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Vegan French Recipes

Thursday, May 16, 2019

On Sunday, April 28, 2019, the last day for the Spring Garden Show event, I attended a food demonstration at Macys Home Store. French Chef Tony Esnault with Knife Pleat demonstrated three French recipes. The French restaurant Knife Pleat will open in South Coast Plaza’s Penthouse floor in June 2019. Chef Esnault demonstrated Pea Pesto Salad, Salmon with Sauteed Summer Vegetables, and Chocolate Mousse with hazelnuts and raspberries. Since there are meat ingredients in these recipes, I will attempt to veganize or vegetarianize these recipes.

The 1st recipe is Pea Pesto Salad

Pea Pesto Ingredients include 1 pint of fresh English peas—shelled, or you can also use frozen petits pois, 1 cup of EVOO, 1 ounce of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese or vegan version, 5 mint leaves, 1 whole lemon zest and juice, 1 garlic clove, and salt and pepper. Place all the ingredients into a blender and mix well, until the mixture forms into a coarse paste. But put the liquid into the blender first. Place in the refrigerator until needed. (EVOO is Extra Virgin Olive Oil).

Salad ingredients include 4 handfuls of salad greens of your choice, day-old crusty bread, 1 cup of lemon juice, freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, 4 ounces of fresh sugar snap peas, fresh mint, and salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to bake at 350 degrees F; rip the bread apart into bite-sized croutons. Toss the bread pieces in 2 tablespoons of EVOO and pinch of salt. Then, lay the bread pieces out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake in the over for 15 minutes. Bake the croutons until a golden color. Set aside to cool down.

Clean the sugar snap peas by cutting off the tips with a knife. Then, cut them in half into bite-sized pieces.

To make the salad, mix 1 cup of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and the 1 pint of pea pesto together.

Then, place the salad greens into a mixing bowl, along with sugar snap peas, Parmigiano Reggiano, and croutons. Add some Pea Pesto Vinaigrette, and gently toss salad together. Season it with some salt and pepper. Ready to serve.

The 2nd recipe is salmon with Sauteed Summer Vegetables

But I will not use any fish. I am likely to use tofu or some kind of vegan meat.

Ingredients include 4 ounces of vegan meat, 2 whole zucchini, 8 cherry tomatoes, 1 sprig of basil, 2 garlic cloves, 1 lemon, 1 tablespoon of Nicoise pitted olives, 1 tablespoon of capers, 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, and salt and pepper.

Preheat a nonstick pan on high heat. Season vegan meat with sea salt on all sides. Coat the pan with 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and lay the vegan meat on the pan. Sear the vegan meat on high heat for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low. Continue cooking until the edges of vegan meat turn to a golden color. Turn off the heat and flip the vegan meat pieces. Keep it in the warm pan.

Then, cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Dice the zucchini into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

Remove vegan meat from pan after 5 minutes and set aside.

Use the pan to saute the tomato and zucchini chopped pieces on high heat. They should be sizzling in the pan. Add the smashed garlic clove and basil sprig. Saute ingredients together. Add olives and lemon zest as well as some salt and pepper. Place the vegetables on a serving dish.

Place the pan on high heat, and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and capers. Add balsamic vinegar. Add in the remaining lemon juice. Pour mixture over the vegan meat. Ready to eat.

The 3rd recipe is Chocolate Mousse with hazelnut and raspberry dessert

I will veganize this recipe by using VeganEgg powder as well as vegan European-style butter.

Chocolate Mousse ingredients include 7 ounces of Valrhona chocolate, 2 tablespoons of VeganEgg amount, 1.8 ounces of turbinado sugar, 2.8 ounces of unsalted vegan butter, and pinch of salt. (melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave). Mix ingredients together in a bowl until it is a smooth and creamy texture. Pour this mousse in a container and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Then, preheat oven to bake at 300 degrees F and toast the hazelnuts for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Make sure they don’t burn. When the hazelnuts are at room temperature, chop them into small pieces. Place mousse into small bowls or cups, and then add some raspberries and chopped hazelnut on top.

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