Homemade Yogurt

While dairy is definitely in a grey zone, we known that some of its constituents, like the fat (butter), contain a host of health promoting benefits.

Yogurt is another one of those foods that can offer a lot of health benefits without too much possible drawbacks. As you probably know, yogurt is milk that has been fermented by strains of lactic acid producing bacteria. For this reason, yogurt is a good source of probiotics, which are beneficial bacteria.

Apart from the satisfaction of making it yourself, homemade yogurt is much cheaper than store bought yogurt and you stay in control of the ingredients you use. You can therefore use the best quality organic and grass-fed whole milk and even raw milk instead of the regular milk coming from improperly fed and treated cows.

Even more so, if you ferment it long enough, the bacteria will consume all the lactose, which is a type of sugar in milk that can often cause problems.

In the end, homemade yogurt is an amalgam of bacteria, fat and proteins (casein and whey). Yet, some people might still be worried with the casein content of yogurt. Casein is a protein found in milk that has been shown to cause problems for some people, especially combined with the immune disrupting effects of gluten. Most of the cows raised for milk in North-America produce a milk with a type of casein called A1. Many people who reported having problems with dairy experience relief from either raw milk, goat’s milk or sheep’s milk. Goats and sheep produce A2 casein, which has been shown not to cause the problems that A1 causes.

Still, if you can’t get raw milk, goats milk or sheep’s milk and are worried by the casein content of yogurt, there is another alternative: sour cream. Sour cream is simply fermented cream instead of fermented milk. Cream, heavy cream that is, only contains traces of lactose and casein while the caloric content comes from fat (butter fat). Homemade sour cream is also a great way to get an even better dose of healthy saturated fat. Keep in mind that sour cream made with heavy cream is very rich and filling. Much more so than most store bought sour cream, which is probably made from half and half cream.

The fermentation of cream will of course consume the sugars even more thoroughly than fermented milk. Crème fraiche, a French specialty, is a variation of sour cream that probably only differs in the fermentation time and strains introduced.

Keep in mind that while sour cream or yogurt are excellent to make thick and tangy sauces for your favorite paleo dishes, they’ll lose their probiotic properties when heated. Beef stroganoff is probably the most well known dish where the sauce often contains sour cream.

They are a very versatile addition to the diet that go along well with sweet and savory dishes. Serving yogurt or sour cream flavored with your favorite fresh herbs over slices of roast beef, pork or chicken is absolutely delicious. On the sweet side, dark chocolate, mint, vanilla or berries mixed with yogurt or sour cream make for an excellent and healthy dessert. Tsadziki, the popular Greek sauce made with yogurt, cucumbers and garlic also goes well with virtually anything.

The idea of making your own yogurt might seem a little complex, but once you get the hang of it, it all becomes pretty simple and straight forward. You don’t even need much in terms of kitchen equipment. After all, a yogurt maker is simply a device that keeps the yogurt warm during the fermentation process. I much prefer simply putting my batch in an oven with the light open and the door closed. It doesn’t cost a thing and you can do as much as you want. A thermometer to check the temperature of the milk or oven is nice to have handy, but not mandatory.

As for ingredients, you only need good quality whole milk or cream and a bacterial starter of some kind. Yogurt starters can be bought online at places like GI Pro Health, Cultures for Health or Custom Probiotics. Crème fraiche is often started with butter milk and you can even try without a starter if you decide to use raw milk. The natural bacteria in the milk will ferment it just fine.

Another good and cheap alternative is to use a bit of leftover yogurt from your previous batch or from commercial yogurt with live bacteria. Companies that sell powder starter formulations usually advice to start with fresh starter every time, but as long as your yogurt tastes like yogurt and holds like yogurt, you can use leftover yogurt. Either way, a bottle of yogurt starter in powder form will last you for a long time because you’ll use only a very small amount per batch.

Without further ado, here are the instructions for a yogurt or sour cream fermented for 24 hours so all the lactose gets digested by the bacteria. It’s my preferred way to make it because it’s a simple process and I prefer not having any lactose when I don’t have to. It also produces a nice and tangy yogurt. This is a yogurt that is SCD complient. SCD (specific carbohydrate diet) is a diet created to treat digestive issues ranging from IBS and IBD to Crohn’s and even autism. It is very similar to the paleo diet, but differs in the sense that it focuses heavily on probiotic foods and elimination of any form of starch.

1 quart (4 cups) whole milk or cream (pastured, grass-fed or raw are the best choices);Powder bacterial starter or 1/4 cup good quality plain yogurt with live culturesMost people like to sterilize their tools beforehand by boiling them for a least ten minutes. I tend to be on the lazy side though and I’ve had nothing but great results simply by thoroughly washing all my instruments in very hot water and letting them air dry (dish towels often contain bacteria). The only danger of not sterilizing is that other bacteria can overpower your starter and the yogurt doesn’t end up looking or tasting like yogurt.Pour the milk in a heavy bottomed pan and let it heat at a medium low temperature making sure you stir often so it doesn’t scorch. The more fat in your milk, the less chance it will burn. You want to bring the milk to at least 180 F. Use either a thermometer making sure to stir before taking a measure or if you don’t have a thermometer look for small bubbles that form around the edges of the pan. This process kills off any other bacteria so the starter can have to whole place to play.Before introducing the starter, cool the milk to around room temperature. The fastest way to do that is to pour the heated milk in the glass jar/bottles that you’ll use for the fermentation and to put those jar/bottles in a cold water bath. You can then stir the milk to make the process happen even faster. If you put the starter in a milk that’s too hot, you’ll kill it.If using a powdered starter, follow their instructions as for the quantity to use. I like to work in one bigger glass jar instead of smaller glass bottles because it’s simpler to clean afterwards. I find that the 4 cups glass measuring cups are ideal for both cooling the milk, mixing the starter and fermenting the yogurt. If you use multiple bottle, you might want to have the cooled milk in on jar to mix-in the starter so you can be more accurate about the quantity. If using leftover yogurt, prepare a paste of about 1/2 cup of the cooled milk with the 1/4 cup leftover yogurt. Mix-in this paste to the rest of the cooled milk.Close up the bottles or cover the jar with plastic wrap and put in an oven with the light open. This is where things can get a little bit touchy because the fermentation temperature is pretty important for the success of your yogurt. The temperature inside the oven should stay around 100 and 110 F and you can place a thermometer in the oven to know for sure. Most ovens will do just fine when simply keeping the light open. If it becomes too hot, you can open up the door just a tad. For those ovens that don’t become hot enough, you can buy a stronger light bulb, like a 60w one and use it when making yogurt. You can also heat the oven to the lowest temperature (usually around 170 F) and than turn it off and reheat it several hours later when the temperature has dropped too much.Let the milk ferment for about 24 hours. The lactose should be completely digested by 24 hours, but you can let the fermentation go for longer without problem.Place the jar of bottles in the refrigerator to cool and enjoy! You might sometimes end-up with a yogurt that is a bit more liquid than commercial yogurt, but often the taste won’t suffer. It all depends on the quantity and strength of the starter and temperature during the fermentation process. Most of the time though, it should come out just fine. Be aware though that once you take the fermented yogurt out of the oven it will still be runny, bit it will solidify as it cools.

