...and this is the leftover piece of the Vegan Poulet Rôti...

...so... I just cut a slit into it and opened it up and stuffed if full...

...and plated the stuffed Vegan Poulet Rôti on a bed of the remaining stuffing...

...and this will probably be the last meal on the Christmas dishes for this year...we'll undecorate on the 6th...(Epiphany)... ...simply served with peas and carrots and rice...

...it was a delicious way to serve the Christmas Dinner leftovers...

Substitutions:

Black Walnuts for the liver
Vegan Cream Cheese...we used Violife
Vegan butter...we used Earth Balance...

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (pp. 251-252)

Vegan Poulet Rôti

[Vegan Roast Chicken]

...Julia says...'You can always judge the quality of a cook or a restaurant by roast chicken.'

...I'm using this old recipe from my binder for the vegan seitan chick'n because I know it's good...

...so I got a big pot of stock and veggies going for the 'first' cooking of the seitan...

...mixed up the roast seitan...

...and tied it up in cheesecloth...

...cooked it in the broth for about 45 minutes...

...it expands a bit against the cloth wrapping...

...but even though it's 'done'...it pretty much looks the same...just a little bit larger...

...so to make the crispy 'skin'...I got out some rice paper...

...moistened it and stretched it over the seitan roast...

...then following Julia's instructions...I placed the chick'n breast up in the roasting pan...strew the vegetables around it, and set it on a rack in the middle of the preheated oven...

...and then every 15 minutes or so Julia says to baste rapidly, so oven does not cool off...I just used Earth Balance for that...

...and just out of the oven...the 'skin' is so crispy and the whole thing just smells so delicious...

...the Christmas Roast Chick'n...

...with a perfectly crispy 'skin'...

...it slices gorgeously...

...this was such a perfect Christmas Roast...and it was really not very difficult at all...

Substitutions:

Vegan seitan for the roast
Vegan butter...we used Earth Balance...

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (pp. 240-242)