Tips: Cooking for a Healthy Heart and Heart Disease

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Filling your grocery cart is just the beginning of the process. You want the low-fat foods you buy to stay that way until they reach your plate. Some cooking methods are guaranteed to add loads of fat to any food: Deep-fat frying is a good example. Other cooking methods help retain vitamins and minerals and keep fat and calories to a minimum. These include roasting, baking, broiling, grilling, braising, sauteing, stir-frying and microwaving. The idea is to stay away from any cooking method that adds fat or allows food to cook in its own fat. Look for techniques that enhance flavor and preserve nutrients instead. Be miserly when it comes to adding fat and sodium.

Roasting

This slow, dry-heat method of cooking creates a delicious product - and keeps fat to a minimum. Simply season the meat, if desired, and place it fat-side-up on a rack in an uncovered roasting pan. Remember to remove as much visible fat as possible from the meat. The rack will keep the meat from sitting in its own fat drippings. Roast to the desired doneness in a preheated 325 degree Fahrenheit oven. Cooking at this temperature for the required time increases the fat drip-off and avoids searing the meat, which seals in the fat. Lean meats may require basting with a fat-free liquid such as wine, tomato juice or lemon juice. Use a meat thermometer to test for doneness. Insert it in the center of the raw roast so the bulb reaches the thickest part of the meat and does not rest in fat or on bone. When the thermometer shows the desired internal temperature, push it a little deeper into the meat. If the temperature drops, continue cooking until it reaches the correct temperature. If it stays the same, the meat is done. Time the cooking so the roast is removed from the oven 20 or 30 minutes before serving. This resting period allows the meat to retain more of its natural juices when sliced.

Baking

Baking is another dry-heat form of cooking that's excellent for poultry, fish and meat. It differs from roasting in that you use a covered container and add some liquid before cooking. The liquid adds flavor and helps keep the meat moist.

Braising or Stewing

Braising is a slow-cooking method that's great for tenderizing tougher cuts of meat. To braise, just brown meat on all sides using a minimum of vegetable oil or vegetable oil spray. Then season, add a small amount of liquid (¼ to ½ cup), cover tightly and simmer. You may also dredge the meat in seasoned flour instead of browning it. For stewing, follow the same directions, but add water to cover. During cooking the fat cooks out of the meat, so it's a good idea to cook the meat a day ahead, and then refrigerate it. When the chilled fat has hardened overnight, you can remove it easily before reheating. Also, the flavors of many braised and stewed dishes are improved after refrigerating overnight. Braising is also an excellent way to cook vegetables.

Poaching

Poaching is cooking by immersing in simmering liquid. It works particularly well with chicken and fish. Place a single layer of the chicken or fish in a shallow, wide pan and barely cover with liquid. You can use water, water seasoned with spices and herbs, low-fat milk, broth or a mixture of white wine and water. After cooking, you can cook the liquid to reduce it, and then thicken it to make a sauce.

Steaming

Food cooked in a basket over simmering water is just about perfect: it keeps its natural flavor and color and all its vitamins and minerals. A steam cooker is ideal, but you can also use a steamer basket that will fit into a pot with a tight-fitting lid. If you don't have a steamer rack, use anything that will prevent the food from touching the water. Steaming is great for vegetables and fish. Just bring a small amount of water to a boil (water should be to a depth of about one inch) and then turn the heat to simmer. You can add herbs, spices or broth to the water for extra flavor. In just a few minutes vegetables will be tender-crisp and ready to eat. Fish takes a little longer, from 5 to 10 minutes, or until it flakes easily when tested with a fork. You can even use the liquid left in the pot for soup stock.

Sautéing

Leave it to the French to invent a cooking method this wonderful! Sautéing comes from the French word "sauter," meaning "to jump." It's a pan method that uses little or no fat. Meat, fish, poultry or vegetables are cooked in an open skillet over high temperatures. The food is constantly agitated or made to jump in the pan to keep it from sticking. Sautéing with herbs and spices brings out flavor - and all you need is a little unsaturated oil rubbed onto the pan with a paper towel. Even better: use nonstick vegetable oil spray or sauté in a small amount of broth or wine.

