Weston loves sauerkraut!

Weston turned 4 months on April 3rd and though that's still very young I just can't resist giving him some samples of healthy and digestible traditional foods.

So far he has tried tiny tastes of raw sour cream, raw kefir, homemade chicken liver pâté, beef broth, trotter (pig's foot) broth, chicken broth, and lactofermented pickles and sauerkraut. Sauerkraut and pickles are the clear winners! Of course he doesn't actually eat either, but he loves sucking on them and seems to relish the sour flavor.

Both are rich in lactobacilli (lactic-acid producing bacteria) which are essential for gut health--the basis for good digestion and absorption of nutrients, as well as immune function. These bacteria even aid in decreasing the permeability of the intestinal lining, which is important in preventing food sensitivities and intolerances due to "leaky gut." Babies have a naturally leaky gut which is why it's a good idea to emphasize bone broths and lactofermented foods (or liquids) when introducing solids.

Put some heart in your mouth! (braised heart recipe)

I LOVE heart. For me it ranks right up there with my other favorites, like oxtail, goat neck, and tongue (and yes, I do plan to post my favorite recipes for these other variety cuts over the next few weeks). Try heart once, and it's likely you'll feel so good after eating it that you'll want to eat it again. After all, heart is a good source of protein, niacin, phosphorus, zinc, and copper, and a very good source of vitamin B12, riboflavin, iron, and selenium. Like liver, it is relatively low in fat but contains LOTS of brain-supporting, hormone-balancing cholesterol! And for all of you out there taking supplements for this or that, heart muscle supplies CoQ10 direct from the source.

So far I have used only one recipe, but three different kinds of heart meat: calf's heart, lamb hearts, and beef heart. (My chicken heart experiment, the one deviation from this, which involved sauteeing and lots of onions, was NOT a success.) I consider braising to be the best method for preparing heart since it is a very strong, muscular organ and responds well to long, slow cooking. (Unless you're visiting Takashi for some beef heart sashimi, which I will also post on soon!)

I found this great recipe from the NY Times website, and like to follow it as closely as possible. Here are the instructions, in pictures (I'm using pastured lamb's hearts here which is why I'm making three at once; when making a 2 lb. piece of beef heart I only end up with one heart "pillow" to braise):

1. the preliminary step: prepare your stuffing mix (1 small minced onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 sprig fresh thyme, chopped, and zest of 1 organic lemon)

2. here is the lamb heart, surrounded by beautiful highly-saturated fat which will melt and flavor the stew

 

3. slice the heart open (skip this step if you are using pre-sliced heart rather than a whole one)

4. clean out the inside, removing as many of the sinews as possible without discarding precious meat, to leave a "clear hollow shell." It won't be pretty, but this doesn't matter!

 

5. salt and pepper the inside, add a large pat of butter, and fill with stuffing mixture

6. now the fun part: pretend you're a surgeon and stitch 'er up! (I used a regular needle and off-white thread.) I have been sewing since the age of 5 and love that this recipe incorporates both cooking AND sewing!

7. Repeat the above steps with the other hearts you are using (if any), then season the outside of the heart(s) with salt and pepper and brown in lots of hot fat (lard, tallow, or schmaltz) in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pan with a tight-fitting lid.

8. Remove the hearts from the pot and add the chopped veggies (1 onion, 2 carrots, 2 stalks celery, all finely chopped), stirring well. When the veggies have softened add 1 tbsp. sweet paprika (this is the regular paprika available in stores, differentiated from the smoked variety).

9. Return the hearts to the pot and add a bay leaf and 1 cup homemade beef stock (I have used chicken stock and beef tongue cooking liquid, both with good results; the only kind I wouldn't use would be fish).

10. Braise with the lid on until the hearts are tender when pierced with a sharp knife. This takes about 2 hours or so. Keep the heat around medium-low for a nice steady simmer, and turn the hearts every 20 minutes.

11. Now you're ready to eat! I recommend starting with a fresh green salad, then serving the sliced hearts with buttered potatoes or winter squash, plus lactofermented sauerkraut. Be sure to pour the rich fatty juice over the meat, and add unrefined sea salt to taste.

This is also GREAT left over.

Bon appétit!

How dirty is your water?

We found out the answer to this question this year. Although we've been using a Pur pitcher filter for a long time now, we hadn't gotten it together to buy a "real" water filter system. Now I'm mad I didn't prioritize this more! If I had seen this earlier I would have made the water filter happen sooner, in spite of our tight budget (as I would recommend you do!).

The one we settled on is the Doulton dual-chamber (fluoride and ultra carb filters) filter available from Radiant Life. We chose the under-counter option since we had no countertop space to spare.

Here's the filter after just two weeks of use (compare it to the filter housing which is in the sink and is the normal off-white color of the filter when it's clean):

Hugo now removes the filter and cleans it every weekend so the flow from the spigot stays fairly even most of the time. Since I make so much broth and ferment lots of veggies and beverages we really do go through a lot of filtered water.

We also got a shower head filter and a bath dechlorinator ball:

As they say on the Radiant Life website, either use a filter or BE the filter! After seeing our filters turn from off-white to charcoal black I am truly glad to no longer be the filter.

(Just a reminder that as with all my product, food, and supplement recommendations I receive absolutely no benefit from your following the above links.)

Really easy gluten-free gravy

Oliver loves gravy ("sauce" as he calls it) on everything possible. He generally resists eating meat without it. And though he doesn't know this of course, this policy is a good one: not only is authentic gravy delicious, but it also enhances digestion by supplying concentrated gelatin from reduced bone broth, plus enzymes from raw dairy -- not to mention healthy fats from the pan drippings.

All you need to do is cook a cut of meat (steak or meatballs are usually the chosen candidates in our house for gravy) in a hot skillet with plenty of fat melted in the bottom. I've been using lard (a great source of vitamin D) for a few years now, but recently decided to branch out and try beef tallow again (and I've been delighted with the results!). Beef tallow is a rich source of CLA (a fatty acid with known cancer-fighting properties) and also omega-3s. Move over, wild salmon! Other healthy fats for cooking include any pure rendered fat from pastured animals, such as lamb, chickens, or goats. (Butter is also great, but only for very light cooking, like scrambled eggs or Hollandaise sauce, and while coconut oil is another good "fat," I generally save that for baking and making chocolates and mayonnaise. I also save bacon fat of course and consider that my preferred fat for cooking pancakes. The best thing in my opinion is to mix it up a bit so you get a range of fats, with all their varying benefits, on a regular basis.)

To make the gravy:

1. First cook the meat in the hot fat, then remove it from the pan (but don't pour off the fat!).

2. Next, add in 1 cup bone broth of choice (generally I just use chicken for everything but tonight I opted for some beef tongue broth I had in the freezer and it worked beautifully).

3. Turn the heat up to high and let the broth boil away and reduce until thickened, while you scrape the brown bits that are stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Let everything get nice and thick (the liquid will go from 1+ cup to just a few tablespoons), then pour it into a little pitcher and whisk in a giant heaping spoonful of raw creme fraiche or sour cream. Mix thoroughly and serve over the meat. This makes an incredibly luscious gravy -- you would have a hard time finding better! My guess is that this only makes about 1/4 cup of gravy, though, which isn't much, so if you want more just use twice as much broth so that when it's reduced there is about 1/2 cup remaining.

One thing I did notice about the beef tallow: the gravy started to congeal on our plates more quickly than usual this time. But maybe that was because we had the kitchen window open to catch the springlike evening air.

Weston's sink bath

Could there be anything cuter than a chubby 3-month-old baby in a sink? :)