Comfort Food Makeovers

You can find lightened versions of feel-good favorites like mac and cheese, fried chicken, and fudgy brownies anywhere you can find recipes: books, magazines, and all over the Internet. But be honest: Have you ever made one of these so-called makeovers more than once? At America s Test Kitchen, we test recipes over and over long after the other guys have thrown in the towel. Simply put, good enough doesn t cut it with us. In Comfort Food Makeovers, we redesigned the dishes you crave from the ground up, so you can enjoy them again and again. Popular restaurant dishes like loaded nachos and velvety cheesecake from the Factory (you know which one) have been reengineered, too. Fat has been cut in half or more and calories have been reduced by at least one-third in almost every recipe. But just because we trimmed the fat and calories doesn t mean we sacrificed good taste or resorted to teeny portions. How did we do it?
We started with the worst offender of high-fat cooking techniques: deep frying. To revamp mozzarella sticks, eggplant Parmesan, and fried shrimp, we nixed the fryer and turned to the oven instead. Dunking these foods in egg whites and coating them with panko and a thin sheen of vegetable oil spray before baking gave us the same golden, ultra-crisp exterior. Steaming egg rolls, then uncovering the pan so moisture could evaporate, made them light and crispy not heavy and greasy like takeout.
We also ramped up the flavor of our lightened dishes by turning to some well-chosen powerhouse ingredients. Trading ground turkey for the ground beef in our Bolognese sauce was an easy way to cut fat, but to boost its savory richness, we added dried porcini mushrooms, an anchovy, and a bit of pancetta. Rather than loading up our shrimp scampi with lots of butter like so many restaurants do, we reached for light cream cheese, which imparted a rich, silky texture but with far fewer calories.
Most light desserts are worth skipping. Not ours. Just a spoonful of chocolate syrup made our brownies super-fudgy but added surprisingly few calories and no fat. Honey Nut Cheerios (who knew?!) stood in for a portion of the nuts in our lighter, yet ultra-nutty, pecan bars. And special occasion desserts like tiramisù are no longer off-limits. Feel free to dig into our luscious lightened version we swapped out high-fat mascarpone for a lightly sweetened mix of light cottage cheese, yogurt, and cream cheese whipped together in a food processor.
With Comfort Food Makeovers, you ll be able to enjoy the dishes you love more often. We guarantee it.

Price: $26.95

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From Mama's Table to Mine: Everybody's Favorite Comfort Foods at 350 Calories or Less

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From beloved food personality Bobby Deen, son of Paula Deen, comes an irresistible new cookbook featuring 120 recipes of Southern comfort-food classics—all under 350 calories and jam-packed with flavor.
 
Raised on his mother’s fried chicken and hoecakes, Bobby Deen ultimately found himself, as a young man, twenty-five pounds overweight. Unwilling to sacrifice any of his favorite foods, Bobby started tweaking the recipes he grew up on, replacing sour cream with nonfat yogurt, using lower-calorie versions of mayonnaise, cream cheese, and other high-calorie items. Even Paula herself sometimes couldn’t tell the difference between the lo-cal versions and her originals—since the flavor remained top-notch.
 
Here you’ll find a soup-to-nuts collection of many of the great dishes and flavors you’ve come to enjoy and expect from the Deens, but with a lot fewer calories. Every recipe has been reviewed and approved by a certified nutritionist. Yes, you can have your Gooey Less Butter Cake and eat it too . . . along with such selections as
 
It’s a Party Guacamole • Easy Ginger-Glazed Spare Ribs • Yes You Can Mac and Cheese • Cheeseburger Casserole • Old-Fashioned Meatloaf • Crispy Oven-Fried Chicken • Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apples • Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes • Bittersweet Chocolate Cheesecake • Strawberry Streusel Cake
 
In addition to all these mouthwatering recipes and 65 full-color photos, you will find before/after fat and calorie counts (so you know just how many calories you’re saving)—plus a week’s worth of 1,500 calorie/day menus, celebration menus, healthy prep tips, weight-loss shortcuts, ideas for stocking a healthy pantry/fridge, and a section on easy high-fat/low-fat ingredient swaps.

Praise for From Mama’s Table to Mine
 
“Deen wants folks to enjoy healthy favorites without sacrificing flavors or family memories, and this cookbook is sure to make a mamma proud.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“It’s so great that Bobby has refashioned some all-time-favorite Southern dishes in a healthier style. He continues to work hard to keep America healthy and happy.”—Curtis Stone, chef, television host, and author
 
“Bobby Deen has been our ‘brother from another mother,’ and when you taste his dishes, you immediately recognize Paula’s influence. His tasty food stresses eating healthier without sacrificing the delicious Southern flavors and traditions he grew up with! Way to go Bobby!”—Pat and Gina Neely, hosts of Down Home with the Neelys
 
“Even Paula, who’s been eating healthier herself these days, can’t tell the difference. ‘Are you sure you remembered to take out the fat?’ she asked when she first tasted the food. He did—we swear.”—Food Network Magazine
 
“Bobby Deen nails it with these favorite Southern recipes. What they’ve lost in calories, they’ve gained in flavor. Perfect for everything from a quick weeknight meal to an elaborate Saturday night celebration.”—Rocco DiSpirito, chef and author
 
“For the health-conscious eater who craves comfort food . . . Bobby’s recipes strike a balance between familiar flavors and a newer, healthier approach to cooking.”—Shelf Awareness (starred review)

Price: $22.00

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