JayBassin

Is there general interest for a no/low fat thread? Baking and/or cooking? I do a lot of low-fat cooking and baking because my wife insists on it. Another way to reduce fats (or at least use better fats) in baking desserts is to use nut-crumb crusts instead of pastry crusts for pies and tarts. 1-1/2 C ground almonds or walnuts bound with 3 tablespoons of butter and 3 Tbs sugar (or splenda) will line a 9" pie pan. This compares to 1-1/2 sticks (12 Tbs) butter for a typical pastry crust (pate brisee).

Carolina's burned down more than a year ago (a fire in the little shopping complex gutted Carolina's). No evidence of any plans to reopen. No evidence of any repairs on the gutted buildings, either.

Here are 4 easy recipes. Low-fat lemon cream pie filling: Soften 1 tsp unflavored gelatin in juice of ½ lemon (about 3 Tbs) for 5 minutes. Don’t use the stuff in a green bottle—use water or your favorite liqueur if you don’t have fresh lemons. Warm for 20 sec in microwave until liquid and clear. Beat together until smooth: • 1 8 oz pkg neufchatel cheese (or non- or low-fat cream cheese) at room temperature • ½ C non-fat sour cream • 1 14 oz can non-fat sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated skim milk) • ½ tsp almond extract Beat in lemon juice/gelatin Pour into a pre-baked pie or tart shell and top with sliced berries or other fruit*. Chill at least 2 hours. Variations: • Omit the lemon juice and put in ½ C key lime juice instead—key lime pie. • Omit the lemon juice, add 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, use 1/3 C water + 1 Tbs instant coffee or espresso to dissolve the gelatin, and add 4 oz melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and top with walnut halves — chocolate mocha pie. Apple Upside Down Cake • 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, quartered, and sliced ⅛ in thick • 3 T sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon • ¾ C sugar • ½ C Egg Beaters • 1 tsp vanilla extract • 1 C all purpose flour • ¼ t salt • ½ t baking powder • 1 t baking soda • ½ C coarsely chopped toasted walnuts (optional) • 3 T unsweetened applesauce Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray an 8” oven-proof skillet (I use cast-iron) with Pam and dust with about 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Toss sliced apples with salt and 2 tsp cinnamon sugar. Spread a layer of apples in tbe bottom of the prepared skillet. Beat eggs, 3/4 C sugar, and vanilla until creamy; stir in applesauce. Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder and fold into mixture. Fold in remaining apples and walnuts. Pour batter over apples in pan and dust top with remaining cinnamon sugar. Bake 45 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes in skillet. Run a knife around the rim of the skillet and invert onto a plate. Serve warm. Lemon Poppyseed Cake Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together: • 2½ C flour • 4 tsp baking powder • ½ tsp baking soda • ⅛ tsp salt Beat together until smooth and creamy: • 1 C applesauce (or any combination of pureed fruits such as overripe bananas) • 4 eggbeaters • 1½ C sugar Stir in: • 4 Tbs poppyseed • ¼ C lemon juice (juice of 2 lemons) • minced lemon zest from 2 lemons Mix dry mixture into egg mixture until just blended. Don't overbeat (a few lumps are ok) Immediately pour into bundt pan sprayed with Pam. Bake 50-55 minutes until cake springs back and begins to shrink away from pan. Low-Fat Brownies • 1¼ C all purpose flour • ¾ C cocoa powder (Droste Dutch process is best) (= 6 gms fat) • ½ tsp baking powder • pinch salt • ¾ C “Egg Beaters” • 1½ C sugar • ½ C apple sauce • 1 tsp vanilla • 1 tsp espresso powder/crystals • 1 C coarsely chopped walnut pieces (90 gms walnuts = 60 gms fat) Preheat oven to 325°F and spray a 9x9” pan with cooking spray. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt. Beat together egg beaters and sugar until thick. Stir in apple sauce, vanilla, espresso. Fold in walnuts. Mix in dry ingredients. Pour into prepared pan and bake 50-55 min.

