Julia Goes Vegan

BOEUF A LA BOURGUIGNONNE

2013-02-14T17:29:00.001-08:00

Recipe nine:

BOEUF A LA BOURGUIGNONNE - Vegan Beef Bourguignon

Thick chunks of spiced vegan beef and vegetables, served with a hearty sauce and topped with homemade vegan egg noodles (noodle recipe here).

Ingredients:

1/2 Pack of Veggie Bacon

1 oz dried shitake mushrooms - reconstituted

3 cups of red wine or chianti

3 cups of vegetable stock

8 oz crimini mushrooms

16 pearl onions

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp of thyme

2 tbsp flour

2 cloves of garlic - minced

1 bay leaf

parsley sprigs for decoration

2 packages gardein beef chuncks

What will you be cooking for Valentine's Day dinner? Here is an idea for a chilly February day.

Since it's not quite spring, a warm hearty stew is perfect to combat cold weather, and there is not a more perfect recipe then Julia Child's classic beef stew.

*Chef's note: After numerous attempts we finally got the chicken seitan recipe correct and we will be posting that recipe here soon, as we are currently trying to perfect the beef seitan recipe we chose to use Gardein beef pieces for this recipe. (They are delicious and mimic beef flavor quite well.)

From top left to right: Vegan bacon, never mind the white onion, brown mushrooms, dry red wine, pearl onions, shiitake mushrooms, veggie stock, vegan beef cubes, carrots, tomato paste, olive oil, tapioca flour, garlic, bay leaf, parsley, thyme.

1. Start by doing all of your mise en place, slicing all of your vegetables, reconstituting the shitake mushrooms, slicing the veggie bacon into lardons... its good to have everything ready in advance.

Shiitakes

White Mushrooms

Vegan Bacon

2. In either a casserole dish or or a large 5qt saute pan, cook the bacon in 2tbsp of the oil until the bacon is browned and crispy then remove from the oil and set aside. Pre heat the oven to 450°.

Get it crispy!

2. Add the additional tbsp of oil to the casserole dish and heat until almost smoking, start adding the beef pieces 2 to 3 at a time browning the meat. Once the meat is browned remove it and set it aside. In the same oil cook the sliced vegetables until browned.

3. Most of the oil should be absorbed by the meat at this point, but pour out any remaining oil that has not been absorbed before returning the meat and bacon to the casserole dish. Season meat and vegetables with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the flour and toss until the contents are coated in the flower. Put the casserole dish in the oven for 6 minutes, this will put a light crust on the meat.

4. While the meat is in the oven, saute the raw mushrooms and pearl onions with butter over medium heat. When the mushrooms are just soft, pour 1/2 cup of the stock and the water from the reconstituted shitake mushrooms over the mixture. Cover with a lid and let cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

6. At this point we transfered the contents of the casserole dish to the saute pan with the onions and mushrooms since there is no need to cook the meat in the oven. Next, added the wine, thyme, garlic, tomato paste and enough stock to just cover the contents of the saute pan. Cover the saute pan with a lid and let simmer for 30 minutes. Although we dont show it in the ingredient picture we added 1 tbsp of soy sauce to the wine before we added it to the saute pan for flavor.

7. If your plan on using a side dish such as pasta or potatoes now would be a good time to start preparing them. Once the bourguignonne has sautéed for 30 minutes, pour the contents of the saute pan into a strainer over a metal bowl (or another saute pan) to separate the broth from the ingredients. Lower the oven to lowest setting possible, then pour the meat and vegetable back into casserole dish and place in the oven to keep warm.

8. The reason for transferring the sauce to another is to thicken the sauce up a bit before you serve it. You can either do this bay adding a cornstarch slurry (1tbsp corn starch mixed with 1 tbsp water) to the sauce or just cook it over high heat until it thickens. We cooked it over high heat to thicken it (this also concentrates the flavor). Now is also a good time to adjust the seasonings.

9. The sauce is thick enough when it coats the back of a spoon.

*Chef's Note: A trick to tell if sauce is done is by dipping a spoon into it, coating the spoon with the sauce, then swiping the back of the spoon with a finger. When there is a solid line where you swiped your finger, the sauce is thick enough. If it gets too thick just add more stock.

10. The dish is now ready to serve, you can either put the veggies and the meat into a dish or bowl and pour the sauce over it or present it how you see fit. We tried something new by separating the meat and pearl onions from rest of the vegetables, then laying out the vegetable in a circular pattern on a plate. (see above pic) Next we ladeled the sauce over the vegetables, put some vegan egg noodles in the center of the plate, then arranged some meat and onions next to the pasta.

