Photos of recipes from the new book Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Photos of recipes from the cookbook Tender Grassfed Meat
The Joy of Fat, Why We Lost It, and How to Get It Back
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Grassfed sirloin roast, with a delicious, nutritious fat cap.
“People are missing out on the joy of fat. It keeps the meat tender, makes the meat taste so much better.â€
These words of wisdom came from my friend Brian, head of the meat department at my local market. Brian is not only a master butcher, he is a classically trained chef who studied in France and cooked in Denmark. Brian knows grassfed meat.
We were talking about customers who want all the fat trimmed off every piece of meat they buy. These customers and so many others are truly missing out on the joy of fat.
The Joy of Fat—Taste, Tenderness, Satisfaction, and Nutrition
The natural fat on a piece of grassfed meat cooks down into the meat, keeping the meat tender while adding fantastic flavor and nutrients. The wonderful smell given off by the roasting fat is the best appetizer on earth, causing our bodies to prepare for digestion, and the joy of a great meal. You can roast vegetables like potatoes, carrots, peppers, celery, etc. right in the same pan, and the melting fat will brown them, caramelize them, and give them incredible taste and flavor that goes so well with the meat.
There is also the joy of satisfaction. Meat and vegetables cooked with grassfed fat are the most satisfying food on earth. After a serving of this delicious food, full of all kinds of nutrients, hunger disappears and the urge to eat and eat and eat that plagues so many people disappears. You stop eating because you are satisfied, and no longer want to. When your body has the nutrients it needs, the desire to eat is gone.
The fat from grassfed animals and wild fish has the natural ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 essential fatty acids, and contains many other beneficial substances that factory meat and farmed fish lack. This fat was cherished by our ancestors, who ate as much of it as they could, and our bodies have evolved to know how to use it. It is prime fuel for our bodies. More information on the benefits of animal fat is explained here.
All of the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Weston A. Price ate plenty of animal fat, from animals that were wild or pastured. Most of them ate as much fat from wild seafood as they could get. These healthy people had perfect teeth, and were free from the chronic diseases that plague us.
How the Joy of Fat Was Replaced by the Fear of Fat
Most people are afraid of animal fat. They fear that eating animal fat will clog their arteries with cholesterol, causing heart attacks and strokes. They fear that eating animal fat will make them fat. They fear that eating animal fat will give them all kinds of diseases. All of these fears are just not true. In fact, cholesterol is beneficial, as explained in this article: Cholesterol: Friend or Foe?
So why does the government, the news media, the medical profession, the food industry, the drug industry, and the educational system, all support and repeat this misinformation?
The answer is very simple—money.
It has been written that “Money is the root of all evil.†There is much truth in that statement.
Extensive marketing campaigns, backed by many “studies†based on incomplete, mistaken, or biased research, convinced the public to fear real fat. When people were convinced to avoid the most important nutrient, it had to be replaced with something. This created several very lucrative markets.
The Food Industry Makes Money from the Fear of Fat
Real animal fat satisfies hunger like no other food. When you remove fat, people are hungry because they are not getting the nutrients their bodies crave. When people are hungry they buy more and eat more.
This process was described beautifully by my friend Sarah Pope, of the Healthy Home Economist blog:
“. . . some brands of commercial ice cream are now called “dairy dessert” instead of ice cream as they have lowered the butterfat content so much it can no longer even qualify as ice cream. This is deliberate because when the butterfat content decreases, the customer EATS MUCH MUCH MORE and the ice cream becomes more addictive as sugar replaces the butterfat! . . . You can get addicted to sugar but you can’t get addicted to butterfat.â€
Addiction and overeating makes a fortune for the food industry. The food industry favors products based on grains, sweeteners, artificial flavors and preservatives, and modern vegetable oils. These ingredients are highly processed, and the raw materials are very cheap for the food industry. The products they create with these ingredients lack vital nutrients, so the customer’s hunger will never be satisfied. Yet the ingredients are often addictive, so the customer will buy more and more of the product. This is why people can eat a whole bag of cookies and still be hungry.
