I'm always veganizing recipes that I love...so...I'm working my way
through all of the amazing recipes in Julia Child's
Mastering the Art of French Cooking...
...making a Vegan Version of each one...... sometimes successfully - sometimes not...Recipe Count 551/524 (from Julie's count)...but really 616

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

VEGAN PISSALADIÈRE NIÇOISE

[Vegan Onion Tart with Vegan Anchovies and Black Olives]

Julia says..."This is not a quiche, properly speaking, because it contains no eggs..."but it is in the section of the cookbook with all of the quiches...

...I spent a few weeks in the south of France...and I never heard of this dish...of course...it could have been offered to me and I was like eeeuuuwww...non merci...haha...sometimes called Provençal Pissaladière - The etymology of the word seems to originate from the Latin piscis "fish", which in turn originated pissalat, the name of an anchovy paste...
...first...you cook the onions very slowly in the olive oil with the herb bouquet, garlic, and salt for about 1 hour, or until very tender...a really long time...and the weirdest thing is there is a pinch of powdered cloves in there...I thought that was an odd flavor to add to this savory dish...
...I'm using capers as a vegan sub for the anchovies...and black olives...of course...
...when the onions are finally done...spread them onto your prepared crust...I saw images of this crust as more like a pizza dough...but I just made a VEGAN PÂTE BRISÉE for a regular pie crust...
...so you just spread a layer of onions over the crust...
...add you vegan anchovies...i.e. capers...
...Julia says to "Arrange anchovy filets over it in a fan-shaped design. Place the olives at decorative intervals..."
...then you give it a drizzle of olive oil and bake it...
...we had ours with a salad and green beans...
...it's an interesting dish...haha...still not sure about the cloves...the onions are very sweet so there's a nice contrast with the salitiness of the olives and capers...

Substitutions

subs for theVEGAN PÂTE BRISÉE
capers for the anchovies...

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (p. 151)

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Vegan Gratin de Volatile, Vegan Gratin de Cervelles, Vegan Gratin de Ris de Veau

[Vegan Gratin of Chicken, Turkey, Brains, or Sweetbreads with Mushroom]

...all of these are grouped together in a sort of generic gratin recipe...this one is supposed to be a good use for diced up leftovers...
...so I got out some leftover baked tofu...
...and diced that up...
...sautéed some mushrooms...
...and some onions...
...buttered my au gratin dishes...
...and made a quick pastry shell...
...and also a nice creamy bechamel...
...then started combining things...I added the diced tofu to the mushrooms...
...as well as the onions...
...and then the bechamel...
...filled the little pastry shells...
...topped with vegan cheese (Chao this time)...and baked...
...and served with salad and broccoli...
...these little gratins were so delicious...perfect comfort food...almost like a pot pie...

Substitutions

subs for the VEGAN SAUCE BÉCHAMEL/SAUCE VELOUTÉ
Vegan Margarine for Butter - I used Earth Balance...
baked tofu for the chicken/turkey...

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (p. 157)

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

VEGAN TIMBALES DE FOIES DE VOLAILLE

[Vegan Unmolded Chicken Liver Custards]

...Julia says "These delicate little entrees are usually baked in individual ramekins and served hot with a bearnaise sauce"...

...I'm pretty sure I've never eaten actual chicken livers...
...so for that part of the recipe...
...I'll be combining walnuts and lentils...and soft tofu for the eggs...
...but Julia has you start the recipe by making a thick bechamel...
...and then you put everything into the 'blender'...I used a food processor...but remember that the blender was a new-fangled kitchen gadget when Julia wrote this book...so she give alternate instructions...

"It can be prepared very quickly in an electric blender, but if you do not have one, put the livers through a meat grinder, push them through a sieve, then beat in the rest of the ingredients."
...add some cognac...
...vegan cream...
...and your thick bechamel...
...give it a whirl...
...butter your molds...I used Earth Balance for that...
...gave it a quick taste...and it's pretty yummy...of course you'd never do that with the other version...
...fill your molds and set them in a pan of water...
...and bake for 30-40 minutes..
...mine looked like they were going to come out of the molds cleanly...
...but then they really did not...
...top them with a Bearnaise sauce...
..and serve warm...

...well...they were good...we just had them with a salad...but I think they'd be really good almost as a spread on a crusty bread or cracker...almost like a paté...

Substitutions

lentils and walnuts for the chicken livers
Cashew Cream for the Cream...
soft tofu for the eggs...
Vegan Margarine for Butter - I used Earth Balance...

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (pp. 174-175)

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

VEGAN MOULES EN SAUCE MOUCLADES/MOULES À LA POULETTE/MOULES À LA BÉARNAISE

[Vegan Sauced Mussels Served in Scallop Shells]

...this recipe has three titles...

...Julia says "This is a more formal recipe for mussels. They are steamed open with wine and flavorings, then a rich, creamy, buttery sauce is made with their cooking liquid...
...I'm using just regular ol' mushrooms for the vegan mussels...having never eaten mussels in my life...I searched the interwebs for a photo...
...and the poor little things look a lot like mushrooms...so I just slice the stems off and cut them into bite sized pieces...
...put them in a pot with white wine and the spices...which I actually thought were rather odd...garlic (not odd)...but fennel and curry powder...
...and I added some wakame for some flavor of the sea...
...while the mushrooms are cooking...
...stir together some flour and vegan butter...
...then mix up some vegan egg yolks...
...and some lemon juice...salt and pepper...
...strain the hot vegan mussel cooking liquor into the flour and butter roux...
...bring to a boil...
...then add your egg yolk mixture...
...add in your vegan mussels...
...and right before serving stir in some vegan butter...
...and Julia says to 'heap' the mixture onto the scallop shells...
...we served them with a little spoon and fork...Julia doesn't say how to eat them...and I don't imagine that you slurp them off the little shells...but maybe you do...they were quite delicious...

Substitutions

Vegan mussels...I used mushrooms...
Cashew Cream for the Cream...
Vegan egg replace for the eggs...
Vegan Margarine for Butter - I used Earth Balance...

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (pp. 230-231)

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

VEGAN TRANCHES DE JAMBON À LA CRÈME...again...

[Vegan Sautéed Ham Slices — Fresh Vegan Cream Sauce]

...so...of course I re-did the recipe from last week with the tomato sauce...
...the same sauce...just with tomato paste added...
...and it's prettier for sure...but...
...I liked it better with just the Dijon mustard...it's still good though...

Substitutions

Vegan Ham...this was just the leftover vegan ham that I made using TVP and VWG...
Cashew Cream for the Cream
Vegan Margarine for Butter - I used Earth Balance...


Mastering the Art of French Cooking (pp. 398-399)