The stew was warm, hearty, and delicious. A must try!

*****Happy Valentines Day everyone*****

Vegan Egg Noodles (Sub Recipe)

2013-02-11T11:18:00.004-08:00

The origianl reason we wanted to post this recipe was to accompany the Beef Bourguignonne, but of couse you can use this for any of the recipes that require egg noodles.

Ingredients:

2 cups pastry flour

1 tsp Vegg powder

1/4 cup coconut milk

1 tbsp olive oil

1. In a food processor combine the vegg powder and the coconut milk and process until well blended without lumps, scrape the sides of the processor half way through the blending process.

2. Combine the Vegg mixture with the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl.

3. Mix all of the ingredients until they come together and start to form a ball, we used the flat beater attachemnt.

4. Once a ball has started to form stop the mixing process and flour your work surfac or whichever surface you plan on using to knead the dough.

5. Knead the dough for a good 8 to 10 minutes until it forms a nice almost smooth ball.

6. Using a rolling pin roll dough out into a long almost rectangular shape, make sure you constantly flour all of your surfaces including the rolling pin so the dough does not stick.

7. Once the dough is rolled out you are ready to start using your pasta machine. Remember not to jump right to the level of thinness you want the pasta to be, work you way down to it, for example start at number 8 and then move to number 6 and then to number 4 and so on. Remember to flour your dough on both sides every couple of passes through the pasta machine to avoid sticking.

First, thin out the dough:

8. Getting to thinness level you want will of course start to stretch out your dough, half way through the process it is probably a good idea to cut the dough into two pieces so it is easier to handle.

9. Once your dough is rolled out you are ready to shape it. We wanted to use linguini noodles and luckily had a linguini attachment to do this. You can also cut the noodles by hand, but this can be time consuming and frustrating, not to mention getting your noodle widths the same size will be next to impossible, so be patient and good luck. Again always remember to flour your dough.

10. Once you dough is shaped sprinkle generous amounts of flour onto it and gently start to separate the now cut dough into noodles.

11. Now that you now have noodles sprinkle another generous amount of flour onto your noodles so they do not stick together. At his point you can either hang them out to dry on a pasta drying rack, refrigerate them, or cook them immediately. We wanted to use them later that day so we made pasta nests.

12. To make pasta nests find the center of your noodles and pick them up folding them in half, holding the center of the noodles lower them on to your work surface in a circular motion until the form little nests.

To be honest we weren't sure what to expect when it came to the tase of the noodles but boy what a surprise, the texture and taste turned out far better that we could have anticipated. They look, taste and behave like egg noodles. I know we talked constantly about flouring your dough, but we cannot stress the importance of flouring your dough as often as possible. Enjoy!

Broiled Tomatoes (Sub Recipe)

2013-01-22T15:02:00.000-08:00

Julia recommends this as a side dish for some of the more savory dishes. It is fantastic and very healthy!

1. Start by slicing small tomatoes in half, we went with organic sugar plums and sunburst tomatoes to add a touch of color.

2. Take your sliced tomatoes and put them in a bowl, sprinkle them with salt and pepper then gently toss so the seasonings completely cover the tomatoes.

3. place the seasoned tomatoes onto an aluminum lined cookie sheet and place in the broiler.

5. Broil the tomatoes until they are slightly browned on top and soft to the touch.

You can use this recipe in any number of ways, as a side dish or to even compliment a recipe that is lacking that special something, the flavor is delicate and will not take over the flavor of the main dish.

Chicken with Herbs

2013-01-22T14:49:00.004-08:00

Recipe eight:

Poutet Saltte altx Herbes de Provence - Vegan Chicken with Herbs

To seitan or not to seitan. . . that is seriously the question we have been trying in earnest to perfect our meatless meat recipe, we are still in the progress of getting it right so in the meantime we will be using store bought meatless chicken patties, thank goodness to all of the meatless offerings found at the local Whole Foods.

Today we are using Gardein meatless chicken patties to create Julia’s’ Chicken with Herbs for dinner.

After experimenting we found the closest thing to what we are trying to perfect are the Gardein patties, they are truly a marvel, even down to the texture.

From top left to right: Vegg egg substitute, garlic, vegan butter, thyme, basil, white wine, vegan chicken patties, lemon, herbs de provonce.

Use any white wine you prefer, but the dryer the better in this case.