Fear of Fat Makes a Fortune for the Diet Industry
If you look at old photos of Americans at the beach taken during the early 20th century, you will be astonished at how fit almost everybody was. Obesity was very rare. Prior to the demonization of animal fat, most doctors had a simple and effective cure for overweight people who wanted to lose weight. Reduce the amounts of carbs and sugars, and eat a high-fat diet full of butter and other animal fats. These kinds of diets worked, because nothing satisfies like animal fat. There was no diet industry.
Once people became afraid of animal fat, these time-tested, high-fat diets went out the window, and the diet industry came to life. The diet industry has created a myriad of ways to lose weight, based on counting calories, eating a low-fat, nutrient-poor diet, and exhausting exercise. All of these programs are expensive. All of these programs are difficult to do, which allows the victim to be blamed when the program does not work. Typically, these programs work well for a few people, and some may lose a lot of weight on them, but the weight always comes back, and the victims end up fatter than ever, and are soon looking for a new diet program, which is always there. The severe malnutrition and exhaustion that many experience during such programs often leads to chronic illness, sometimes death.
The Medical Industry Makes a Fortune from the Fear of Fat
The fats of wild and pastured animals contain many nutrients that are found nowhere else, except in wild fish. Our bodies need these nutrients for the natural functions of the body to work properly. One of the most vital functions of our bodies is the immune system. When the immune system is compromised, people get sick with all kinds of illnesses. Another important function is the ability of the body to repair itself. Most of the symptoms of old age are greatly worsened when the body’s repair functions are compromised, again leading to illness, including the failure of organs, bones, joints, and the mind.
This causes people to seek relief from the medical profession, leading to countless prescriptions, surgeries, tests, radiation sessions, and other procedures that are expensive and often harmful. Many medical interventions never cure anything, but require the “patient†to have ever increasing amount of “care,†with huge profits being made from the “patient’s†illness. Many medical interventions create a new problem in the “patient’s†body, which requires yet more medical interventions, which creates yet more problems, until the cycle is finally stopped by death.
How We Can Rediscover the Joy of Fat
I did relearn the joy of fat. The first step I took was to follow the dietary guidelines of the Weston A. Price Foundation.
The second step was to find grassfed meat, and cook it with the fat on. I also learned the way of our ancestors and cooked all meat and vegetables with plenty of pastured animal fat, like pastured butter, real cream, beef tallow, duck fat, pork lard, lamb tallow, bison fat, and others.
If you are not used to eating fat, it is best to start with small amounts, so your system may get used to it. Use the best, most natural ingredients you can afford, and you too may rediscover the joy of fat.
This post is part of Monday Mania and Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
The Benefits of Organ Meats
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Liverloaf made with US Wellness Meats Grassfed Braunschweiger.
The standard American diet, known as “SAD†(and it is really sad, especially for those who eat it) does not contain any organ meats. In fact, organ meats are demonized for having fat and cholesterol. This is truly a shame, because organ meats from grassfed animals are one of the most nutrient-dense foods available, being packed with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other nutrients.
Our ancestors knew the value of organ meats. They gave great value to liver, heart, and kidney, and used these foods to support the health of their own organs. We can do the same.
Organ Meats Were Crucial in Traditional Diets
When I did the research for Tender Grassfed Meat: Traditional Ways to Cook Healthy Meat, I read a number of old cookbooks. I was astonished to find literally hundreds of recipes for all kinds of organ meats. Liver was considered a staple of the diet, and was sautéed, made into dumplings and pastries, eaten raw, puréed, roasted, and minced. When hunters killed an animal, it was a tradition to eat the warm liver on the spot, raw, with everyone in the hunting party having a share. This was not only a tradition among European hunters, but was also done by the Native Americans, and other people all over the world. Even predators such as lions, bears, and tigers will eat the liver first. There are hundreds of traditional European sausages made from liver, liverwurst being just one of them. Pâtés are one of the tastiest results of this tradition.