I like to make a soft cheese from time to time with my finished yogurt or sour cream. Sour cream effectively becomes cream cheese and it’s absolutely delicious. Yogurt also takes the same texture as cream cheese, only more tangy. Its ridiculously easy to make. Be sure the yogurt or sour cream has cooled in the refrigerated and line a fine colander with paper towels or layers of cheese cloth. Pour the yogurt or sour cream in the colander and then hang the colander over a pan, cover and let strain for 6 to 8 hours in the refrigerator or not. Some people like to attach the cheese cloth with a string and make it hang over their sink. The liquid that gets strained is water with whey protein. You can discard it, but you can also keep it and drink it, whey is a good quality protein.

I hope you’ll like making and enjoying this delicious fermented creation and that your gut will thank you for all those nice little buggers you feed it. Dairy might be in a grey zone on a Paleo diet, but sometimes the benefits outweigh the potential problems. It might just be the case with yogurt.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

Photos: Yogurt with fruits and nuts, yogurt in measuring cup, yogurt with chives, preparation, straining

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Benefits of the Paleo Diet

If you are going on the Paleo diet to lose weight, you know its benefits there. But did you know that it can help you with chronic diseases and disorders as well? Diseases or conditions as diverse as asthma, diabetes, kidney stones and osteoporosis can be improved or even cured with the Paleo diet. Let's go over some of its benefits:

Losing Weight with the Paleo Diet

To lose weight we must burn more calories than we take in. We've been told for years that the best way to do this is to eat a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet. However, most people on low-calorie, high-carbohydrate diets struggle with it. They are hungry all the time, and weight lost is often regained rapidly or within a few months after they lose it. Low-carbohydrate, high-fat diets were hot for a while, but were nothing more than a short term fix, because in the long run this diet is unhealthy because of its reliance upon fats at the expense of fruits and vegetables.

The Paleo diet imitates what our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate - a high-protein, high-fruit and vegetable diet with moderate amounts of fat, but with high amounts of omega-3 and monounsaturated fats. Protein has two to three times the fat-burning effect of either fat or carbohydrates, so it revs up your metabolism, speeding up your weight loss. Also, protein has a much greater satiety value than either fat or carbohydrate, so it lowers your appetite. Higher protein diets have been proven over and over to be more effective than low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets in promoting weight loss.

Syndrome X diseases

The diet that the average person heats is high in sugar and grains. This raises insulin and blood sugar levels. Excessive insulin and blood sugar levels are known to promote a cluster of diseases called Syndrome X. These diseases include obesity, hypertension, high 'bad' cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes, and gout. You do not eat grains and sugar on the Paleo diet, but you do eat carbohydrates in the form of unlimited fruits and vegetables. The carbohydrates in the Paleo Diet are  low-glycemic, meaning that they cause a slow rise in your blood sugar and insulin levels. The high fiber, protein, and omega-3 fats in the Paleo Diet will also help to prevent Syndrome X diseases.

Other Disorders

Because of the unlimited amounts of fruits and vegetables permitted on the Paleo Diet, your body will be slightly alkaline, so diseases and disease symptoms caused by an acid/base imbalance will improve or even be cured. These diseases include osteoporosis, kidney stones, asthma, hypertension, and many others. Also, the high amounts of soluble-fiber in the Paleo Diet will improve most diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, and the high omega-3 fat content will improve most of the inflammatory diseases.

The Paleo diet is a great way to improve our health and become lean and strong. While is certainly true that hunter-gatherers in ancient societies died young, most deaths were related to a life spent living  without modern medical care. They didn't have the chronic degenerative diseases that run rampant in our modern society. In hunter-gatherer populations today, the elderly people are generally free of chronic disease. Obesity, high blood pressure are virtually unknown. But when these people adopt western diets, their health declines, and they show all the same 'diseases of civilization' that we have in modern societies. 

What is the Paleo Diet?

Paleo is a simple dietary lifestyle that is based on foods that were eaten in the Paleolithic Era, and those foods alone. Those foods include meat, fish, nuts and seeds, vegetables, and  fruits. With the Paleo diet, you do not eat Neolithic Era foods that came after agriculture or animal husbandry were widespread. These foods include grains, dairy, beans/legumes, potatoes, sugar, and foods with lots of chemicals. Followers of the Paleo diet say that by eating the foods that we are genetically adapted to eat, you will become naturally lean, have acne-free skin, improved athletic performance, and experience relief from  metabolic-related and autoimmune diseases.

Our ancestors mostly ate foods that were easiest to hunt or gather where they were. As nomads we would have adapted to various mixes of foods. The amount of food consumed is up to the individual. You can make it meat heavy if you want, add more fruit and vegetables if you prefer, as long as the foods you eat are paleo. You may consume a raw food diet, as long as it falls into the paleo diet guidelines. You should eat when you are hungry, not at set times of the day. Your ancestors hunted in anticipation of hunger, and ate they needed to eat. You should do the same.

Oils should be restricted to those from fruits, such as olive oil, or palm oil, or from nuts, like walnut oil or coconut oil. Wild game meat is best, but grass-fed meat can be used as a serviceable substitute. No processed meats should be eaten, and you don't have to restrict the amount of fat you eat. Fish should be wild-caught. For everything else, organic is preferred, as you want your food to be natural and free of pollutants.

Eat the greatest variety of foods possible. You should use herbs and spices, as these were readily available and will make your food tasty. You shouldn't use sugar, or corn syrup. The only paleo sweetener is honey, and it should be eaten in small quantities. You could also use a small amount of coconut palm sugar. Salt should not be added to your food. After taking salt out of your diet, your taste buds will adjust and you won't miss it. The same thing happens with sugar. 

The only beverage that is paleo is water. Drink only when you are thirsty. If you want caffeine, green tea is the most paleo, because it is the least processed.

Paleo foods are nutrient dense, and supplements are not necessary. Vitamin D is the one exception to this. Many of us don't get enough sun, and if you don't eat liver regularly, you might need to take extra Vitamin D. Also, if you don't eat fish often, fish oil is another way to get Omega 3 fatty acids. The rest of your diet should be sufficient for your body's needs.

The Paleo diet will make you lean and healthy. It will lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, acne, gastrointestinal disease, autoimmune diseases, and more. Eat as your ancestors did, and start toward optimal health today.

Mexican Salsa Verde

Salsa verde or green sauce or sauce verde is a specialty in many countries like France, Italy and Mexico where the all have their version. Italians make it with capers, anchovies, mustard and olive oil and the French version is more of a tarragon flavored mayonnaise.

Mexicans make it with tomatillos, cilantro, lime juice and jalapeños for a tangy and spicy green sauce you can use for various purposes. Its perfect as a dip for vegetables, a sauce to serve mussels or a sauce to serve with meat like roast beef. Let your imagination run wild as to where to use it.

The tomatillos are usually roasted, but you can alternatively simmer them for about 5 minutes for similar results.

Now for the Mexican salsa verde recipe. Serves 4 people.

