Can I substitute oil for the butter in this part of the recipe?
I'm making SmittenKitchen's Mushroom Bourguignon for the family Christmas gathering this weekend. My niece and nephew, who eat vegan, are attending.
https://smittenkitchen...
Right at the end of the recipe, you combine butter and flour and stir that into the stew to thicken it. Since butter is out for the vegans, can I use the same amount of oil and flour for this thicken process?
Also, serving it over egg noodles is also out. I'm thinking of couscous instead. But if anyone has ideas for what to serve instead of egg noodles, I'd appreciate it. (I've also thought of farro, or boiled and smashed tiny potatoes.)
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I made it yesterday morning and was unimpressed to being disappointed, but served it last night and it seemed to have improved. The vegans liked it, which is good.
There were mashed potatoes on the buffet table, so I didn't cook couscous, rice or noodles.
Thank you again for the help.
With a few additions....
Butter is only about 80% fat (varies by country & by producer). So if you DO decide to replace the fat with oil, use only 4/5 or you will have an oilier result than you intend or want. Example - if recipe calls for 1 tbsp butter, use 2 1/2 tsp oil.
If you decide to go for a vegan pasta, choose a ribbon one...closer to egg noodles usual format, and looks more like a celebration dinner than macaroni or the like.
Heck, you could just mix the flour with some water and then incorporate it back into the stew. Another option would be to take some of the stew liquid and use that to dissolve the flour before you reincorporate it into the stew.
As for the starch, you could simply use plain pasta instead of egg noodles. Your grocery store has half an aisle of vegan pasta products. There are plenty of gluten-free pastas these days although that's not the dietary restriction you are dealing with.
Rice and potatoes are two other common starches that can easily sub for the noodles. You could also use things like polenta or spaetle. Even non-European starches like tortillas or poi are credible candidates. It's really what you think your dinner guests will enjoy.
Best of luck.