There were a myriad of recipes containing kidneys, heart, brains, sweetbreads (thymus gland), intestines, even lungs, spleens, and other organs. These organs were also made into sausages, pies, soups, fritters, and preparations unique to each organ. It was also traditional to stuff the stomach of an animal with chopped organ meat and other foods, the famous Scottish Haggis being an example of this. Most of these recipes were a great deal of work, because most organ meats require a great deal of trimming. There are often membranes, veins, arteries, and other inedible parts that must be removed, and the edible portions often required soaking, often multiple soakings, pounding, and intense cleaning. These recipes would often go into great detail as to how to prepare the organ meats for cooking.
The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Weston A. Price all ate organ meats, and valued them highly. Their traditional preparations of these meats also involved a great deal of work in cleaning and preparing the organs.
It should be noted that many of these dishes did not taste particularly good, and were resisted by children. People ate them anyway, and forced their children to eat them.
Why did all of these traditional peoples go to all that work and trouble? Because they knew there was something in these organ meats that was good for them, and because this knowledge had been handed down from generation to generation.
The Traditional Use of Organ Meats to Support Organ Functioning
Many traditional peoples, including the Native Americans, and even the pre-drug medical profession, believed that eating the organs from a healthy animal would support the organs of the eater. A traditional way to treat a person with a weak heart was to have the person eat the heart of a healthy animal. There were a number of country doctors who reported success with using this method. Eating the brains of a healthy animal was also believed to support clear thinking. People with bladder and kidney problems would be fed kidney meat from healthy animals. Native Americans with a vision problem or eye injury would be given the eyes of animals to eat. There are many reports confirming the success of such practices. In modern times, a number of people who need thyroid hormones have eaten the thyroids of animals, as an effective alternative to thyroid medication. However, I do not recommend that anybody do this on their own, without the supervision of a qualified medical professional. Nevertheless, many people have reported success with this practice.
Liver was often given to sick people, as the huge amounts of quality nutrients in this organ helped rebuild their bodies. Great emphasis was placed on only eating the organs from healthy animals.
However, most of the organ meats were eaten as part of the regular diet, by healthy people whose culture knew that eating these organs would support the natural functioning of their bodies. That is why they went through all the work necessary to prepare them.
Science Has Confirmed the Nutritional Benefits of Organ Meats
The development of the ability to identify and test for the presence of nutrients has confirmed what most people already knew—organ meats are a nutritional powerhouse, full of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and many other substances vital for nutrition. Liver in particular is crammed full of vital nutrients, which is why predatory animals eat it first, and why it has been so valued over the course of time.
Unfortunately, organ meats have been demonized because they contain fat and cholesterol, and most people are afraid to eat them. The cholesterol myth is just that, a myth, and the fat of healthy animals is beneficial for human health, as shown in these articles: Know Your Fats Introduction and Cholesterol: Friend or Foe?
The organ meats eaten by our ancestors and traditional peoples have great nutritional value.
An Easy Way to Eat Organ Meats
We can get the benefits of organ meats, even today. I do not recommend eating the organs of factory animals. The organ meat of factory animals is not the same meat that has been eaten for thousands of years, but is different, as the animals have usually been given hormones and antibiotics, and have not been fed their natural feed. My personal choice is to eat the organs of grassfed and grass finished animals only. In the case of omnivorous animals such as pigs and chickens, I choose to only eat the organs of pastured animals.
But I will confess that all the preparatory work that is necessary for enjoying most organ meats is more than I want to do. I will buy organ meats that come ready to cook, but my favorite way to eat organs is by eating organ sausages.
Great care must be taken in choosing sausage, because all kinds of undesirable ingredients are often added to them. I insist on knowing everything that is in a sausage before I eat it. Currently, I know of only one Internet source for grassfed organ sausage that has no undesirable ingredients. These sausages are of the highest quality, and I eat them at least once a week. These are the organ sausages made and sold by US Wellness Meats. They make a delicious liverwurst that contains liver, heart, and kidney. They make two kinds of braunschweiger that contain a lot of liver: one cooked, and the other one raw. They also sell a headcheese that contains tongue and heart. These sausages can be made into delicious recipes. Here is a link to a recipe I created for the raw braunschweiger: liverloaf. There are also recipes using these sausages on pages 179-182 of Tender Grassfed Meat.