1/2 cup onion, chopped;1 1/2 pound green tomatillos, husk removed;1/2 cup cilantro, chopped;2 tbsp lime juice;2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped;Salt and pepper to taste.Cut the tomatillos lengthwise  and roast them either on the grill or for about 6 minutes under the broiler until the skin is a little dark.Put the roasted tomatillos, onion, cilantro, lime juice and jalapeño in a blender or food processor.Blend or process until you obtain a smooth puree.Place in the refrigerator to cool and enjoy.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

Salsa verde, salsa on beef, ingredients

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Roasted Bone Marrow

Bone marrow is a prized and creamy food that we find in the middle of long bones like the femur or the humerus. It’s composed mostly of fat with a high amount of fat soluble vitamins and is an item that is really highly valued by all traditional cultures over the world. If you give marrow to your cat or your dog, he’ll go crazy for it.

The taste is very pleasing and most people like it right away. Most kids also enjoy it very much. A lot of people in the Paleo diet circles talk about cooking with bones by making stock or eating the marrow, but most people don’t really know what to buy and how to prepare it. It’s actually one of the simplest things to prepare and a good choice to impress guests while being sure you won’t mess it up because it’s so quick and simple.

I suggest you serve it with a light salad with a lemon based vinaigrette to cut the high richness of the marrow. The most popular animal for its marrow is beef because of the big size of its bones, but if you have access to wild game meat like deer, elk or caribou, it’s also an excellent choice. Your butcher or local farmer should already make it easy for you since they don’t expect you to start using a saw in your kitchen. They will basically cut it to make 3 inch long pieces.

Now for the bone marrow recipe. Serves 4 people.

4 three inches long beef marrow bones;Salt and pepper to taste;Preheat your oven to 400 F.Put the marrow, cut side up in a baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.Roast for about 15 minutes. It’s ready when it starts to bubble around the edges.Simply serve with a simple salad on the side with a small spoon to scoop it off. It might be hard to get it all off because of the porous nature of the bone, but you can use your mouth and apply some old fashioned suction and it’ll do the trick.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

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Braised Oxtail

When is the last time you had braised oxtail? And to say one of the first things someone eating a standard American diet will argue about with the Paleo diet is lack of variety or choice. I never tasted cuts and organs like oxtail, marrow, homemade stock, tongue, kidneys or heart before switching to a Paleo diet and probably never would have. Neither did I eat such a variety of animals like elk, bison, wild boar, squid, rabbit, …

Oxtail is one of those items that very few people keep in their repertoire, even in the Paleo circles. We often talk about the most popular organs, but rarely hear about eating the tail on animals. Oxtail is the name commonly given the the preparation of beef tail.  It’s a tough meat so it’s often stewed or braised and the bones will also leave some of their great taste to the cooking liquid. You can ask your butcher to cut it appropriately or you can cut the tails yourself with a big knife. Try to get the tail ends so you can put them with the cooking liquid to give even more flavor and nutrients to the final dish.

The aromatic vegetables in the main braising ingredients are cut in large chunks so they don’t disintegrate in the sauce. The same vegetables are cut much finely in the garnishing preparation because they are only slightly cooked.

Serves 4 people

Main ingredients:

2 oxtails, each one cut in 4 sections;1/2 cup chopped carrots;1/2 cup diced onions;1/2 cup chopped celery;1/2 cup chopped leeks;4 tbsp tallow, lard or butter;1 lb tomatoes;8 sprigs fresh thyme;2 bay leaves;4 crushed garlic cloves;1 cup red wine (you can omit the wine if you want to);4 1/2 cups chicken or beef stock.

Vegetable garnish

1 finely diced carrot;1 finely diced onion;2 finely diced celery stalks;1/2 leek, finely diced;4 small tomatoes, finely diced;2 tbsp chopped parsley.Preheat your oven to 350 F.Heat the lard, tallow or butter in a pan and brown the oxtail pieces on each side.Remove the oxtail and brown the vegetables for the main braising liquid (carrots, celery, onions and leeks). Make sure you stir and scrape off any meat residue in the bottom of the pan.Add  the tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves and garlic and cooked for a couple of minutes.Put the oxtail and browned vegetables in a casserole that also goes in the oven and add the wine, if using.Boil the wine at high heat until almost evaporated and add enough stock to cover the oxtail entirely.Bring the whole preparation to a simmer then cover and put in the oven to braise for about 1.5 hours to 2 hours.At this point, most chefs will strain the liquid to remove the small piece of cooked and mushy vegetables so it looks better. I personally like to leave them in, but it’s up to you. You should definitely remove the bay leaves though.Blanch the garnishing vegetables other than the tomatoes in boiling water for about 4 minutes.Put the blanched vegetables in the oxtail preparation and simmer for about 2 minutes.Enjoy this sophisticated but simple dish with family and friends!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

Oxtail, mirepoix, browning

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Making Clarified Butter (Ghee)

Clarified butter, also called Ghee in Indian cuisine, is simply butter with the milk proteins, sugars and water removed. It’s perfect for people who want to stay 100% Paleo or who might worry that some constituents like lactose or casein in the butter might cause health problems. I personally prefer consuming clarified butter because I’ve been dealing with leaky gut and autoimmune problems for a number of years and I now always stay on the safe side, even though butter is already pretty safe by itself.

The other advantage of clarified butter is that you can heat it at a much higher temperature because its a highly saturated fat and you don’t run the chance of burning any of the milk solids. It’s ideal for sauteing, roasting, stir-frying or any other cooking method that requires high-heat. It has a delicious nutty taste that will please any butter lover out there and goes well with virtually anything. I honestly haven’t found a single preparation where clarified butter is not well-suited.

You can of course buy butter already clarified at your local Indian food store or online from sites like Pure Indian Foods, but it’s also very easy to make at home. It’s very important that you choose a high-quality, unsalted butter coming from pasture-raised and grass-fed cows. The quality, color and nutrition value of the butter will be much greater in such butter. When the cows eat a rapidly growing green grass, the butter will often have orange undertones, reflecting the high amount of carotenes in it. Kerry Gold sells a very high quality pastured, grass-fed and organic butter all over the US.

There are basically two methods used to make clarified butter, the slow melting method and the shorter boiling method. Both render similar results.

1 pound or more of butter;A heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven;A large wooded or stainless spoon;Optionally, a slotted spoon helps to remove the froth that forms on top;A fine mesh strainer;Pieces of cheese cloth or paper towel;A glass jar for finished clarified butter.

With this method, you put the butter butter in your pot or dutch oven and slowly melt it at a low temperature. Don’t stir during the melting process and don’t worry about the milk solids burning since that temperature is quite low. When all melted, use a spoon or slotted spoon to remove the froth that formed on top. Line a fine mesh strainer with layers of cheese cloth or paper towel over a jar or bowl and pour the melted butter. Once poured, let stand for a couple of minutes so the water and fat separate and then spoon off the butter in your final glass jar being careful not to put any of the water that is now in the bottom of the bowl.

Melt the butter over medium high heat while stirring occasionally to make sure the milk solid don’t burn. Remove the froth on top all along the process with a spoon or slotted spoon. The butter will come to a boil and you can now let it bowl for about 15 minutes while stirring from time to time. When the water has all evaporated, the butter will stop boiling and this is when that clarified butter is ready. Line a fine mesh strainer with cheese cloth or paper towel over your final glass jar and pour the clarified butter.

