Vegan Gigot à la Moutarde

[Herbal Mustard Coating for Vegan Roast Lamb]

...Julia says that "When lamb is brushed with this mixture, garlic slivers and herbal stuff- ings are not necessary, and the lamb becomes a beautiful brown as it roasts."

...and she doesn't give any suggestions as to a sauce of any kind...so...I'm guessing we just eat it roasted plain...

...first you need to make a Vegan Roast Leg of Lamb...I used the same recipe as before...I just didn't shape it into a 'leg'...recipe for VEGAN GIGOT DE PRÉ-SALÉ RÔTI here...

...and the ingredients are quite simple...and already vegan (except for the lamb...of course)...

...I don't have any ground thyme...so I just ground some up in my little mortar and pestle...

...then you just mix everything together to make a sort of mayonnaise-y consistency...Julia says..."Beat in the olive oil by droplets to make a mayonnaise-like cream."

...and then you paint the vegan lamb with the mixture and set it on the rack of the roasting pan...

...Julia says it will pick up more flavor if it is coated several hours before roasting...obvi...

...and it did indeed roast to a lovely crispy brown...

...and we served it with lots of things...haha...it was an Easter feast...it was very good seitan too...I was a little bit worried that with the ingredients listed that it would have an 'asian' flavor...but it definitely did not...not sure I would even say that the mustard flavor is very pronounced...it was just a really good slightly crispy...savoury...and flavorful coating...

Substitutions:
VEGAN GIGOT...natch
...that's it...everything else is vegan...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

p. 335

VEGAN FONDUE AU GRUYERE (variation) Mushrooms or Chicken Livers

[Vegan Cream Filling with Swiss Cheese (variation Mushrooms or Chicken Livers]

...so y'all know that I keep a spreadsheet of all of the recipes and I move them off when I complete them...but when I was making this recipe...I was like...this seems really familiar...I think I've done this one before...but it wasn't marked off on my spreadsheet...

...and I was right...I had done it before...but it was just included in the 'main' recipe for Vegan Crêpes Farcies et Roulées...and oddly that was almost exactly a year ago...the master recipe for VEGAN FONDUE AU GRUYERE was a lot longer ago though...

...start by sauteeing your onions without browning them...again...haha...

...then add your flour and cook without coloring...this is a lot like last week's recipe...

...and then I added my mushrooms...which I cheated and got some sauteed mushrooms out of the freezer...they'll be perfect in this recipe...a lot of times I have too many mushrooms for a recipe and then I find that they don't really freeze very well...and end up just throwing them away...but these will be ok in this recipe...as they don't need to be tender perfection...

...add the boiling almond milk...

...season with salt pepper and a touch of nutmeg...and for me it really is just a touch as I don't like nutmeg very much at all...

...add the vegan cheese...

...and this time...I'm 'stuffing' a biscuit with this filling...in a ramekin...biscuits are leftover from the weekend's breakfast...

...half the biscuit in the bottom...and topped with the other half...then into the oven until bubbly...

...we served it with mixed veg and a not-at-all-stellar tomato...and a nice salad with walnuts and apple...

Substitutions:
Vegan milk for the milk...I used unsweetened almond milk...
Vegan cream for the cream...I just used cashew cream...
Earth Balance for the butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 202

VEGAN GRATIN AUX FRUITS DE MER

[Vegan Gratin of Creamed Salmon or Other Fish]

Julia says..."A quick and delicious main-course dish can be made by combining a good cream sauce with canned salmon, tuna, or clams"....

...and I happened to have some vegan canned tuna hanging around in the freezer that I wanted to use up...

...I double bagged it and labeled it...so hoping it's still good...it's been in there a while...

...as you often do with Julia...cook the onions until tender but not browned...

...then stir in the flour...and also cook for a couple of minutes without 'colouring'...

...then stir in the boiling vegan milk...I used almond milk...

...and the wine...

...then Julia says to boil for several minutes to evaporate the alcohol in the wine, and allow the sauce to thicken considerably...

...which is odd...because then you thin it with a couple of spoonfuls of vegan cream...I used cashew cream...

...then you add salt, pepper and oregano...

...and then you 'fold in' the vegan tuna...I thought folding was a term used for fluffy aqua faba...not for a cream sauce...but I folded it in...maybe it's so you don't break up the delicate vegan fish...

...then you spread in baking dish or pastry shell...

...sprinkle on the vegan cheese...

... and distribute the vegan butter in pea-sized dots...

...and then bake in upper third of preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until top is nicely browned...

...I wasn't really sure how to serve this dish...but we had it over toast...like you would have vegan chipped beef...

...and it was OK...not bad...I don't think I would have ever liked any type of tuna casserole back in the day when they were popular so this is not something I'll make again...

Substitutions:
Vegan milk for the milk...I used unsweetened almond milk...
Vegan cream for the cream...I just used cashew cream...
Vegan canned Tuna
Earth Balance for the butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 156-157

VEGAN SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE EN CHAUD-FROID, BLANCHE NEIGE

[Vegan Breast of Chicken in Chaud-froid]

...Julia says that this is "a decorative, delicious, and easy-to-execute aspic which lends itself to numerous variations"

...and this was such a fun little recipe to make too...

...see what I mean...aren't these just the CUTEST!...

...so remember the Trader Joe's Chick'n tenders...I thawed those out and peeled the breading off of them...leaving these little nekkid vegan tenders...

...and poached those in some Earth Balance...

...and took those out of the pan...and added the vegan cream...

...to which I had added some Vegeta...for some chick'n-y flavor...

...and some tarragon...

...and stirred that all together...

...and added some agar agar powder...

...and then you just cook that until it thickens up nicely...

...and then I strained the sauce/coating through a fine mesh sieve...

...and then poured it over the poached vegan tenders...

...now for the fun part...the coating starts to set up as it cools...so I took a toothpick and positioned tarragon leaves on each little tender to make a flower stem...

...and then I took a thin slice of a tomato...

...and cut out a little red flower to put atop the stem...

...and I mean...they are just too CUTE!...

...served on a bed of lettuce with a small side of wild rice...

...such a fun and springlike luncheon dish...

...and you know me and my waste not want not ways...I took the leftover sauce/coating...and put a vegan tender into a small ramekin...

...and just poured over the remaining sauce...

...and let it cool and set up...then I took a knife and ran it around the rim...

...and popped it upside down on a bed of lettuce too...

...so you could definitely do the recipe that way and not go to the fun...er...I mean trouble of decorating the tenders with flowers...haha...

...I can't really say this was a delicious meal...and I'm not sure it's really supposed to be...it's definitely light fare...and definitely pretty and fancy...

Substitutions:
Vegan cream for the cream...I just used almond milk...
Vegan Chick'n tenders
Earth Balance for the butter
Vegeta for the chicken broth

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 551-552