THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 18, 1995 TAG: 9505180061
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: HOME COOKS
First in an occasional series about outstanding home cooks.
SOURCE: MARY FLACHSENHAAR, SPECIAL TO FLAVOR
LENGTH: Long : 166 lines
TRIATHLETE Jeanne Broudy swims a mile in 26 minutes, bikes 18 miles in one hour, runs 10 miles in one hour 23 minutes.
And she cooks dinner in 20 minutes flat.
Her personal record on that last event might even be a few seconds faster, but Broudy turns her stopwatch off when she's in the kitchen. For this talented cook, preparing dinner, even on a busy weekday, is as relaxing as eating dinner.
But Broudy insists if she turns on the heat under the pasta water at 8 p.m., dinner - maybe linguine with clam sauce or pasta primavera - will be on the table by 8:20. If she and husband Mitch Broudy had to wait a tenth of a second longer, they might just eat the tablecloth.
That's because if it's Monday, Wednesday or Friday, they've just come from a one-hour power swim at the Y at Mt. Trashmore. Before work on those mornings, they run 10 miles together.
If it's Tuesday or Thursday they've just arrived home from a weight-lifting session at Wareing's Gym. Before work on those days they bike 25 miles south to Pungo and back to their home in the Birdneck Lake section of Virginia Beach.
By 8 p.m. they are hungry. The type of hungry that might drive another person to a fast-food meal of burgers and fries, shakes and pies.
Not the Broudys. The food Jeanne cooks may be fast but it's also low in fat, calories and sodium, high in flavor, nutrition and eye appeal.
Her message to home cooks who rely on frozen food, take-out food, junk food: ``I'm here to say you can eat a healthful diet, even with the most hectic lifestyle.''
The 44-year-old mother of two teenage daughters was recently promoted from executive secretary to office administrator at Pembroke Enterprises Inc., a commercial real-estate company in Virginia Beach. She works a fast-paced 40-hour week.
Her husband is a Virginia Beach attorney whose job goes into overtime regularly. He works many nights and every Saturday morning.
Although the Broudys feel they are on the run all day every day, staying healthy is a priority. Their daily workouts, which are even longer and more strenuous on weekends, prepare them for the several triathlons (races that include long-distance swimming, biking and running) they participate in yearly. The Half Iron Man event in Cambridge, Md., in June will be their next competition.
Jeanne Broudy's healthful style of cooking provides the couple with the high-test fuel their challenging days require. Cooking also provides her with the peace of mind other folks might get from yoga or fishing.
``Cooking is my way to relax,'' Broudy said. ``From 9 to 5 every day, I'm in constant contact with people. When I get home to my kitchen, I turn on the radio and it's just me and the flour and sugar.''
Flour and sugar?
Yep. The 5-foot-2-inch, 107-pound athlete has found a way to bake a cake and eat it too.
Rather than abandon her hobby of baking, she reworks old, favorite recipes to conform to contemporary nutritional guidelines. On weekends, her spotless kitchen fills with the aroma of banana muffins, oatmeal cookies, tomato bread requested by friends and family.
Sometimes, when company's coming to dinner, there is a home-baked cheesecake cooling on the counter. Even in a field of traditional cheesecakes, Broudy's no-fat version could easily take a first place. She uses nonfat cream cheese and nonfat sour cream, egg whites instead of whole eggs. In other cake and cookie recipes, she has mastered how to substitute applesauce and other fruit purees for oil and butter.
When she is successful at updating a favorite, old-time recipe for the nutritionally improved '90s, Broudy feels as proud as she does at any finish line. Sometimes reworking a recipe can be just as hard as running a race.
``I wouldn't recommend serving the results of your first experiment to company, especially if it's a baked good,'' said Broudy, who admits she's taken several first tries out of the oven only to pitch them out the window. She doesn't enter a recipe into her computer until the fat content is as low as it can go without compromising flavor.
This means reducing the oil, butter and other fatty ingredients in the Italian, Mexican and Chinese recipes she and her family like so well. Often, Broudy discovers that the flavor of a dish improves with reduced fat and salt.