In the process of clarifying butter, you can add all sorts of herbs and spices to infuse their aroma and color and give the resulting ghee a delicious taste that will render the food you prepare with it even more delicious. When making flavored ghee, it’s better to clarify the butter with the boiling method so the herbs or spices have a chance to infuse all their taste. Add your favorite combination or herbs and spices right about when the butter is melted and leave them until the very end of the process.

Here are some popular examples (the quantities are for a pound of butter):

Garlic ghee: 6-7 crushed or minced garlic cloves.Cardamom ghee: 6-7 crushed cardamom pods.Mint-Jalapeño ghee: 1/2 cup mint leaves and 1 large, chopped jalapeño.Rosemary-thyme ghee: 6 sprigs each of rosemary and thyme.Ginger ghee: 2 tbsp fresh minced ginger.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

Curled butter, flavored ghee

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Paleo Mayonnaise

And to think that I thought I wouldn’t enjoy mayonnaise ever again on the Paleo diet, boy was I wrong! The Paleo diet is the chance to discover blends and flavors of mayonnaise that will stay unknown to most people. For example, the baconnaise, the duckonnaise or the beefonnaise all made from the fat of their respective animal, pork, duck and beef. Most people think that this is an heart attack in a jar, but we know better and know that it’s really a health food.

I’ll give you two different versions of mayonnaise recipes today, a coconut oil mayonnaise and the now famous baconnaise. The technique of preparation is the same for both and also keep in mind that you can extend this delicious concoction with spices, fresh herbs (dill is delicious in it), garlic or even chopped pickles for a tartar sauce.

As for the technique, you can use either a blender, a food processor or your soon to be sore hand and a whisk. I prefer the version made by hand because it’s really not that bad and it makes for less things to clean afterwards. The technique is basically the same for all those techniques, so I’ll explain it in a comprehensible way for the three techniques.

The coconut mayonnaise is made with half olive oil because it would become way too hard in the refrigerator. I don’t recommend a full olive oil mayonnaise unless you use the light version because it will taste too strong.

2 egg yolks1 tsp mustard (this is optional)3 tsp lemon juice1/2 cup olive oil1/2 cup coconut oil1 cup liquid bacon fat (you can of course use rendered lard, it’s the same thing) in place of the olive and coconut oilsPut the yolks in a bowl (blender, food processor) with the mustard, if using and 1 tsp lemon juice and mix those ingredients together;Start whisking vigorously (blender or food processor on low) while dripping the oil very slowly, even drop by drop in the beginning. You’re creating an emulsion and if you put too much oil at once, it will separate and will be very hard to save. Whisk non-stop and use a towel under the bowl to help stabilize it;As you add more oil, the emulsion will form and the mayonnaise will start to thicken and you can pour the oil faster at this point;When all the oil is incorporated and the mayonnaise is thick, add the rest of the lemon juice and taste your creation. You can season to taste with salt and pepper;Enjoy without guilt and put the store in the refrigerator!

And here you go, it’s that simple. Of course I encourage you to play with it and to come up with new variations. Happy Paleo mayonnaise making!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

Mayonnaise picture

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Homemade Pork Rinds

Pork rind is simply roasted or fried pork skin. Also called cracklings, they are a snack enjoyed all over the world. Most people think of them as unhealthy indulgence, but we no very well that there is nothing wrong in eating fatty pork skin. However, making it yourself it probably the only way to go because you can control the amount of salt you use and you’ll know there won’t be any other nasty ingredients.

Dipped in dill flavored paleo mayonnaise or tartar sauce, they make a delicious and crispy paleo diet snack that will cost you pennies. Butchers will sell you pork skin for almost nothing.

They will keep for a long time if cooked long enough for all the fat to be rendered out and you can crush them to make a Paleo breading for your chicken or fish.

And now for this very simple paleo snack:

Pork skin;Salt (this is optional, saltless rinds are also excellent and it’s usually the way I make them)Preheat your oven to 325 F.Put the skin on a baking sheet. Put in on parchment paper and it will be much easier to clean afterwards.Put the skin in the oven for anywhere between 1.5 hours to 3 hours. Most recipes call for 3 hours of cooking, but my experience tells me that most of the time it’s ready after 1.5 hours. You want them crispy but you don’t want it to be hard as a rock.Get it out of the oven, let it cool a bit and enjoy. They are delicious when still a little hot. If there was a lot of fat attached to it and you don’t cook them for too long, there will be a crunchy and moist side and you’ll enjoy the best of both worlds.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

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An Egg Yolk a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Now that you know that cholesterol in food (dietary cholesterol) is not a bad thing, you might be interested to learn about the benefits of eating egg yolks versus egg whites. In fact, other than for some extra proteins, egg whites are pretty much useless and can even cause problems for some people with digestive conditions or autoimmune diseases and you’ll see why later.

Our society’s bias against saturated fat and cholesterol has become so strong that we often forget that in nature those are the exact foods where the most nutrients are found. Egg yolks are no different. They contain 100% of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K as well as carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin found in the egg. They also contain more than 90% of the calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, folate, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. Compared to the yolk, the white doesn’t bring much to the table in terms of nutrients. The gg white contains more protein than the yolk, but it’s only because the yolk is smaller. Furthermore, we know that protein really should only consist of about 15 to 30% of our caloric intake, with the bulk of the rest coming from healthy animal fats. It doesn’t make much sense to seek out sources of proteins without fat and protein alone depletes stores of vitamin A. Mother nature is wise though and put fat around most sources of animal protein in nature.

The reason why we find a high amount of cholesterol in the egg yolk is not an evil trick played by mother nature to damage our health with the exact foods that are full of nutrients, but because cholesterol is an extremely important nutrient that is much needed by the future animal that should come out of the egg if no one interferes. Cholesterol is not only important for the future bird or reptile, but for us too. It’s the precursor to all sex hormones and is used by every cell of the body. It has also been shown countless times that dietary cholesterol raises the “good” HDL while it’s the sugar, especially fructose, grains and omega-3/omega-6 imbalances that raises the “bad” LDL and the triglycerides in the blood.

DHA is the usable form of omega-3 by the body and arachidonic acid is the usable form of omega-6. Compared to those, omega-3s from ALA (Alpha-linolenic acid) and EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) and the omega-6 LA (linoleic acid) need to be elongated  before being used by the body. Egg yolks bring both DHA and AA, the two truly essential fatty acids. Consuming omega-3 rich eggs is also a good idea to keep the n-3/n-6 in a good ratio in your diet.

It’s a sad thing that the medical establishment has got the facts all wrong about things like eggs and butter and that consuming only the white is what’s recommended by most nutritionists. It’s no wonder kids today have ADD and development problems with the egg white omelets, low fat milk and cereals that feed them in the morning. They have a nutrient, cholesterol and saturated fat deficiency. Don’t forget that most vitamins require dietary fat to be properly absorbed and metabolized.

