Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991 TAG: 9103150034
SECTION: AMERICAN WOMEN'S SHOW PAGE: AW10 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: ANNE PIEDMONT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Virginia Egg Council will demonstrate recipes that are both healthy and easy to make, while Larry Bly and Laban Johnson of "Cookin' Cheap" will show off a couple of quick cooking ideas in their own inimitable way.
The egg as a healthy dish? Ask Mary King. She spends a lot of time defending the egg.
A certified home economist with the Egg Council, King is quick to point out that the misunderstood egg is a "nutritionally perfect" food, containing every vitamin and mineral, except C, easily digestible, affordable and versatile.
The egg also is not the cholesterol villain it has been portrayed in the media. "Everyone can have eggs in some form," she said. Even the American Heart Association's "Step One Diet" allows four whole eggs a week and unlimited egg whites.
Eggs figure prominently in the recipes King will demonstrate Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the Celebrity Kitchen. The recipes also will be low-fat and quick and easy. "It's almost non-cooking," she said, explaining that the dishes will be the type that can be done in a few minutes. One of last year's most popular offerings, "fake french fries," will likely be back. The secret, she said, is dredging the potatoes in whipped egg whites before baking.
The whites also are the secret to getting around the cholesterol problem. King recommends using fewer egg yokes than whites and not cooking the eggs in fat. Go ahead and enjoy scrambled eggs, she said, just take out a couple of the yokes before cooking.
"Cholesterol," she said, "is a marketing word." Fat, of any kind, is the real problem. One egg has 4.5 grams of fat, while the smallest fast-food hamburger weighs in with 11 grams.
When King joined the Egg Council 10 years ago, she "traveled the state, telling people how grand eggs were." Now, she "travels the state, telling people how grand eggs are and showing them how to tailor the egg to their diets." Some people are skeptical, she admits, but not those who know anything about food and nutrition.
In addition to the cooking demonstrations and food samples, the Egg Council will have a booth where low-fat recipes will be available.
\ Bly and Johnson will bring their own brand of culinary entertainment to the celebrity kitchen Saturday at 2:30. The WBRA-TV cooks will demonstrate `'quick, simple recipes" at 15 minute intervals during the hour-long show," Bly said.
This year's American Women's Show appearance is the first for the duo, though they have done similar demonstrations at retail stores in Roanoke and Lynchburg. Bly noted that they will be doing the same recipes over and over, rather than preparing an entire meal.
The two have been a team since the beginning of "Cookin' Cheap" in 1980. Now in its 11th season, the show can be seen across the country on public television stations. Bly said he believes theirs is one of the longest-running cooking shows. They also have a monthly radio program on WROV-AM and pursue their own "day jobs" - Bly with his advertising agency, System 4, and Johnson as Special Events Coordinator for the City of Roanoke.
by CNB