Low-Fat Beef and Spicy Salsas

If you love your hamburgers but hate the fat they contain, there’s a solution, now that new, specially treated low-fat ground beef is available to retail consumers. Called Miller’s Ultimate, this 93% fat-free product was introduced to all Lucky markets last week.

The effects of fat are simulated by a formula that combines very lean meat with water, carrageenan, hydrolized vegetable protein and encapsulated salt. Carrageenan, which is derived from red seaweed, helps to hold in moisture; hydrolized vegetable protein, produced from soy beans, enhances the flavor. The additives total about 10% of the mixture. Developed by Dr. Dale L. Huffman of Auburn University in Alabama, the formula was employed by McDonald’s in creating its McLean burger.

Lucky is selling the fat-reduced meat in two-pound packages for $4.78 or in packages of 12 quarter-pound patties for $7.17. The cost per pound in either case is $2.39. Regular ground beef (up to 30% fat) sells for $1.59 a pound at Lucky; lean ground beef (no more than 22% fat) is $1.88 a pound, and extra-lean ground beef (a maximum of 15% fat) is $2.77 a pound. Lucky also sells 93.5% fat-free ground beef, comparably lean to Miller’s Ultimate but without the flavor and moisture enhancers. Labeled Supreme, it sells for $2.99 a pound.

The sign “oferta” recently drew attention to a stack of cans at Tianguis on 3rd Street in Los Angeles. The featured product was the new Las Palmas green chile sauce for enchiladas. Las Palmas red chile sauce and red enchilada sauce have been around for decades. They’re so well known among local Mexican-Americans that women exchanging recipes simply say “add some Las Palmas” and everyone knows what they mean.

The new sauce tastes a bit tangy, as if tomatillos were involved, but they are not part of the formula. The label lists mild green chile puree, diced chiles, jalapenos, onion and garlic powder, white vinegar, and two ingredients that sound a bit revolutionary for enchilada sauce: Worcestershire sauce and anchovy paste.

Distributed by Ramirez and Feraud Chili Co. in Los Angeles, the 28-ounce cans of sauce sell for $1.29 at Tianguis. Along with the sauce, you get recipes for shredded beef enchiladas and stacked green enchiladas filled with Jack cheese and onion. They’re on the label.

Bristol Farms also has a new sauce or, rather, salsa. It too is green.

Packed under the store label, this Salsa Verde Mexicana gets its color from green tomatoes, tomatillos and jalapenos. There’s a companion red salsa that comes in three levels of spiciness: mild, zesty and torrid. It’s thick with tomato and includes one unusual ingredient: sliced ripe olives. Both salsas are $2.99 for the 12-ounce jar.