I was craving Sweet Potato bread. Having been short on time recently, my roasted sweet potatoes were waiting patiently in the fridge until I could put them to good use. The moment finally came this week when I found myself in my very own kitchen, utterly alone. And it was cold outside. Ah, perfect!
I got all set up. Preheated the oven. Began whipping the sweet potatoes and sugar together. And then...realized I was completely out of eggs. Ugh. How did that happen? I soooo did not want to go to the store. Wait! I had some flaxseed meal. That can be mixed with water for egg replacement. Ha-ha! Oh, no. How did I get so low on flaxseed meal? Now what? Let me also mention that this was in the middle of the day and no neighbors were at home to borrow from.
Well, a little internet research later, I was mixing 1 t baking soda with 1 T apple cider vinegar to sub for each egg. Now, I am not in the habit of replacing eggs willy-nilly. So, I approached this like an experiment. Let's just see what would happen. Sweet potato bread is a quick bread, and very forgiving (thankfully), so we'll just see what happens. And I REALLY wanted some Sweet Potato Bread.
I proceeded with the rest of the recipe, minus the eggs but with the soda/vinegar mixture, and braced myself for the results. And you know what? It turned out pretty darn good. As a matter of fact, I could not tell there were not eggs in it. The loaves rose beautifully. The bread was moist and dense. However, it was not quite sweet enough for my taste....which is why I added some cream cheese frosting on top. Everyhing is better with cream cheese frosting, right? Perhaps the addition of the baking soda/vinegar meant some correction was needed for the sugar and salt. As I said it was an experiment, and it has not been fully developed (which is why I'm not sharing the bread recipe with you just yet).
So all of that, to say this: in a pinch the following substitution works quite well to replace eggs in baked goods.
1t baking soda + 1T vinegar (white or apple cider)= 1 egg
Now I know, but I won't be letting my larder get that sparse again!
Okay, so this is not a new concept. Not ground-breaking or earth-shattering, but... we switched it up a little at the Herrmann House last week.
It's so easy to get into a rut with meals. Especially when everyone is so busy! We do the pasta, the rice, the wraps, the 'fill-in-the-blank' and add veggies and protein to the mix to make it a complete meal. What we have found, however, is that we're eating a lot of starches and not enough veggies. Another factor to note in this observation is that our refrigerator is still chock full of CSA veggies every week. I can only make so much hash and stir-frys to use it all up! And pickles. Boy, do we have the pickled vegetable collection.
Anyhoo, my point is this: we mixed it up. We started using veggies as our base and 'topping' it with the starch or protein. Okay, we're not doing it everynight, but it's worked out well on the nights we have tried. Our favorite was a PILE of stir-fried veggies with a coconut curry lentil 'sauce'. Really yummy. We're going to try to do 'switch it up' more often.
What do you do to 'switch it up'?
It's cold + rainy here in Minneapolis. Fall has arrived rather hastily this week, and I've been craving soups + stews. This recipe for Lamb Stew is one of most requested recipes. It makes great use of fall veggies that you may be getting in your CSA. I hope you enjoy!
Lamb Stew
serves 6
2 pounds lamb stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, sliced
3 3x1/2-inch strips lemon peel
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 small bay leaves
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 medium carrots 1” pieces
1.5 # potatoes,cut into 1” cubes
3 stalks celery, chopped
Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
-Place lamb in large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
-Add flour and toss to coat
-Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat
-Add half of lamb and sauté until brown, about 5 minutes
-Using slotted spoon, transfer lamb to medium bowl. Repeat with remaining lamb
-Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in same pot
-Add leeks, lemon peel, garlic, and bay leaves
-Sauté until leeks begins to soften, about 5 minutes
-Return lamb and any accumulated juices to pot. Add broth and tomato paste
-Bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer 50 minutes
-Add carrots + potatoes; cover and simmer until lamb and carrots are tender, about 20 minutes longer
-Simmer uncovered gravy thickens, about 5 minutes
-Discard bay leaves
-Season stew to taste with salt and pepper; ladle into bowls
- Sprinkle with parsley
