Just like mom made - almost

Sunset, Jan, 1998 by Linda Lau Anusasananan

* Remember how Mom's mac 'n' cheese could smooth out a bad day? Chances are, most of her special dishes weren't fancy but took some time to make. They were worth the wait: when you ate them, you felt warm and safe.

The truth is, our comforting food memories don't all run to macaroni and cheese. A broad but informal survey of Westerners, from governors to naturalists, revealed a melting pot - hot turkey sandwiches at Howard Johnson or French toast you're allowed to eat sitting on the couch.

Gourmet ingredients weren't necessarily an advantage. Darrell Corti, a Sacramento grocer and wine merchant whose mother made frittata-and-prosciutto sandwiches on sturdy breads for his school lunches, jokes about his "deprived" childhood. "I loved bologna sandwiches made with Best Foods sandwich spread and soft Wonder bread. By lunchtime, they were warm, pungent, and greasy. But that was a forbidden treat for me." His solution: swap lunches.

That's just it - it didn't matter to us then if our sandwiches were greasy. Montana humorist and cowboy-poet Gwen Petersen sums it up: "My greatest comfort when I was growing up was we could eat guilt-free."

To bring back that greatest comfort of all, we gathered up the recipes our respondents hankered after and went to work in Sunset's test kitchens zapping fat and trimming time. A surprising number of dishes were almost quick, light, and healthy already; shortcut products, leaner ingredients, nonstick pans, and modified techniques transformed the rest into table-ready low-fat realities in 45 minutes or less. Now you can turn back the clock, in more ways than one.

Sunday Fried Chicken

* "We had a very large family - seven children," says Marc Racicot, governor of Montana. "Every Sunday and for picnics we had chicken. Those days it was French-fried." And, he adds, it was always served with French-fried potatoes and broccoli with cauliflower.

Prep and cook time: About 40 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

4 chicken breast halves (about 1/2 lb. each) or whole legs (thigh and drumstick, about 1/2 lb. each)

2 1/2 cups cornflakes

1 teaspoon dried thyme

3/4 teaspoon paprika

About 1/2 teaspoon salt

About 1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 large egg whites

Cooking oil spray

1. Remove and discard skin and excess fat from chicken. Rinse chicken and pat the pieces dry.

2. Place cornflakes in a plastic food bag and crush gently with your hands to make very coarse crumbs.

3. Add thyme, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to bag; shake to mix.

4. In a shallow bowl, beat egg whites with a fork until slightly frothy.

5. Coat chicken pieces with egg white, drain briefly, then put in bag with crumb mixture, I piece at a time. Turn bag to coat chicken well.

6. Arrange chicken pieces slightly apart in a 10- by 15-inch nonstick pan. Lightly mist chicken with cooking oil spray.

7. Bake chicken in a 425 [degrees] oven until meat is no longer pink in thickest part (cut to test), about 25 minutes for breasts, about 30 minutes for legs.

8. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Per breast: 228 cal., 7.5% (17 cal.) from fat; 37 g protein; 1.9 g fat (0.5 g sat.); 13 g carbo (0.2 g fiber); 573 mg sodium; 86 mg chol.

Per leg: 221 cal., 20% (45 cal.) from fat; 29 g protein; 5 g fat (1.3 g sat.); 13 g carbo (0.2 g fiber); 588 mg sodium; 104 mg chol.

Oven Fries

Prep and cook time: About 30 minutes

Notes: Bake the potatoes in the oven with the chicken.

Makes: 4 servings

2 russet potatoes (about 1/2 lb. each) 1 tablespoon butter or margarine 1/2 teaspoon paprika About 1/4 teaspoon salt About 1/8 teaspoon pepper

1. Scrub potatoes and pat dry. Cut each lengthwise into sticks about 1/2 inch thick.

2. In a 10- by 15-inch nonstick pan, melt butter over low heat. Mix in paprika, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

3. Add potato sticks to pan and turn in seasoned butter to coat, then arrange sticks slightly apart in a single layer.

4. Bake potatoes in a 425 [degrees] oven until browned, turning once, about 25 minutes total.

5. Season potatoes with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Per serving: 118 cal., 24% (28 cal.) from fat; 2.2 g protein; 3.1 g fat (1.8 g sat.); 21 g carbo (1.9 g fiber); 173 mg sodium; 7.8 mg chol.

Hot Turkey Sandwiches

* "A real treat was to go to Howard Johnson and eat a hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce. When you're 8 years old and it's not even Thanksgiving, that's ultimate luxury," says Shirley Kerins, curator of the Huntington Herb Garden in San Marino, California.

Prep and cook time: About 25 minutes

Makes: 2 servings

3/4 pound Yukon gold potatoes 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 pound boned, skinned turkey breast slices (about 1/4 in. thick) Salt and pepper About 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salad oil 1 1/4 cups chicken broth 2 tablespoons dry sherry 1 tablespoon soy sauce 4 teaspoons cornstarch About 2 tablespoons hot nonfat milk 2 slices (about 2 oz. total) white bread 3 to 4 tablespoons canned cranberry sauce

1. In a 2- to 3-quart pan over high heat, bring 3 cups water to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch chunks. Add to boiling water, cover, and simmer over medium heat until potatoes are very tender when pierced, about 15 minutes. Drain potatoes, return to pan, cover, and keep warm.