In fact, a case can be made against the egg whites and it’s the white that we should worry about. Most living organisms on the planet develop defense mechanisms to protect themselves against predators and invaders. It’s the survival of the fittest after all. Animals have teeth and legs to bite and run, plants develop toxins and anti-nutrients to deter any single animal from eating too much of it. Grains and legumes are often much worse in the toxin and anti-nutrient department than most plants because they are in their most vulnerable state and are the baby of the future plant so all hopes are on them for the survival of the species. This is why grains and legumes cause multiple health problems are are advised against on a Paleo diet.

Unlike most animals, eggs can’t defend themselves by bitting or escaping and have to rely on some of the same mechanisms that plants, grains and seeds use to survive. The white is solely responsible for this part while the yolk is busy becoming a full-fledged animal. 13 of the 14 proteins found in the white have anti-microbial properties. This usually deters microbes and viruses, but can also affect us, especially when consumed in high quantity or when our gut health is already compromised.

The protein lysozyme, which is usually harmless, can bind with proteins like ovomucoid or ovoinhibitor and inhibit trypsin, a protease enzyme, from doing its job of digesting proteins. Even more insidious, some of the compounds can pass through the intestinal wall and can agravate autoimmune problems or damaged guts. This is why egg whites are best avoided when dealing with autoimmune problems.

Avidin, an other anti-nutrient found in the egg white, binds to biotin, a B vitamin responsible for things such as fatty acid synthesis and blood sugar regulation, and inhibits it’s absorption. Biotin is normally produced by a healthy gut flora so those suffering from digestive issues are even more at risk of biotin deficiency.

Up to 3% of the population is allergic to egg whites while most of them would do just fine on the yolk alone.

Some argue that by cooking the white thoroughly we deactivate most of the protease inhibitors and anti-nutrients, but most people, including myself, experienced otherwise. Avidin as been shown to retain about 30% of its activity, even when the white is well cooked. Cooking the white improves the situation, but doesn’t eliminate the problem entirely. For their part, egg yolks can safely be eaten raw and they are delicious that way.

Most people today are very deficient in most of the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K2) and would benefit greatly from the healthy dose that a couple of egg yolks a day can bring. In fact, egg yolks will keep the doctor away much more than the fructose-rich apples will. The cholesterol in them is also much needed, especially for children, menopausal women, elders or anybody with adrenal problems. On their parts, egg whites are not such a big deal and can even cause problems for some people. Appreciate that tasty super-food without guilt and discard the white without loosing anything meaningful if you suspect that that make you feel bad. All hail to the egg yolk omelet!

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Photos: Yolk, mixed yolks, angry egg, cooking eggs

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Paleo Coconut Vanilla Ice Cream

The good news is that you don’t have to say goodbye to ice cream when following the Paleo diet. The bad news is that you’ll absolutely have to make it yourself. Some health food stores now offer a coconut milk alternative to regular ice cream, but I think it still contains some nasty ingredients. Making it yourself can actually be fun and rewarding. You’ll impress everybody when they’ll learn that you made the ice cream yourself from A to Z and you have much more control over the final result.

This rrecipe is 100% Paleo and while you have to possibility to add some sugary indulgences like dark chocolate or honey in it, it’s completely up to you and you don’t have to add anything sugary to get a great result that’ll please everybody. You can leave it plain like your usual vanilla ice cream or add any of your favorite flavoring during the preparation process. Fruits, coconut flakes, nuts or mint are all good options, as are honey or chocolate if you’re in for a little treat. You can always prepare the ice cream plain and add any of those other options when serving the ice cream so you can enjoy different flavors every time.

People are often worried about making ice cream because they don’t have an ice cream machine, but it’s not much more complicated or time consuming without one. The trick is to fully cool the custard in the refrigerator then putting it in a bowl in the freezer and vigorously whisking the custard while it freezes every 30 minutes or so for about 2 to 3 hours. This will prevent hard crystals to form and will produce the same smooth ice cream you’d expect from an ice cream machine.

This is a real ice cream made with a custard with the help of eggs. Unlike simpler ice cream recipes not based on a custard, this one will be much richer and will feel like the real ice cream you’re used to. It takes a bit more implication on your part, but the result will speak for itself.

Base

1 can coconut milk, full-fat;2 eggs or 4 egg yolks (yolks alone will give even more richness);Seeds from 2 fresh vanilla beans or 4 tbsp real vanilla extract.

Possible flavoring options (add any or a combination of the fallowing flavorings)

1/2 cup of your favorite berries (chopped or blended to a puree);1/2 cup coconut flakes;1/4 cup finely chopped mint;1/4 cup chopped nuts;Lemon, lime or orange zest;3 tbsp raw honey;1/4 cup dark chocolate chips or flakes (you can take a high quality dark chocolate and chop it yourself to your liking).Boil some water in a pot and reduce to a simmer.Place a heat proof bowl over it in a double boiler fashion and pour the coconut milk in it. Put vanilla seeds or vanilla extract with the coconut milk and heat until hot, but make sure it doesn’t come to a boil. If using flavorings such as mint or dark chocolate, you can add them now. You can also add chocolate at the end of the process to keep the pieces whole.Whisk the eggs of yolks in a separate bowl. Add one ladleful of the now hot coconut milk to the eggs while whisking quite vigorously. What you’re doing is tempering the eggs and slowly bringing the temperature up without cooking the eggs and risking that they scramble. Add two or three other ladlefuls of the coconut milk mixture and incorporate them to the eggs while whisking continuously.Take the tempered eggs and whisk in the bowl where the rest of the coconut milk is on the double boiler.Whisk for a couple of minutes non-stop to form a thick custard. Make sure it doesn’t get too hot and the simmering water doesn’t touch the bowl.Once the custard is ready, remove from the heat source and let it cool on the counter or the refrigerator.You can add any other flavoring you want to use once the custard is cold enough to put a finger in it and feel comfortable.Let it cool even more in the refrigerator before freezing it.Put in your ice cream maker and follow its instructions or put in a baking dish in the freezer and stir vigorously every 30 minutes for about 2 to 3 hours until it’s set.Take it out of the freezer for about 10 minutes before enjoying so it softens a bit. Serve with added coconut milk, berries, mint, coconut flakes or any other flavoring you might like.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

Ice cream with mint, with berries, vanilla bean, ice cream

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Waldorf Salad

The Waldorf salad was first created at the Waldorf Hotel in New York city. It’s simple and light so it goes well with a a heavier main course. It features raw apples, celery and walnuts mixed with mayonnaise. The crunch and sweetness of the walnuts and apples really bring an interesting texture. The mayonnaise is often substituted for yogurt and fresh grapes as well as cooked chicken or turkey is often added. Feel free to add a touch of your own touch to it. I’ve also seen it with hard broiled eggs. I think bacon would also be a good idea. When isn’t bacon a good idea?

It’s a nice and simple recipe to fall back on when you lack ideas for something everyone will love and that doesn’t require fancy ingredients. The best time to make it is around the end of the summer when the local fresh apples are cheap and plentiful.

Now for the simple Waldorf salad recipe. Serves 4 people.

