Some tips on cutting the fat from your diet:
DAIRY FOODS
- If the flavors of a dish are delicate, try substituting skim milk for whole milk or cream; thicken it with cornstarch or flour to compensate for the lack of body.
- To enrich sauces and soups, evaporated skim milk can replace cream or whole milk when paired with robust flavors that mask its slightly sweet, canned flavor. Because about half of the water has been removed, the consistency of evaporated skim milk is similar to that of cream. Mix it with regular skim milk for baked custard and quiche.
- For dips, spreads, lasagna and cheesecakes, fromage blanc or pressed cottage cheese (see instructions) are excellent replacements for high-fat fresh cheeses like cream cheese or ricotta. Balance the flavor and texture with the addition of a small amount of reduced-fat cream cheese.
As a substitute for whipping cream, you can whip chilled evaporated skim milk (see instructions). This works best in recipes that contain strong flavors and are stabilized with gelatin, such as Frozen Lemon Mousse (see recipe).
- For dessert toppings and fillings that call for whipped cream, try making an Italian meringue filling (see recipe). This cooked meringue has a creamy consistency and contains no fat.
- Eating Well Test Kitchens has found no satisfactory substitutions for high-fat firm and semi-firm cheeses in cooking. In dishes in which these cheeses play an integral role, they reduce the quantity and use high-quality cheeses that deliver maximum flavor. Such cheeses include aged Parmigiano-Reggiano, Asiago or Gruyere. In cheese sauces, pureed cottage cheese boosts the dairy flavor, allowing less hard cheese to be used.
MEATS
- Choose lean cuts, such as beef round or rump steak rather than chuck; pork tenderloin rather than loin or shoulder; and chicken or turkey breasts rather than thighs.
- Control portion size. Allow a maximum of 4 ounces raw meat (which will shrink to 3 ounces when cooked) per portion. In casseroles, saucy meat dishes and even burgers, you can usually reduce the meat portion significantly if you compensate with additional vegetables and grains. The use of bulgur works successfully in replacing some of the ground meat in meat sauces. (It absorbs the meaty flavors and often is unnoticeable.)
- Trim fat from meats carefully. Removing poultry skin saves about 5 grams of fat per 3-ounce portion. It the poultry will be marinated or braised, remove skin before cooking, but if it will be roasted, remove the skin after cooking.
- You can recreate the smoky rich flavor that ham or salt pork contributes to dishes such as baked beans or chili if you substitute dried tomatoes for the pork.
BAKING
- Treats like carrot cake, brownies, muffins and plum pudding can easily be converted into lower-fat versions when a fruit puree, such as prune puree or apple butter, is used to replace much, but not all, of the oil or butter. Match the flavor of the fruit puree to the flavors in the recipe: prune puree works well in a spicy carrot cake, but apple butter is better suited to more delicate zucchini muffins.
- Fat makes baked goods tender and moist. Low-fat baked goods will be more tender if you switch from all-purpose flour to cake flour. Milled from soft wheat, cake flour contains less gluten than all-purpose flour, which comes from hard wheat. Gluten turns baked goods tough and elastic - desirable in yeast breads but not in quick breads or cakes. To boost the fiber content in quick breads or muffins, use half of the white flour and half whole-wheat pastry flour.
- Virtually fat-free, egg whites are the low-fat baker's best friend because of their ability to incorporate air when beaten. Because of the risk of salmonella contamination, adding raw meringue to a mousse or filling is no longer recommended. Avoid this problem by making Italian meringue, a procedure that heats the egg whites with a very hot sugar syrup (see instructions).
- When a recipe calls for whole eggs, reduce the amount of yolks (all the fat and cholesterol is in the yolks) by using a mixture of eggs and egg whites. Replace four whole eggs with two whole eggs and two egg whites. (You may need to increase the amount of moisture in the recipe slightly.)
- Nuts are a critical element in many recipes. In toppings and crusts, nuts can be mixed with a crunchy toasted nonfat cereal, such as Grape-Nuts. (Inside a cake, however, the flavor and texture of the cereal gets lost.) Toasting nuts intensifies their flavor so you can use fewer in a recipe.
- Pastry is a great challenge for the low-fat cook. Eating Well testers use a combination of canola oil and a little browned butter rather than solid shortening or lard. Filo pastry, moistened with a mixture of canola oil and egg white, is a wonderful alternative to flaky or puff pastry in both savory and sweet pastries.
FAT FACTS
- The recommended total daily calories from fat shouldn't exceed 30 percent.
- A shortcut method (per Eating Well magazine) to estimate your fat limit: Divide your ideal body weight (or the weight you'd like to be) by two. For example, an average person with an ideal weight of 150 pounds should eat no more than 75 grams of fat per day. This helps put the grams of fat in a recipe in perspective.
- There are three types of dietary fats: saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Your body reacts differently to each of these fats.
Saturated fats are easily recognizable because they're solid at room temperature. These include such culprits as palm kernal oil, coconut oil and animal fats such as butter and lard. They have been shown to raise serum cholesterol levels.
Polyunsaturated fats include safflower, sunflower, corn, sesame, soybean and peanut oils. Polyunsaturates were always thought to be the best kind of fat because they lower cholesterol. But recent studies indicate that certain types of polyunsaturates raise fat levels. Watch out for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated polyunsaturated fats. The process of hydrogenization is used to convert oils to solid form or to better the texture of processed foods or to increase their shelf life.
Monounsaturated fats, including olive and canola oils, are considered the most healthful fats. Diets high in monounsaturates have been found to reduce blood cholesterol levels as much as a low-fat diet does and also improve the ratio of HDL (good) cholesterol to LDL (bad), which can cut the risk of hardening of the arteries.
QUICK TRICKS IN COOKING
- Store canned chicken stock in the refrigerator rather than in the cupboard. That way it's easy to remember the fat that solidifies on the surface.
- To moisten sandwich fillings, cut the mayonnaise by mixing equal parts of reduced-fat mayonnaise with nonfat plain yogurt. The tart yogurt adds a welcome and refreshing note.
- In vinaigrette salad dressings, replace about half of the oil with defatted chicken stock, fruit, vegetable juice, or water.
- Because fat not only provides richness but amplifies flavor, it is often necessary to increase seasonings in a low-fat dish.
- Toasting, roasting and even carmelizing ingredients are great ways to boost flavors. When the flavor of butter seems essential to a dish, use butter that has been cooked until it turns a nutty brown (Buerre noisette - a French cooking term for "nutty butter"; this technique is used often in the kitchens of Eating Well because it retains the delicious buttery taste so many cooks crave and decreases the amount of butter used in a recipe).
- Spend your "fat budget" wisely by selecting the best ingredients available. A small amount of good-quality, extra-virgin olive oil will contribute more and better flavor than pure or "light" olive oil, while offering the same amount of fat.
- From "The Recipe Rescue Cookbook"