Organ meats are some of the most vital and nutrient-dense foods available to us. Our ancestors knew this, and we can learn from them.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
This post is part of Fight Back Friday Blog Carnival at Food Renegade.
This post is part of Monday Mania Blog Carnival at the Healthy Home Economist.
A Class Worth Taking
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
I am doing something I have never done before. I am recommending an online cooking course. Why? Because it is not enough to know WHAT to eat. It is just as important to know HOW to cook it. If you are going to eat real food, you will have to learn how to cook it, because you can’t get it in a package, or a fast food joint, or 99% of restaurants.
The only practical way to get real food is from a skilled home cook, and that cook might as well be you. Less than a third of the people in the United States know how to cook anything from scratch, and very few of those people know how to cook grassfed meat, wild seafood, and grassfed organ meats. This course is a rare and wonderful chance to learn a lot of the basics of how to cook grassfed meat, wild seafood, and grassfed organ meats, knowledge that everybody should have.
The course is entitled Surf & Turf, and is being given by Ann Marie Michaels of the Cheeseslave blog. Here is a link that provides a description of the course and place to sign up: Surf & Turf.
I am not an affiliate of this program, and I will not get a penny from the fees you pay for the course.
The Teacher
Ann Marie Michaels is better known as Cheeseslave, and has been blogging about real food for some time now. Like me, she is a devoted follower of the teachings of Dr. Weston A. Price, and cooks and eats according to those principles. She is a meticulous researcher. She does not just advocate the benefits of real food, she eats it. And she knows a lot about cooking it. The many delicious recipes on her website are clear, well organized, and they work. Her recipes are faithful to the nutritional principles taught by Dr. Price, and provide wonderful nutrition. She cooks from scratch several times a day for her family, almost every day. I have communicated with Ann Marie a number of times, by telephone and email, and I have learned a lot from her.
The Course
In addition to her own vast experience and knowledge, Ann Marie has consulted with a number of experts in developing Surf & Turf. The class will include podcasts with some of these experts, including a podcast with me covering the cooking of grassfed meat.
The course concentrates on how to cook grassfed meat, poultry, and wild seafood. It has a definite low-carb emphasis and is faithful to the teachings of Dr. Price.
The class will also include a number of videos, and printable recipes. There will be 13 lessons in the class, for an average cost of approximately $9.00 a lesson. A number of these lessons will include podcasts with experts. A short summary of what is included in the lessons is as follows:
Lesson 1
Covers the need for high quality protein, health benefits of proteins and fats, why grassfed is better, and the need for healthy fats.
Lesson 2
Covers smart shopping for quality meat and seafood, the health benefits of grassfed meat and wild fish, the equipment you will need for the course, and how to really make the purchase of grassfed meat affordable.
Lesson 3
Covers safe and healthy grilling of grassfed meat and wild fish, with information on grilling equipment, fuel, and a number of video and printable recipes, including better grilling methods.
Lesson 4
Covers the preparation of raw seafood, the health benefits of raw seafood, and safety issues. Raw seafood was one of the most valued foods of the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price, and is full of vital nutrients. A number of video and printable recipes are included.
Lesson 5
Covers the cooking of wild seafood, also valued by the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price, including video and printable recipes.
Lesson 6
Covers the making of real bone broth, one of the basic foods of the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price. I really like the emphasis on using filtered water, and why only filtered water should be used. More recipes are provided.
Lesson 7
Covers the cooking of healthy soups and stews, using grassfed meat and wild seafood. Even more recipes, video and printable.
Lesson 8
Covers the roasting and braising of grassfed meat and poultry, with attention given to making delicious meals out of economy cuts. Will include a podcast with me on cooking grassfed meat. More recipes, both video and printable.
