Chicken Liver Pâté

I love liverwurst and Pâté but never thought I would make it. However, I found a recipe in Nourishing Traditions and wanted to try it. Not only was it super easy to make, but it was very yummy as well. It was just as good, if not better, than purchasing from a gourmet store.

Almost all traditional cultures prize organ meats for their ability to build reserves of strength and vitality. Organ meats are extremely rich in fat-soluble vitamins A and D, as well as essential fatty acids, important very-long-chain superunsaturated fatty acids and the whole gamut of macro and trace minerals. Wild animals eat the organs of their kill first, thus showing a wisdom superior to our own.

While you can buy Pâté, Mousse, and Liverwurst at the grocery store, I like to make my own because like most grocery store meat, it is made from animals that are raised in industrial farms and feedlots under a toxic and horrible farming model. Why does it even matter? Well, it is especially important to eat organ meats from really healthy animals that are healthy, free of hormones, antibiotics, synthetic products and have been raised and fed properly. Otherwise you ingesting all those toxins into your own body. You are what you eat is really ringing true in this day and age. – Sally Fallon Nourishing Traditions Cookbook

This recipe serves 12 – 18

3 tablespoon butter
1 pound chicken or duck livers, or a combination
1/2 pound mushrooms, washed, dried and coarsely chopped
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
2/3 cup dry white wine or vermouth
1 clove of garlic, mashed
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried dill
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 stick butter, softened
sea salt

Melt butter in a heavy skillet. Add livers, onions and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until livers are browned. Add wine, garlic, mustard, lemon juice and herbs. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is gone. Allow to cool. Process in a food processor with softened butter. Season to taste. Place in a crock or mold and chill well. Serve with homemade whole grain bread or homemade triangle croutons. Top with black caviar.

If you don’t want to make your own liver Pâté, have no fear, you can purchase organic Pâté, mousse, liverwurst from sustainably raised animals from Les Trois Petits Cochons (The Three Little Pigs) or D’Artagnan Gourmet Meat.

Bon Appetit!

Partially hydrogenated margarine and shortenings are even worse for you than the highly refined vegetable oils from which they are made because of chemical changes that occur during the hydrogenation process. Under high temperatures, the nickel catalyst causes the hydrogen atoms to change position on the fatty acid chain. Before hydrogenation, pairs of hydrogen atoms occur together on the chain, causing the chain to bend slightly and creating a concentration of electrons at the site of the double bond. This is called the cis formation, the configuration most commonly found in nature. With hydrogenation, one hydrogen atom of the pair is moved to the other side so that the molecule straightens. This is called the trans formation, rarely found in nature. Most of these man-made trans fats are toxins to the body, but unfortunately your digestive system does not recognize them as such. Instead of eliminating them, your body incorporates trans fats into the cell membranes as though they were cis fats–your cells actually become partially hydrogenated! Once in place, trans fatty acids wreak havoc with cell metabolism because chemical reactions can take place only when electrons in the cell membranes are in certain arrangements or patterns, which they hydrogenation process has distributed. -Sally Fallon Nourishing Traditions Cookbook

Slow-Cooked Pork Shoulder in Milk, White Wine, & Spices – An Italian Classic

Another great recipe from Deborah Krasner’s cookbook Good Meat. My farmer, Nick Wallace from Wallace Farms, offers so many great cuts of meat from many different animals  that I’ve never heard of or really tried so I’ve been working my way through all these cuts of meat and offal’s.

“Fresh Air” Pork
All sausages, ham and bacon are made WITHOUT nitrites, MSG, or preservatives. Our pork is raised by small farmers who believe hogs should be raised outdoors and on deep bedded straw and never given hormones or anti-biotics. “Fresh Air” is a phrase the captures our pork best vs. the large confinement systems that most pork is raised in. – Wallace Farms

This was the first time I’ve made this and I was having guests over for dinner. Let me tell you how stressful it is when you’re making something for the first time not knowing what it is going to taste like. Ugh. It didn’t dawn on me until about the time I added the milk, I started to worry. BUT, I had it on good authority that this was a spectacular culinary delight, so I took the risk.

Pork cooked in milk is an Italian classic. All you need is about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of pastured pork shoulder, 2 tablespoons of raw butter, 2 tablespoons of EVO, Celtic salt, freshly ground black pepper, 4 cloves of garlic chopped, 1 tablespoon of ground fennel, 1 tablespoon of ground sage, 1/2 teaspoon ground Aleppo pepper, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or verjuice, 1 1/4 cup of white wine, and 1 1/2 cups of raw, whole milk.

I rinse all of my meat before cooking, except for ground meat. I also make sure I bring it down to room temperature before cooking, so I let it sit out for a few hours. If you are worried about parasites simply freeze the meat for 14 days prior to cooking it. According to the USDA this will kill off all parasites.

Make sure to blot it dry before beginning your preparations. You will need a braising pot or casserole dish that fits the pork shoulder tightly. I used my cast-iron double broiler by Le Creuset. Generously salt and pepper the meat and then brown it on all sides. A great tip is to have tongs so that you can hold and press all sides of the meat to the pan without burning yourself.

When done browning, remove meat from pot and discard the excess fat. After that place the pot back on the stove and toss in your garlic and let it cook down. Then add your fennel, sage, and hot pepper. After that add the vinegar, and white wine, making sure that you are string and scraping the bottom of the pot to incorporate all the browned bits. After that add the milk. Put the meat in the pan and boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce and let simmer. Cook gently, with the lid slightly ajar, for about 3 hours or until meat is tender.

