Sam Gugino’s new book, “Low-Fat Cooking to Beat the Clock: Delicious, Inspired Meals in 15 Minutes,” sounds too good to be true. Low-fat? Fast? And delicious? That’s a tall order.
What does an inquisitive cook do? Try the book out. So we did. And we found that Gugino’s claims of low-fat content were true (but not extreme), the “delicious” adjective was pretty accurate, and even the “inspired” held up for most dishes. But we ran into trouble with the “15 Minutes” phrase.
When the Tribune test kitchen staff tackled three of the recipes from the book, the timing on only one of them streaked in under 15 minutes. They were still what we would call fast, but cooking times hovered between 25 and 35 minutes.
One of Gugino’s points in the book is that to cook fast, you must be focused. That means no interruptions, no sipping a glass of wine while you cook, no watching TV. Maybe following such a routine and lots of practice would pull down the total times required for these recipes.
Gugino is not new to this cooking-fast business. His last book, “Cooking To Beat the Clock,” took the same theme. As a chef and former food editor, he also has an eye for teaming ingredients in simple but unusual combinations that still fit the quick criteria.
Take his pork and sweet potato stew served with couscous, a different way of using the convenient Mediterranean pasta. Or the warm potato salad with smoked salmon and cabbage–not like Mom’s.
But many of the dishes sound more familiar: Turkey burgers with carrot-dill coleslaw, spicy chicken and broccoli stir-fry, minestrone, or pasta with tuna sauce. We tried the chicken cacciatore, made with chicken thighs and Chianti, and it was delicious. A vegetable biryani combined Indian spices with vegetables, rice, roasted cashews for a textural and tasty vegetarian option. Turkey tacos with red pepper salsa were especially quick to make with the help of the food processor, but some tasters said the turkey strips were too dry.
Recipe instructions are very complete and detailed. Gugino likes to have multiple tasks going at once to speed time, so if you are a cook who likes to chop and prepare all the ingredients ahead of time, his method may take some practice.
The book’s introduction includes tips and techniques for low-fat eating, including the top 12 fat fighters to have on hand (vinegars, lemons and limes, capers, mustards, etc.).
The author also writes about how to organize a kitchen for fast cooking, from the proper pans (“a 12-inch non-stick skillet is ideal for sauteing meat, fish, and poultry for four people without using much oil”) to making use of a meat pounder to make certain meat cuts thinner and more even.
He also encourages cooks to use his recipes as a starting point for their own creativity:
“Don’t think of (creative fast cooking) as an insurmountable obstacle but a welcome challenge, one you can more easily face with a well-stocked pantry and an organized kitchen.”
CHICKEN CACCIATORE
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
“Though recipes labeled alla cacciatora (hunter’s style) in Italy don’t necessarily have to have chicken or tomatoes, Americans expect both in their chicken cacciatore,” write Sam Gugino in “Low-Fat Cooking to Beat the Clock.” “Chianti or Barbera are perfect for this dish because both wines have high acidity, which holds up to the acid in the tomatoes.”
Olive oil cooking spray
6 skinless chicken thighs, about 1 1/2 pounds
1 teaspoon salt, plus additional for seasoning
Freshly ground pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion, about 8 ounces
6 ounces button mushrooms
1/2 cup Chianti, Barbera or similar red wine with good acidity
1 can (14.5 ounces) crushed tomatoes
3 or 4 sprigs fresh tarragon, enough for 1 tablespoon of chopped leaves
2 sprigs parsley, preferably flat-leaf, enough for 1 tablespoon of chopped leaves
1 cup instant polenta
1. Spray a 12-inch, non-stick saute pan with olive oil spray and put over medium heat. With a cleaver, cut the thighs in half crosswise by whacking through the middle of the bone in each. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Raise the heat under the pan to high and add the chicken. Brown on one side for 3 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, peel the garlic. Quarter and peel the onion. Put both in a food processor and pulse until chopped. (Or chop by hand.) Slice the mushrooms. Turn the chicken over and add the garlic, onion and mushrooms to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring or shaking the pan to evenly distribute the vegetables.
