Vegan Quiche

Hello! We just finished the spring performances at the ballet school and it's been a very busy few weeks. I'm not really sure if I was coherent the entire time. All I remember is the driving, some crying, and lots of food. So. Much. Food.

Athena the ballerina as a swan with Smart Water accessory.

First, obligatory photo of adult size child in costume. I haven't ordered my photos yet and this was taken quick while she was running backstage. This was her second weekend of performances. The week in between had some rough moments. One of these moments resulted in me making quiche for the first time, late at night after being gone all day and making two trips to the store... Oh, well it all worked out.

The recipe for one somehow made enough for two.

The quiche I was replacing had broccoli filling.

One evening last week the Lady came home to find that her quiche had been eaten while she was out. This was more than she could take at the time. I went to the grocery and purchased the ingredients to make a new quiche (after looking up a recipe). I think I follow directions, but I overflowed the first pie shell. I decided since there were two shells and excess whipped eggs, I should make a second one. What was I really going to do with a frozen pie crust anyway? I sauteed some chard and kale for the second quiche. Normally I wouldn't buy a pie crust, but it was 11pm and corners were cut. It seemed to turn out okay. The quiche smelled great, but I don't eat eggs so I'm not sure about the flavor. It looked right (if that helps at all) and my family ate it willingly.

The photos are from my phone and taken at night. This is what happens when you don't think you're going to be doing things, but then you do them and decide to put it out in the world. Everything in the kitchen photographs just a little extra yellow at night. (Conjuring up horrifying images from Martha Stewart's food Tweets.)

Vegan Quiche

 Mr. Husband and Miss Lady eating quiche all week made me hungry, but I don't eat eggs. I decided to make a vegan version. It could definitely be prettier and I'm sure next time it will be, but it tastes okay. I think I could have added more water or something in order to get a smoother filling for the crust. I used a recipe from PBS.org. It was very simple and involved most of the same ingredients used in tofu scramble.

I was hungry. I didn't wait for it to cool and firm.

A view of the cut away section.

I just read through the quiche directions and I can tell you what I did wrong. Do you see how it looks layered in the photo above? That was a mistake not a preference. I forgot to stir the blended tofu with the cooked vegetables. Oops. I'm sure the flavor is still basically the same, but I would have preferred everything to have been blended together. Not skipping that step might have helped it to fill the pan better. This time I made my crust using the same recipe as before with the pot pies. It's a really great non-vegan recipe and I just sub out some of the ingredients.

Last thing, I follow a blog called Annie's Eats. I've been following awhile and sometimes I will veganize a recipe. I was at the farmer's market on Saturday and I saw a woman that I thought had to be Annie from Annie's Eats. It was her, but I did not speak to her or tell her that I follow her blog. It seemed too weird. Is it strange to be a blog groupie? I'm torn.

xoxo,

b

So much food!

I have been doing lots of baking/cooking. I don't really cook meals (unless it's breakfast) and I don't exactly do dinner dishes, but I've been experimenting with making instead of buying. It certainly isn't saving any time and probably isn't saving much money. I can't say it's costing extra either so I'm probably breaking even. I do believe we're getting a better quality product and I'm learning some things. I was also feeling the presence of a food rut and that wasn't so great.

I'm getting good at granola bars. I've been using 2 recipes so far. This one is baked and this one is not. The baked recipe is not sweet on it's own. The flavor is nice, but not sweet. The second time I made them I added about a tablespoon of honey and that worked well.

Most of the recipes I've been looking at include the use of a food processor. I don't have one and I was trying to make everything work without one, but... It wasn't so great. Over the weekend I broke down and bought a Kitchenaid Food Chopper (that name is confusing to me).  I had been looking at them online and the color I wanted was on sale at Target. I have appliance weakness.

So cute!

Yay! Hopefully this will make my bake/cooking easier. I got it home and used it immediately to make a pie crust.  I've made pie crust before, but never like this. It's my best crust so far, but I'm not sure if the new appliance has anything to do with it. 

Hashtag pie

Sneech

These are the veggie potpies we made. I always end up with a little extra crust. In reality it's probably for the purpose of making a decorative edge or maybe I'm just rolling it too thin. I make silly embellishments.  I should add that my food chopper is too small to make the pie crust the way the recipe says to.  I make it in halves (or 1 sheet at a time) and that works well.