When the meat has reached the desired tenderness that you want, remove it from the pot and let it cool. Raise the heat under the left over gravy or sauce in the pan until the liquid is reduced to half, or it is rich and intense. Season if necessary and then drizzle each slice with some of the pan gravy and serve.

I realized I had nothing to be nervous about because it turned out to be absolutely spectacular, melting in our mouth. As a side I made rice and puréed acorn squash with butter. It was a very filling meal.

We had a 2008 Sanford Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir with this meal.

See all photos here

Wallace Farms was co-founded by several members of the Wallace Family, who believe in the dramatic health benefits provided in grass-fed beef. We grew up in rural Iowa, where growing corn and soybeans is the livelihood of our fathers and grandfathers. As you might expect, our family, friends and neighbors have been raising grain-fed beef for decades. Nonetheless, in 2001, we began taking note of the mounting evidence that illustrated significant health benefits in eating grass-fed vs. grain-fed meat.

Steve Wallace, our patriarch, is a 30-year veteran in agri-business with unique qualifications in the area of forage grasses. His years of experience and connections with grass growers and beef producers is the framework for our vision and passion. Steve has a Masters degree in ruminant nutrition from Iowa State University and has worked as a family farmer and farm management consultant for years. He is currently active as a sales/marketing executive and research consultant for a leading, international grass seed company.

Nick Wallace joined his father at the company in 2004. Nick now oversees all day-to-day operations at the company, in addition to living on the farm that includes the Wallace Farms headquarters.

Lisa Wallace – Nick’s sister-in-law – manages the new Wallace Farms warehouse in Naperville, IL. Lisa also works with Nick in our effort to expand Wallace Farms reach throughout the Chicagoland area.

It is our collective mission to bring superior grass-fed beef and other naturally-raised meats and wild fish to all of our customers. Wallace Farms is your alternative to food that is raised and processed in a factory-like setting. The recent, Oscar-nominated documentary Food, Inc. has been widely acclaimed for shedding light on these unhealthy practices. – Wallace Farms

Why Eat Grass-Fed?
Not so many years ago, a majority of the beef in the United States was produced and finished by using grass exclusively. In fact, it wasn’t until the 1950′s that large feed lots and grain-fed techniques became widely popular. The grain-fed movement spread very quickly and by the 1980′s, large feed lots were responsible for producing nearly 100% of this country’s beef.

The nation’s switch to grain had a strong rationale. Grain-fed techniques have neutralized many of the unpredictable variables associated with raising cattle (favorable weather, green grass, and steady pricing in the market) and significantly streamlined the nation’s beef supply chain. However, several nutritional experts now believe that this migration to grain-fed beef was not in the best interest of our nation’s long-term health. For instance, rates of heart disease and obesity in the U.S. have increased significantly during the last four decades. Many researchers believe that the timing of these two events is more than just a mere coincidence.

While still a niche movement, grass-fed beef production and consumption is making a comeback. To better understand why, consider the following comparisons of grass-fed compared to grain-fed beef:

Just finished cooking. Now it's time to make the gravy out of all this yummy sauce!

Grass-fed Beef
* Low saturated fat levels (similar to the levels found in lean chicken breasts)
* High in “good fat” omega-3′s (also commonly found in certain fish, such as salmon and tuna)
* High doses of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), thought by many to be a cancer fighter
* Reduced exposure to E.coli bacteria
* Features an agriculture process that is ecologically friendly

Grain-fed Beef
* Saturated fat levels are often up to 3-4 times higher than those found in grass-fed beef
* Limited Omega-3 content
* Limited CLA content (because CLA comes directly from the grass)
* E.coli risks remain a constant and growing concern
* Production system requires significant use of chemicals, fertilizers and gasoline

More About CLA
Research on the cancer fighter aspects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is quite promising. The passage below is a direct quote from the book “Why Grassfed is Best,” by prominent author Jo Robinson:

“Researchers did not get their first glimpse of the many health benefits of CLA until 1987. Although the research is in its earliest stages, CLA shows promise of reducing the risk of cancer, obesity, diabetes, and a number of immune disorders. What’s more, CLA appears to be perfectly safe. Even in very large doses, this good fat has shown no harmful effects in laboratory animals.”

“At this point in time, the research on CLA and cancer is the most promising. When rats are fed very small amounts of CLA – a mere 0.1 percent of their total calories – they show a significant reduction in tumor growth. At 1.5 percent of their caloric intake, tumor size is reduced by as much as 60 percent.”

“So, is there enough CLA in grass-fed products to reduce your risk of cancer? Probably so. It has been estimated that people eating ordinary grain-fed meat and dairy products consume about 1 gram of CLA a day. Judging by animal studies, this is one-third of the amount required to reduce the risk of cancer. Switching to grass-fed animal products would increase your CLA intake three to five times, which could make the all-important difference.” Note: You can read more about Jo Robinson and her research at the following website – www.eatwild.com.

Raw Honey: A Tablespoon A Day Keeps The Doctor Away!

Bee Pollen is considered a superfood. We eat a tablespoon of raw honey a day, most of the time we eat more. Raw honey is thick, almost like paste. I have two sources that I buy from: ReallyRawHoney.com and my local farmer. With digestive disorders skyrocketing each year, honey is a great addition to your diet.