Stir-Frying

This is the Oriental version of sautéing. The idea is to cook food quickly in a minimum amount of oil or broth. The high temperature and the constant stirring keep the food from sticking and burning. You can use a Chinese wok or a large frying pan. Of course a wok is ideal because it is designed especially for stir-frying. Try stir-frying vegetables and diced chicken or seafood with a tiny bit of peanut oil. When your recipe calls for soy sauce, use the low-sodium variety. This helps control the amount of sodium in your diet. Before you heat the oil in the wok, prepare each food for cooking by dicing or slicing it into small pieces for rapid cooking. The hottest area is at the base of the wok, so you'll want to cook each food quickly there, and then push it up on the side of the wok while you cook the next food. You'll want to use an oil that won't smoke at high temperatures. (Fat that smokes releases undesirable chemicals and won't cook correctly.) Peanut oil, which smokes at 446 degrees Fahrenheit, works best. Stir-frying results in delicious dishes because the hot oil preserves the color, flavor and crispness of vegetables, and it seals in the natural juices of meats and seafood.

Frying

If you're trying to cut cholesterol or calories, you'll want to steer clear of deep-fat frying. Why? Because it typically involves using batters that can absorb the cooking fat - and that adds not only fat, but also lots of calories to your diet. For a once-in-a-while treat, deep-fat frying is okay if you follow these fat-cutting instructions. First, avoid batters. Instead, dredge the food in flour or dip it in egg white and cracker meal. Fry in corn oil. It is polyunsaturated, and its smoking point is higher than 365 degrees Fahrenheit, the correct temperature for frying most foods. (Remember to avoid fat that smokes. It releases undesirable chemicals and won't cook correctly.) Cook just until done so oil absorption is kept to a minimum.

Grilling or Broiling

Placing food on a rack and cooking over or under direct heat allows the fat to drip away either into the coals or into a broiling pan. Either way, much of the fat cooks out! For extra flavor, marinate steaks, fish or chicken before placing over the coals or under the broiler. Basting with the marinade during cooking keeps the food moist, but it's important to heat the marinade thoroughly before using it as a baste. That's because bacteria tends to form when meat is sitting in the marinade, and heating it will kill the bacteria. Skewered vegetables also taste great browned over an open flame.

Meat Drippings

While meat is cooking, a rich essence drips onto the roasting pan or broiler along with the fat. Here's a handy way to keep the essence without the fat. Pour the contents of the pan -- fat and all -- into a refrigerator dish, cover it and put it in the refrigerator. The next day you can easily remove the hardened fat, leaving only the dark, flavorful juice resting underneath. This juice can add zest to meat pies, sauces, hashes or meatloaves.

Gravies

You don't have to add meat fat to have wonderfully thick gravy. You'll need about a cup of clear, defatted broth, either homemade, canned or made from bouillon cubes. Place the following in a jar with a tight-fitting lid: ½ cup of liquid plus either 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 1 tablespoon of flour or 1 to 2 tablespoons of browned flour. Shake until smooth. Heat the remaining liquid in a saucepan, pour the cornstarch or flour mixture into it and simmer, adding seasonings as desired. If you use browned flour, the sauce will have a rich, mahogany color.

Broth

Once you get used to rich, homemade broth, the canned or bouillon-cube varieties will seem tame by comparison. Just remember to make the broth a day ahead so you can remove the fat after it hardens in the refrigerator overnight. Use broth to make soups or stews, and be sure to defat the finished dish. If you must use canned broth, choose a low-sodium variety. Refrigerate the can before opening, and then remove the fat before using.

Wine and Spirits

The wines and spirits you use for cooking don't have to be old or expensive, but they should be good enough for you to drink and enjoy. Avoid cooking wines, which are high in sodium. The alcohol evaporates during cooking, leaving only the flavor and tenderizing qualities.