Vegan Potage Crème d'Épinards

[Cream of Spinach Soup]

...this is basically the same recipe as the Vegan Potage au Cresson...you just use spinach instead of Water Cress...

...and you cut the leaves in chiffonade...

...and add them to the cream soup...which you don't purée...

...it makes a delicious and pretty first course...

...I think I've loved all of the cream soups I've made so far...I'll defnitely make this again...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the Butter
Vegan Chick'n stock...I used G. Washington's Golden
....or you could make your own stock
Vegan Cream for the cream - I used soy milk mixed with soy milk powder
...and flax seed goo...for the egg yolks...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
p. 43

VEGAN BEURRE BLANC/BEURRE NANTAIS

[White Butter Sauce]

...Julia says that this sauce originated in Nantes...and that it's really just warm butter flavored with shallots, wine, vinegar, salt and pepper...

...but it's a tricky sauce...wanting to turn oily and separate...and she gives instructions for when it has 'turned'...

...start with some white wine vinegar...

...add some finely minced shallots...

...some dry white wine...

...some salt...

...and white pepper...

...boil down until they have reduced to about 1 1/2 tablespoons...

...then off heat...start adding your Earth Balance...two pieces at first...

...then just keep adding Earth Balance...

...the sauce will be thick and ivory coloured...

...about the consistency of hollandaise...

...we put the dish of beurre blanc in a bowl of warm water so that it wouldn't separate...Julia calls this 'Holding the Sauce'...

...and served it with some baked tofu...

...it was (of course) buttery and delicious...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the Butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
pp. 96-97

VEGAN CANNED PEAS

...well this one doesn't need a translation...

...Julia says..."Here is a way to improve the flavor of canned peas"...

...not much to it...

...open the can and drain and rinse the peas...add some vegan stock (I used G. Washington's Golden)...and some onion...

...salt and pepper and Earth Balance...

...that's it...improved canned peas...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the Butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
p. 467

Vegan Purée de Navets Parmentier

[Turnip and Potato Purée]

...so first you braise some turnips...VEGAN NAVETS À L'ÉTUVÉE (pp. 486-487)

...and then you just add them to some mashed potatoes...

...a simple and different side dish...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the Butter
(almond milk in mashed potatoes)

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
p. 487

Vegan Sauce Crème...Sauce Suprême

[Cream Enrichment - Cream Sauce)

...We thought we'd have alfredo sauce over noodles for dinner...

...so I thought that'd be a good use of Julia's nice cream sauce...

...which is really just a thick VEGAN SAUCE BÉCHAMEL...it needs to be thick because the (cashew) cream thins it down a bit...

...so make the thick VEGAN SAUCE BÉCHAMEL first...

...then make some cashew cream...which is just blended soaked raw cashews...I blended a cup of cashews in two cups of water...

...then add that by tablespoons to your thick sauce...

...stir that in...

...and you'll have a lovely sauce...Julia says it's perfect for vegetables, eggs, fish, poultry...etc...as you can see, it's a very versatile sauce...

...we added some nutritional yeast, and garlic...and had quick and easy Alfredo sauce...

...creamy and delicious...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the Butter
Cashew Cream for the Cream

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
p. 59

VEGAN BIFTECK SAUTÉ AU BEURRE

[Vegan Pan-Broiled Steak]

...delicious...

...of course you have to start by making your meat...

...I basically used Tracey's Filet Mignon recipe that I've posted about before...sadly Tracy's blog no longer exists...but if you'd like the recipe...contact me and I'll send it to you...

...this time I added a little bit of marmite to the liquid...it kind of gave the 'meat' a deeper and a little bit sharper taste...

...knead...

...and shape...

...put your butter (sub Earth Balance) and oil in a skillet...

...sauté the 'steak' on one side for 3-4 minutes...

...then turn...and sauté on the other side for another 3-4 minutes...at this point I wrapped the 'steak' tightly in foil and put it in the oven for 45 minutes to finish cooking the seitan...

...pour the fat out of the skillet, and add the broth or wine or water...I used brown broth...

...scrape the skillet with a wooden spoon while rapidly boiling down the liquid...

...until it is reduced almost to a syrup...

...off heat...stir in more Earth Balance...

...pour sauce over the 'steak'...

...and serve...

...we had roasted potatoes and salad with vegan green goddess dressing...it was really really good...

Substitutions: Vegan Seitan Steak for the steak
Earth Balance for the Butter

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
pp.293-294

Vegan Soupe à L'Oeuf, Provençale

[Garlic Soup with Poached Eggs]

...it certainly has been soup weather around here...

...this is just the Garlic Soup without the flax seed goo/kala namak/olive oil liason that we used in the AÏGO BOUÏDO...

...simmered for 1/2 hour and strained into a bowl...Julia strains hers into a saucepan and poaches the eggs in the soup...but since we're using Vegan Poached Eggs that won't be necessary...

...Put a round of hard toasted French bread in each soup plate...

...and top with a Vegan Poached Egg...

...and then pour on the soup...

...it makes for a very pretty presentation...it would be a perfect 'company' soup...

...and it was warm and garlicky and delicious...just what we needed...

Substitutions: Vegan Poached Eggs

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

p. 47-48