Mastering the Art of Vegan French Cooking

I just got back from seeing Julie & Julia. Absolutely savored it from beginning to end. (Okay, so the lobster killer scene was a bit hard for me to stomach.) Julia Child was my idol, too, and I read Mastering the Art of French Cooking from cover to cover in my cramped Tokyo apartment when I moved there after college. As a vegetarian (not yet a vegan), I couldn't make many of the dishes in the two volumes, but it didn't prevent me from melting pounds of butter for the ones I could make, or imagining how I might make a vegetarian version of bouillabaisse (which I have, by the way!). What an inspiration she was - her laughter, her humanity. In this day and age with the godlike stature to which we elevate so many chefs, her foibles remind us that anyone can learn to cook.

Hopefully vegetarian! And that's what I did for several years in my tiny Tokyo kitchen (smaller than Julie Powell's in the movie) -- cooking up vegetarian, and eventually vegan, versions of everything from Boeuf Bourguignon to Pate en Croute, a pastry-enrobed pate that was oh-so-1950's and yet oh-so-delicious. With my then-husband, I threw dinner parties every Friday night without fail, initially inviting friends, and then friends of friends, and then friends of friends of friends, until eventually, I found myself on the Japanese department store circuit teaching cooking in their food courts, developing recipes for companies and writing cooking articles. As anyone who has watched Japanese game shows knows, the Japanese love anything off-beat, and the fact that some half-American young girl was making French pastries with tofu was weird enough.

So...in tribute to Julia Child and Julie Powell, here's my version of Boeuf Bourguignon, published in my first Now and Zen Epicure (1991). And it doesn't take three hours! And don't be shocked by the non-French ingredients - they give the dish the depth and flavor needed. (I actually made a video of this, produced by the San Francisco Vegetarian Society -- will try to post it soon)

Tofu Bourguignon

1 lb. tofu, frozen for at least one week (you can freeze for up to a year)
1 1/4 cups red wine
5 Tbs. mirin (available at in larger grocery stores)
5 Tbs. soy sauce
2 - 3 Tbs. miso
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbs. red wine or balsamic vinegar

Thaw the tofu, then press gently between the hands to extract as much water as possible without breaking it. Slice into 3/8-inch slices, then cut so they are about an inch-square. Mix the red wine, mirin, soy sauce, miso, garlic and vinegar, and marinate the tofu squares in this for 30 minutes or more. Remove the tofu one piece at a time and squeeze lightly to extract some, but not all, of the absorbed marinade, into the bowl. If you press too hard, you will end up with a tasteless piece of tofu; if you don't press enough, the tofu will taste too "winey". Afterwards, there should be about 1 1/2 cups of marinade. If you have too much, just sprinkle some back on the tofu. Now, have ready:

1/2 cup flour
3 Tbs. oil

Dredge each piece of tofu in the flour. Heat the oil in a large saute pan and saute on both sides until brown and crispy. (One of my students on a low-fat diet told me he had good results spraying with olive oil and baking.) Remove the tofu pieces and set aside.

In the same pan, saute until tender:

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Then add 12 ounces of mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup diced carrots
3/4 cup peas or asparagus tips

and continue to saute until the juices from the mushrooms begin to ooze out (yes, unlike the movie, you can crowd the pan with mushrooms for this recipe!).

At this point, add the remaining red wine marinade to the mushrooms and simmer gently for ten minutes. Finally, add

2/3 cup plain soymilk (don't use vanilla, please!) mixed with
2 tsp. cornstarch or arrowroot
the sauteed tofu pieces

Simmer for an additional 2 - 3 minutes, and then serve immediately alongside fettucine or rice.

Bon apetit!