Chronic disease wreaks havoc on the American populace. One million Americans suffer from AIDS; eight million have cancer, and twelve million battle heart disease. However, there is one disorder that afflicts more individuals than the combined total of all of these other potentially deadly disorders, and, surprisingly, it is rarely mentioned. Thirty-eight million Americans are victims of digestive disorders, including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, celiac disease, IBS, constipation, diarrhea, GERD, candida and food allergies. – Jordon S. Rubin How To Restore Digestive Health

Really Raw® Honey is totally unprocessed honey. It still contains pollen, propolis, honeycomb and live enzymes — all the goodness the bees put in! That’s why Really Raw® Honey is creamy, smooth and spreadable with sweet and crunchy cappings. Really Raw® Honey is gathered from fields of wildflowers planted by nature. You can read about all of the benefits of eating raw honey here. From allergies to ulcers to stomach disorders, raw honey is a must in our modern diet.

You can also buy Bee Pollen by the jar too.

Bee Pollen has been popularized by famous athletes who take it regularly for strength and endurance. It has been used successfully to treat a variety of ailments including allergies, asthma, menstrual irregularities, constipation, diarrhea, anemia, low energy, cancer, rheumatism, arthritis and toxic conditions. A Russian study of the inhabitants of the province of Georgie, where many live to 100 years and a few to age 150, revealed that a large portion of these centenarians were beekeepers who often ate raw, unprocessed honey with all its “impurities,” that is, with the pollen. Bee pollen contains 22 amino acids including the eight essential ones, 27 minerals and the full gamut of vitamins, hormones and fatty acids. Most importantly, bee pollen contains more than 5,000 enzymes and coenzymes. It is the presence of enzymes, many of which have immediate detoxifying effects, that sometimes provokes allergic reactions in those taking bee pollen for the first time. If this happens, start with very small amounts and slowly build up to a tablespoon or so per day. Some brands are more easily tolerable than others. Avoid pollen that has been dried at temperatures higher than 130 degrees F. Bee Pollen can be taken in powder, capsule or tablet form–or in raw unprocessed honey spread on toast. – Sally Fallon Nourishing Traditions

3-Meat Loaf Layered with Bacon and Served with Homemade Ketchup!

This has to be one of my favorite dishes yet. I only cook from 2 cook books; Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions and Deborah Krasner’s Good Meat. Between these two cookbooks I’ve have access to over 500 delicious recipes and I haven’t made one yet that wasn’t yummy. But this one was over the top.

I can’t emphasize this enough, the tremendous flavors I achieve in these recipes are largely due to the quality and type of meat that is being used. I buy everything from my local farmer where cows are eating a salad bar everyday and pigs are doing what pigs are supposed to and lambs are happy grazing in the pasture. Truly this shouldn’t be something I have to educate people on, it should be the normal farming practice. That being said, industrial farmers spend billions of dollars on clever marketing to portray their model as the farms we grew up with.

I just found out today that Iowa has officially banned feedlots or industrial farms. Nothing could thrill me more. While we are looking for alternative fuel we should turn our focus on one of the biggest contributing factors to our current environmental issues and should be focusing on eliminating food models that facilitate the break down and destruction of our environment and our health. Feedlot/CAFO/industrial farming models should be eliminated. But why are they still here and why are they getting more government support than the small farmer? Because it is cheaper to raise, feed, and produce animals in this model. The farmers or corporations behind these farms get to keep more money in their pocket. Additionally, Americans demand cheap food. We can’t fathom paying $5 for a dozen eggs made by really happy and healthy chickens or milk and dairy from healthy, happy cows as well as happy farmers who are committed to the animals health, but more importantly our health. We are what we eat and feedlot animals are sick and toxic. Becoming a vegetarian isn’t the answer, especially when most ruminants have a special stomach containing as much as four compartments to break down and digest those foods and passing them onto us in a digestible form. What vegetarians and vegans don’t understand is that you while you can wash chemicals and pesticides off of the skin of fruits and vegetables, you can’t wash it out of the cells or membranes of the fruits and vegetables because they get into the soil and ultimately into the cells of the plants. Fruits and vegetables don’t have a liver to eliminate toxins while animals do. The answer is to change the conventional farming model and get back to traditional farming methods. Oh, but I digress…

This recipe from Good Meat was super simple to make, but requires some planning in advance to make sure you purchase all three ground meats from your farmer. All you need is 1 pound of ground beef, 1 pound of ground lamb, 1 pound of ground pork, a carrot, an onion, fresh flat-leaf parsley, some oats, raw whole milk, eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano and bacon. There are many cheeses at Whole Foods that aren’t pasteurized and fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano is one of them and worth the price.

After you finely chop up the onion, carrot, and parsley, you throw everything into a bowl and mix it by hand making sure not to over mix it. You have the option of making this into a pate by putting in a loaf pan or a meat loaf by placing it in a cast-iron frying pan and forming into a oval and patting down, then layering uncooked bacon strips on the top of the loaf or pate. Place in oven at 300 to 350 for an hour. I prefer slow cooking over lower heat for longer periods cook. Relish in the aroma as all the juices and flavors meld into a fantastic epicurean delight!

WAIT! After removing the finished meat loaf from the oven, let it stand for ten to fifteen minutes before cutting and serving. Americans are the only people in the world who are hell bent on eating hot food. No other country in the world eats their food without letting it cool down. You can’t taste your food when it is hot, now there is a novel idea. Additionally, you burn your tongue, mouth, and end up swallowing it in chunks because you can’t chew and you mess up your digestive juices.  So chill out, drink some wine and don’t scream at the chef because your food is warm rather than scorching hot.

***Again the bacon is from farm raised, happy pigs so the quality shows up in the flavor of the bacon.

I also made homemade ketchup because I couldn’t find any ketchup that didn’t have sugar, soy, and a other unnecessary additives and fillers. Sally Fallon has a very simple and delicious ketchup recipe in Nourishing Traditions that is fermented in the traditional way and acts as a digestive aid rather than a burden. It is hard to believe that you can make ketchup from simple, real ingredients without manipulating and replacing with synthetic food flavors and additives.