3. Meanwhile, run the hot-water tap. Put the 1 teaspoon salt and 3 1/2 cups hot tap water in a large, heavy saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, about 3 minutes. Add the wine to the chicken. Open the can of tomatoes and add the tomatoes and juice to the chicken. Mix well, cover, and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, chop the tarragon leavesand parsley leaves.
4. When the chicken mixture has come to a boil, reduce the heat to a brisk simmer. Add the tarragon, half of the parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to mix. Cook until the chicken shows no pink inside. (Cut into one piece to check if you’re not sure.)
5. Meanwhile, when the water in the saucepan comes to a boil, gradually pour in the polenta while stirring constantly with a sturdy whisk. When the polenta comes to a boil, lower the heat to medium and stir for about 2 minutes, or until the polenta thickens and loses its grainy taste and texture. Pour the polenta onto a platter and spread it out evenly with a large, rubber spatula. Put the chicken on the polenta and pour the sauce over. Sprinkle the remaining parsley on top.
Nutrition information per serving: (calculated by the Tribune)
Calories ………… 400 Fat ………… 14 g Saturated fat .. 3.7 g
% calories from fat .. 31 Cholesterol .. 105 mg Sodium …….. 850 mg
Carbohydrates …… 35 g Protein …….. 34 g Fiber ………. 4.8 g
VEGETABLE BIRYANI
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Yield : 4 servings
“I can’t think of another cuisine that makes greater use of spices than Indian cooking,” writes Sam Gugino in “Low-Fat Cooking to Beat the Clock.” “That makes low-fat, if not vegetarian, cooking a lot easier.”
1 cup basmati rice
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
1 teaspoon salt, plus additional for seasoning
1 package (10-ounce) frozen baby lima beans
1 tablespoon canola oil
3 cloves garlic
2-inch piece of fresh ginger
1 large onion, about 12 ounces
1 medium carrot
1 red bell pepper
8 ounces asparagus or green beans
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 cup vegetable stock
1/3 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup dry roasted cashews, about 1 ounce
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/3 cup raisins
1. While the hot-water tap runs, put the rice in a saucepan. Add 2 cups hot tap water and put over high heat. Add half the saffron threads, crushed between your fingers, and the 1 teaspoon salt. Stir, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes
2. Meanwhile, empty the lima beans into a small bowl and add 2 cups hot tap water. Set aside. Put the oil in a 12-inch, non-stick saute pan over medium heat. Peel the garlic. Peel and halve the ginger. With the motor of a food processor running, drop the garlic and ginger down the chute. While they are finely chopped, peel the onion and cut into 6 pieces. Add the onion to the food processor and pulse just until chopped. Add the mixture to the saute pan, raise the heat to medium-high and stir.
3. Peel and quarter the carrot crosswise. Put in the food processor and pulse just until very coarsely chopped. Add to the pan and stir. Cut the top from the bell pepper. Stand the pepper upright and cut down inside its four walls, separating them from the center core and seeds. Then cut the pepper walls into thin strips with a knife, or coarsely chop in the food processor. Add to the saute pan.
4. Cut off the bottom inch from the asparagus spears (or the tip of the green beans). Cut the asparagus (or beans) into pieces about 1 1/2 inches long. Add to the pan and stir. Add the curry, cayenne, the remaining saffron, and salt to taste. Stir well. Drain the lima beans and add to the saute pan with the stock. Stir, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Then uncover and cook for about 3 minutes or until almost all the liquid evaporates, stirring a few times.
5. Meanwhile, chop the cilantro leaves. Coarsely chop the cashews. Stir the yogurt and raisins into the saute pan. Lower the heat to medium or lower to prevent the mixture from boiling.
6. Add the rice to the saute pan and mix well. Season to taste with salt. Cook for 2 minutes, or until most or all of the liquid evaporates. Stir several times. Pour onto a platter or shallow bowl and top with the cilantro and the cashews.
Nutrition information per serving: (calculated by the Tribune)
Calories ………… 470 Fat ………… 9 g Saturated fat .. 1.6 g
% calories from fat .. 16 Cholesterol … 2 mg Sodium …….. 870 mg
Carbohydrates …… 88 g Protein ……. 16 g Fiber ……….. 10 g