Wheat tortillas

The weekend before, during life without a food processor, I made some wheat tortillas. These were very easy. They just take up kind of a lot of space when making. That weekend also included some mediocre veggie burgers made using the blender (I don't recommend it) and mostly successful vegan meringue cookies.

I've been in a cooking mood lately. Have I finished my daughter's bedroom yet?  Not so much, but I'm going to.

xoxo,

b

Vanilla Bean Doughnuts

Photo from Cooking Classy

These doughnuts are baked and beautiful.  I've been wanting to make doughnuts, but I'm kind of afraid of frying.  I do have a doughnut pan though and no fear of baking.  So I tried this vanilla bean recipe from the blog Cooking Classy.  The only thing I changed was substituting soy milk for cow milk (which worked fine).  Dairy, even in baked goods, tends to hurt my stomach so I usually try to eliminate it when cooking.

White glaze

...and, pink glaze

This is how mine turned out; tasty.  There are some other recipes on Cooking Classy for baked flavors which I might try and I might even work up to frying.

nom nom,

b

Vegan Meringue Recipe

Vanilla Citrus Meringue

I was on the search for an edible, acceptable, vegan meringue and after several attempts in the test kitchen, I found one.  The original recipe makes A LOT of meringues and this is probably good because the first batch that went into the oven did not bake properly.  I tweaked the directions a bit and they worked.  Woot!  Sometimes, in order to bake, you have to become a scientist. 

Here is the original recipe (with directions)

• 1/2 Cup Ener-g Egg
• 3/4 cup ice cold water
• 2 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup + 2T white sugar
• 1 t agar powder + 1/3 cup water

Sprinkle the agar powder over the water in a small saucepan and let sit 5 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the ener-g egg with the ice cold water, beating on the highest setting with a hand mixer for about 8-10 minutes. NOTE: THE ENER-G EGG EXPANDS A LOT- USE A DEEP BOWL. Halfway through, turn on the flame under the sauce pan to medium low heat and let simmer, whisking occasionally. Continue mixing the ener-g egg until stiff peaks form. Add the vanilla and sugar and mix for another 2 minutes. When the agar mixture is completely dissolved, add it to the beaten ener-g and blend for yet another 2 minutes. Transfer to the refrigerator for about half an hour to allow the agar to firm up. Preheat the oven to 350. (extra step) You are now free to make whatever your heart desires with this vegan meringue. For crisp meringue cookies, bake for 30 minutes. Adjust accordingly depending on your recipe. Again, for pies make sure the filling is thoroughly baked. Any excess moisture will destroy the meringue. My next mission is angel food cake. I’ve heard that Bryanna Clark Grogan has already made a successful one, which she refuses to share with the general public. For now, at least. I’ll conquer this one on my own.

.............................................

That was great and Ener-G does expand a lot.  It expands more than you might anticipate.  I had to make changes to the directions though and I've highlighted those in red.  First, when I baked the meringues for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, the insides were gooey and that was gross.  So, I switched the temperature to 230 degrees and baked for about 90 minutes.  What you are essentially doing is drying the meringue in the oven as opposed to baking it.  You can pop one out as a sacrifice to see if they're ready, but remember-- meringues crisp as they cool.  If they're left in too long though, they brown.  Next is where I inserted an extra step.  The first sheet that I put into the oven were done exactly as the original directions say, but it didn't quite work for me.  When I took the meringue from the refrigerator it had lost some of its 'puff' so my cookies flattened a little.  To fix this on the second sheet, I put them on the mixer again until I saw peaks.  This seemed to put just enough air back in them.  possibly this deflation issue could be fixed by beating them longer the first time, but I haven't tried that.  I just know that the meringue should form peaks and not slip the bowl.  It also shouldn't  flatten when piped or spooned onto a baking sheet (use parchment paper on top of your sheet so the meringues release).  Finally, vanilla seems to be the default flavor for everything.  Feel free to substitute any flavor you like and get creative.  I used fresh orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla for the ones above.  Do you remember the chewable pills that had an orange flavor?  Were they children's Tylenol (think mid '80's)?  I loved how they tasted.  The flavor of these was similar (at least I think it was, it's been awhile).  If you hated that taste though, don't worry!  Just don't use my flavoring combination.