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

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