Cauliflower and Mushroom Pot Pie with Black Olive Crust

Mike and I have been cooking up a storm since all our kitchen equipment and cookbooks have arrived from Australia. I was so excited to see all my cookbooks again! Finally we feel at home and get to properly assault some of the lovely organic vegetables we?ve seen. We have taken every opportunity to cook and have been taking photos along the way. Some days we haven?t moved far from the kitchen! But we?re just really happy to be back in the kitchen again!
So with everything in Germany we have been flipping through our cookbooks selecting delicious things to cook. We?re not working at the moment so we?ve had plenty of time to find ingredients (not always easy here) and cook. So full of enthusiasm we cooked this pie from Veganomicon and it turned out really really well. The sauce is great and makes a nice pie gravy - yum. Although the authors suggest this is a pie you?d love to eat in winter, we made it in European spring. It was 29°C degrees and the pie was fantastic. Our olives were salty as they were marinated in garlic and as a result we did not added the recommended salt quantity into the crust mixture. I also have a feeling that even without the olives you may want to halve it as a teaspoon of salt sounds like a lot. Chucking in some marinated olives worked superbly though.
I served this with some spinach wilted with garlic and lime juice.
IngredientsSauce3 tablespoons margarine 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups unsweetened plain soy milk 1 bay leaf 2 teaspoons dried tarragon 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder 1 teaspoon salt ground pepper Vegetables1 small cauliflower, trimmed, washed, and cut into bite-sized pieces 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 leek, thinly sliced 1 small carrot, diced 250g cremini mushroom, washed, trimmed, and sliced into large chunks 1 teaspoon sherry wine or white wine vinegar Black olive biscuit crust1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt (as mentioned we left this out as our olives were marinated and therefore already fairly salty, I would also reduce the amount to half as one teaspoon sounds quite salty.) 1 pinch dried thyme 3 tablespoons margarine, chilled 4-5 tablespoons cold water 1/3 cup pitted black olives, chopped coarsely (kalamata recommended ? and we used kalamata marinated in Garlic) DirectionsPreparePreheat the oven to 190°C. Use a large, oven-to-table Dutch oven. If you don't have one, use a large, heavy-bottomed pot to prepare the filling and a large, deep casserole dish to bake the finished potpie. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan (not the Dutch oven) over medium heat, melt the margarine and sprinkle in the flour. Stir to form a thick paste. Cook the mixture until fragrant, bubbling, and lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Temporarily turn off the heat. Slowly pour in the soy milk, using a wire whisk to stir until smooth. Whisk in the dried herbs, mustard powder, salt, and bay leaf. Turn on the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly with whisk, for 8 to 10 minutes, until a thick sauce forms. Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaf, and adjust the salt and pepper to taste. Heat the oil in the Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leeks and carrots, and sauté for 6 to 8 minutes until most of the excess liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated. Add the cauliflower, stir briefly, cover partially, and steam for about 8 minutes, until the cauliflower has just begun to soften. Remove the lid, turn off the heat, and set aside. Prepare the crust while cauliflower is cooking: Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and thyme in a small bowl. With a pastry cutter or two knives held together cut the cold margarine until crumbs form, then drizzle in tablespoons of cold water and mix. Drizzle in additional tablespoons of cold water, one at a time, until a soft dough forms (but careful not to overwork it). Fold in the olives. Pat out the dough on a lightly floured surface or give it a few rolls with a rolling pin, to form a circle or appropriate shape slightly smaller than the Dutch oven. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into diamonds (you'll be placing small squares of dough over the casserole, rather than one big disc of dough). AssembleGive the sauce a good whisking (no worries if a skin has formed over it), pour into the cauliflower mixture, and stir completely to blend the veggie juices and sauce. Arrange the diamonds of dough over the mixture and brush with soy milk. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender and the biscuits are cooked. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before serving, as the filling will be boiling hot straight out of the oven. DIG IN!
This recipe is from:

Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
by Terry Romero and Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Recipe can be found at the Mother Nature Network.