1 cup chopped walnuts;1 cup diced celery;Optionally, 1 cup fresh grapes and/or leftover chicken;2 red apples, cored and sliced;1/4 cup green onions;2 tbsp lemon juice;8 tbsp homemade paleo mayonnaise;Romaine lettuce leaves for serving;Salt and pepper to taste.Mix the mayonnaise and lemon juice in a large bowl and season to taste.Add the walnuts, celery, apples, green onions as well as grapes and chicken (if using) and mix it all together.Serve the salad on a bed of romaine lettuce.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

Walnut, red apple

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Paleo Coconut Vanilla Ice Cream

The good news is that you don’t have to say goodbye to ice cream when following the Paleo diet. The bad news is that you’ll absolutely have to make it yourself. Some health food stores now offer a coconut milk alternative to regular ice cream, but I think it still contains some nasty ingredients. Making it yourself can actually be fun and rewarding. You’ll impress everybody when they’ll learn that you made the ice cream yourself from A to Z and you have much more control over the final result.

This rrecipe is 100% Paleo and while you have to possibility to add some sugary indulgences like dark chocolate or honey in it, it’s completely up to you and you don’t have to add anything sugary to get a great result that’ll please everybody. You can leave it plain like your usual vanilla ice cream or add any of your favorite flavoring during the preparation process. Fruits, coconut flakes, nuts or mint are all good options, as are honey or chocolate if you’re in for a little treat. You can always prepare the ice cream plain and add any of those other options when serving the ice cream so you can enjoy different flavors every time.

People are often worried about making ice cream because they don’t have an ice cream machine, but it’s not much more complicated or time consuming without one. The trick is to fully cool the custard in the refrigerator then putting it in a bowl in the freezer and vigorously whisking the custard while it freezes every 30 minutes or so for about 2 to 3 hours. This will prevent hard crystals to form and will produce the same smooth ice cream you’d expect from an ice cream machine.

This is a real ice cream made with a custard with the help of eggs. Unlike simpler ice cream recipes not based on a custard, this one will be much richer and will feel like the real ice cream you’re used to. It takes a bit more implication on your part, but the result will speak for itself.

Base

1 can coconut milk, full-fat;2 eggs or 4 egg yolks (yolks alone will give even more richness);Seeds from 2 fresh vanilla beans or 4 tbsp real vanilla extract.

Possible flavoring options (add any or a combination of the fallowing flavorings)

1/2 cup of your favorite berries (chopped or blended to a puree);1/2 cup coconut flakes;1/4 cup finely chopped mint;1/4 cup chopped nuts;Lemon, lime or orange zest;3 tbsp raw honey;1/4 cup dark chocolate chips or flakes (you can take a high quality dark chocolate and chop it yourself to your liking).Boil some water in a pot and reduce to a simmer.Place a heat proof bowl over it in a double boiler fashion and pour the coconut milk in it. Put vanilla seeds or vanilla extract with the coconut milk and heat until hot, but make sure it doesn’t come to a boil. If using flavorings such as mint or dark chocolate, you can add them now. You can also add chocolate at the end of the process to keep the pieces whole.Whisk the eggs of yolks in a separate bowl. Add one ladleful of the now hot coconut milk to the eggs while whisking quite vigorously. What you’re doing is tempering the eggs and slowly bringing the temperature up without cooking the eggs and risking that they scramble. Add two or three other ladlefuls of the coconut milk mixture and incorporate them to the eggs while whisking continuously.Take the tempered eggs and whisk in the bowl where the rest of the coconut milk is on the double boiler.Whisk for a couple of minutes non-stop to form a thick custard. Make sure it doesn’t get too hot and the simmering water doesn’t touch the bowl.Once the custard is ready, remove from the heat source and let it cool on the counter or the refrigerator.You can add any other flavoring you want to use once the custard is cold enough to put a finger in it and feel comfortable.Let it cool even more in the refrigerator before freezing it.Put in your ice cream maker and follow its instructions or put in a baking dish in the freezer and stir vigorously every 30 minutes for about 2 to 3 hours until it’s set.Take it out of the freezer for about 10 minutes before enjoying so it softens a bit. Serve with added coconut milk, berries, mint, coconut flakes or any other flavoring you might like.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

Ice cream with mint, with berries, vanilla bean, ice cream

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Braised Oxtail

When is the last time you had braised oxtail? And to say one of the first things someone eating a standard American diet will argue about with the Paleo diet is lack of variety or choice. I never tasted cuts and organs like oxtail, marrow, homemade stock, tongue, kidneys or heart before switching to a Paleo diet and probably never would have. Neither did I eat such a variety of animals like elk, bison, wild boar, squid, rabbit, …

Oxtail is one of those items that very few people keep in their repertoire, even in the Paleo circles. We often talk about the most popular organs, but rarely hear about eating the tail on animals. Oxtail is the name commonly given the the preparation of beef tail.  It’s a tough meat so it’s often stewed or braised and the bones will also leave some of their great taste to the cooking liquid. You can ask your butcher to cut it appropriately or you can cut the tails yourself with a big knife. Try to get the tail ends so you can put them with the cooking liquid to give even more flavor and nutrients to the final dish.

The aromatic vegetables in the main braising ingredients are cut in large chunks so they don’t disintegrate in the sauce. The same vegetables are cut much finely in the garnishing preparation because they are only slightly cooked.

Serves 4 people

Main ingredients:

2 oxtails, each one cut in 4 sections;1/2 cup chopped carrots;1/2 cup diced onions;1/2 cup chopped celery;1/2 cup chopped leeks;4 tbsp tallow, lard or butter;1 lb tomatoes;8 sprigs fresh thyme;2 bay leaves;4 crushed garlic cloves;1 cup red wine (you can omit the wine if you want to);4 1/2 cups chicken or beef stock.

Vegetable garnish

1 finely diced carrot;1 finely diced onion;2 finely diced celery stalks;1/2 leek, finely diced;4 small tomatoes, finely diced;2 tbsp chopped parsley.Preheat your oven to 350 F.Heat the lard, tallow or butter in a pan and brown the oxtail pieces on each side.Remove the oxtail and brown the vegetables for the main braising liquid (carrots, celery, onions and leeks). Make sure you stir and scrape off any meat residue in the bottom of the pan.Add  the tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves and garlic and cooked for a couple of minutes.Put the oxtail and browned vegetables in a casserole that also goes in the oven and add the wine, if using.Boil the wine at high heat until almost evaporated and add enough stock to cover the oxtail entirely.Bring the whole preparation to a simmer then cover and put in the oven to braise for about 1.5 hours to 2 hours.At this point, most chefs will strain the liquid to remove the small piece of cooked and mushy vegetables so it looks better. I personally like to leave them in, but it’s up to you. You should definitely remove the bay leaves though.Blanch the garnishing vegetables other than the tomatoes in boiling water for about 4 minutes.Put the blanched vegetables in the oxtail preparation and simmer for about 2 minutes.Enjoy this sophisticated but simple dish with family and friends!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

Oxtail, mirepoix, browning

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Mexican Salsa Verde

Salsa verde or green sauce or sauce verde is a specialty in many countries like France, Italy and Mexico where the all have their version. Italians make it with capers, anchovies, mustard and olive oil and the French version is more of a tarragon flavored mayonnaise.

