Cooking Without Fat

Grilling

Not your typical grilling with all the associated setup, teardown, and cleanup, but quick and easy grilling on top of the stove using a grill pan:
It may not be easy to see, but the ridges are *really* thin -- only about 1/16" wide. The trick is to get the pan really hot first. I put mine on full flame about five minutes before anything touches the pan.

Because the ridges are so thin, when you get the pan truly hot they cauterize the meat, which prevents it from sticking. So much so that you don't have to brush fat on anything. Not the grill (which would smoke so much your smoke alarm would sound off) nor on the meat. Try this:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.


2. Put the grill pan on full flame for at least five minutes.


3. Trim the gristle, rib meat, and tenderloin from three large boneless chicken breasts.


4. Season the smooth side of the breasts with kosher salt and black pepper, and nothing else (herbs will burn to an acrid crisp).


5. Set your kitchen timer to 2 minutes.


6. Quickly place the breasts smooth side down in the grill pan. They arrange best with two breasts forming a "V" along the outside of the ridges with the thick rounded ends touching, and the third breast splitting that "V" with its thin pointed end cradled in the crux of the "V" and its thick end on the outside of the ridges. *Make sure nothing touches the sides of the pan!* Also, don't move a breast once it touches the ridges. I always use two hands holding the breast exactly where I intend to place it a couple inches above the ridges before lowering it down to touch the ridges. Every other method spells disaster for me.


7. It should take no longer than ten seconds to get all three breasts in the grill pan. Don't daudle or you'll overcook. As soon as the third breast is in the pan, start the timer.


8. When the 2-minute timer sounds, pick up a breast with your tongs and bring it about 45 degrees around the perifery of the grill pan, then place it down. It will be half on top of another breast, but don't worry. Quickly repeat in order for the other two breasts, then start the 2-minute timer again.


9. Season the rough side of the breasts just like you did the smooth side.


10. When the 2-minute timer sounds, flip each breast in place, then start the 2-minute timer a third time.


11. When the 2-minute timer sounds, place the chicken breasts in a glass backing disk that's just barely big enough to hold all three. I often use a glass pie plate when I'm cooking only three breasts.


12. Finish in the 350F oven for 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the breasts.


13. When finished, remove the glass baking dish to a cooling rack, flip the breasts so the dry top sides are wetted by the pan juices, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest for ten minutes.


14. After ten minutes, flip the breasts again to wet the now dry top sides, re-tent, and let rest another ten minutes.


15. When done resting a total of twenty minutes, remove the tent of aluminum foil and flip the breasts again to wet the now dry top sides. NOTE: This resting period makes all the difference in the finished product. Trust me, and be patient.


16. Using a very sharp Granton carver or scalloped-edge (not serrated) slicing knife, slice the breasts across the grain in 1/4" slices. I often either toss the slices back in the pan juices or, if I'm formally fanning the slices on the plate I'll splash a little bordeaux blanc to deglaze what little fond there is in the pan, heat it briefly and swirl it together with the remaining pan juices, reduce, and then drizzle the finished sauce over the fanned slices on the plate. No need for additional seasoning because there's plenty of salt and pepper that dislodged from the breasts, but you may want to toss in a sprig or two of fresh thyme before deglazing and strain the finished sauce. Adds a nice fragrance to the dish.

About as fat-free as you can get, and you won't believe the flavor you can achieve using absolutely no fat. Enjoy! :)

Roux

I love the smell of a toasty roux slowly cooking on the stove or in the oven. Doesn't matter if it's butter or peanut oil, a roux is a beautiful thing in and of itself -- not to mention what it does for the dish it's destined for.

Alas, poor roux, I knew you well...

I won't bore you with the details of how a roux works because you probably already know them, but suffice it to say that fat performs the critical job of separating the flour grains so they'll disburse evenly and without clumping when water-based liquid is introduced. Among other things, fat gives the suspended flour time to disperse before the starch structures begin locking up with each other.

But you can also achieve the same thing by thoroughly whisking cold water-based liquids diectly into the starch before pouring the slurry into the hot liquid it's destined for.

So what I've done to eliminate fat altogether is to prepare a slurry of the cold ingredients sans fat, then apply heat while whisking or stirring constantly to ensure the starch stays suspended and dispersed during the process of the starch structures grabbing each other and locking up under heat.

It works great, and the only thing missing is the mouth feel normally provided by the fat. But there are ways to handle that, too.

Sauteed Vegetables

Lots of recipes call for vegetables to be sweated in fat before adding the remaining ingredients. I have two ways around this:

1. Simmer briefly in stock, wine, or water instead of fat, or


2. Just add the raw vegetables to the other ingredients and let them soften during cooking.

Method 2 works great if you have at least 30 minutes cooking time. If not, use Method 1.

Steaming

You know what to do -- enough said. Steam for less time than you think, though. Leaves all the nutrition intact.

Etuvee

Very cool combination of Sauteed Vegetables Method 1 (above) and Steaming.

1. *Very thinly* julienne a large bed of celery, onion, carrot, red bell pepper (just a little) and fennel (don't forget the fennel!).


2. In small non-stick pan on highest flame, quickly braise them in a *small* bit of boiling fish or vegetable stock to accelerate the sweating process.


3. At the point where the bed of vegetables is just barely wilted (just a few seconds), lay on a thin filet of moist fresh fish lightly seasoned with salt and white pepper and cover the pan.


4. Lower the heat and let the vegetables and fish gently cook until the fish is done.


5. Slide the fish on its bed of vegetables onto the plate, and drizzle over any juices that remain.

The fish will pick up the aromas of the vegetables -- especially the fennel -- and be perfectly steamed through. And all without a drop of fat added during cooking.

Deep Frying

You got me on that one, Sparky. Click your freaking heels together three times, buddy, 'cause it ain't gonna happen any other way.

Hey -- maybe you could put a piece of bacon under your pillow tonight and wish real hard that the Lard Fairy comes to see you and...

Oh, piss it.