Paula Deen encourages eaters to end dishes with "finishing butter"
Did you make an amazing dinner, but get the feeling it's missing that last little touch? Celebrity chef Paula Deen is taking a bet that if you put on a smidge of her "finishing butter," you'll have the perfect dish.
"My new grilling finishing butters... lets us all cook with butter as a 'finishing' ingredient, using my favorite taste of butter in moderation," Deen explained on her website. "My grilling butter is amazing on steak, fish, shrimp or shellfish, its great on potatoes or pasta - it goes with everything."
The finishing butters will be available in flavors including southern grilling, sweet citrus zest, lemon dill, European-style, and garden herb. They will be sold at Wal-Mart stores.
Instead of adding the cups and cups of butter and other unhealthy ingredients that Deen previously recommended in some of her recipes, a smaller amount of the finishing butters are suggested.
For example, Deen recommends three tablespoons of her Paula Deen lemon dill finishing butter in her cajun catfish with lemon dill sauce recipe.
Her previous lemon dill sauce recipe (served with crab cakes instead of catfish) called for 1 cup of mayonnaise and a quarter of a cup of butter milk. That's not to mention the 3 tablespoons of butter, 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, a quarter cup of Parmesan and an egg that went into the crab cakes.
"When you look at butters, if you can add a little flavor without the same amount of calories, that's an amazing concept," Mark MacDonald, nutritionist for celebrities like Chelsea Handler and author of the New York Times' best-seller "Body Confidence," told CBSNews.com.
MacDonald, who was not involved in making Deen's product, pointed out that while butter might not be high in calories, it is a solid fat and not necessarily good for you. However, as with any food vice, eating it in moderation and occasionally is fine.
"The key word is moderation, and then finding other options," he suggested.
Instead of butter, non-stick cooking spray or oils are going to be better, MacDonald explained. Low-fat cheeses, sour cream or greek yogurt can replace mayonnaise. Herbs, spice and low-fat salsa offer lower calorie options without taking away flavor. Cinnamon is an example of a great spice because it has a great flavor, helps stabilize blood sugar and works as an antioxidant.
"It's about eating clean, while still making food taste great," he said. "People think they have to suffer.
Deen has been scrutinized for her calorie-generous, fat-laden dishes, especially in light of the fact that she announced she had Type 2 diabetes in January 2012. While Deen has claimed that her diagnosis hasn't changed how she cooked, she admitted that she had to cut back on some favorites including sweet tea, a Southern staple.
"I am who I am. But what I will be doing is offering up lighter versions of my recipes," Deen saidin an interview with the Associated Press. "But you know, I'm Southern by roots. I was taught (to cook) by my grandmother and nothing I can do would change that.
About 25.8 million people in the United States have diabetes as of 2011, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of patients have type 2 diabetes, a disease in which body does not produce enough or does not use the insulin in the system. Insulin is a hormone that is utilized to turn the sugars and starches derived from food, known as glucose, into energy.
The Food Network star partnered with drug maker Novo Nordisk for their "Diabetes in a New Light" campaign, which has recipes and other tips for people with the disorder. She also announced she would promotethe company's diabetes drug Victoza, an injectable drug that helps control blood sugar levels, in March 2012. Deen added that she would donate a certain percentage of the proceeds to the American Diabetes Association.