Mexicans make it with tomatillos, cilantro, lime juice and jalapeños for a tangy and spicy green sauce you can use for various purposes. Its perfect as a dip for vegetables, a sauce to serve mussels or a sauce to serve with meat like roast beef. Let your imagination run wild as to where to use it.

The tomatillos are usually roasted, but you can alternatively simmer them for about 5 minutes for similar results.

Now for the Mexican salsa verde recipe. Serves 4 people.

1/2 cup onion, chopped;1 1/2 pound green tomatillos, husk removed;1/2 cup cilantro, chopped;2 tbsp lime juice;2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped;Salt and pepper to taste.Cut the tomatillos lengthwise  and roast them either on the grill or for about 6 minutes under the broiler until the skin is a little dark.Put the roasted tomatillos, onion, cilantro, lime juice and jalapeño in a blender or food processor.Blend or process until you obtain a smooth puree.Place in the refrigerator to cool and enjoy.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

Salsa verde, salsa on beef, ingredients

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Homemade Pork Rinds

Pork rind is simply roasted or fried pork skin. Also called cracklings, they are a snack enjoyed all over the world. Most people think of them as unhealthy indulgence, but we no very well that there is nothing wrong in eating fatty pork skin. However, making it yourself it probably the only way to go because you can control the amount of salt you use and you’ll know there won’t be any other nasty ingredients.

Dipped in dill flavored paleo mayonnaise or tartar sauce, they make a delicious and crispy paleo diet snack that will cost you pennies. Butchers will sell you pork skin for almost nothing.

They will keep for a long time if cooked long enough for all the fat to be rendered out and you can crush them to make a Paleo breading for your chicken or fish.

And now for this very simple paleo snack:

Pork skin;Salt (this is optional, saltless rinds are also excellent and it’s usually the way I make them)Preheat your oven to 325 F.Put the skin on a baking sheet. Put in on parchment paper and it will be much easier to clean afterwards.Put the skin in the oven for anywhere between 1.5 hours to 3 hours. Most recipes call for 3 hours of cooking, but my experience tells me that most of the time it’s ready after 1.5 hours. You want them crispy but you don’t want it to be hard as a rock.Get it out of the oven, let it cool a bit and enjoy. They are delicious when still a little hot. If there was a lot of fat attached to it and you don’t cook them for too long, there will be a crunchy and moist side and you’ll enjoy the best of both worlds.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

Pork rinds picture

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Making Clarified Butter (Ghee) Paleo Diet Style

Clarified butter, also called Ghee in Indian cuisine, is simply butter with the milk proteins, sugars and water removed. It’s perfect for people who want to stay 100% Paleo diet or who might worry that some constituents like lactose or casein in the butter might cause health problems. I personally prefer consuming clarified butter because I’ve been dealing with leaky gut and autoimmune problems for a number of years and I now always stay on the safe side, even though butter is already pretty safe by itself.
The other advantage of clarified butter is that you can heat it at a much higher temperature because its a highly saturated fat and you don’t run the chance of burning any of the milk solids. It’s ideal for sauteing, roasting, stir-frying or any other cooking method that requires high-heat. It has a delicious nutty taste that will please any butter lover out there and goes well with virtually anything. I honestly haven’t found a single preparation where clarified butter is not well-suited.
You can of course buy butter already clarified at your local Indian food store or online from sites like Pure Indian Foods, but it’s also very easy to make at home. It’s very important that you choose a high-quality, unsalted butter coming from pasture-raised and grass-fed cows. The quality, color and nutrition value of the butter will be much greater in such butter. When the cows eat a rapidly growing green grass, the butter will often have orange undertones, reflecting the high amount of carotenes in it. Kerry Gold sells a very high quality pastured, grass-fed and organic butter all over the US.
There are basically two methods used to make clarified butter, the slow melting method and the shorter boiling method. Both render similar results.

1 pound or more of butter;A heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven;A large wooded or stainless spoon;Optionally, a slotted spoon helps to remove the froth that forms on top;A fine mesh strainer;Pieces of cheese cloth or paper towel;A glass jar for finished clarified butter.
With this method, you put the butter butter in your pot or dutch oven and slowly melt it at a low temperature. Don’t stir during the melting process and don’t worry about the milk solids burning since that temperature is quite low. When all melted, use a spoon or slotted spoon to remove the froth that formed on top. Line a fine mesh strainer with layers of cheese cloth or paper towel over a jar or bowl and pour the melted butter. Once poured, let stand for a couple of minutes so the water and fat separate and then spoon off the butter in your final glass jar being careful not to put any of the water that is now in the bottom of the bowl.
Melt the butter over medium high heat while stirring occasionally to make sure the milk solid don’t burn. Remove the froth on top all along the process with a spoon or slotted spoon. The butter will come to a boil and you can now let it bowl for about 15 minutes while stirring from time to time. When the water has all evaporated, the butter will stop boiling and this is when that clarified butter is ready. Line a fine mesh strainer with cheese cloth or paper towel over your final glass jar and pour the clarified butter.

In the process of clarifying butter, you can add all sorts of herbs and spices to infuse their aroma and color and give the resulting ghee a delicious taste that will render the food you prepare with it even more delicious. When making flavored ghee, it’s better to clarify the butter with the boiling method so the herbs or spices have a chance to infuse all their taste. Add your favorite combination or herbs and spices right about when the butter is melted and leave them until the very end of the process.
Here are some popular examples (the quantities are for a pound of butter):
Garlic ghee: 6-7 crushed or minced garlic cloves.Cardamom ghee: 6-7 crushed cardamom pods.Mint-Jalapeño ghee: 1/2 cup mint leaves and 1 large, chopped jalapeño.Rosemary-thyme ghee: 6 sprigs each of rosemary and thyme.Ginger ghee: 2 tbsp fresh minced ginger.
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo diet cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo diet cooking arsenal.
Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.
Curled butter, flavored ghee

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Roasted Bone Marrow

Bone marrow is a prized and creamy food that we find in the middle of long bones like the femur or the humerus. It’s composed mostly of fat with a high amount of fat soluble vitamins and is an item that is really highly valued by all traditional cultures over the world. If you give marrow to your cat or your dog, he’ll go crazy for it.

The taste is very pleasing and most people like it right away. Most kids also enjoy it very much. A lot of people in the Paleo diet circles talk about cooking with bones by making stock or eating the marrow, but most people don’t really know what to buy and how to prepare it. It’s actually one of the simplest things to prepare and a good choice to impress guests while being sure you won’t mess it up because it’s so quick and simple.

I suggest you serve it with a light salad with a lemon based vinaigrette to cut the high richness of the marrow. The most popular animal for its marrow is beef because of the big size of its bones, but if you have access to wild game meat like deer, elk or caribou, it’s also an excellent choice. Your butcher or local farmer should already make it easy for you since they don’t expect you to start using a saw in your kitchen. They will basically cut it to make 3 inch long pieces.

Now for the bone marrow recipe. Serves 4 people.

