Tasty holiday goodies are soon to be bountiful at homes and workplaces. While indulging is part of the celebration of the season, it can quickly become too much of a good thing. Some creative use of ingredients, however, can make your dishes delicious, extra special, and lower in calories, too. Here are some tricks of the trade that chefs around Chicago use to maximize flavor and minimize calories.

Make It Saucy

Chef Curtis Duffy is the culinary creative behind the prestigious restaurant Avenues at The Peninsula Chicago hotel. Sauces accent many of his dishes, and a key ingredient in most of them is agar.

Agar is a flavorless gelling agent derived from seaweed. It’s commonly used in Asian products. You’ll see it on ingredient lists for many commercially made sweets such as candies and ice creams. Because it is plant-derived, agar is also a vegetarian substitute for gelatin. Chef Duffy uses it for what it does and doesn’t do.

“Using agar allows us to keep flavors very pure,” says Chef Duffy, “there’s minimal cooking, zero addition of fat, yet it provides the perception of a rich, fatty texture.”

It’s easy to cook with agar. You simply dissolve it in a liquid and simmer for a few minutes. For example, Avenues serves a sesame pudding made with agar. First, sesame seeds are dark roasted and infused into milk. Agar is blended into the milk and simmered for two – three minutes. The sesame seeds are strained out and the remaining liquid is chilled. After it sets as a firm gel, it’s pureed in a blender until smooth. The pudding is seasoned, strained again, and then served.

You can do similarly to make a sauce with fresh squeezed orange juice. Again, simmer the liquid for a few minutes with agar. Chill then blend until smooth. “It’s really bright and clean,” says Chef Duffy, “and it lets us showcase the ingredient at its purest form.”

A little agar goes a long way. The basic ratio is 100 to 1—liquid to agar. Agar comes as a powder and is sold in most natural food stores. To learn more gourmet tips, Avenues offers a culinary journey tour and a Little Bakers program for kids.

For more information, call 312-573-6695 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

A Dash and Splash of Flavor

Other ways to get more flavor into your dish is with vinegars, spices, and citrus juices. Chef Duffy recommends adding the vinegar or citrus at the very last moment before serving. That helps keep the flavor light and vibrant on the palate.

Kristine Subido, Executive Chef of WAVE Restaurant at W Hotel, Lakeshore Drive has been called “The Spice Girl” for her creative use of a wide variety of spices, including coffee rubs and specialty salts. Her cuisine is Mediterranean-inspired, accompanied by a use of spices from around the world.

An ideal way to learn more about cooking with spices is to check out her once-a-month Saturday afternoon cooking class (the 1st Saturday of each month) as she explores such world cuisines as the Mediterranean (Morocco, Greece, and Spain) and Asia (Thailand, India, and Malaysia). She’ll walk you through how to create spice blends and how to use them in various dishes. Classes include a welcome cocktail and five-course lunch with wine. Prices include tax and tip, a decent deal for $60. There’s plenty to taste and you’ll receive a goodie bag with recipes to try at home. Upcoming classes include November 7th—Preparing for Holiday Parties and December 5th—Brighten up the Winter Blues ... one pot meals and more.

For information and reservations, go to www.brownpapertickets.com.

Flavorful Vegan Baking Tips

Chef Dacia Lange studied at the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC. As a vegan pastry chef, she created many tasty cookies and cakes for Roger’s Park Lakeside Café (now closed). Vegan cooking doesn’t use any animal products—no eggs, cheese, or butter. So how does she achieve pastry mastery? Lots of substitutions.

“With vegan baking you can use applesauce to add moisture and flavor to cakes,” explains Chef Lange, “cheesecakes can be make with a tofu-based cream cheese and instead of butter, there’s a vegan margarine that tastes like butter and whips well with sugar.”

Tofu is also an excellent egg replacement. It adds a little moisture and helps bind ingredients just like an egg. As a personal chef, Dacia Lange can teach you how to create delicious pastries and more. With a little ingenuity, you can create everything from sweet treats to savory meals. Try a few of these tips next time you’re looking to add more flavor and less fat to your meals.

Contact Dacia Lange at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). For recipes check out www.veganbaking.net.

Recipe

Chili Paprika Shrimp

Kristine Subido, Executive Chef, WAVE Restaurant at W Hotel

Ingredients
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lb large shrimp (peeled and deveined)
2 cloves chopped garlic
4-5 arbol chilies
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 cups white wine
1 teaspoon butter
salt and pepper to taste
toasted baguettes

Directions
In a heavy-bottomed pan, gradually heat olive oil, shrimp, shallots, and garlic until the shrimp is cooked; about 5 minutes. Break chilies in half; add to pan with paprika. Add wine; cook for about 2 minutes until completely reduced. Add the butter; season with salt and pepper. Serve with toasted baguette.