The final plate - turned out delicious.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup - butter (Julia’s recipe calls for 1/4lb (one stick) of butter! However we’d like to go a little easier on our hearts and arteries so we lowered the amount a bit. The flavor will come out with the herbs and wine in the sauce.
1 package - Gardein chicken patties

1 tsp - thyme
3 tbsp - fresh basil - halved
1 tsp - herbs da provence
3 Cloves Garlic - peeled
1 cup - dry white wine
2 tsp - Vegg powder mixed with 1/2 cup of water
1 tbsp - fresh lemon juice
4 cups - chopped kale
2 cups - broiled tomatoes
2 tbsp shallots - small diced
2 tbsp - olive oil

Process:

This was a little bit of a challenge since we are not using really chicken, but pre-made patties. In Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the recipe breaks down what to do with the dark meat vs. the white meat and how to treat it differently. Here is how we prepared the chicken:

1) Julia calls for ‘frying pieces’, which mean the breast, thigh, wing, and leg (basically quartered). Since our pieces are already cut, we put them in whole. Heat the butter over medium until it foams- do not let it brown. Add the chicken and turn it in the butter until they develop a golden color

2) Remove the chicken once golden, lower the heat, and set chicken aside into a covered warm dish. (Chef’s note: if you put chicken onto a cold plate the meat will instantly cool)

3) Add the herbs and garlic into the still cooking butter, and then lower the heat so nothing burns. Cover and cook for 8-9 mins to soften garlic and bring out the flavor. (Note: Julia’s recipe calls for the whole garlic clove, peel and all, but we decided to remove it first so none of the peel accidently mixed in with the herbs).

4) Now while herbs and garlic is cooking and softening, add a little butter as needed to prevent burning, then add the chicken back into the mixture after a few minutes and cook for another 10 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking and taking on the flavor of the herbs and garlic, start on your side dishes. (At this point, the smell of savory herbs and garlic will overwhelm your kitchen and make your mouth water..)

For a side with this chicken dish, Julia recommends broiled tomatoes and potatoes sautéed in butter. We wanted to make it a bit healthier so we will serve with broiled tomatoes (specifics here) and kale sautéed with shallots and 1tbsp of olive oil.

From left: Chopped kale, shallot, small sugar tomatoes, yellow and red

Served with a side of kale cooked with shallots and broiled tomatoes (recipe here).

5) In a small saucepan, whisk together vegg yolks, lemon juice, and 1 tbs of the white wine. (This will create a hollandaise-like sauce) Because we are using vegan eggs (*) this process is easier since you don’t have to worry about the eggs scrambling. However it doesn’t thicken like we anticipated so here is a quick amendment:

6) Mix 1 teaspoon cornstarch and 1 tsp. water and mix together into slurry, then pour into the vegg mixture and whisk quickly to thicken up the sauce. (If necessary, add more slurry to thicken as you go)

7) By now the herb and garlic mixture is done cooking. Remove the chicken and using a fork crush the garlic cloves releasing the flavor of the garlic into the butter. Pour in the white wine to degaze the pan and increase the heat slightly until the wine reduces down to about ½ of what you originally put into it.

8) After it reduces, strain out the herbs and combine the butter into the yolk (do this twice so you don’t burn the egg mixture – just ½ at a time.) Then add in the rest of the fresh herbs to the sauce and mix. Adjust the seasoning with a little salt and pepper. This should taste delicious. A strong savory, lemony buttery blend.

9) In the same pan you cooked the chicken and butter, add 1 tbsp of olive oil and the shallots to sauté the kale.

10) Plate and serve.

To plate, place kale on bottom, 1/2 peice of chicken, then some tomatoes and finally other half of chicken and more sauce.

This tasted incredible. The sauce tastes like a well-balanced herb hollandaise and the chicken has a hearty, savory flavor. The combination of taking a bite with the crunchy kale, saucy chicken, and soft sweet tomatoes truly explodes in your mouth.

Julia recommends serving with a pink Rose wine if you wish

****** Again we survived our unorchestrated chaos, but we find that with each dish, each challenge becomes a small victory. **********

Vegan Spinach Quiche

2013-01-10T07:50:00.000-08:00

Recipe seven:

Quiche aux Epinards - Vegan Spinach Quiche

From top left: Baby spinach leaves, crust, whipped silken tofu, nutmeg, shallot, vegan butter, vegan cheese.

Since we made the pate brisee recipe from making the Quiche Lorraine we two balls of dough to work with. We wanted to perfect the quiche, also these are the only ingredients we had in the fridge at the time. I'm glad we went with this recipe, the flavor of the sautéed shallots in the butter with spinach turned out far better than expected.