Ketchup
3 cups of organic canned tomato paste
1/4 cup of whey
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 cup of maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of homemade fish sauce or commercial fish sauce

Just mix everything together and transfer into a quart-sized wide mouth mason jar. Leave at room temperature for about 2 days before transferring to refrigerator. It’s easy and it’s healthy. You can make your own mustard,  BBQ sauce,  Teriyaki sauce, dressings, horseradish, pesto, chutney, salsa and so much more without all the crap in it and in a form that is very digestible.

Ketchup provides us with an excellent example of a condiment that was formerly fermented and therefore health promoting, but whose benefits were lost with large scale canning methods and a reliance on sugar rather than lactic acid as a preservative.

The  word “ketchup” derives from the Chinese Amoy dialect ke-tsiap or pickled fish-brine or sauce, the universal condiment of the ancient world. The English added foods like mushrooms, walnuts, cucumbers and oysters to this fermented brew; Americans added tomatoes from Mexico to make tomato ketchup.

Writing in 1730, Dean Swift mentions ketchup as one of several fermented foods favored by the English. ‘And for our home-bred British cheer, Botargo (fish roe relish), catsup and cabiar (caviar).’

Americans consume one-half billion bottles of ketchup per year. The chief ingredient of the modern version, after tomatoes, is high fructose corn syrup. A return to ancient preservation methods would transform America’s favorite condiment from a health liability (produced in huge factories) to a beneficial digestive aid (produced as an artisanal product in farming communities.) Sally Fallon Nourishing Traditions

Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice

This was a great recipe from Nourishing Traditions Cookbook. More over, it wasn’t very difficult to prepare and was a culinary delight. Simply purchase 6 organic green peppers, 1 pound of grass-fed/finished ground beef, olive oil, onion, tomato paste, homemade beef stock, some herbs, grated Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. You will also need rice which is a separate recipe that requires some planing. As you will need to soak and ferment the rice in whey for 7 to 24 hours before cooking in butter. This process neutralizes a large portion of phytic acid in grains and will vastly improve nutritional benefits and digestibility. Along with cooking the rice in butter, an necessary digestive aid when consuming grains and vegetables. Believe me this process really makes incredibly delicious rice.

An optional ingredient is 1/4 ground heart. I purchase beef and chicken hearts from my local co-op and they are from grass-fed/finished, pasture raised farm animals. I wouldn’t recommend eating the organ of commercially farmed animals.

After you remove the stems, simply brown your meat then add the other ingredients boil until liquid reduces to half. Stir in rice and season to taste. Make sure to butter a Pyrex dish before setting the peppers in them. After filling each pepper, top with cheese and cook. Like so many of the meals in Nourishing Traditions, this is a meal in and of itself. It is very satisfying and filling.See all photos here.

We drank a very nice bottle of one of my favorite wines; a 2008 Gaja Ca’Marcanda Promis.

Bon Appetit!

This is not the place to speculate on the mysterious instructive spirit that taught our ancestors to sak and ferment their grains before eating them; the important thing to realize is that these practices accord very well with what modern science has discovered about grains. All grains contain phytic acid (an organic acid in which phosphorus is bound) in the outer layer or bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc inn the intestinal tract and block their absorption. This is why a diet high in unfermented whole grains may lead to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss. The modern misguided practice of consuming large amounts of unprocessed bran often improves colon transit time at first but may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and, in the long term, many other adverse effects. Soaking allows enzymes, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize phytic acid. As little as seven hours of soaking in warm acidulated water will neutralize a large portion of phytic acid in grains. The simple practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight will vastly improve their nutritional benefits.

Soaking in warm water also neutralizes enzyme inhibitors, present in all seeds, and encourages the production of numerous beneficial enzymes. The action of these enzymes also increases the amounts of many vitamins, especially B vitamins.

Scientists have learned that proteins in grains, especially gluten, are very difficult to digest.  A diet high in unfermented whole grains, particularly high-gluten grains like wheat,  puts an enormous strain on the whole digestive mechanism. When this mechanism breaks down with age or overuse, the results take the form of allergies, celiac disease, mental illness, chronic indigestion and candida albicans overgrowth. Recent research links gluten intolerance with multiple sclerosis. During the process of soaking and fermenting, gluten and other difficult-to-digest proteins are partially broken down into simpler components that are more readily available for absorption. – Sally Fallon Nourishing Traditions

Gaja Ca’Marcanda Promis 2008

Homemade Fish Stock

We eat a lot of Fish Stock/Broth in our house. When I learned of the nutritional support it provided to the thyroid gland, I immediately got over my challenges of fish. I don’t like the smell, I mean who wants their house to smell fishy? I like eating fish, but really don’t like preparing it. I’ve since gotten over this silly hang up and dove in head first.

When making fish stock you want to use whole carcasses, including the heads, of non-oily fish such as sole, turbot, rockfish, or snapper. With that in mind I went to my fish merchant at Whole Foods and placed my order of red snapper fish heads and whole carcasses. Jono was able to get my order in by the next day. I didn’t realize how BIG red snapper heads are. I thought I was going to be buying a bunch of small fish heads, but when Jono pulled them out they were huge, 4 pounds per head. I bought 4. He didn’t have snapper carcasses, but dover sole, so I took about 10 pounds, including the tails.

The heads are especially rich in iodine and fat-soluble vitamins. Also, you don’t want to use oily fish like salmon because the highly unsaturated fish oils become rancid during the long cooking process.

