Lemon Aquafaba Bread

At this particular time, when we are going through a world-wide crisis, a terrifying pandemic, it can be therapeutic for many of us to cook and bake.

I am one of those people.

I have plenty of ingredients to cook with because over the years I’ve learned to keep shelf-stable foods on hand in case I can’t shop: ingredients such as canned beans, rice, frozen veggies, dried fruit, canned or packaged milk, and so on.

Equally important for me is — don’t waste food (I’ve talked about that often). I believe that it is important to use all resources — “food forage” as my colleague Susan Barocas calls it. Don’t throw out any ingredient that’s useable, including leftovers.

With all this in mind I offer this lemon bread.

I have lots of lemons in my crisper because of an article I am writing. I’ve developed the recipe for that, so I need to make use of the extra lemons.

I also needed to do something with the liquid leftover from a can of chick peas that I opened for a salad. Chick pea liquid is incredibly useful.

In case you aren’t familiar with this leftover liquid (also from canned beans), it is called aquafaba and it can be used in place of eggs. That makes it an ideal ingredient for vegans and anyone who is allergic to or otherwise can’t eat eggs.

When you beat chick pea liquid with a whisk, it traps air like eggs do, so baked goods have both structure and also a light, tender crumb.

I am trying not to use too many fresh eggs that I might need for meals, so I used the aquafaba instead to make this lemon bread.

Dee-lish!

To get the most out of the liquid in a can of chick peas, be sure to scrape the residue at the bottom of the can. For best results, reduce the liquid slowly over medium-low heat until it becomes the consistency of egg white. Use about 3 tablespoons of the liquid in place of each egg. 

For another delicious recipe (carrot bread) using aquafaba, click here.

Lemon Aquafaba Bread

• 6 tablespoons aquafaba

• 4 tablespoons coconut oil

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh lemon peel

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup coconut milk

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

• 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9”x5”x3” loaf pan. If the aquafaba seems thin, boil it for a few minutes to thicken slightly to the consistency of egg white. Set aside to cool. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the coconut oil and 3/4 cup sugar at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until well combined. Add the lemon peel and aquafaba and blend them in. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture in thirds, alternating with the coconut milk. Beat to blend the ingredients to a smooth, even batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. While the bread is baking, combine the lemon juice and 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved. When the bread comes out of the oven, pour the lemon juice mixture on top. Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely.

Makes one bread

Mashed Potato Pancakes

When I am going through periods of stress in my life, the food I want most is anything made with a potato.

So: these.

Mashed potato pancakes.

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.

I’m not Irish but will use any excuse to eat Irish food, which, despite the outcries of surprise from my Irish friends, is quite wonderful (fresh salmon, fabulous oatmeal, spectacular bread and the best potatoes ever).

I’ve been to Ireland a few times and have eaten mashed potato pancakes there, although I’ve never seen them crusted with panko; it’s usually plain old bread crumbs on the outside.

You can use either; I like the texture of panko better.

Mashed potato pancakes are very soft, so be careful when placing them in the pan and turning them.

These make a good side dish, but also a meal if you top them with a fried egg or two.

Mashed Potato Pancakes 

• 3 cups cold mashed potatoes

• 1 large egg

• 2 chopped fresh scallions or 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

• 1/3 cup bread crumbs

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1 cup panko or bread crumbs, approximately

• 5-6 tablespoons vegetable oil

Place the mashed potatoes, egg, scallions, 1/3 cup bread crumbs and salt and pepper to taste in  a bowl and mix thoroughly to blend all the ingredients. Shape the mixture into patties about 1/2-inch thick and refrigerate for at least one hour. Place the panko on a dish, then press each patty into the panko to coat both sides. Patties are very soft and fragile, so work carefully. Heat 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, fry a few of the potato cakes for about 3 minutes per side, or until crispy. Be sure to leave room in the pan with space between each pancake. Repeat with the remaining potato cakes, adding more oil to the pan as needed.