1 Ball Pastry Dough (recipe here)
1 1/2 Cups Spinach
1 Package Silken tofu
1 1/2 cups Vegan Cheese
3 tbsp Tapioca Flour (not in the picture, sorry)
2 Tbs Shallots minced
2 tbs Vegan butter
1 tsp Nutmeg

For the crust:

1. Pre heat the oven to 375°, take some flower spread it out on your cutting board and some on your rolling pin so the dough wont stick to while you are rolling it out

2. Using the dough from the Pate Brisee recipe, roll out the ball by pushing the center of the dough down with the rolling pin, and slowly push out from the center until you have rolled the dough out to a 1/8 thin circle (enough to cover the tin or dish you are using).

3. Once you have rolled out the dough, spread a little flour on the top surface so the rolling pin will not stick, then place the rolling pin on the outer edge of the dough and gently roll it onto the rolling pin.

4. Unroll the dough onto the tin until the the dough completely covers it. Then get a kitchen knife and trim the excess dough from the edge of the tin (or pan) and make adjustments to the dough by getting a small piece of left over dough and rolling it into a small ball. Push the dough into the top edge of the pan (this will give nice beveled effect). If there are any tears or holes in the dough its not a big deal, just use some of the left over dough to repair them, no one is going to see the inside of your crust so if it looks like Frankenstein dont have a heart attack.

5. Using a fork poke holes in the bottom of the crust, then fill the entire crust with uncooked beans (we use pink beans, they are extremely affordable) this will stop the crust from rising during the baking process.

6. Place the beans and dough in the oven and bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the dough is slightly browned on the top edges, which now makes it a crust. Take it out of the oven and let it cool, dont try to remove the beans until its cooled... trust me.

7. While the crust is cooling fill a pot with water and add a pinch of salt. Bring water to a boil. While your waiting for the water to boil, rinse and rough chop the spinach then small dice your shallots.

8. Get a large bowl and fill it with ice and water and set it aside.

9. When the water has reached a rolling boil, bring it down to a simmer. Then get your spinach and place it in a hand held colander or strainer and put in water for about a minute. Quickly remove it and place the spinach in the ice water bath you made earlier, this will stop the cooking process. Once the spinach is cool remove it from the water and let the water drain out.

10. In a medium sauté pan, melt the butter under medium heat. Once the butter is melted put in the shallots and cook until translucent before adding the spinach. Cook for another5 minutes then add the nutmeg and cook until the remaining water in the spinach has evaporated and has absorbed the butter. Remove from heat.

11. Put the silken tofu in a food processer and process until creamy and without lumps. Once the tofu is processed, put it in a mixer with a whisk attachment and add the tapioca flour, then whip for about 3 minutes. Its important to get as much air as possible into the tofu - it helps it rise while baking.

12. At this point you should pre-heat the oven to 375°. When you are finished whipping the tofu, gently fold in the cheese, spinach and shallot mixture. Pour the mixture into the crust and level it out using a rubber spatula.

13. Sprinkle some vegan cheese on top and dot with some vegan butter, dotting the butter on top will help with the browning process.

14. Put it in the oven and bake at 375° for 30 - 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown, but not too dark.

15. Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly so you can remove it from the tin or pie plate.

Voila, you now have Vegan Spinach Quiche, it is so light, fluffy and hearty that youre family wont even notice that there is no cream or eggs in this dish. Bon Appetite!

Last minute (Gluten-Free) French Bread

2013-01-04T11:03:00.001-08:00

Julia Child's recipe (which is already vegan) with a Gluten Free twist:

Classic, homey flavor and soft rich texture

½ Tsp xanthum gum

2 cups Gluten Free all purpose flour (+ a combination of other flours, we are still in process of experimenting with which work best for the oven we're using)

½ tsp salt

25 oz yheast (gluten free is best)
*Note: a kitchen scale is really helpful for these types of measurements.

1) Mix dry ingredients together

2) Put into a mixer with a dough hook. Slowly incorporate 2/3 cup warm water with the mixer on low.

3) With a wooden spoon, scrape down sides of the bowl to incorporate the rest of the flour.

4) Lightly dust a surface with (what kind?) starch and knead for about 5 minutes. This is really fun! It was reminiscent of working with playdough as a kid.

5) After kneading the dough into a stretchy firm ball, grease the bowl with olive oil and set the ball gently in.

6) Cover the ball with a towel and let rise for 2 hours or over night ( this feels like torture to wait after all the hard work but it will pay off)

7) After dough rises, curl your hand into a fist and punch it down! This actually doubles as a stress reliever ...

8) Bake the bread for aprx 40mins

9) Serve warm - smeared with homemade vegan butter or drizzled with honey

Fantastic tasting, but a little doughy because the temperature in the room was very cold. We are going to revisit this recipe again.

