They all start with the base of one sauce..."No Cream Cream Sauce" which can also be used whenever cream is needed. I will be trying these right away. Read the article....
Yes, healthy rich sauces
By John Ash
Tribune Media Services
June 7, 2007
Rich sauces have traditionally been a tool to make simple foods delicious. Anyone who worked his or her way through Julia Child's landmark Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Knopf, reissue 2001) learned not only about the various families of sauces (white, brown, butter, fat emulsion and so on) but also that the addition of cream, butter or egg yolks -- often all three -- really made the final sauce sing.
I still love those traditional French sauces, but over the years I've learned that a steady diet of them is hardly a prescription for optimum health and a slim waistline.
The challenge I took on recently is how to have all the great flavor and mouth feel of butter-, cream- or egg yolk-enriched sauces without actually adding those ingredients. The intent is to make the sauces -- excuse what I'm about to suggest next -- healthy.
Of course, we would never want to label them healthy. Having been in the restaurant business for a very long time I've learned that to label anything healthy on a menu is a good way to make sure it will never sell ... no matter how good it is.
Here are a few recipes from my search to create delicious and healthy sauces. All are vegetable-based (remember that we are supposed to be eating nine to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables a day) and none contain dairy or eggs.
The base for many of these is a sauce that I call the No Cream Cream Sauce. It is easily made and can be refrigerated for a few days or frozen for a few months. How about the sauce with sauteed chicken or fish, as a topper for mashed or roasted potatoes, or spooned over a steamed vegetable, such as broccoli or cauliflower? Or how about over a grilled burger?
No Cream Cream Sauce
Test kitchen tip: This is a great substitute for rich, fatty cream sauces and also a delicious base for cream style soups. Simply use it in place of heavy whipping cream and thin to the consist
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup fine-chopped onions
1/3 cup rice (preferably medium or short-grain, which are starchier)
2 cups or so defatted chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup dry white wine
Salt and fresh-ground white pepper, to taste
Heat olive oil in a saucepan. Add onions and saute over medium heat until onions are soft but not browned. Add rice and saute 2 minutes longer, stirring frequently. Add 3/4 cup broth and wine, cover and simmer about 25 minutes until liquid is mostly absorbed and rice is very soft. Cool slightly and puree until smooth with an immersion blender or in a regular blender. Add more broth until you reach desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate up to 3 days, or freeze. Reheat before serving. Makes about 2 1/2 cups.
Per (1/2-cup) serving: 79 calories, 23 percent calories from fat, 2 grams total fat, .30 gram saturated fat, no cholesterol, 13 grams carbohydrates, .42 gram total fiber, 2 grams total sugars, 13 grams net carbs, 1 gram protein, 377 milligrams sodium.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Yes, healthy rich sauces
By John Ash
Tribune Media Services
June 7, 2007
Rich sauces have traditionally been a tool to make simple foods delicious. Anyone who worked his or her way through Julia Child's landmark Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Knopf, reissue 2001) learned not only about the various families of sauces (white, brown, butter, fat emulsion and so on) but also that the addition of cream, butter or egg yolks -- often all three -- really made the final sauce sing.
I still love those traditional French sauces, but over the years I've learned that a steady diet of them is hardly a prescription for optimum health and a slim waistline.
The challenge I took on recently is how to have all the great flavor and mouth feel of butter-, cream- or egg yolk-enriched sauces without actually adding those ingredients. The intent is to make the sauces -- excuse what I'm about to suggest next -- healthy.
Of course, we would never want to label them healthy. Having been in the restaurant business for a very long time I've learned that to label anything healthy on a menu is a good way to make sure it will never sell ... no matter how good it is.
Here are a few recipes from my search to create delicious and healthy sauces. All are vegetable-based (remember that we are supposed to be eating nine to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables a day) and none contain dairy or eggs.
The base for many of these is a sauce that I call the No Cream Cream Sauce. It is easily made and can be refrigerated for a few days or frozen for a few months. How about the sauce with sauteed chicken or fish, as a topper for mashed or roasted potatoes, or spooned over a steamed vegetable, such as broccoli or cauliflower? Or how about over a grilled burger?
No Cream Cream Sauce
Test kitchen tip: This is a great substitute for rich, fatty cream sauces and also a delicious base for cream style soups. Simply use it in place of heavy whipping cream and thin to the consist
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup fine-chopped onions
1/3 cup rice (preferably medium or short-grain, which are starchier)
2 cups or so defatted chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup dry white wine
Salt and fresh-ground white pepper, to taste
Heat olive oil in a saucepan. Add onions and saute over medium heat until onions are soft but not browned. Add rice and saute 2 minutes longer, stirring frequently. Add 3/4 cup broth and wine, cover and simmer about 25 minutes until liquid is mostly absorbed and rice is very soft. Cool slightly and puree until smooth with an immersion blender or in a regular blender. Add more broth until you reach desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate up to 3 days, or freeze. Reheat before serving. Makes about 2 1/2 cups.
Per (1/2-cup) serving: 79 calories, 23 percent calories from fat, 2 grams total fat, .30 gram saturated fat, no cholesterol, 13 grams carbohydrates, .42 gram total fiber, 2 grams total sugars, 13 grams net carbs, 1 gram protein, 377 milligrams sodium.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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