Lesson 9
Covers pan frying and deep frying with the healthy fats used by our ancestors, including grassfed beef tallow. You guessed it, even more delicious video and printable recipes.
Lesson 10
Covers the making of healthy salads and sandwiches, with a number of recipes.
Lesson 11
Covers the health benefits of organ meats, and many methods of making them palatable, even delicious. All the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price valued organ meats. Modern science has confirmed that organ meats are one of the most nutrient-dense foods available, and this lesson provides badly needed knowledge of how to prepare and cook them. More recipes, both video and printable.
Lesson 12
Even more recipes for healthy organ meats, with an emphasis on wonderful, nutrient-dense pâtés.
Lesson 13
Covers the making of healthy snacks, side dishes, and appetizers, with recipes.
Registration for the class ends on August 14, so it would be best to check it out in the immediate future. Surf & Turf is one of the few good resources available for learning how to cook grassfed meat, wild seafood, and other nutrient-dense food that nourished the healthy peoples discovered by Dr. Price. I highly recommend it.
I should disclose that while I am not an affiliate and will not receive any share of the money paid by anybody for the class, the podcast I appear in will be publicity for my book that could result in sales, which would result in my receiving some financial compensation.
The Magic of Steak and Eggs
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Grassfed rib steak with pastured eggs.
Scarlet fever almost killed my mother. She was only ten years old. She could not eat while the fever was raging. Her wealthy parents hired a famous doctor to treat her. When the fever finally broke, she was emaciated, and so weak she could not stand. Her immune system was exhausted, and she was in great danger of dying from other illnesses. The renowned doctor prescribed—steak and eggs.
Three times a day she was given tenderloin steak and eggs, all sautéed in butter, as ordered. At first she could not eat that much, but her appetite improved until she could eat the prescribed amount. Within a month, she regained her weight and health, and made a complete recovery.
The very steak and eggs that restored her are now demonized as unhealthy. Actually, this traditional food combination is renowned for its ability to enhance and rebuild the natural functions of the body.
The Benefits of Steak and Eggs
Grassfed steak is a nutritional powerhouse, full of valuable nutrients, including high quality proteins, amino acids, and many crucial vitamins and minerals. Eggs, especially pastured eggs, are just as full of vital nutrients, including some nutrients that are very hard to find anywhere else. See Sally Fallon Morell’s Oral Testimony to the USDA Dietary Guidelines Committee. Eggs also contain high quality fats that aid in the absorption of nutrients. Together, steak and eggs are a wonderful nutrient combination, providing a full range of vitamins, minerals, fats, cofactors, and other nutrients that complement each other perfectly, aiding in the absorption of each other’s nutrients.
Traditional peoples may not have known the science, but they did know it was good to combine steak with eggs. Steak and eggs were a valued combination in Russia, Poland, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Germany, Portugal, and just about every other European country. This was true even though steak was very expensive in those countries. Steak and eggs were also very popular in the United States, Canada, Uruguay, and Argentina, nations where most people could afford beef.
By steak, I mean the 100% grassfed and grass finished beef that has nourished humanity for thousands of years. This means that the cattle graze on living plants out on the pasture when the weather permits, and when grazing is not possible are fed dried grass or hay. Nothing else, and certainly not any added hormones or antibiotics. I do not recommend the grain and byproduct-fed factory version of beef.
By eggs, I mean the whole egg. Yes, that includes the yolk, which contains almost all the nutritional value of the egg. A new practice has arisen in our fat-phobic modern society that would have astonished and outraged our ancestors—the practice of eating only the egg whites, while discarding the best part—the yolk. This reminds me of watching The Three Stooges when I was a child. I remember an episode where the Stooges broke eggs, threw out the contents of the eggs, hammered the shells into a frying pan, and tried to eat the fried shells. Throwing out the yolks is just as absurd.
The Demonization of Steak and Eggs
The makers of factory foods have always had a huge problem. The stuff they produce cannot possibly taste as good as real food. Also, the stuff they make cannot possibly compete with the nutritional value of real food. So they came upon a strategy that worked very well in the past and is still in use today—demonize good food. If people think good food is unhealthy for them, they will buy the artificial stuff out of fear.
