Back to Butter: A Traditional Foods Cookbook - Nourishing Recipes Inspired by Our Ancestors (4 page)
Authors: Molly Chester,Sally Schrecengost
COCONUT OIL
:
A TROPICAL TREAT
TYPE
:
Saturated/Solid at Room Temperature
SMOKE POINT
:
Medium Heat
LOOK FOR
:
Organic, Unrefined, Virgin, and Centrifuged or Cold-Pressed
DESCRIPTION:
Coconut oil contains both antifungal and antimicrobial properties that assist in keeping a family strong and resilient. The oil does have a mild coconut flavor, which can be masked when sautéing by folding in a bit of butter to the dish once removed from the heat. Conversely, its coconut flavor can also help a dish reach new heights, as in the Sprouted Apple Butter Dots (
page 199
).
PORK LARD:
GRANDMA’S SUPERFOOD
TYPE
:
Saturated/Solid at Room Temperature
SMOKE POINT
:
High Heat
LOOK FOR
:
Organic and Pastured/Grass-Fed
DESCRIPTION
:
Pork lard is rendered and clarified pork fat. Not too long ago, pork lard was considered the key to the tastiest piecrust in town! And for good reason: Fats such as lard buffer the roller-coaster effect that carbohydrates and sugar have on the body, making them a wise choice for baked goods. As with purchasing pork (
page 31
), we prefer our pork lard to come from animals raised on pasture without the use of hormones and antibiotics. A simple recipe for collecting bacon fat, which is a seasoned version of pork lard, can be found on (
page 33
). In grandma’s day, bacon drippings were typically saved and strained in order to fry the next day’s eggs, or to build the crust of Sunday’s quiche, or to sauté the dinner vegetables, which is the technique we use in our Brussels Sprouts with Onions and Crispy Bacon (
page 166
).
BEEF LARD, a.k.a. TALLOW:
THE UNREFINED FRYING OIL
TYPE
:
Saturated/Solid at Room Temperature
SMOKE POINT
:
High Heat
LOOK FOR
:
Organic and Pastured/Grass-fed
DESCRIPTION
:
Beef lard, also known as tallow, is rendered and clarified beef fat. Tallow has properties most closely related to those of pork lard and serves as an excellent substitute for people who choose not to eat pork products. As with purchasing beef (
page 27
), we prefer our tallow to come from an animal raised on pasture without the use of hormones and antibiotics. Beef lard fries food beautifully.
“Don’t be fooled by television chefs who use olive oil at high temperatures! The oil is either refined, or it is being used improperly.”
EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
:
EVOO
TYPE
:
Unsaturated/Liquid at Room Temperature
SMOKE POINT
:
Medium Heat
LOOK FOR
:
Organic, Unrefined, Unfiltered, Virgin, and Cold-Pressed
DESCRIPTION
:
Extra-virgin olive oil is one of the more stable unsaturated fats, which remains liquid at room temperature but seizes up a bit when refrigerated. The important prefix
extra-virgin
implies that the oil is derived from the first pressing of the olives, resulting in the most nutritious oil with a lovely, delicate flavor. Don’t be fooled by television chefs who use olive oil at high temperatures! The oil is either refined, or it is being used improperly. Get into the habit of using unrefined extra-virgin olive oil without heating by trying our Tangy Jam Dressing (
page 112
).
WALNUT OIL:
A LIGHT AND LOVELY SEASONING
TYPE
:
Unsaturated/Liquid at Room Temperature
SMOKE POINT
:
Cold Use Only
LOOK FOR
:
Organic, Unrefined, Unfiltered, Virgin, and Cold-Pressed
DESCRIPTION
:
Treat yourself to a quality jar of walnut oil! We’ve found a small, local walnut farm
that produces a beautiful variety (
page 216
), but any unrefined walnut oil will add light and lovely dimensions to a dish. Due to its delicate nature, walnut oil should be kept refrigerated. We use it primarily as a seasoning oil to enhance cold dishes, such as our Confetti Slaw (
page 149
), but it’s also delicious when drizzled over a warm plated dish for a finishing touch.
SESAME OIL:
A NUTTY AND FULL FINISHING OIL
Type
:
Unsaturated/Liquid At Room Temperature
SMOKE POINT
:
Cold Use Only
LOOK FOR
:
Organic, Unrefined, Unfiltered, Virgin, and Cold-Pressed
DESCRIPTION
:
As with walnut oil, use sesame oil as a salad or finishing oil. It imparts an intensely nutty flavor to a dish and is delicious drizzled over Traditional Hummus (
page 74
) or when complemented by Asian flavors, as in our Chilled Sweet ’n Sour Asparagus (
page 150
).
FLAX OIL:
THE GOLDEN CHILD
TYPE
:
Unsaturated/Liquid at Room Temperature
SMOKE POINT
:
Cold Use Only
LOOK FOR
:
Organic, Unrefined, Unfiltered, Virgin, and Cold-Pressed
DESCRIPTION
:
Flax oil is a nutty oil with a slight bitterness that some may find unpleasant. But for those who enjoy the full-bodied flavor, it contains a generous amount of the nutritionally important essential omega-3 fatty acids. Use flax oil in healthy moderation with a variety of other oils. When shopping for flax oil, make sure the store keeps its bottles in refrigeration and note the sell-by date, because flax oil turns rancid easily, making the oil even more bitter and virtually unpalatable. It’s best to buy small bottles of flax oil more frequently to avoid the waste of expiration. Flax oil is featured in our Raw Chopped Salad (
page 104
).
If you’re anything like I was, the only fat on the above list that currently lives in your kitchen is extra-virgin olive oil. If that is the case, try purchasing one new fat with each trip to the grocery store. And if we’ve convinced you to put butter on your grocery list for the very first time, you’re in for a real treat!
SUSTAINABLE MEAT
John and I have a little black dog named Todd. Every day, sometimes all day, Todd saunters out to a sunny section of our courtyard, plops down, and takes in a big old dose of sunshine. When he’s had his fill, he meanders over under the bougainvillea for a much-needed nap in the shade. This happens every single day. Todd needs his sun. Sheep, on the other hand, who are in the sun all day, really appreciate access to shade. They’ll even create their own, when necessary, by standing in a huddle with their heads underneath their neighbor’s stomach. Sheep are also extremely unhappy in a pasture that doesn’t have a lot of quality grass. Without a bit of patience, they baa-aaa like an orchestra and stomp their feet while
standing near the gate. And then there are the chickens, who tuck themselves in at night! Every evening at dusk, they go back to their mobile housing unit for shelter, completely unprompted—we simply close the door. But you better believe they are crowing and clucking loudly in the morning if we’re even a few minutes late to open it back up. As for the cows, if they’re in the pasture with green grass and a pile of dried alfalfa, they ignore the alfalfa and chomp on the fresh grass. Suffice it to say, they’ve all got opinions!
“On a very basic level, the quality of the animal literally becomes the quality of us. We truly are what we eat.”
Just like us, animals need space, sun, shade, clean water, and appropriate food. Their behavior is almost always reflective of their attempt to solve one of those basic needs. When they can’t remedy their own issues and no one does it for them, they begin to get sick, and when they get sick, they often receive antibiotics. But the question is, why do we turn so quickly to antibiotics before we’ve revisited the basics of quality space, sun, water, and food?
Animals who are compassionately raised have muscles and bones that are strong from proper exercise. And just like us, cows fed a proper diet don’t feel bloated and gassy. When chickens forage pastures to eat bugs, clover and grass, the yolks of their eggs turn a magnificent bright orange, whereas factory-farmed yolks are a pale, pastel yellow. The yolk doesn’t lie! And who benefits from this health? We do! We eat the animal. On a very basic level, the quality of the animal literally becomes the quality of us. We truly are what we eat.
With that said, attaining high-quality space, sun, water, and food for animals can be expensive, pushing the cost of quality meat higher. Personally, I budget high food costs as a necessity. “Food Costs” might as well merge with the “Medical” line item in my budget, under preventive care. Yet, sometimes, even necessities get cut. During those tight times, even one step in the right direction helps. We want to help you make that first step. Below are the categories of meat we use for the recipes in this book. Directly below each type of meat is a listing of the buzzwords we care about and look for when purchasing, and below that is an explanation of how we make our selections in each category. If all the buzzwords can be found pertaining to one farmer’s meat, hooray! But if not, try adopting one at a time. Step into it, and soon, you may understand why we suggest seeking out a compassionate, thoughtful farmer and paying a premium for sustainable meats. It costs more because it’s
worth
more.
LOOK FOR: Local, Grass-Fed or Grass-Finished, and Organic Cows, by nature, eat fresh grass. The cattle supplying most common grocery store beef, however, have been penned into small areas and fed grain, which is only the dried seed of grass, and legumes such as soy. Because mass amounts of grain and soy are not the natural feed for cows, and because their personal space is wholly disregarded, health and digestive issues ensue, prompting the need for antibiotics.
This vicious cycle feels unnatural, no? That’s why we recommend avoiding it completely by purchasing meats from a farmer at a local market, whose eyes you can look into as you shake hands and ask if their cows graze on pasture (
meaning grass
).
When purchasing beef, look out for the term
grass-finished
, meaning that a cow has grazed on grass year-round with no grain supplementation. Grass-finished is top-notch, but grass-fed—wherein a cow’s diet is supplemented with grain during the barren winter months—is still very high quality and slightly more realistic in some climates, and it doesn’t seem to affect the cow’s overall health. When we supplement with grocery store beef, we choose
local
(to avoid purchasing meat that must be shipped across the country),
grass-fed
(to ensure the cow received time on pasture eating grass) or even better
grass-finished
(in support of the cow receiving year-round pasture and grass), and
organic
(to avoid growth hormones and antibiotics).
LOOK FOR: Local, Pastured, Organic, and Soy-Free Back in the day, chickens frolicked the farm foraging for bugs and snails, eating a bit of grass, and maybe getting frisky with a rooster from time to time. That’s natural and just makes sense. The term
pastured
defines the above description, but 100 percent pastured chicken eggs, unfortunately, are the hardest eggs to source. As always, my first suggestion is to visit a local farmers’ market in search of 100 percent pastured eggs. If unavailable, try asking a friendly face at a local health food store for a listing of trusted local farms, or even hop on the Internet to do a search for pastured eggs in your area.