``That's because I use lots of fresh herbs and spices when I redo a recipe,'' said Broudy, who grows basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme. ``They have much more flavor than oil, butter or salt.''
Fresh fruits and vegetables are also mandatory in Broudy's kitchen.
``I just couldn't buy a canned vegetable,'' she said. ``I was raised in Southern California. My mother served a salad and fresh fruits and vegetables with every dinner.''
Broudy, who eats poultry and fish but no red meat, often lets vegetables take the lead at dinner. She turns out this favorite meal with just a few mad dashes through the kitchen:
In a well-worn but much-loved skillet, she heats a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. At the same time, she brings pasta water to a boil while she reaches into the refrigerator produce bin, which is always full, for two or three vegetables. In the hot oil she stir-fries fresh garlic and spices along with cut-up vegetables just until these are crisp-tender. She tops each serving of pasta with a generous crown of vegetables.
This entree is accompanied by a warm wedge of bread from the weekend's baking marathon, so mouth-watering that no butter is needed, and a plate of fresh sliced tomatoes or a green salad.
Many of us couldn't even run a mile in the time it takes Broudy to put this wholesome dinner on the table.
``Moderation, common sense''
Broudy described herself as a pudgy high-schooler when she stumbled upon the formula that she lives by today.
``When I was a teenager, I would eat three pork chops at a sitting just like my brothers,'' she said. ``I got into gymnastics and the coach ordered me to lose 15 pounds. I found out that if I just worked out hard, I could still eat lots.''
In 1980, when she moved to Virginia Beach, her quest for good health picked up speed.
``I started running regularly. I'd put the baby in her stroller in the front yard and do laps around the block,'' she said. ``I ran my first 8K race, then my first marathon, then I was hooked. At the same time, I stopped cooking with cream and putting sauces on everything.''
Today, Broudy estimates, she eats about 2,000 calories. She tries to eat no more than 40 grams of fat daily but doesn't keep a precise count of fat grams and calories.
``I'm into moderation and common sense when it comes to food,'' she said.
After her morning workout, she brings her breakfast to the office - a half cup of nonfat yogurt mixed with a half cup of Grapenuts cereal and a piece of fresh fruit, such as an apple or banana, cut up.
Lunch is a light meal of a salad with nonfat cottage cheese or a bagel and another piece of fruit. At 3 p.m. she eats a high-carbohydrate snack bar to stoke up for her second workout at 5:30 p.m. It is usually after 8 p.m before she and Mitch sit down to dinner - often pasta or a Mexican dish such as chicken and vegetable fajitas.
Two or three times a month they eat out, usually at a Mexican or Italian restaurant, often with the friends they've met through their workouts at the pool and the gym and at the races they run.
The benefits of her rigorous workouts are as precious as racing trophies.
``I have good mental and physical health,'' Broudy said. ``I'm calmer, with a better outlook on life. I have a resting heart rate of 39 or 40.''
For this good cook, this last reward is the frosting on the cake:
``And I can eat.'' MEMO: WANTED: HOME COOKS
A while back, we asked you to tell us about friends or family members
who are good home cooks.
This is the first in an occasional series about outstanding home
cooks, from among the dozens of letters we received.
If you, a family member or friend is adept in the kitchen, Flavor
would like to hear from you. Perhaps you improvise with a bare pantry;
make gourmet meals on a budget; accommodate special dietary needs; or
just get dinner on the table in a hurry.
Tell us about it in 100 words or less, and you, your friend or family
member could be the subject of an upcoming story in Flavor.
Write: Home Cooks, c/o Flavor, The Virginian-Pilot and The
Ledger-Star, 150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va., 23510. Or fax us at
446-2963.
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
STEVE EARLEY/Staff photos
Jeanne Broudy of Virginia Beach wrote to Flavor about her love of
healthy cooking, exercise and smart eating.
Broudy, 44 and a fit 107 pounds, regularly works out with weights.
[For copies of the recipes, see microfilm on page F4 for this
date.]
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB