Fighting Fat in Baking, Entertaining

Following are some general tips for cutting fat intake when cooking, baking and entertaining.

APPETIZERS AND BEVERAGES

--Serve mini-rice cakes with thin slices of skim mozzarella cheese. Cook under the broiler.

--Wrap smoked turkey around a slice of melon.

--Serve apple and pear slices with a low-fat sharp Cheddar spread or Belgian endive with herb-yogurt dip.

--Toast pita bread or flour tortillas with hummus (chickpea puree) and salsa.

--Make slimmed-down versions of eggnogs and whipped spirited coffee drinks by substituting low-fat milk, nonfat dried milk powder or evaporated skim milk for whole milk or heavy cream.

--Combine orange or grapefruit juice with club soda.

MAIN DISHES

--Use clear defatted broth for gravy instead of pan drippings. If using pan drippings, skim off fat first.

--Chill stews, soups, casseroles and sauces, then skim the fat off the top.

--Use a gravy separator for quick degreasing of sauces or soups.

--Select beef cuts that are trimmed of excess fat, with little marbling.

--Use lean ground beef in casseroles.

--Reduce intake of processed meats like bacon, bologna, salami and frankfurters.

--Remove skin from poultry.

--Glaze poultry, fish or meat with pure fruit-juice concentrates, or serve meat with fresh fruit sauces.

COOKING

--Use non-stick skillets and non-stick cooking spray instead of butter or oil for cooking. Saute, stir-fry or bake instead of frying or deep-frying foods.

--Where possible, substitute unsaturated oils, including olive, canola, corn, soybean and safflower or margarine, for saturated cooking fats such as butter or lard.

--Use evaporated skim milk in cream sauces instead of heavy cream or whole milk.

--Substitute nonfat yogurt or buttermilk for sour cream.

VEGETABLES AND SIDE DISHES

--Steam or microwave vegetables.

--Serve baked potatoes with herbed low-fat yogurt. Serve sweet potatoes without a brown sugar or marshmallow topping.

--Make salad dressing with plain low-fat yogurt or no-salt-added buttermilk instead of oil.