Massive marketing campaigns convinced people that foods that made their ancestors robust and strong were unhealthy. Cholesterol, which is a vital component of every cell in the body, was blamed for heart disease and a host of other illnesses. Ignorance, fear, and marketing have largely succeeded. Most people actually believe that eating steak and/or eggs will “clog their arteries,†and cause a heart attack. This is simply not true, as shown in the following articles— Cholesterol: Friend or Foe? and Cholesterol and Heart Disease: a Phony Issue.
The food industry has made a fortune by convincing people to replace eggs with dried cereals, full of chemicals, in a form that never existed before the 20th century. The food industry has made another fortune by convincing people to replace meat with products made from soy proteins, full of chemicals, again in forms that never existed before the 20th century. No wonder they continue to demonize meat and eggs.
How to Enjoy Steak and Eggs
Many modern people have never had steak and eggs. The basic idea is to sauté a grassfed steak in butter, and to sauté a pastured egg or two, so the eggs will be ready at the same time as the steak. It is very important not to cook the eggs too long, as the yolks must remain liquid. When the steak and eggs are ready, place the eggs on top of the steak. The egg yolks provide a perfect sauce for the steak, and the combination is absolutely delicious. Tender Grassfed Meat has a recipe for this classic combination on page 68. Tender Grassfed Meat also has a number of other recipes for steaks cooked in butter, every one of which can be enjoyed with eggs. Eggs are also a terrific side dish for steak that can be used by people who are avoiding carbohydrates.
There is a reason why the combination of steak and eggs has been treasured in so many countries. They are wonderful together, both in taste and nutrition.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
This post is part of Fight Back Friday Blog Carnival at Food Renegade.
Related Posts
The Blessings of Bread and Butter
Steak and French Fries–Still My Favorite Meal
The Blessings of Bread and Butter
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Toothmarks show that this is the right amount of butter, as inspired by Sally Fallon Morell.
Bread and butter were so traditional in Europe that they were usually served at every meal. In fact, the expression “bread and butter†meant something solid, valuable, and indispensible. Both bread and butter have fallen into disrepute recently, and are rarely eaten in their traditional forms. This is a pity, because bread and butter in their traditional forms were incredibly nourishing and formed the indispensible basis for every meal.
What Happened to Bread and Butter?
Butter in its traditional form was one of the most nourishing foods known in Europe. But butter was demonized in the United States and then the rest of the world. The reason for this was simple—the makers of artificial fats and margarine had a product that was totally inferior to butter, both in taste and nutrition. These artificial foods were not initially welcomed by the public, who preferred the traditional fats that had nourished their ancestors for thousands of years.
The manufacturers of the first artificial fats had a real problem. Their products were so inferior in taste and nutrition, that nobody who could afford real fats would ever buy them. Unfortunately, the manufacturers came up with a marketing strategy that is still heavily in use today. The strategy had two major points. The first was to claim that traditional fats like butter, which had been known to be the most nourishing and valued of foods, actually caused heart disease and other illnesses. This was blatantly untrue, but intensive marketing campaigns and questionable “research†convinced the public that butter and other traditional animal fats were unhealthy. The second focus of the marketing campaign was to claim that artificial fats were “more scientific†and healthier. This is also untrue, as shown in the article “The Skinny on Fats.â€
Bread used to be made from sprouted grains and/or by a sourdough process. Both of these methods neutralized the antinutrient substances contained in grain and caused the bread to be more slowly digested, which helped to avoid insulin problems caused by an overload of carbohydrates. This traditional bread became very rare, and was replaced by modern versions that were made with heavily refined flour. The grain was no longer sprouted. People were eating a type of bread that they had never eaten before.