Quiche Lorraine

2013-01-02T09:52:00.001-08:00

Recipe six:

Quiche Lorraine - Savory Quiche

We have been experimenting with vegan egg based recipes and have finally created a successful concoction. This one is perfect for a sunday brunch (dont forget the mimosas) or as a tasty addition to New Years Day lunch.

So delicious, it would be difficult to tell the difference between this and the original version, but we can guarantee it is much lower in fat, calories and cholesterol. With the incredible flavor, this is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

From top left to right: Vegan pie crust, silken tofu, vegan bacon, vegan cheese, egg substitute , tapioca flour, freshly grated nutmeg.

Recipe and Ingredients:

1 partially cooked pastry shell (see recipe here)
3 tbsp tapioca flour
1 1/2 tsp Vegg mixed with 6 tbsp water

1 package silken tofu
1 package of vegan bacon
2 tbsp vegan butter cut into small pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Our steps:

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2) Mix and roll out dough, put into tart or pie pan and fill with dry beans so that the crust maintains its shape while baking. (Again, vegan pastry dough recipe is available here)

Curl dough around the rolling pin so it is easier to pick up

Crust is not baked all of the way, so dont expect it have changed color just yet (the beans will leave small imprints)

3) Fill the cooled pie crust with vegan bacon of your choice (fried crispy ahead of time without oil – just slice and put into pan). We are in the process of creating our own vegan bacon but have not yet mastered the recipe. Something to look forward to in the future...

4) Now its time to make the filling. To make it very light and fluffy, get as much air into the silken tofu as possible. Set your mixer to medium (6 on Kitchenaide version) and blend to get in air.

Whip silken tofu so it becomes light and fluffy

One thing I learned about French Quiche is that its really not about the eggs so much as about the cream! To make a thick, vegan cream that mimics the french version - whip up silken tofu into an airy, fluffy mess.

5) As you mix the silken tofu, begin to incorporate the tapioca powder (this will help mixture rise) and a little salt and pepper for a savory taste

6) Fold in a cup and a half of cheese (we used soy cheese blend from Trader Joes- its fun experimenting with different vegan cheese brands) into the whipped soy cream, then pour the mixture over the bacon.

7) Spread the mixture around until even in the crust. Top with a little more cheese before baking - this will give it a nice finish. Finally, put into oven for 30-40 mins. Half way through the cooking process take the butter pieces and distribute them evenly on top of the quiche. You will know it is finished when the crust is golden brown and the cheese has turned gold and crusty.

After it cools a bit, eat immediately. We were shocked at how delicious this recipe turned out. The flavors is light and savory with crispy meaty bacon on bottom and an airy, cheesy texture on top. The crust is flakey and everything is just mouth watering - you must try it for yourself!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Vegan Pastry Dough

2013-01-01T22:25:00.001-08:00

Pate Brise - Vegan Pastry Dough

Recipe and Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup vegan butter
1/4 cup cold water

1) Cut butter into small chunks
2) With your hands, break up the butter into small beads inside of the flour until it all combines together. Dont stop until all of the butter has been incorporated
3) Put into mixer and slowly add water until dough forms into a ball
4) Refrigerate dough for 2 hours or until ready to use

Main-Course Cabbage Soup

2013-01-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

Recipe five:

SOUPE AUX CHOUX - GARBURE - Main-course Cabbage Soup

There have been a lot of soups lately but that can definitely be attributed to the cold winter we've been having here in San Diego. This delicious cabbage soup is a perfect way to steam up your kitchen windows and fill your home with hearty, earthy cooking smells.

This hearty soup is a perfect remedy to any cold, winter day.

Healthy, whole ingredients. From top left to right: Margerim, pepper, white potatoes, celery, carrots, white pepper, bay leaf, garlic, green cabbage, parsley, vegan bacon, white onion, purple turnips.

The finished soup - be sure to top with crispy vegan bacon and a little fresh parsley.

Recipe and Ingredients:

Use a 3- to 4 quart stockpot
3 1/2 quarts of water (14 cups)

3 cups peeled potatoes, diced
2 turnips, quartered
1 onion, small diced
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
6 parsley stems tied with a bay leaf
2 carrots, peeled, sliced
2 to 3 celery stalks, sliced
8 white peppercorns, crushed

1 package vegan bacon

2 lbs or 1 large head of cabbage, rough chopped

1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp marjoram
1 sprig of fresh thyme

Our steps:

1) We started by boiling the water and peeling the potatoes. We used the Kitchenaide serated peeler, but it takes too much meat off the potato. The Chef swore his way through this process, and we are in search for a new peeler if anyone has a recommendations.