Fascinated at my order, all the guys behind the fish counter wanted to know what the heck I was doing with heads and carcasses and tails. Ah, I couldn’t help it, I gave them a foodie lesson on fish stock. Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, they understood and related stories of their parents and grandparents and their similar traditions, as well as their health and  longevity.

Once I got my order home, I eagerly unwrapped the package and started to broth. I’m not going to lie, these fish heads were hard to look at. My son was horrified when he saw them floating around in the stock pot. I couldn’t help but giggle. I enjoy freaking him out. I’ve had thyroid problems ever since I can remember and given that millions of people suffer from thyroid problems, why not do something to heal and boost your thyroid? In that spirit we drink fish broth every day. I throw in some creamed coconut or coconut milk with some nutritional yeast flakes for B vitamins and some whey for digestion.

All in all the fish stock is very easy to make:
3 or 4 whole carcasses, including heads, of non-oily fish such as sloe, turbot, rockfish or snapper
2 tablespoons raw butter2 onions, coarsely chopped1 carrot, coarsely chopped
several sprigs fresh thyme
several sprigs fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup dry white wine or vermouth
1/4 cup of vinegar
about 3 quarts cold filtered water

Sally Fallon explains in Nourishing Traditions Cookbook, Melt butter in a large stainless steel pot. Add the vegetables and cook very gently, about 1/2 hour, until they are soft. Add wine and bring to a boil. Add the fish carcasses and cover with cold, filtered water. Add vinegar. Bring to a boil and skim off the scum and impurities as they rise to the top. Tie herbs together and add to the pot. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for at least 4 hours or as long as 24. Remove carcasses with tongs or a slotted spoon and strain the liquid into pint-sized storage containers for refrigerator or freezer. Chill well in the refrigerator and remove any congealed fat before transforming to the freezer for long-term storage. I triple this recipe because we go through so much. For additional stock/broth recipes read Sally’s article Beautiful Broth.

Meat and fish stocks play a role in all traditional cuisines—French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, African, South American, Middle Eastern and Russian. In America, stock went into gravy and soups and stews. That was when most animals were slaughtered locally and nothing went to waste. Bones, hooves, knuckles, carcasses and tough meat went into the stock pot and filled the house with the aroma of love. Today we buy individual fillets and boneless chicken breasts, or grab fast food on the run, and stock has disappeared from the American tradition. – Sally Fallon Beautiful Broth

Another traditional belief is that fish head broth contributes to virility. Fish stock, made from carcasses and heads of the fish, is especially rich in minerals including all-important iodine. Even more important, stock made from the heads, and therefore the thyroid glands of the fish, supplies thyroid hormone and other substances that nourish the thyroid gland. Four thousand years ago, Chinese doctors rejuvenated aging patients with a soup made from the thyroid glands of animals. According to ancient texts, this treatment helped patients feel younger, gave them more energy and often restored mental abilities. During the reign of Queen Victoria, prominent London physicians prescribed specialty raw thyroid sandwiches to failing patients. Very few of us could eat such fare with relish, but soups and sauces made from fish broth are absolutely delicious–a remedy that no convalescent could refuse. According to some researchers, at least 40 percent of all Americans suffer from a deficiency of the thyroid gland with its accompanying symptoms of fatigue, weight gain, frequent colds and flu, inability to concentrate, depression and a host of more serious complications like heart disease and cancer. We would do well to imitate our brothers from the Mediterranean and Asian regions by including fish broth in the diet as often as possible. – Sally Fallon Nourishing Traditions Cookbook

Wet & Dry Aging Meat

Until reading Good Meat by Deborah Krasner I had no idea what wet aging or dry aging meant. I believed that meat was so bad that as soon as you thawed it you had to cook it or it would spread viruses and bacteria everywhere contaminating everything. I was paranoid to say the least. As a result of this fear, we rarely ate beef. But I also had no idea of the differences between salad bar beef and feedlot, industrial raised beef either.

If you purchase your meat from a farmer, you have some options as to how you want to thaw your meat and if you want to age it.

According to Deborah Krasner, there are two types of aging: wet and dry. Wet Aging is storing vacuum-sealed, defrosted meat under refrigeration for a period of time. Sorta like marinating the meat in blood in an anaerobic atmosphere. This is the way super markets do it and most super market meat has been wet aged before you buy it.  To wet age your salad bar beef from the farmer, simply take your frozen meat, still wrapped, and put it on a plate in the fridge. As long as there are no leeks or holes in the plastic and the meat isn’t discolored, you can be assured that it is still good. Additionally, because this meat is grass-fed/finished and so fresh, you can wet age it for up to three weeks. Many farmers say this really makes for very tender steaks and roasts.

Dry Aging is “a useful way to make meat more flavorful,” says Deborah. To dry age you simply “unwrap the meat, blot it well, salt it lightly, and lay it on a wire cake-cooling rack that has been set on a plate lined with folded paper towels. This way, liquids will drip down onto the paper and air can circulate around the meat. Cover the top of the meat loosely with another sheet of paper towel, and put the meat back in the coolest (always the lowest) part of the refrigerator. Cook it in the next two or three days.”