Lemon Poppyseed Bundt Cake (low-fat) Serves 10 as Dessert. 2-1/2 c All purpose flour 2 T double-acting baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 c Unsweetened applesauce 1 c Egg beaters (or other egg substitute) 1-1/2 c sugar (or Spenda) 1/4 tsp poppyseeds 1/4 c fresh-squeezed lemon juice 2 T minced lemon zest (from 2 lemons) 1/4 tsp lemon oil Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt Beat together until smooth and creamy applesauce (or any combination of pureed fruits such as overripe bananas), Eggbeaters (or 4 eggs), sugar Stir in poppyseeds, lemon juice (juice of 2 lemons), lemon zest from 2 lemons. Mix dry mixture into egg mixture until just blended. Immediately pour into bundt pan sprayed with cooking oil. Bake 50-55 minutes until cake springs back and begins to shrink away from pan. Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Cake, Healthy Choices ( RG1394 )

Low-fat Brownies Serves 9 as Dessert. Almost as good as regular brownies. The only fat comes from the optional walnuts. 1-1/4 c All purpose flour 3/4 c Cocoa powder (Droste Dutch process is best) (= 6 gms fat) 1-1/2 c Sugar (or Spenda) 3/4 tsp baking powder (double-acting) 1/4 tsp salt 3/4 c Egg beaters 1/3 c Unsweetened apple sauce 1 tsp vanilla extgract 1 tsp Espresso powder/crystals 1 c Coarsely chopped walnut pieces (90 gms walnuts = 60 gms fat) Preheat oven to 325°F and spray a 9x9” pan with cooking spray. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt. Beat together egg beaters and sugar until thick. Stir in apple sauce, vanilla, espresso. Fold in walnuts. Mix in dry ingredients. Pour into prepared pan and bake 50-55 min. Toothpick should still have some crumbs on it (don't overbake). Keywords: Dessert, Brownies/Bars, Healthy Choices ( RG1393 )

Depends on what the potato salad will accompany. Generally, no egg. Mayo (or remoulade with capers and cornichon) if served cold, vinaigrette if served warm. We brook no debate on these points.

Low-fat works better for me because my wife insist on it. (Actually, I think full fat will work fine.) Either way, wipe off excess marinade before roasting. As for oven temp, crank yours up as high as it will go. Mine goes up to 550 F (about 290 C).

How about little sandwiches? Small (1-1/2") buns baked off premises. Serve good quality sliced roast beef, roast turkey, ham. Also miniature cheese tartlettes, riblets, chicken wings all cooked off premises and warmed in a microwave.

Is this in your home or restaurant? I looked at Traulsen's website and coudn't see anything with both fridge/freezer and 30" wide. Their dual-temp models seem to be 48" wide.Do you happen to know the model number?

Haven't tried it, but sounds like it would work. Why wouldn't you try a small batch and test it yourself?

I think that if you boil water vigorously with fatty meat/bones, the melted fat and proteins will emulsify, thus clouding the stock. Because you can't get the emulsified fat out of the stock, perhaps Pepin meant that the resulting stock will have a higher fat content (fat is not as easily digestible as protein). If your goal is to make a clear soup with the stock, then avoiding cloudiness is smart. If you plan to make risotto, or gravy, or short ribs, doesn't matter. Anyway, I make a gallon of stock at a time, and freeze it in 1 qt batches. Because I usually don't know what I will do with it, I don't salt it and I try to make it as clear as practical. As I said in my intro to this topic, blanching (and rinsing) or roasting bones will denature the proteins and minimize cloudiness. Also, keeping the heat to the pressure cooker just so you never hear that hissing, venting sound will prevent the stock from boiling and hence clouding the stock.

I've found that if you don't allow the pressure cooker to vent (either by increasing heat/pressure too high or by pressing the manual vent-release), the contents can't boil and therefore the stock won't cloud. I know the conventional wisdom is that pressure cooking = cloudy stock, but I don't think it's necessarily true. Milagai's point is also well-taken: Depending on the finished dish, it may not be discernable. I've also taken the next step by clarifying the stock afterwards, if I needed a crystal-clear base. The real key is to chill the stock and take off the congealed fat before reducing. Finally (??), it's important to note that modern pressure-cookers don't vent enough steam to reduce the stock during the procedure. Conventional simmering will reduce and concentrate the stock during simmering. Consequently, you should add less water to the cooker before sealing it than you would if you were simmering it in an open pot.

Classic stock making requires long, slow simmering either uncovered or with a paper lid. In a restaurant kitchen, this makes sense because there's a constant need for stock and you can toss in veg scraps as you prep. In a home kitchen, for "batch" processing, it's less practical. I've been making stocks in my 12 qt pressure cooker for a couple of years. I blanch the bones first (for a white stock) or roast them (for a brown stock), but then all the bones, veg, herbs, and spices go in. I bring the pressure up to the second mark (15 psi) and -- imortantly -- let the pot cool slowly to avoid any boiling. Strain everything through a chinois. I believe the pressure prevents boiling (as long as the pressure relief valve stays closed), and as long as the pressure reduces slowly. I find I can get pretty clear stock in only a couple of hours. Does anyone else do this, or have other experience?