2) Cut the vegetables according to the recipe (above) and cube bacon into 1 inch slices. Julia Child's recipe called for so many potatoes that we only added about half of what her recipe called for, anymore would have added too much starch for our taste and overwhelmed the great flavor. Set some bacon pieces and parsley tops aside for decoration when plating. *Note - parsley also works as a quick breath freshener.

3) Next, add the potatoes into the boiling water and let them cook for about 10 minutes – add the rest of the vegetables and spices and mix well. Lastly add the parsley stems and bay leaf and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the vegetables are cooked thoroughly.

Parsley stems tied around bay leaf

Crush the peppercorns with flat edge of the knife

Add everything into the pot and slow cook...

4) When the soup is ready to serve adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper and remove the parsley stems and bay leaf.

I was very surprised how delicious such a healthy soup could be. It is very filling and satisfying and tastes great with some light bread or toast.

The quartered turnips make a unique and great addition to the final soup

Soup Au Pisto

2012-12-14T10:03:00.003-08:00

Recipe four:

(Soup Au Pisto) - "Vegetable Soup"

This is a vegetable soup that was traditionally served during summers in France. Since the vegetables used to make this soup originally were only available in the summer months, it was not ideal for us to cook during wintertime.

In these days of genetically modified food, you can practically get any vegetable anytime you want, but we prefer not to use anything modified or non-organic, so we used what seasonal vegetables we could find locally. . .

(From left to right) Leeks, carrots, green beans, garlic, basil, tomato paste, saffron, navy beans

Ingredients:

Soup

3 Quarts water
2 Cups dices carrots
2 Cups diced green beans
2 Cups diced fingerling potatoes
2 Cups diced leek whites
2 Cups navy beans
Pinch Saffron
Salt and pepper to taste

Pisto (This is where all the flavor is)

4 Cloves garlic
4 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup vegan parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil or as much as needed

Start by soaking you beans over night, the reduces cooking time and preserves the beneficial nutrients that you would lose in a longer cooking process.

In the 3 quarts of water, boil the leeks, potatoes, carrots and saffron for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes are just cooked through.

At the same time those vegetables are cooking boil the navy beans in a separate pot so they are fully cooked when you are ready to plate the soup. Put the green beans aside until the soup is almost done.

Note- those are fingerling potatoes, leftover from previous recipe.

While the vegetables and beans are cooking you can make the pisto. Place garlic, basil and parmesan cheese in a food processor. While the ingredients are mixing start pouring in the olive oil until it formes a paste. I personally prefer a more tomato based pisto so I added the basil slowly, tasting after each piece was added.

Homemade Vegan Butter recipe here

When done the Pisto should resemble the photo below. The flavor is very rich!

After making the pisto, check your veggies - they should be done. Now place the green beans and navy beans into the vegetable soup and cook until the green beans are cooked thoroughly (around 20 minutes). Once the soup is done adjust the seasonings using salt and pepper to taste.

Presentation is easy and how you prefer to do it is of course up to you. You can either take all of the pisto you made and put it in the bottom of a large soup tureen or soup pot and pour the soup over the pisto then serve. I prefer to spoon about a tablespoon of the pisto into a soup bowl and serve the bowl with the pisto on the bottom of the bowl, then server the soup in a large tureen and then ladle the soup into the bowl, it makes the whole dining experience more interactive.

Taster's note: It may not look like it, but the flavor is incredible and unlike any soup you've had before...

The end result is a hearty delicious vegetable soup that both family and friends will love, simple but delicious.

Vegan Butter

2012-12-13T10:55:00.004-08:00

Butter Trials #1

Win: Delicious Vegan Butter
Lesson Learned: Lecithin granules do not dissolve! Use liquid soy lecithin for smooth creamy texture

This post is is to be used as an accompanying post to help in the other recipes. In the future as we start to accumulate recipes we will break them down into groups: soups, deserts, sub recipes, etc...

First off I want to thank Mattie for posting the original recipe on Veganbaking.com he posts some amazing stuff on that site. I made some changes to the recipe to adjust it for what we are trying to do on this site.

I wanted to stick with the whole french theme so I replaced the apple cider vinegar with champagne vinegar and due to some issues people have with soy i replaced the soy milk and used coconut milk in its place which yielded amazing results. So here we go:

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup Coconut Milk
1 Tsp Champagne Vinegar
1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
1/2 Cup = 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1 Tbsp Safflower Oil
1 Tsp Soy Lecithin
1/2 Tsp Xanthan Gum

1) Start by getting the coconut oil to room temperature by letting it sit until its soft enough to scoop out, you can always use a microwave to soften the oil. I personally do not own a microwave, just not a big fan of using one in the kitchen so i softened mine the slow way.