I wet age my meat for a few days or weeks, then I dry age it for a day or two before setting out a couple of hours before cooking in order to bring to room temperature. It is important to bring all foods, especially meats, to room temperature before cooking. I make it a practice too bring all of our food to room temperature before cooking. Meat cooks best if it starts at room temperature. When you place a cold steak in a hot pan, all the heat goes into getting that steak to room temperature and not where the focus needs to be which is the browned exterior. While I’m waiting for the meat to come to room temperature, I rub them down with a really nice, high quality olive oil and some salt rubs, mostly unrefined Celtic Salt and some pepper. I also don’t incinerate my steaks, but rather cook over low temperatures for longer periods. The results are absolutely wonderful. I know this is contrary to most modern day cooking, but I swear by it, a little patience really pays off. That last tip I learned from my favorite farmer, Joel Salatin.

If meat is chilled, it won’t cook as evenly, and the timing may be off. When meat is at room temperature, the heat of the pan or oven can immediately begin the cooking process (while the meat remains cold, it is insulated from the heat). Thoroughly blotting away the moisture is also important. That way the meat will begin to sear in a hot pan or oven–if it is wet, it will steam. – Deborah Krasner

Deborah also gives some great tips on how to properly thaw meat when your in a bind. Like placing it on a sheet pan or in a cast iron pan (which seems to thaw meat more rapidly) for several hours. I take mine out of the plastic wrappers, when possible, and then put it in direct contact with the pan or sheet pan. Either way works. Make sure to flip the meat every so often so that all sides get in contact with the pan. There is something about the pan that distributes the cold as it does the heat when making cookies. Another way to thaw your meat is to take the vacuum-packed meat, put in a bowl in the sink and run cold water over it every few minutes. If your meat isn’t sealed, place in a plastic resealable freezer bag.

Note: These techniques are mainly for cooks using sustainable grass-fed/finished meat you’ve raised or  purchased from your farmer or farm raised meat. Grass-fed/finished beef rarely, if ever, contains viruses, eColi, salmonella or other things that modern meat has. That is only found in industrial, feedlot, farmed animals. It is the model of farming that contaminates the meat and promotes disease and sickness in animals that are help like prisoners in concentration camps. This is also the case for eggs, poultry, lamb and any other type of meat you can think of. To learn more about the difference between properly farmed animals and industrial farmed animals or CAFO raised animals, read Salad Bar Beef by Joel Salatin or Good Meat by Deborah Krasner.

The Versatility of Sauerkraut!

I don’t know about you, but I love sauerkraut! It is such a versatile food. You can eat it by itself, as a side dish, or warm it up and toss in some grilled pork or turkey sausage for a quick dinner or throw in some beans and ham and make a delicious soup! I’ve made all three. The key is to not heat the sauerkraut as heating destroys all the life giving nutrients. Also, if you have acne, a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of organic, raw sauerkraut a day takes the pimples away! Read here.

Bubbies used to make a delicious organic,  raw, unheated sauerkraut, but they recently started heating their sauerkraut. What a shame! Their pickles are still good and aren’t heated! You can find them at Whole Foods.

Note: Almost all sauerkraut sold commercially in stores HAS BEEN PASTEURIZED!!!
Even if it was made the right way, by fermenting, most brands HAVE BEEN PASTEURIZED (heat treated) which kills the enzymes & good bacteria (good bugs) – all the goodness has been killed! If it’s not in the refrigerated case, it HAS BEEN PASTEURIZED!!!

Sometimes, even if it IS in the refrigerated case, it may have been heat- treated! Unfortunately, we’ve received a report that Bubbies Sauerkraut is now being heated. We believe that Bubbies Kosher Dill Pickles are still really raw. That is why you need to make it yourself, or buy a brand that is really live and raw! That is also why we always need to research producers and products.- Organic Lifestyle

Until recently I didn’t know why I liked Sauerkraut so much, but after learning about lacto-fermented foods, I realize this is nothing new for me and falls right in line with my love of pickled beets too.

The digestive process has two distinct features: one is the breaking down of ingested foods; the other is the building up of nutrients needed by the body. If the breaking down is incomplete, the building up cannot proceed correctly. In reality we nourish ourselves not by what we eat but by what we are capable of breaking down and transforming into nutrients the body can use. Of great importance in this process is the role played by the aromatic substances that are formed during lacto-fermentation. The aroma of lacto-fermented foods is the by-product of certain substances present in infinitesimal amounts but essential for the ultimate assimilation of the food to the body. Hippocrates expressed this principle with the words Suavia nutriunt–that which smells good nourishes and promotes healing and health. Thus, the role of these substances that make fermented foods taste good goes far beyond that of gustatory pleasure and the stimulation of digestion to our general well being.

What is astonishing is that lactic acid contributes to both processes–that of decomposition and that of reconstruction. On the one hand it supplies digestive juices in the form of organic acids that help break down the foods we eat, and on the other it activates the metabolic processes whereby these foods are transformed into new living substances.

Lacto-fermented foods normalize the acidity of the stomach. If stomach acidity is insufficient, it stimulates the acid producing glands of the stomach, and in cases where acidity is too high it has the inverse effect. Lactic acid helps break down proteins and thus aids in their assimilation of iron. The decomposition in the stomach of the organic forms of iron depends on the quantity of hydrochloric acid present as well as the amount of vitamin C, which is why sauerkraut and other lacto-fermented vegetables rich in this vitamin have such a favorable influence…Lactic acid activates the secretions of the pancreas, which is particularly important for diabetics…

Sauerkraut contains large quantities of choline, a substance that lowers blood pressure and regulates the passage of nutrients into the blood…Choline has another interesting property in that it aids the body in the metabolism of fats. If choline is lacking, fats accumulate in the liver…Sauerkraut also contains acetylcholine which has a powerful effect on the parasympathetic nervous system. It helps reduce blood pressure, slows down the rate of heartbeat, and promotes calmness and sleep. As acetylcholine is destroyed by cooking, raw sauerkraut and its juice is preferable to cooked. Acetylcholine also has a beneficial effect on the peristaltic movements of the intestine. Sauerkraut and other lacto-fermented vegetables thus are recommended for constipation. Annelies Schoneck Des Crudites Toute L’Annee quoted from Nourishing Traditions

