First Tomato Harvest

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This here is called green zebra. Very descriptive name, huh? It's our first tomato of the season! There are plenty more on the vine. Now, I have to come up with a way to use them...

Kale Mushroom Tofu Quiche

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I thought I experiment a bit with some vegan quiche. It's not really much of an experiment, considering that I've made a vegan quiche before. But this time, I'm going to make a proper crust and not take a polenta cake and call it a crust. The tricky part is how to make a buttery, flaky crust with no butter. I decided to take a chance and use Earth Balance. I've used Earth Balance to replace butter in various situations -- some worked out well, others not so much. So I fully expected a tough and chewy crust. But what I got was delicious flaky crust very similar to what I would've gotten with butter. As for the rest of the quiche, it has a ton of vegetables and packed with protein from tofu. It's not much of a looker though. Next time, I would perhaps cut back on the veggies and use softer tofu to create a texture that's more like a quiche. But for now, I'm very happy with how this turned out.

You'll need:

• 1 block of firm tofu, crumbled
• 1 bunch of kale, stemmed, cleaned and sliced into strips
• 1 pint of brown button mushrooms, quartered
• 1 small/medium leek, cut in half length-wise, sliced and cleaned thoroughly
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/3 cup grated soy mozzarella
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• salt to taste
• 1 portion of pie crust, recipe below

For the pie crust, you'll need:

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Earth Balance, chilled and cubed
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon ice water, plus more if necessary

To prepare the crust,  mix flour and salt together. Add cubed Earth Balance. Work quickly and break up the cubes into small bits until the mixture has a wet sand consistency. Add water and mix. The dough should barely come together. If not, add a bit more water, one tablespoon at a time. Place the dough in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill. After 10 minutes, move the dough into the fridge until you are ready to bake.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out the dough into a large disc and place into a pie pan. Press down gently so the dough is formed into the pan. Dock the dough with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes. You can use pie weights to bake the crust, but I baked it without the weights. Remove the crust and set aside.

Yeah, not the prettiest pie crust ever, but it was nice and flaky.

Heat up olive oil in a heavy medium pot fit with a lid. Add leeks, kale, mushroom and a dash of salt. Turn the heat to low and cover. Let the vegetables steam for 8 to 10 minutes. Kale should be soft but still bright green. Drain and mix together with tofu, nutritional yeast, soy mozzarella, and soy sauce. Fill the crust with the mixture. Bake in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove and let it cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Placerville, California

Pin It Long time no post. And this isn't a proper food post either. I haven't been cooking all that much recently, but I do have a couple of weird recipes that I want to try. But for now, quick post of pictures from our recent trip to Placerville, California (and nearby El Dorado County area). It's very scenic with a country twist. It used to be gold country but now the area is known for whitewater rafting, wine and agriculture.

Lava Cap.

Lunch, wine and great view.

A big hunk of apple strudel.

Downtown Placerville -- my picture didn't do it any old time-y justice.

Eden Vale Inn.

Dog's name is Pepper. He told you himself.

Grapes super sour and have thick skin -- yes, we tried them when no one was looking.