Coconut Oil

2) Whisk the coconut milk, champagne vinegar and salt together in a bowl and let it sit until its well curdled, i let it sit for a full 20 minutes.

3) Place the remaining ingredients in a food processor with the coconut-vinegar mixture and process until it pulls together into a white creamy mixture (around 1to 2 Minutes). scrape the sides of the processor and process again for about 30 seconds until well combined.

Note: The recipe calls for either soy lecithin granules or liquid soy lecithin. When I made this recipe I used soy lecithin granules, unfortunately the granules do not break up when you process the ingredients leaving little yellow dots in your mixture. The yellow lecithin dots will not affect the flavor, they just aren't as appetizing looking. I recommend using liquid soy lecithin for a better looking product.

4) Once the ingredients have been processed spoon the ingredients in either silicone butter/chocolate molds or ice cube trays and place in the freezer until solid.

Here is a good chance to get creative with the process, there are several silicon molds available on the web, they come in all shapes and sizes. If you are having a dinner party for example you can get smaller chocolate molds that can serve as single serve pieces of butter so people wont have to share the same cube of nasty looking butter.

The final product is creamy, spreadable vegan deliciousness.

Coming soon - butter trials #2

French Onion Soup

2012-12-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

Recipe three:

(This is just a test) - French Onion

I attempted to cook this soup alone without any help from the chef since he was out of town. It started out well, then ended in a sort of salty, stewy disaster. Enjoy the pictures and the story and we will try this one again in the future.

Love all the healthy, whole ingredients. If possible, use organic!

The ingredients on the left (carrots, celery, garlic pepper, bay leaf) are for the veggie stock, and the thick onion base comes from the fresh onions, veggie butter, olive oil, flour and wine. Add a little sugar and salt to taste.

100% Vegan French Onion. Eat while very hot and serve with "cheesy" croutons. Can't wait to perfect this one..

1) When you make the vegetable stock, add lots of garlic - this will help the flavor of the soup in the end

2) Cooking the onions down with the healthy fats creates an amazing flavor. You cook them down for a long time (almost 45 minutes) until they turn deep golden brown. The darker the brown the better.

3) This is where I ran into trouble. After the onions cook down you should incorporate the flour then the vegetable stock. The mistake I made was that when I added the stock that delicious flavor that was in the onion base became too diluted and I panicked! I hurried to add more salt, then the soup became too salty. Much, much too salty. Sometimes, when you add too much salt to something you can soak up the salt with raw potato. I put in a few potatoes, but what I didn't understand at the time was that starch becomes a thickening agent. The french soup turned into a thick stew and then I tried to water down again with more stock... so again, looking forward to some professional chef supervision next time. Dont underestimate how difficult cooking can really be!

4) The croutons are what turned out to be the best part. Using day old french bread and some vegan cheese, I broiled the bread in the oven for about 7 minutes and they tasted fantastic. Cheesy and crunchy.

(Link to my favorite vegan cheese brand btw)

Its fun to use different chucks/shapes of the bread. Just rip it up

Final 'test' soup - stay tuned for official recipe after we redo it.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

2012-11-26T10:09:00.003-08:00

Recipe two:

POTAGE VELOUTE AUX CHAMPIGNONS - Cream of Mushroom Soup

*Quick note: Just in case you are laughing at the veggie soup recipes we are starting with, we are just warming up with some fairly basic recipes here, more complex ones will follow in the upcoming weeks!

We are also trying to move with the order of the book- a few recipes from each section at a time. Our goal is to have a minimum of 2 recipes done every week. So enjoy the soups and please look forward to the vegan meat and desert dishes to come- so here is our version of a delicious french mushroom soup:

Ingredients (lots of delicious fungi)

Final is creamy bliss with chunks of thick meaty mushrooms, hearty and filling

The vegan twist on the Recepie and Ingredients:

1/4 quarter cup minced onions

5 tbsp Soy butter

3 Tbsp Gluten Free Flour

6 Cups Vegetable Stock
1 Bay Leaf
1/2 Tsp of fresh Thyme
1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
Juice from half a lemon

1/2 Cup homemade soy cream

12 Oz of Organic White Mushrooms
1 Oz Dried Shitake Mushrooms
1 cup of water
1 Tbsp of Corn Starch
2 Tbsp of Soy Milk (or other vegan milk)

To make this super healthy and tasty soup:

1) After washing the mushrooms separate the stems form the caps and set them aside, slice the caps thinly and also place them in a separate bowl for later use. Place the dried shitake mushrooms in the 1 cup of water to reconstitute, once reconstituted slice them thinly and set the water used to reconstitute the mushrooms aside.