Atmospheric pressure = 14.7 pounds per square inch, or (to use her mixed metrics) 2.3 pounds per square centimeter (about 6.4 square centimeters per square inch). On Earth, it is not possible to create vacuum pressure greater than atmospheric---that's what a vacuum means. I'm not familiar with sous vide equipment, but if it's just sucking the air out of a bag with food in it, then the pressure is limited to 14.7 psi or 2.3 psc. I assume the Times article had a typographical error (misplaced decimal point).

I've had 2 subzeros in 25 years. My wife hates them. In addition to high initial cost, they require frequent repair and the repairs are very expensive. Also, for such expensive machines, they lack some features that ought to be standard. For example, my current machine doesn't even have a light for the freezer drawer (bottom freezer drawer), and the shelves aren't stainless, and the door shelves are plastic! Problem is, the location of the fridge requires a built-in, and I can't move the location. On this machine, which is about 12 years old, I've had to make the following repairs: Replace one compressor motor (comes with 2) (requied pulling machine out from wall--major hassle) replace condenser pipes in back Replace electronic solenoid that regulates one of the compressors replace plastic meat-bin support Replace condensation drip tube (requied pulling machine out from wall--major hassle) I'm hoping this lasts long enough that other manufacturers put out true built-ins, so we won't have to buy another subzero. I really, really, really recommend against subzero because of the horrible repair requirements. edited to add: Oh, yeah: I forgot that I had to replace the ice-maker too! Also, you can turn off the icemaker only by removing the ice-cube tray. There's no latch or switch to turn it off, like I had 25 years ago in a Whirlpool!

Once again, the popular press gets it wrong. Not to take anything away from Ms. Comerford, but FDR's White House "chef" was Henrietta Nesbitt, often described as a terrible cook and curmudgeon. Nevertheless, she was the Roosevelt's cook and did their parties as well as being their personal chef.

I went to a class and it was too basic. I think the problem was that the audience had a lot of new bakers or wannabes, but all the demos were geared to basic bread making. I wouldn't go back.

Sure, eliminate the sugar. Don't reduce the salt--in fact, you should increase the salt because you want to make up the osmotic pressure. Alternatively, and depending on the amount of chicken, just reduce the water.

Don't soak the breasts in lemon juice---you'll denature the proteins and make the meat tough. You can brush on the juice while grilling, though.

"Unobstrusive"? Just soak the breasts (bone-in, I hope) in brine flavored with some garlic, herbs, maybe a cinnamon stick, cloves, etc. You can use sugar in the brine because the breasts won't be on the grill long enough to burn the sugar. I use 1 C kosher salt, 2/3 C granulated sugar, 2 sticks cinnamon, head of garlic cut in half, handfull of fresh herbs, tablespoon of whole black peppercorns. Bring to a boil in 2 qts water and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour in another quart of ice water. Chill. Soak split breasts for about 2 hours. Rinse and dry before grilling. You can add glazes or other flavors for your other dishes.

The best in Washington DC is "Heritage India". There's a thread in the DC forum at Heritage India It's on Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park. Phone 202-333-3120

I have put a recipe for mulligatawny soup on rGullet: Mulligatawny Soup

I agree with Waaza that the meat should be cooked at very high temp. However, if you have a blender, you don't need the tandoori paste--make your own and adjust it to your taste! Blend 1 coarsely chopped onion, a 1" chunk of fresh ginger, 2-3 garlic cloves, 1 tsp ground toasted cumin, 1 tsp ground toasted coriander seed, 1-3 chopped jalapenos (depending on heat and your taste), 1 Tbs garam masala, 1-1/2 C yoghurt (I use low-fat). I also agree that tandoori masala is a good addition, but you can use food dye (liquid is messy, powder is better). I only use bone-in chicken thighs (not breasts), though, because the breasts dry out too quickly. I slash the thighs to the bone and rub with a bit of salt and fresh lemon juice before making the marinade, then marinate overnight.

MERENDA 1809 Union St., San Francisco, CA, USA Phone: 415/346-7373 $23 to Over $30 Italian/Mediterranean Excellent---Small, one of my favorites. Young chef. FARALLON 450 Post St., San Francisco, CA, USA Phone: 415/956-6969 $23 to Over $30 Union Sq. Excellent seafood, but somewhat pricey. Also difficult to get reservations. ZUNI CAFÉ 1658 Market St., San Francisco, CA, USA Phone: 415/552-2522 $15 to $30 Mediterranean National reputation chef. Best for lunch or funky dining.

Chang's is a chain. Been to one in Rockville, MD. BAAAD!! It's a yuppie hangout emphasizing overpriced wines and drinks. Food is mediocre on a good day. We ordered green tea and the server told us they didn't have any---only the pricey "gourmet" teas with hokey names. Service was inattentive, food was poorly cooked and more fusion than oriental.