Vegan Daube de Boeuf à la Provençale

[Vegan Casserole of Beef with Garlic and Anchovy Sauce]

...as I almost always do when there's anything fishy in a recipe...I got out the Nori sheets...Julia says to mash the anchovies and the capers together with a table fork...it was surprisingly difficult to do...

...and then add some garlic, parsley, olive oil and vinegar...

...probably should have used a bowl...

...when your vegan boeuf has been in the oven for 2 1/2 hours...of course we didn't cook it that long...and there was no fat to skim off...

...pour on the vegan anchovy mixture...

...cover and return to the oven until tender...our seitan is already tender...but I put it back in the oven for a bit...

...it did cook down quite a bit...

...and it doesn't smell very fishy either...

...we served it with rice and green beans from the garden...

...and I was surprised that I liked it so well...

...it's more just umami than fishy...it's a little salty from all the capers too...

...and Julia says...'Any cold leftovers are delicious, served with a green salad and French bread. Follow the master recipe with these additions'

...so that's how we ate the leftovers...and it was really good that way too...I may actually make this one again...

Substitutions:

Vegan Beef Chunks...just a beef flavored seitan
Nori for the anchovies

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 324-325 https://archive.org/details/JuliaChildMasteringTheArtOfFrenchCooking/page/n339/mode/2up

Vegan Endives à la Grecque/Fenouil à la Grecque

[Endive à la Grecque/Fennel Endive à la Grecque]

...I was actually quite happy when I realized that this recipe included both fennel and endive as I was having such a hard time finding either of those ingredients...

...but I finally found some fennel...

...Julia says to quarter or halve the endives or fennel lengthwise, wash under cold, running water, then proceed with the recipe. Simmering time is 30 to 40 minutes...which seems a bit extreme...

...and like all of these LÉGUMES À LA GRECOUE...you need to make a Vegan Court Bouillon

...and I'm doing the simmering in the outdoor kitchen as it's very hot here again...

...but I finished the sauce inside...

...and poured it over the fennel...

...it makes an attactive side dish...and it does smell a little bit like licorice...

...we served it with baked tofu, rice, green beans from the garden, and a carrot salad...we were neither ones really fans of this dish...it does taste like licorice/anise and we don't care for that flavor...but it isn't sweet here...which helps some...and it's also cold...as I think a hot licorice/anise dish sould be stronger...so although we will definitely not be making this again...it wasn't horrible...

Substitutions: None...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
p. 539

Vegan Pommes de Terre Parisiennes/Pommes de Terre Sautées en Dés

[Vegan Potato Balls Sautéed in Butter/Diced Potatoes Sautéed in Butter]

...this is a variation of the [Potatoes Sautéed in Butter]...VEGAN POMMES DE TERRE SAUTÉES/POMMES DE TERRE POUR GARNITURE/POMMES DE TERRE CHÀTEAU...that we did years and years ago...I kindof thought it was funny that that recipe had 3 names and this one has 2...

...Julia says..."Use exactly the same system as that in the preceding recipe, but form the raw potatoes into balls with a potato-ball cutter, or cut them into 1/4 -inch dice"...

...of course I don't have a potato ball cutter...but I do have Grandma's Veg-O-Matic...which has discs for a 1/4 inch dice...so of course I used that...

...you need pretty specifically 1/16 inch of butter in the pan...(.158 cm)...

...then you just shake the pan every 2 minutes or so...the goal is to have the vegan butter very hot but not hot enough to discolour...

...cover...

...and continue to cook...

...until everything is nice and evenly golden...

...and we had it with tofu steak, Brussels sprouts and a salad...it was a nice side dish for that meal...

Substitutions

only vegan butter...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking (p. 528)

Vegan Oignons à la Grecque

[Onions à la Grecque...already vegan]

...Julia says to get small pearl onions and boil them for a minute and make a cross in the bottom...but I can't find fresh pearl onions...so I'm using frozen ones...and I'm not doing the parboil/cross...

...but other than that...it's just like any of the "à la Grecque" vegetables...

...we just served it as a side dish...

...with a 'regular' vegan meal...rice, broccoli and baked tofu...

...and these are good...a nice cool salad-y pickle-y thing...not a typical warm veg side dish...

Substitutions

NONE...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking (p. 539)

Vegan Mousseline de Crustacés, Blanche Neige

[Vegan Shellfish Mousse]

...this is just a variation of the * MOUSSELINE DE POISSON, BLANCHE NEIGE...just using shrimp (or another vegan shellfish) instead of the fish...

...I had some vegan shrimp in the freezer...

...into the food processor...Julia uses a blender...

...add some agar-agar...instead of the gelatin...

...fold in some whipped vegan cream...

...pack it into molds...and put in the fridge to set up...

...use the remaining fish stock to make the Sauce chaud-froid, blanche neige...

...unmold onto a bed of lettuce...

...and coat with the blanche neige...

...and decorate with the remaining vegan shrimp...or any other decoration you prefer...

...it really is quite a pretty dish...

...to be served for luncheon...or a cold buffet...

...and again...we just don't have things like this any more...

...it's good...a nice cold lunch...

Substitutions

Nori Sheets for the fish in the stock... Vegan shrimp for the shellfish
Vegan Cream for the cream

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 562-563

Vegan Bavarois aux Fruits

[Vegan Strawberry or Raspberry Bavarian Cream — and other fruits]

This recipe calls for raspberries or strawberries...but Julia says you can use other fruits as well...peaches sound delicious for this creamy and airy dessert...

...I've made a couple of versions of Bavarois before...the master recipe VEGAN BAVAROIS À L’ORANGE was pretty delicious and this strawberry version is too...

...first you'll need a vegan custard...I'm using Bird's for the base...and adding the agar-agar for the gelatin...

...just cooking the custard using the Bird's directions...

...purée the fresh strawberries...Julia says to pass it through a seive...but I did not...I like strawberry seeds...

...whip some cream...you could use aqua faba here...but this Trader Joes vegan whipping cream is pretty awesome...and whips up in about 30 seconds...aqua faba usually takes a few minutes of whipping...

...perfectly whipped vegan cream...

...fold the strawberry purée and the whipped vegan cream into the vegan custard...

...and pour into a mold...I'd seen several image online of this dessert in a round mold with a defined edge...but I don't have one...so I'm just using a pyrex bowl for sort of the same effect...

...after a couple of hours in the fridge...it set up nicely...

...and unmolded with no issues...

...added some decorative strawberries around the base...like the images I'd seen on the interwebs...

...topped with the leftover sauce as Julia recommends...

...it would of course be prettier with a nice square edged mold...but this is pretty too...

...and finally more whipped vegan cream...

...it really is a pretty dessert...company-worthy...

...and it held its shape pretty well when sliced...

...and it is oh-my-goodness delicious...so creamy and fruity and light and airy...

Substitutions

Bird's Custard
Vegan Trader Joe's whipped cream...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 599-600