2) In a separate pot bring the 6 cups of vegetable stock and the water from the reconstituted shitake mushrooms to a boil, once it reaches a boil reduce it to a simmer.

Ensure onions are finely chopped

3) Cook the minced onions in 3 tbsp of the soy butter in the 3 quart sauce pan or pot until they are tender and clear but not browned.

4) Add the 3 tbsp of Flower and cook for around three minutes

5) Remove the onion flour mixture form heat and slowly pour the simmering stock mixing thoroughly, add the mushroom stems, bay leaf and the 1/2 Tsp of fresh thyme and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the stock and place the cooked mushroom stems aside for later use. Return the stock to the pot keeping it at a simmer.

6) In a separate sauce pan melt the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter, once melted place the sliced mushroom caps in the pan with the salt and the juice from 1/2 of a lemon and cook the mushrooms until tender, around 5 to 10 minutes.

7) Once the mushrooms are are tender pour them in to the the simmering stock and simmer for 15 minutes. This should be long enough for the stock to absorb the flavor of the mushrooms.

8) Again strain the mushrooms from the stock and place them in a separate bowl. Take 1/4 of the separated mushrooms and put them with the mushrooms stems you set aside earlier, return the remaining mushrooms to the stock and put the stock on low heat.

9) Take all the mushrooms that you set aside and put them in a blender, fill the blender with enough stock to just cover the mushrooms and blend until completely smooth. Add more stock if necessary to keep the mixture lubricated. Return the blended mixture the the stock pot and bring to a simmer.

10) In a small bowl take the 2 Tbsp of Soy milk and the 1 Tbsp of cornstarch and mix together to create a slurry. Pour the slurry in the stock and mix well.

11) Pour the soy cream into the soup and cook for around 10 minutes to let the soup thicken.

12) Serve and Enjoy! We garnished with parsley like shown:

While this was cooking, we whipped up a batch of fresh French Bread which is great for dipping or sopping up soup.

The Art of French (Vegan) Leek and Potato Soup

2012-11-24T20:40:00.002-08:00

Recipe one:

POTAGE PARMENTIER - Leek and Potato Soup

Basic Ingredients

Final Product

The vegan twist on the Recepie and Ingredients:

Use a 3- to 4 quart saucepan

3 to 4 cups or 1 lb. peeled potatoes, sliced or diced

3 cups or 1 lb. thinly sliced leeks including the green part

2 quarts of water

1 tsp salt

4 to 6 Tbs homemade soy cream (see below for more detail) or 2 to 3 Tbs softened vegan butter

2 to 3 Tb minced parsley

Here is how we tackled it:

1) With Clean hands, peel your potatoes. Fingerling potatoes are delicious and petite, the color of the potato will affect the color of the soup. Chef Fletcher recommended saving the purple potato for the garnish, so these are all peeled yellow:

2) Prepare the garnish by slicing paper thin pieces of purple (or any color) potato and soak in water- dont let it dry out!

When the soup is ready to garnish, put a few of the green leek strips in between 2 slices of the potato, rub with a little olive oil and bake until crispy. Tastes like a veggie potato chip - crispy and flavorful.

Angle the green leek slices for a little added style

3) The soy cream! You need this for a homemade base. Take 5 oz of silken tofu and blend with 1/4 c soy milk to make it thick and creamy like Julia's whipped cream. Use a food processor and blend until fluffy.

4) According to the recipe you are supposed to boil the vegetables however to enhance the true flavor of the veggies, we "sweat" them (cook down in butter until they start to soften) in homemade vegan butter.

5) After the leeks get soft, add the water and a dash of salt. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and let it cook for 40-50 mins.

6) When the vegetables are finished cooking strain out the vegetables and put them in a blender, careful because they are extremely hot. Fill the blender with the broth, just covering the vegetables and blend. Adjust the consistency of the soup by adding stock if it is too thick.

7) Return the soup to the pot and turnt the heat to low, put the 5 Tbs of creme in a separate bowl then incorporate the warm soup mixture 1 Tbs at a time so the creme doesn't curdle. Incorporate the warm creme to the soup and mix well. Once it is blended, top with garnish - and serve. The results turned out indescribably delicious, something you must try for yourself..

Voila.