Okay, I started this new diet and you cant fry any foods, but you can sautee them. I looked at some receipes and they say sautee the ------ (depending on the reciepe depends on what it is) but you sautee it in oil. Isnt this frying? What is the difference and how can i make sure i am not frying my food??? To me they are one and the same, but I guess I dont know much about cooking then!

Does your diet define what it means by "saute" and "fry"? If not, to me frying always means that oil is used. In contrast, sauteing would mean that you cook in a skillet or fry pan on top of the stove but not necessarily with fat. You could use fat but you can also saute with broth, water, or spray like PAM and avoid any fats. I have awesome nonstick skillets and never need to use fat when I cook.

I'm guessing that your diet means to saute without fat but if you can give us a few more details or the name of the diet, maybe someone else who's done it can help?

Thanks, it is the rosedale diet and i really wish it had given a definition to them or at least a better understanding of what to use! The diet says that we can use healthy fats, olive oil, but that when oil is heated up high, it turns unhealthy-i forget why-so we arent supposed to fry foods with it, but we can sautee. So to me, this means use pam or nothing, but in one of the reciepes, he started the receipe by sauteeing the onions in oil. I did read somewhere you can sautee in chicken or beef stock, do you know if that works for meat or just veggies?

OK, that helps. I'm not familiar with that diet -- maybe someone else is and can pop in with some answers?

A few thoughts: I've never heard that anything bad happens to olive oil when you heat it -- is that in the diet? Perhaps they're referring to "frying" as something more like deep-fat frying where the food is immersed in oil at a high temperature? (like French fries) Sauteing in a skillet would use a lower temperature than that kind of high heat frying -- perhaps that's the difference since you said one of the recipes starts out with sauteing in oil?

As far as I'm concerned, you can saute anything in broth or stock -- I've done onions that way successfully and certainly you can do it for meat and chicken. When I cook beef, it always seems to have enough natural fat that I don't need to add anything (not even PAM) to the pan, even when it's 95% lean ground beef. And I love sliced beef tenderloin seared in a hot pan (no fat) with spices added. When I do chicken for a stirfry, sometimes I'll throw in a little soy sauce when I cook the chicken to keep it moist.

Anyone out there familiar with the Rosedale diet?

i would think broiling your meat is healthier because there is no oil involved.
good luck glen

The difference between the two techniques is in the amount of oil used. When you saute something, a small amount of oil is used, mostly to prevent sticking. With frying, enough oil is used to cover or even float (blech!) whatever is being cooked.

Hope this helps!

I've read the same as Snug....

"Sauté" is a french term for "jumping", which means that you use very little oil a teaspoon to a tablespoon and just make your veggies "jump" in the pan to cook on all sides but not necessarily right through to have your veggies hot but "al dente" still crisp. Frying is usually meant to cook right through.

Yes, I have read that something does happen to oil at high heat when frying, to make it very bad for your health... I cannot remember the details of it though...Sorry, but I'll try to find an article somewhere...

Thanks!! that helps out a lot. I think the book says it makes it a carcinogen (sp). But if it happens when you are frying, does it happen when you are sauteeing? Do you use a lower setting also?

The carcinogens do not happen when sauteing because you use a much lower heat setting...HTH...

Be careful when ordering stuff that is sauted in restaurants though, from my experience the stuff tends to be drenched in fat.

I have heard olive oil is better for you at a lower heat, but that could be an Urban legend for all I know.

Cheers!

Ali

I don't know about the chemical changes to olive oil, but when you heat it too high it burns, and doesn't taste right after that, and the food will have that taste as well.