Posted on: Wednesday, January 19, 2005
RECIPE DOCTOR
Enjoying flavors of Louisiana with less fat
By Elaine Magee
Q. I found this recipe for crawfish etouffee in a magazine and I would like to make it without all the butter. Also, I would like to use something other than crawfish tails, as I haven't found them in my part of the country.
A. I remember catching crawfish with a bamboo pole as a young child so just the name of this recipe brought back memories. I remember just loving the taste of that freshly boiled crawfish that night at the campsite.
I changed the name of the recipe to seafood etouffee to accommodate other, more available seafood choices, such as peeled, deveined prawns (that's what I used, and it was delicious).
The first thing I did was cut out the stick of butter or margarine. The purpose of this fat was to saute the onion, celery and bell pepper. We can accomplish this with a tablespoon of canola oil, and we can add just a tablespoon of butter later on for flavor. Since we've cut way back on the fat in the skillet, we need to blend the flour with 1/4 cup of water to make our thickening paste before stirring it into the seafood mixture. The added water will also help compensate for the missing butter. To increase the flavor, I doubled the celery and bell pepper and substituted mild white wine or light beer for some of the water. Boy, what a difference these few changes made in the nutrition totals! The calories went from 328 to 204 while the fat grams plummeted from 24 grams to 7.5 grams. The saturated fat went from 14.5 to 2.3 grams and the cholesterol decreased from 191 milligrams to 137.
Original recipe contains 328 calories, 24 g fat, 14.5 g saturated fat, and 191 mg cholesterol per serving!
SEAFOOD ETOUFFEE
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Sauté, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, blend the flour with 1/4 cup of the water in a small cup and set aside.
Stir into the skillet the butter, seafood, salt, black pepper, onion powder, white pepper (if desired), hot sauce, flour mixture, remaining water and wine or beer. Cook, stirring often for about 5-7 minutes or until seafood has changed color (to white and orange) and is cooked throughout (test crawfish or shrimp for doneness). Turn off heat and stir in green onions and parsley. Let cool for a couple of minutes.
Serve over rice, if desired.
Makes 4 servings
• Per serving (made with crawfish): 204 calories, 20 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 7.5 g fat (2.3 g saturated fat, 3.1 g monounsaturated fat, 1.6 g polyunsaturated fat), 137 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 388 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 34 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids: 1 g. Omega-6 fatty acids: .6 g. Weight Watchers points: 4. Elaine Magee's new book, "The Change of Life Diet and Cookbook," is in bookstores. Readers may reach her through www.recipedoctor.com. Personal responses cannot be provided. This column is distributed by the Knight Ridder News Service.
