TASTE
Potatoes au gratin can be delicious with reduced fat
| • | Monster bash |
By Elaine Magee
Q. This is the perfect time of year to enjoy potatoes au gratin. The recipe I usually use calls for lots of butter and whipping cream. I can no longer eat this way due to some medical conditions. Do you have a lighter recipe I can make instead?
A. I know how wonderfully creamy whipping cream can be in these types of recipes, but the nutritional price is steep. It's not unusual for this type of recipe to call for a quarter cup of whipping cream per serving. That would add 205 calories and 22 grams of fat per serving all by itself. Light whipping cream is only a little better, with 174 calories and 18.5 grams of fat. Half-and-half cream is the best of the three, with 79 calories and 7 grams of fat per quarter cup.
In this recipe, however, I'm going to bring it down one more notch and use whole milk or fat-free half-and-half because I'm also adding two regular-fat cheeses to the recipe — Gruyere and Parmesan. Instead of half a stick of butter, I'm using a tablespoon of whipped butter to saute the onion and leeks. The result is a super savory and tasty potato gratin with one-third fewer calories and two-third less fat and saturated fat and half the cholesterol.
Original recipe contains 375 calories, 24 grams fat, 14 grams saturated fat and 114 milligrams cholesterol per serving.
YUKON GOLD GRATIN
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9-inch pie plate (deep dish) or 9-by-9-inch baking dish with canola cooking spray.
Add sliced potatoes to a microwave-safe dish, cover, and cook on high for 10 minutes or until potato slices are just tender.
Meanwhile, add whipped butter to nonstick medium saucepan or skillet and melt over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and leeks and saute for about 4 minutes or until lightly golden. Turn off heat and stir in parsley, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper and 1 cup of whole milk, and stir to blend.
Add flour and 1 tablespoon of milk to a 2-cup measure and stir with fork to make a paste. Stir in remaining tablespoon milk and egg and beat with fork to blend.
In large mixing bowl, add potatoes, milk and onion mixture from saucepan, flour and egg mixture, Gruyere and Parmesan cheese, and stir gently. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish and bake until golden brown (about 20 minutes).
Makes 6 servings.
Each serving also contains 30 percent of the daily value for B6, vitamin C, calcium and potassium. Omega-3 fatty acids, .1 g. Weight Watchers points, 5. Omega-6 fatty acids .9 g.
Elaine Magee is author of "The Recipe Doctor Cookbook" and "The Flax Cookbook." Readers may reach her through her Web site at www.recipedoctor.com. Personal responses can't be provided. This column is distributed by the McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
