Meal worm quiche

Oof. My brain is mush. My life's been a spinning mess these past few weeks but I still made time to make something delicious with some mealworms I received in the mail from a vendor in S. California.

もう５月の終わり！忙しいと時間がたつのも早いものです。トホホ。しかし、この間、南カルフォルニアら注文したミールワームが届いたので、早速料理してみました。生きたまま宅急便でくるので、箱を耳に当てたらザワザワと音がしてくるから面白かったです！

Aren't they so cute?? You could hear them rustle in the box they came in. Ooohlala. 

I wanted to do something a little more subtle with them so that they would be a bit more appeasing to more people....but I couldn't help sprinkling some on top.

普通の人がかまわず味わえるようにあまり目立たないようにしようとキーシュの中に入れることにしました。かなり美味しかったです。研究室の人も味見してくれました。

In the long run, it's probably cheaper to raise these on your own. I'm going to probably look into it, but a few websites I came across on google that may be of interest:

http://mealwormstore.com/raising_mealworms.php

http://www.sialis.org/raisingmealworms.htm

育て方のウェブサイトも色々あるみたいです。上のリンクはグーグルで最初にでた物。

The quiche recipe was an altered version of dough and innards from Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite food blogs. I used whole wheat flour from a local mill so added more butter to the dough and used arugula instead of chard, since I had a ton of it in the fridge.

今度はうえの方にこんなにのせないようにしようと思います。

キーシュのレシピは英語版に書いてアルスミットキッチンのをちょっとかえて使いました。

Mealworm Quiche

Quiche dough (adapted from Smitten Kitchen's recipe, which was adapted from Le Pain Quotidien)

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 Tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg

In bowl, mix flour, cornstarch and salt.  Cut butter into flour with pastry cutter (or your fingers) until course chunks form. Add egg, mix well, and press into a 9-inch pie plate. Chill (I put in the fridge while I cooked up the insides).

Leek and Arugula Quiche-innard (adapted from Smitten Kitchen, which was adapted from Bon Apetit)

Butter or oil for cooking

A couple handfuls of fresh arugula (rinsed)

1/4 cup of fresh or frozen or dried mealworm

1.5 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar (or whatever type of cheese you like)

1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream (it was a bit too creamy so I'm gonna use milk next time)

3 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon salt

pepper, to taste

Preheat oven 425.

Sautee leeks in butter or oil in a skillet until tender (I accidentally burned mine). In a separate skillet, sautee mealworms until crisp (I think both took like 7 minutes or so. You can probably cook the leeks and mealworm in the same skillet, but I decided to cook them separately to allow the mealworms to crisp). Add arugula to leeks and cook until it wilts (a couple minutes). Remove from heat.

Mix whipping cream, eggs, salt, and pepper together in bowl.

Line tart shell with shredded cheese, add leeks+arugula mixture and mealworms (all or reserve some to sprinkle on top). Pour egg mixture on top, put in oven for 15 minutes, lower temperature to 350, bake about 15 minutes more or until middle of quiche is set. Cool on rack for awhile (I left it over night but you can probably eat it warm).