Makes about 12

What to eat when stressed

Dear Mom,  

I am sorry that you got a flat tire; that happened to me once with Z in the car and we … . Well, very long story short, we began on 94th and Park and ended up in the Lower East Side where a guy named Dominic whose “shop” was a folding chair on a random stretch of sidewalk, hooked me up with a new tire.  

And all the while Z had to pee.  

And I was pregnant.  

And late to see a client.  

Hm, and it was your car.

I had indian food that night, I happen to remember.  

I don’t think there is a solution for how to keep the right stress food (for me it would be like potato pierogies or steamed roast pork buns or bubble milk tea) in the car and not just eat it every day.  But I bet there’s an app for locating the closest vendor.

Mer

Thanks Mer! It was certainly frustrating. And I think your idea is right — get something comforting from a nearby restaurant. There is a fabulous Middle Eastern place down the block from that gas station (Waterfalls Cafe on Atlantic Street). I could have had mujadarah!

Next time. Oh no! I hope there is never a next time!!

What do you eat when you're stressed out?

When frustrated, upset or stressed out, people respond to food in two different ways. Some people can’t eat. They feel full up to the top of their throats and nothing solid will go down.

Other people eat to capacity, stuffing their faces till all the little spaces in the emotional part of their brains are saturated.

I am the second type.

So, last night at about 8:30, after an evening of babysitting for my granddaughter Lila, 4, and grandson Remy, 3 months, I set out to drive from Brooklyn to my home in Connecticut, about 45 miles away and about 5-6 blocks from their house I hear “click, click, click” and I feel a lttle lopsided at the driver’s seat and I know without looking that I have a flat tire.

Yep. Got out — luckily — in a parking space just before I was about to make the left turn to take the highway, turned right instead because I know there’s a service station 2-3 blocks away and surely some nice young man will change the tire for me.

But apparently the young people at this station have safe, secure jobs and plenty of assets in the bank and have no need to earn an extra $$whatever they think I might give them, and they told me to call AAA, which I did.

Then, when the man from AAA came and tried to get the “doughnut” tire out of the trunk, he broke off the screw that holds it in place.

So now I have no tire and no way to get the doughnut tire.

He borrowed some tools from the service station and after several attempts to get the spare he told me he couldn’t get the screw off, that the doughnut was there for life and that I should put air in the tire and drive to the local 24/7 tire store and get a new one.

Geez! My tire is brand new and besides I don’t want to go to the tire store and I’m tired and cold and now I WANT TO EAT. ANYTHING!!!!

But I didn’t have anything in the car to eat. I was eyeing the Yogurt Truck which had parked itself at the gas station. Imagine, in this day and age, a yogurt truck selling “healthy” frozen yogurt, (rather than that fat-and-calorie laden ice cream), that you can get covered with fudge sauce, sprinkles, chopped cookies or other wholesome items.

But I realized I don’t want just anything. It was cold out and I had forgotten my sweater at my daughter’s house and besides, ice cream isn’t filling and neither is healthy frozen yogurt with nutritious sprinkles on top.

I needed to munch something. Potato chips, pretzels. Stuff like that.

So I looked the AAA man in the eye and gave him my best Mom “you can do it if you try” look and said in my best Mom voice “you can do it if you try, I just know you can.” So he borrowed another tool and sure enough, after a while he did it!

He fixed the tire, blessed me for having an AAA card. I didn’t have any gold stars or stickers to give him so I gave him some extra $$, because he was so determined.

A few weeks ago I blogged about having food in the car for emergencies (I was stuck in a horrible storm then). But do I listen to my own advice about having food in the car? Or to the advice of people who told me what food I should always have in the car?

NO!

I wasn’t really hungry. I was upset, frustrated and stressed out, needing the kind of food I want to eat when I feel that way. So the real problem is how to have that kind of food in the car all the time and only eat it when I need it.

I’m not sure how that can work. I’d probably eat the stuff at any old time and then I would have to keep replacing it and if there’s one thing I don’t need it’s to consume extra calories of eat-this-when-you’re-upset food.

I did have some Ricola sugar free lemon-mint cough drops. They had to do.

But when I got home just before 11 p.m. I ate a large bowl of popcorn.