Vegan Farce aux Rognons

[Vegan Rice and Kidney Stuffing]

...so this is another one of Julia's stuffing recommendations for the VEGAN GIGOT DE PRÉ-SALÉ RÔTI...I used the same recipe for the vegan Gigot...but instead of shaping like a gigot...I made it flat so I could roll it up around the stuffing...

...and since...as far as I know...I have never tasted a rognon...I searched the interwebs for what they're supposed to taste like...and I found this: marked by a robust, meaty flavor with a hint of earthiness. There’s a slight gamey undertone...

...I just processed some mushrooms (i.e., earthy) and some black walnuts (i.e., gamey)...and added some vegan beef flavored bouillon...so that's what I'm going with...I'm sure it will taste good as I like all of the components...

...then...as Julia almost always instructs us..."In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, cook the onions in butter for 4 to 5 minutes until tender but not browned."

...add some white rice...and vegan stock...(vegan beef flavored bouillon)

...add your vegan rognons...

...and your spices... rosemary, sage, or thyme...I used Rosemary and thyme...no sage...

...then I made the lamb seitan...same ingredients as the VEGAN GIGOT DE PRÉ-SALÉ RÔTI...and let it rest...

...then instead of forming it into a gigot...I put it between two sheets of waxed paper...

...and rolled it out...

...and then for the 'initial' cooking...I put it on the Griddler so it would par-cook fairly quickly...I'm doing that because it's fairly thin and I want it to hold its shape when it's stuffed...

...it's not really 'done'...just lightly browned and 'hardened' a bit...

...so then I put it onto a piece of foil...

...added the rice and vegan kidney filling...

...and then just rolled it up...the long thin rectangle of seitan worked great for this...

...wrapped and twisted the foil...

...and tied everything up with string...seitan expands as it cooks...

...so here it is out of the oven...

...a perfect roast...

...sliced...and served with peas and a vegan buttermilk biscuit...

...it does make a pretty presentation...

...and it was pretty delicious...

Substitutions

VEGAN GIGOT DE PRÉ-SALÉ RÔTI
black walnuts and mushrooms for the rognons

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 332-333

Vegan Sole Bonne Femme

[Vegan Fish Filets with Mushrooms]

...so how about another vegan poached fish/tofu recipe...

...this is another of Julia's variations...and you can see from the spreadsheet where I keep track of all the recipes I've done...that there are not that many left...about 80 or so I think...so this 'project' could wrap up in the next year or so...whew...

...I started by making my pretty little fluted mushroom caps...VEGAN CHAMPIGNONS GRILLÉS...

...poached the tofu filets...

...made the sauce Bercy...

...and decorated with the mushrooms...

...it is a pretty presentation...

...we served it with spinach, a salad, and a vegan croissant...

...another pretty delicious variation...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the butter
tofu for the fish
Vegan écrivisses
all the subs for the VEGAN SOLE À LA DIEPOISE

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 216

Vegan Sole à la Nantua

[Vegan Fish Filets with Vegan Écrevisses]

...Julia says this about this variation of the VEGAN SOLE À LA DIEPOISE..."Same as the sole à la dieppoise, but the fish is garnished with écrevisscs, and shellfish butter, page 104, rather than plain butter is beaten into the sauce."

...so getting ready to poach the tofu filets...finely chop some shallots or green onions...

...add your tofu filets...some more onions...and dot with vegan butter...

...I'm also adding some wakame for some 'from the sea' flavor...

...and white wine...

...and cover with waxed paper...

...and then into the bottom third of the oven...

...I'm using my vegan shrimp for the écrivisses (crayfish)...to make the vegan shellfish butter...

...just whizz that together with the stick blender...

...Julia says 8-12 minutes should be sufficient...and obviously my tofu was already 'done'...

...so take the filets out of the poaching liquid and reserver it...

...make your vegan white sauce...and add in your vegan shellfish butter...

...and strain in the reserved poaching liquid...

...arrange your tofu filets and vegan écrivisses in a serving dish...

...and top with the sauce...

...we served it with a spinach and arugula salad and some grilled french bread...

...it was a nice lunch...

...the tofu filets were tasty and of course the sauce was delicious...

Substitutions:
Earth Balance for the butter
tofu for the fish
Vegan écrivisses
all the subs for the VEGAN SOLE À LA DIEPOISE

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 216

Vegan Soufflé de Homard/Vegan Soufflé de Crabe/Vegan Soufflé aux Crevettes

[Vegan Lobster, Crab or Shrimp Souffle]

...for this variation...Julia just says to use the same soufflé mixture as in the preceding recipe...substituting one of the other vegan seafood options...

...I made the VEGAN SHELLFISH GARNITURE...the shrimp version...but I shredded them up into another soufflé...

...still not quite poufy and light enough...but still light and good tasting...

Substitutions: aqua faba, xanthum gum, flour, EnerG egg replacer, and Earth Balance
...and vegan shrimp...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 173-174

VEGAN SHELLFISH GARNITURES

VEGAN SHELLFISH GARNITURES

...Julia gives specific instructions for making a garniture for each of the following Shellfish Garnitures, Lobster, Écrevisses, Mussels, Shelled Fresh Oysters, Shrimp...

...Écrevisses are crayfish...

...but I'm making vegan shrimp...just a sort of made up on the fly seitan recipe...

...so these were the ingredients...shredded carrot, cabbage, and mushrooms...and some VWG...

...mixed into a springy dough...and left to rest...

...and then I boiled some nori sheets in some mushroom broth...and added the seitan to that...

...and cooked until it was done...

...and cut it up into little shrimp-y shapes...they were really good and had a lot of 'ocean' flavor...I think they'd be really good wrapped in some rice paper and fried too...

...I'm using these in my Vegan Soufflé aux Crevettes...but I'll also be using them as a garniture too...

Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 212-213