4 three inches long beef marrow bones;Salt and pepper to taste;Preheat your oven to 400 F.Put the marrow, cut side up in a baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.Roast for about 15 minutes. It’s ready when it starts to bubble around the edges.Simply serve with a simple salad on the side with a small spoon to scoop it off. It might be hard to get it all off because of the porous nature of the bone, but you can use your mouth and apply some old fashioned suction and it’ll do the trick.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.

Be sure to register for my free newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive great and exclusive cooking tips, paleo diet recipes and great offers right in your inbox.

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Paleo Mayonnaise

And to think that I thought I wouldn’t enjoy mayonnaise ever again on the Paleo diet, boy was I wrong! The Paleo diet is the chance to discover blends and flavors of mayonnaise that will stay unknown to most people. For example, the baconnaise, the duckonnaise or the beefonnaise all made from the fat of their respective animal, pork, duck and beef. Most people think that this is an heart attack in a jar, but we know better and know that it’s really a health food.
I’ll give you two different versions of mayonnaise recipes today, a coconut oil mayonnaise and the now famous baconnaise. The technique of preparation is the same for both and also keep in mind that you can extend this delicious concoction with spices, fresh herbs (dill is delicious in it), garlic or even chopped pickles for a tartar sauce.
As for the technique, you can use either a blender, a food processor or your soon to be sore hand and a whisk. I prefer the version made by hand because it’s really not that bad and it makes for less things to clean afterwards. The technique is basically the same for all those techniques, so I’ll explain it in a comprehensible way for the three techniques.
The coconut mayonnaise is made with half olive oil because it would become way too hard in the refrigerator. I don’t recommend a full olive oil mayonnaise unless you use the light version because it will taste too strong.

2 egg yolks1 tsp mustard (this is optional)3 tsp lemon juice1/2 cup olive oil1/2 cup coconut oil1 cup liquid bacon fat (you can of course use rendered lard, it’s the same thing) in place of the olive and coconut oilsPut the yolks in a bowl (blender, food processor) with the mustard, if using and 1 tsp lemon juice and mix those ingredients together;Start whisking vigorously (blender or food processor on low) while dripping the oil very slowly, even drop by drop in the beginning. You’re creating an emulsion and if you put too much oil at once, it will separate and will be very hard to save. Whisk non-stop and use a towel under the bowl to help stabilize it;As you add more oil, the emulsion will form and the mayonnaise will start to thicken and you can pour the oil faster at this point;When all the oil is incorporated and the mayonnaise is thick, add the rest of the lemon juice and taste your creation. You can season to taste with salt and pepper;Enjoy without guilt and put the store in the refrigerator!
And here you go, it’s that simple. Of course I encourage you to play with it and to come up with new variations. Happy Paleo mayonnaise making!
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paleo cookbooks. It’s basically two cookbooks that were put together by Nikki Young and they are of great help when I’m out of ideas about what to prepare. The cookbooks would definitely be a good addition to your Paleo cooking arsenal.
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Mayonnaise picture
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The Importance Of Fat

Most vegetarians will argue with you that most mammals eat a vegetarian diet and fare fairly well. They will tell you that gorillas can lift 10 times their weight on a diet composed almost entirely of plants while even the strongest among us can only lift 3 times their weight. What they haven’t figured out though is that the gorilla’s anatomy is much different than ours and also that gorillas, like all other mammals, really eat a high fat diet.
You see, the reason why gorillas and herbivores have such big guts is that that use it to ferment fiber and cellulose to produce short-chain fatty acids. Therefore, even though herbivores eat a diet high in carbohydrate from plant matter, these carbohydrates get fermented in their gut by bacteria to produce fatty acids. This is why the natural diet of mammals is a high-fat diet. They have very specialized guts, often have more than one stomach and have to eat almost continuously for this complex fermentation system to work.
If you start feeding gorillas a high fruit diet instead of their normal diet of shoots and leaves, they’ll get the same blood sugar problems we get and can even develop diabetes. High blood sugar isn’t only dangerous for us.

Factory farmed cattle gets fed a diet of corn and soy instead of their natural diet of fermentable grasses. This bad diet makes them fat and sick, just like us eating a high carbohydrate diet.
Throughout history of human kind, we faced a glaciation period where we had to eat a diet composed exclusively of animal products. We can correlate the time when our brains started getting bigger with the time our diet was almost exclusively composed of animals. As another proof that meat was so important for us at this period, we have all the cave paintings of animals, often with men hunting them. Fossilized excrements have also been found with traces of bones and egg shells, but no seeds. This is important because seeds don’t get digested and always end up in the stools when eaten and this means that we probably didn’t eat any plant-matter at that time.

The only way we where able to develop such big brains that take up to 25% of our total available energy is by getting a smaller gut. The gut and digestive system is an expensive system that requires a lot of resources to run properly. The way we where able to develop a smaller gut is by eating a more nutrient dense diet from meat and fat. The fat found in bone marrow and brain is some of the most nutrient and calorically rich source of food available on the planet. Since we developed tools to get to the precious brain and marrow, we where able to get to this amazingly rich source of food.
Cooking was also very important for getting a nutrient-dense and easily digestible diet that permitted us to further reduce the size of our gut.

Having a high saturated fat and cooked meat as the basis of our diet is therefore what permitted us to need less and less gut size and develop the huge brain we enjoy today.
Today, studies have demonstrated that our brains are getting smaller. A study even showed that vegetarians lost 5% of their brain size over a five your period. That is a huge change!
Meat-eating animals and cultures eating a traditional diet will instinctively go for the fatty parts of an animal first. We often had to go to great length and extend a tremendous amount of energy to hunt down and get to the fatty brain and marrow of animals. The return had to be worth the investment.

Is it any wonder that the fat that composes our own bone marrow and most of our brain, saturated fat, should also be the fat that we consume? Saturated fat has been demonized mainly because most sources are also high in cholesterol. Surprise, cholesterol in one of the most important constituent of life, every cells need it, the brain contains large amounts and cholesterol is the precursor to all sex hormones. In fact, a high saturated fat intake has been shown to reduce what we call the bad cholesterol, small particle LDL, and to raise what’s called the good cholesterol, HDL. LDL and HDL are not cholesterol, they are transport lipoproteins, but the whole lingo is understood upside down.
Most sources of natural saturated fat like butter, lard and tallow contain high amounts of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Those vitamins need the presence of fat to be absorbed and are primordial for the absorption and proper utilization of other vitamins and minerals.
Furthermore, the airspaces in the lungs are coated with lung surfactant composed entirely of saturated fat. When the consumption of saturated fat is too low, the composition of this lung surfactant is compromised and the lung’s airspaces can collapse. This is arguably one of the main reasons why children have so much asthma problems today.
Some sources of medium-chain fatty acids like coconut oil and butter also have potent antimicrobial properties.

Saturated fat also helps the liver flush out any fat accumulation in the liver. A fatty liver is really bad news and is normally caused by excess alcohol and fructose consumption.
I hope this article effectively showed you how intrinsically fat is related to our evolution as well as its many functions in our own bodies. Saturated animal fat should therefore be the main constituent of your diet.
I leave you with a very interesting lecture by Barry Groves at a Weston A. Price foundation‘s conference that discusses the subject in even more details. I personally enjoyed watching it multiple times.

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Gorilla, marrow, bisons, cows

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