Vegetarian Coq-Au-Vin
Coq-Less Coq-Au-Vin. That’s a bit of an oxymoron, right? But then again, so am I most of the time. In all honesty, I’ve never made real coq-au-vin… and I’m not a vegetarian (although I do enjoy vegetarian cooking). This recipe just happened to catch my eye. So when I was looking for a recipe to make for Friday’s dinner party with my family, including my step-dad who is trying to go vegan, I pulled this one out of the bag for our main course.
I’ll be honest, this really wasn’t my favorite. I am the first to critique my own cooking, and to me this lacked flavor. I don’t know if it’s because I tried to double the recipe, making such a large batch that it was difficult to cook and flavor evenly, or to truly allow the flavors to meld since I used two pans. Mine also appears soupier than Joanne’s, which is strange because I actually used less broth than it called for (ran out of room in my giant dutch oven!). Regardless, it just didn’t live up to the first course, and I found myself adding the salt and pepper quite liberally.
Smoked tempeh bacon though? Totally the bomb.
Vegetarian Coq-Au-Vin
Ingredients:
- 1 eggplant, cubed
- 3 oz tempeh bacon, cut into small strips
- 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed and patted dry, cubed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 10 oz frozen pearl onions
- 1 lb cremini mushrooms, minced or food processed into tiny pieces
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- several sprigs fresh thyme
- several sprigs fresh parsley
- 8 oz green beans
- 1 cup dry polenta, cooked according to directions
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Sprinkle the eggplant liberally with salt and let it rest in a colander for 20 minutes in the sink. Rinse and pat dry. (This will make the eggplant less bitter.) Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large dutch oven. Cook tempeh bacon over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the bacon starts to brown, 2 minutes. Add the tofu to the pan. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper and saute, stirring occasionally, until the outside starts to brown, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the onions, mushrooms, and eggplant to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables give up their liquid and start to dry out and brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic after about 5 minutes of cooking.
- Add the broth, tomato sauce, bay leaves, herbs, and green beans to the pan. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat so that the mixture bubbles gently but steadily. Let the liquid boil until it is reduced by about half and becomes thick and saucy. Lower the heat again. Remove the bay leaves and herb sprigs. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve over polenta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese, if desired.
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I don’t even know what kind of wack recipe this is with no wine in it.
Not really anything “au vin” if there’s no wine in it. One reason it might not feel hearty enough is that there’s no real source of fat; you can solve that and thicken it in one blow if you use a roux made from olive oil (or butter if you don’t mind not being vegan). If it were me doing it I’d skip the tempeh and make up the smoky flavors with smoked spices – smoked black pepper and sweet paprika, probably. Maybe replace it with some deeply roasted sweet potato. I’ll be trying a vegetable stew like this soon, maybe can compare notes?
And, of course, use a bottle or so of zinfandel in the broth.
Follow up recipe. Made it today for a friend’s film shoot. Adequately fed a cast and crew of about eleven, with a serving or so left over. It isn’t quite *vegan,* but can be made so by substituting the butter for olive oil and serving over rice or polenta instead of egg noodles.
Champignons au vin:
1 lb cremini mushrooms, stems removed and chopped into large chunks
6 dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 lb fresh oyster mushrooms, julienned into 1/4″ strips
1 eggplant, chopped into large chunks (about 1 lb)
2 parsnips, skinned and chopped into large chunks (about 1/2 lb)
4 carrots, skinned and chopped into large chunks (about 3/4 lb)
3 medium shallots, chopped fine (about 3/4 cup)
2 large leeks, white and light greens chopped fine (about two cups)
1 750 mL bottle red wine such as zinfandel, shiraz or burgundy
2 tsp marmite
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp butter (or olive oil, if vegan)
2 tbsp olive or canola oil
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh thyme (or about a teaspoon and a half dried)
Salt and pepper (ideally smoked black pepper) to taste
1/2 lb dried black beans, soaked overnight (with soaking liquid)
In a Dutch oven or heavy pan, heat 2 tbsp oil until shimmering. Add eggplant and cook on high heat without stirring until deep browning develops on one side. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally until the eggplant is browned more evenly. Remove and set aside.
In remaining oil, add leeks and shallots and cook on medium-low heat until softened. Deglaze pan with the red wine, adding the whole bottle. Add the beans, eggplant, cremini and shiitake mushrooms, carrots, parsnips, bay and thyme, and use the reserved liquid from soaking the black beans to just barely cover the vegetables. Stir in marmite and bake in a 300 F oven until the vegetables are soft and the liquid is brown and starting to thicken, about two to three hours.
In a small saucepan on medium-low heat, heat butter until the sizzling stops but before it begins to brown. Add flour in small additions and stir with a whisk or spider, forming a roux. Cook the roux until it develops a slight nutty flavor and blonde color, about a minute. Dilute with small additions of the liquid from the braised vegetables until it forms a thick gravy, and stir this into the vegetable stew until thickened to the desired level.
Add oyster mushrooms and bake another fifteen minutes. Remove whole spices and serve over polenta, rice, or egg noodles.
This recipe, with a couple of minor corrections, served me very well. One possible improvement may be to cook the beans a little before the braising, as they seem to cook slower than the rest of the vegetables and can end up still a touch on the firm side while the rest of them are falling apart.