Tarts! (Is "Let's get reTarted" offensive?)

First, a quick note, I have some recipes being featured on Meatless Mondays! If you haven't checked that campaign out, definitely do it! Even better, pass it around to your resolutely omnivorous friends. All they ask is that you don't eat meat one day of the week, easy I know, rite?! Anyway, onto the food bits...


Pictures above is a leek and roasted red pepper tart topped with a confit of slow-dried tomatoes, on a bed of sriracha, a thai hot sauce also known as "rooster sauce," or "cock sauce." It is a fun kitchen accessory, many believe it an absolute necessity. But what are we doing talking about cock sauce, when this post is about tarts?

I wish it were about tarts! But the above tart did not dazzle the tongue's palette. Oh the things that went wrong, I can't even begin to think about! It definitely needs work and I think the platform may be a good thing to explore... so today's recipe is only going to be a base. I will surely toy with it in the future, it has the potential to be both a great platform as well as a good dish for dinner parties and pot lucks. It can also be cut up into two-bite bits and served as an appetizer.

The tofu base is creamy, with a bit of tang (from the ume plums) that one would find in a cream cheese base. It is definitely a dish that could be mistaken for a non-vegan fritatta. Oh I can't wait to explore it!

For all my talk this dish wasn't _bad_, just wasn't as awesome as I thought it could be... So here is the base, and instructions on how to explore from there... I also made this in a 8x13 inch baking sheet, but it could also be done in a 9 inch removable-bottom tart pan, or perhaps in two smaller pie pans.


DIY Quiche

Quiche/Tart crust
3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c whole wheat pasty flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t sea salt
1/4 c canola oil
3-5 T cold water

Filling
2 T olive oil
3 T umeboshi paste
2 pounds firm water packed tofu, drained
3/4 t sea salt
*fillings!

To make the crust: Preheat the oven to 375, with a rack in the bottom third of the oven. In the food processor, blend the flours, baking powder, and salt together. Pulse in the oil until the mixture becomes mealy. Mix in enough water to form moist clumps. Gather the dough into a ball, then flatten it into a disk. Press it into the pan you are using, going up the sides.

To make the filling: Blend the tofu, umeboshi paste, olive oil, and salt. Pour into a bowl and stir in your fillings.

Bake the quiche for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden and the filling is set.

*Fillings: Honestly, you could probably leave this plain and just have a simple sort of tart... But more excitingly, I would recommend tossing a garlic clove or two into the mix, at least... I would look through any cook book for quiches, and simply whatever they add to the egg and dairy base, you add to this.. Spices, sauteeded mushrooms, carmelized onions, artechokes, roasted red peppers, etc. To give it a nice bit of flair, a drizzle of sauce, a spoonful of topping will make a lovely difference.

Lazy Blogday - Twofers Unrelated - Sunbutter Cookies n' Cream, and Chocolate Mousse Pie

These desserts really do not have a whole lot in common, and both stand up well enough on their own to not have to be sharing a plate... The pie in particular, at least if you get a bite with the crust. I have never had a pie in which the content was so meaningfully enhanced by the crust; in this case a mocha-walnut concoction. The airy filling is grounded in harmony the earthy base.

The sunbutter ice cream, I am not so kind toward. It is delicious and addictive, but also hard and flaky if not allowed to warm up a little, first. I will probably be making it again, and try some new spins on it... Texture aside, at the end of the day its life in my freezer will not be long. Still, if I want something more solid I will be going to my other peanut butter ice cream recipe.

My photographic laziness aside, there is a reason these two gems (one may be a little rougher, but) share a plate. They both offer special considerations toward the sensitive and the allergy-prone. The pie contains no gluten (or dairy ;) ), and the ice cream was made with a peanut-butter allergic friend in mine. So for those times when you don't want to make someone feel like everyone else is eating less well because of their needs, these dishes could please any palette.


Sins for Saints Chocolate Mousse Pie

So this came about because I wanted to make something for the massage workshop I was partaking in over the weekend. I was not feeling amazingly inspired the night before the event, though. So I just figured "meh," and went to bed later than I should have. I woke up, still wanting to make something, and fingered through a cookbook for an idea and saw a mousse. When I first experimented with vegan cooking, a tofu-based strawberry-kiwi chocolate pudding was one of my first recipes... so I ran some math in my head and this is what I got.

It was 7:50 AM. My workshop was at 9. Travel time was half an hour. Time was of the essence, so oven baking was out of the question. I wanted to do an oreo cookie crust, but with only 6 cookies that wasn't happening. So instead the crust was inspired by my experience with raw desserts. It was a total win, even better one of the girls of the group is gluten-intolerant, which I had forgotten. And the mousse.. well.. its just good... The food-making part was done within 25 minutes, and while I could have left the kitchen cleaner, I certainly could have left it worse. I was amazingly happy with it (so was everyone else). Though I am going to say it is absolutely necessary to make sure to get a bit of crust with each bite of mousse. Knowing that, So, onto the tart.

Crust:
1 and 3/4 c walnuts*
1/4 c cocoa powder**
1/2 t sea salt
2 T maple syrup
1-2 T raw coconut butter
1 t ground coffee

Mousse
15 oz dark chocolate, chopped***
1 c plus 2 T soy milk
1 T cocoa powder**
3/4 t kuzu starch
20 oz silken tofu
1/4 c maple syrup
2 t vanilla paste (or extract)
1/2 t almond extract

1. To make the crust, place walnuts in a food processor and chop until they are fine crumbs. Add everything else except the coconut oil and mix well. Add enough coconut oil for the crust to stick together. Press into 10" spring form pan and place in fridge to set.

2. To prepare the mousse filling dissolve the kuzu in the 2 T of soymilk. While it dissolves, place the chocolate, cocoa powder, and 1 C of soy milk in a double boiler. Add the dissolved kuzu starch and heat over simmering water, in the double boiler, until melted, stirring occasionally. It should take about 15-20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, place the tofu in a blender bowl or food processor and blend until smooth. Add maple syrup, vanilla, and almond extract and blend again. Either blend with chocolate mixture, or fold in.

4. Pour the chocolate mixture into the springform pan, and chill until set (about 2 hours), or overnight, before serving.

*I used soaked and dehydrated but that is up to you
**Valhrona
***I used a blend of Trader Joes Dark Pound Plus and Callebeut Semisweet

NEXT!

Sunbutter Ice Cream

9 oz silken tofu
1 c water
1 c soy milk
1 c sunbutter
1/4 c sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
1 T powdered maca (Optional. I like the malty flavor it imparts)
15-20 (or more!) Chocolate Sandwich cookies (I used Joe-O's), broken up just a lil'.

Bring the water to a boil, add sugar and let cook for 5 minutes. Let cool. Blend remaining ingredients (except for the cookies) until smooth. Chill and prepare according to the directions of your ice cream maker. Once mixed, add in the cookies and either stir in by hand or churn until they are just mixed. Pack into container and enjoy now, or later, or now and later.