There is nothing like homemade sauerkraut because conventional sauerkraut is pasteurized and during the heating process all the lactic acid producing bacteria is killed. Additionally, when the pickling process became industrialized most of the great benefits and nutrients of sauerkraut were lost or removed. Sally Fallon and Mary Enig of Nourishing Traditions are big proponents for pickling and fermented fruits and vegetables. There are several recipes that allow you to make your sauerkraut from scratch in the traditional manner. I did just that. It wasn’t difficult besides the ten minutes of required pounding to release the juices. After pounding the shredded cabbage and adding the whey, sea salt and caraway seeds, you stuff each quart canning jar one inch from top and make sure the juices are above the kraut but 1 inch below the top of the jar.  After that you leave out for a few days to allow the fermenting process to begin. But according to the experts, sauerkraut needs at least six months to fully mature. I would have to make a crap load of sauerkraut to make it worthwhile and then wait for six months before I could really enjoy it. That is just too long for me to wait. On that note, I did some research and found a great resource for some organic, raw sauerkraut, both salted and unsalted as well as Kim-Chi, another fermented vegetable, made by Rejuvenative Foods. I found all these at Whole Foods. Remember when I say salted, I’m not referring to table salt, but high mineral, unrefined Celtic sea salt.

Because of all the benefits in raw fermented sauerkraut, it is a staple in our weekly repertoire. My family especially enjoyed the sauerkraut and bean soup in Nourishing Traditions, but instead of sausage, I cooked a ham roast and added it to the soup instead of the sausage. It was delicious! I keep sauerkraut and sausages on hand in the event I want a quick but super nutritious meal or if we just have a hankering for the kraut!

Bon Appetite!

Creamed Coconut Concentrate

I love this stuff. I eat it like it is candy. I add about 3 tablespoons of creamed coconut concentrate to my breakfast broth every morning or break it off and nibble on it through out the day. Coconut oil is rich in lauric acid and is antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiparasitical, and antiviral. Because coconut is so powerful, I make sure to add all the forms of coconut in my daily regimen. I use coconut oil as my lotion and facial lotion. The list of benefits are too long to list, but here are a few:

Coconut Oil–and whole coconut products that contain coconut oil–are nature’s best source of lauric acid, and essential saturated fatty acid that enhances the immune system and protects us against viruses, yeasts, parasites and other pathogens in the gut. Coconut can be added to the diet in a variety of ways: Coconut oil, Creamed Coconut, Canned Whole Coconut Milk, Desiccated Coconut Meat.

Aids patients and others with compromised immune system function should consume 20 to 25 grams of lauric acid per day. Approximately 12 grams of lauric acid are contained in 2 tablespoons coconut oil or 3 tablespoons creamed coconut; 10 grams of lauric acid are contained in 1/2 cup canned whole coconut milk or 1/2 cup desiccated coconut meat. – Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions

…Along with healthy fats, coconut oil is key to this diet (Eat Fat, Lose Fat). Saturated fats, such as those found in coconut oil, butter, cream, and red meat, can be good for you, as you’ll learn throughout our book. And, among all the sources of saturated fat available, coconut is the most readily absorbed and utilized–not to mention the most likely to help you lose weight… Sally Fallon, Mary Enig, Ph.D., Eat Fat, Lose Fat

- Chronic fatigue: The medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil provide energy and also fight pathogens in the digestive tract that contribute to fatigue.

- Low energy: The medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil give quick energy, prevent low blood sugar, and support the thyroid gland; plus, cod-liver oil provides nutrients vital for vitamin and mineral absorption.

- Anxiety: The combination of fatty acids and nutrients in coconut oil and cod-liver oil helps prevent low blood sugar and helps the body make adrenal hormones it needs to deal with stress. Trans fats (eliminated in our program) inhibit the production of these hormones, so removing these from the diet is another big step toward relieving anxiety.

- Depression: The nutrients in cod-liver oil have a proven record of helping relieve depression, and the saturated fats in coconut oil work synergistically with cod-liver oil.

- Mood swings: Plentiful fats in our diet help stabilize blood sugar swings that make your mood go up and down.

- Thyroid imbalance: Coconut oil alone improves thyroid function, but when used in conjunction with cod-liver oil, which supplies vitamin A (needed in high levels by the thyroid gland), the thyroid has the fats it needs to function properly

- Hypoglycemia: Plenty of healthy fats at each meal help prevent drops in blood sugar.

- Insulin resistance: Trans fats interfere with insulin receptors in the cells. Replacing trans fats with coconut oil and other healthy fat is the number one step in preventing and reversing the insulin resistance so characteristic of type 2 diabetes.

- Food cravings: You experience cravings when your body isn’t getting the nutrients it needs from food. Coconut oil is immensely satisfying, while cod-liver oil supplies vitamins A and D, needed to assimilate minerals and other vitamins.

- Gallbladder ailments: Coconut oil is the ideal fat for anyone suffering from gallbladder ailments because many of the fatty acids in coconut oil do not require bile for digestion.

- Bacterial infections: The antimicrobial medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil, combined with vitamin A in cod-liver oil, provide the ideal combination for fighting bacterial infections.

-Fungal issues, like candida: Coconut oil has strong anti-fungal properties, both in the gut and when applied topically (on the skin). Eliminating refined carbohydrates while eating whole grains only when they are properly prepared can also help candida problems.

