Chhhhocolate pie

with the best piecrust I have ever made (this is a pretty short list, as I've only made piecrust about 4 times in my life). The pie: a silken tofu-based, not too sweet (but certainly decadent) bit of indulgence. served up with jackfruit bbq on whole wheat buns, and stirfried rainbow chard with carrots and crispy bits (slivers of quick-fried corn tortillas tossed with Chinese 5-spice).

The jackfruit bbq:
Fry up some onions in olive oil, add the jackfruit until it starts to brown, dump in about a half cup water, and cover. Periodically add more water and turn the jackfruit. It should soften up in about thirty minutes or so. Then mix up the jackfruit with copious amounts of BBQ sauce. Put on bread. (from the ppk forum, here: http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=43976)
Note on this: I won't be making this again. Neither of us thought it was all that great, and it's a hassle for us to find the jackfruit. I've never liked spaghetti squash due to its insubstantial texture, and jackfruit is similar. There's a far better recipe for bbq tofu here... I don't really have to have something because it 'looks' like meat (although in fact the soy curls I just got work far better as a bbq sandwich.

The pie:

Vegan Chocolate Pie
Submitted by Ava
prep time: 15 minutes | cooking time: 35-60 mins | makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients
1 Block of Silken Tofu (drained)
1 Pie Crust
1 cup
1 cup soy milk with a t of chocolate powder stirred in (optional; also, you could add some instant coffee for a bit of depth, I think!)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*optional 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut block of tofu into small chunks and put into the blender. Add the soymilk, sugar, vanilla extract, and cocoa powder and blend well until there are no large chunks of tofu. If you'd like add chocolate chips. Once all are combined pour into the pie crust and bake for 35-60 mins (depending on your oven) or until the top appears solid. Chill for 1-2 hrs before serving.
adapted from here http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=235

The piecrust

incredible-looking tofu

"the tofu was marinaded in the smoky tempeh marinade from v'con then sautéed in some oil & cooked off with bbq sauce." - from the ppk, posted by calcuhater

Follow-up notes: Oh, yeah. This is a keeper! Dinner was tofu, marinated in a smoky mix of garlic, Bragg's, stock, and liquid smoke, then broiled, then baked in a homemade barbecue sauce, served on a whole wheat bun & topped with veggie slaw (carrot, broccoli & cabbage in a light sauce) accompanied by home fries.

From Veganomicon:
- basic broiled tofu
- marinade from the smokey tempeh marinade recipe
- backyard barbecue sauce
- coleslaw

That sauce is great, and we have lots left over! Since we got a bag of preshredded veg for the slaw, I'll be using that in salad and stirfries. yum!

Jackfruit BBQ

"Rinse and drain the jackfruit. Saute in a pan in a little oil, then add 1 bottle of your preferred BBQ sauce, a little water, a dash of vegan Worcestershire and liquid smoke. and simmer on very low for 1-2 hours. I added chopped seitan but that's optional. The jackfruit has a shredded texture, but is a little soft to me, so I added the seitan." - from Pamela Cooks (and thank you very much - I found canned jackfruit at an asian grocery store yesterday (along with a ton of other wonderful stuff, so decided to try this weird thing).

Note: I finally got around to making this. I must say I'm not all that nuts about this recipe, though it was easy and tasty. It was tasty because I used the bbq sauce I'd made - that's all you taste, really. Not the 1 1/2 onions you sautee, which should be more assertive, and certainly not the jackfruit, which appears to be important mainly for its texture. Next time I'll just make the bbq tofu with coleslaw - now THAT was great.