- Viral infections: The medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil help kill the pathogenic lipid-coated viruses in the digestive tract.

- Digestive problems, including irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease: The combination of medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil and vitamin A in cod-liver oil enhances the immune system.

- Gas and bloating: The antimicrobial properties of coconut oil can help fight gas-producing bacteria.

- Skin problems such as eczema, dry skin, scaly patches: The synergistic combination of saturated fatty acids in coconut oil and very long-chain super unsaturated fatty acids in cod-liver oil helps maintain the right fatty in the cell membranes, thereby contributing to beautiful skin Vitamins A and D in cod-liver oil are also very important factors in nourishing the skin.

- Liver support: The combination of saturated fat in coconut oil, vitamin A in cod-liver oil, and bone broths that give you special amino acids the liver uses to detoxify provides excellent support for liver function.

And so much more…

A side note: The creamed coconut concentrate and the coconut spread need to be warmed and softened then stirred to blend the coconut oil that separates with the cream. Easiest way to do this is to boil some water and set the jar in the water with lid loose for approximately 20 min. If still not soft enough to blend, repeat. Do not refrigerate creamed coconut or coconut oil if you want it to spread and you want easy use.

Some other raw, coconut products that we enjoy and that are delicious are a variety of coconut spreads like Coco-Loco Spread and Coconut Spread. Great way to get your loved ones to incorporate this super food into their diet as well as a yummy, healthy treat. The Coco-Loco taste just like fudge without all the sugar and extra, unnecessary ingredients.

Beef Liver Dumpling Soup

Liver! YUK…or so you would think. I remember loving liver as a kid, but it was the processed liverwurst. My mom and dad both remember the days were liver and other organ meats were a part of their households weekly meal plan. What happened to liver and why did we drop it and other organ meats from the American plate?

I will admit, up until reading Good Meat by Deborah Krasner and being intrigued and curious by the many recipes she has for a variety of animal livers, and then getting the “why” behind eating liver and organ meats in Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions, I would have NEVER entertained the idea or considered it. Nor did I ever think liver could taste good. But then there is liver mousse, liver pate’s and liver spread. Look at the French, they are noted for their liver pate’s. I guess I just never thought liver was healthy, but that just goes to show my ignorance.

As a final example, let us consider the French. Anyone who has eaten his way across France has observed that the French diet is loaded with saturated fat in the form of butter, eggs, cheese, cream, liver, meats and rich pates. Yet the French have a lower rate of coronary heart disease than many other western countries. In the United States, 315 of every 100,000 middle-aged men die of heart attacks each year; in France the rate is 145 per 100,000. In the Gascony region, where goose and duck liver form a staple of the diet, this rate is a remarkably low 80 to 100,000. This phenomenon has recently gained international attention and was dubbed the French Paradox. (The French do suffer from many degenerative diseases, however.  They eat large amounts of sugar and white flour and in recent years have succumbed to the time saving temptations of processed foods.) Sally Fallon Nourishing Traditions

It didn’t take much convincing me after I read that and a bunch more research on how good liver is for you. So with that in mind I thought, “What the hell. Why not try it, and if I don’t like it, that will be the end of that.” In that spirit, I called up my local farmer and

ordered a few livers. A beef and a lamb liver. There are many liver recipes in both Nourishing Traditions and Good Meat and I thought I’d try the liver dumpling soup from Nourishing Traditions. Not surprisingly it was delicious. I didn’t tell my family what they were eating, I just said we were having a dumpling soup. As they got half way through their liver dumplings I said, “Ok, what do you think you are eating?” They had no idea and I told them. They were shocked and couldn’t believe liver could taste so good. My son and seconds and thirds.

I’m not going to lie when I first opened up the package of liver, I was disgusted. The texture, the feel, the site of it, was pretty gross. But like I do with so many other things, I bucked up and threw all my hesitation and distracting thoughts aside, washed it off, blotted it dry and threw it in the food processor right away. After mixing in the other ingredients I tasted it raw and was wow’d. I liked it! The second time I made this, I had no problem handling it!

It’s a very simple recipe and pretty much is made in your food processor. It doesn’t require a whole lot of time either and is a meal in and of itself. I also got to use the beef stock I made earlier in the week and it was great to see everything come together. I’m experimenting with other livers like lamb and chicken and some interesting recipes. Over the next few weeks I’m venturing into pate’s, mouses, and spreads. Liver is going to be something we eat regularly.

On a side note: make sure to only eat liver from pasture raised, grass-fed, finished beef and pasture raised chickens, ducks, geese, and lambs. You want to buy the highest quality liver to consume. Liver from industrial farmed, grain-fed, feedlot animals are going to be very toxic with no health benefits.

It is a bit embarrassing to the lowfat people, as the truth is beginning to come out about vitamin A. A recent New York Times article noted that vitamin-A rich foods like liver, egg yolk, cream and shell fish confer resistance to infectious disease in children and prevent cancer in adults. A Washington Post article hailed vitamin A as “cheap and effective, with wonders still being (re)discovered,” nothing that recent studies have found that vitamin A supplements help prevent infant mortality in Third World countries.

….Serious students of nutrition know that foods rich in vitamin A, like liver, eggs, and cod liver oil, are vital to good health. If you–or your children–don’t like liver, eggs and cod liver oil, don’t despair. Studies show that the best and most easily absorbed source of vitamin A is butterfat, a food relished by young and old alike. So use butter and cream liberally for good taste and wise nutritional practice. -Vitamin A Vagary from Nourishing Traditions

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