The Tradition of Bread and Butter
Traditionally, bread was always eaten with plenty of butter. The two foods complemented each other. The butter facilitated metabolism, digestion, and the ability of the body to absorb nutrients. This butter was always made from the whole, unprocessed milk of grassfed cows, and was loaded with all kinds of vitamins, minerals, and a very special nutrient that Dr. Weston A. Price referred to as “Activator X.†The bread, made from sprouted grains, and often fermented by traditional sourdough methods, contained important nutrients, and provided a perfect vehicle for the butter. Just about every traditional European cuisine began each meal with this kind of bread and butter, which was considered absolutely essential for good health and digestion.
Dr. Price and the Swiss
Dr. Weston A. Price studied the diets of traditional peoples who were noted for their lack of chronic illness and robust good health. One of the peoples he studied lived in a rural area of Switzerland. These people ate superb grassfed butter slathered on traditionally made rye bread. Dr. Price studied the butter eaten by these people, sending samples to the United States to be analyzed. He found that this butter had an undiscovered nutrient which he called “Activator X.†Dr. Price’s research showed that people who had a plentiful supply of Activator X were much healthier than those who did not. The best source of Activator X in traditional European diets was butter. No wonder just about every European people would traditionally eat bread and butter at every meal.
How to Follow the Old Wisdom of Bread and Butter
If you want to enjoy the traditional blessings of bread and butter, it is crucial to have the right kind of bread and butter. The modern factory versions are not what our ancestors ate and are different substances.
The very best butter comes from cows who have been traditionally raised on green growing grass. Their butter is at its very best when they have been eating green, living grass, and traditional peoples timed their butter making to take advantage of the season when this grass was available. Butter like this is available today, but you have to make an effort to find it. Some local farmers make this kind of butter. Some nationally available brands that I have enjoyed are: Pastureland (sold by US Wellness); Trader Joe’s Organic Sweet Cream Butter (salted); and Kerrygold.
Traditional breads are made from sprouted grains and/or traditional sourdough methods, from grain that has not been sprayed with chemicals.
The Weston A. Price Foundation has done a wonderful job of identifying the right kind of bread and butter to eat. The best source that I have found for making traditional bread is Sally Fallon Morell’s magnificent cookbook, Nourishing Traditions. I have achieved wonderful results from To Your Health Sprouted Flour.
It is crucial that the right amount of butter is used on the bread. Most people have been trained to put a thin, pitiful, stain-like smear of butter on their bread, on the rare occasions when they allow themselves butter. The proper amount of butter to use is shown in the photo above, which was inspired a statement by Sally Fallon Morell that there should be enough butter on the bread to show toothmarks in the butter.
What does bread and butter have to do with grassfed meat? Traditionally, bread and butter were always served before the meat in Europe, and provided a wonderful appetizer that helped prepare the body to absorb the wonderful nutrients in grassfed meat.
Disclaimer: I do receive a very small amount of compensation if you buy Nourishing Traditions through this website. I do not receive any compensation if you buy any of the other brands mentioned in this article.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
This post is part of Fight Back Friday Blog Carnival at Food Renegade.
Understanding Dr. Weston A. Price
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
photo credit: TAYLOR149
“Life in all its fullness is nature’s laws obeyed.†Dr. Weston A. Price.
I have seen these words many times, but I did not really understand them. Until now.
I have been very ill for most of my life. I have had a lot of medical treatment. Most treatments would relieve the symptoms, for a while, than the symptoms would return, worse than ever.
Yet when I followed the Weston A. Price diet, did what I could to avoid toxins, switched to grassfed meat, and had no medical care, all my symptoms went away, and they did not return. And my body functions began to improve, and they are still improving. At 58.
Many body functions that did not work, such as having a sense of smell, being able to breathe through my nose, breathe effortlessly, and sleeping through the night, returned. Other body functions that had been deteriorating such as hearing, eyesight, digestion, sense of touch, taste, and flexibility, are now improving. My mental attitude also improved enormously. I began waking up with a sense of joy and eagerness to live the day, a feeling I last had when I was a child. My usual mental feeling could best be described as a happy, peaceful contentment.
What happened?
Modern Medicine
Modern medicine is focused on treating a particular disease, defined by a set of symptoms. These days, the disease is treated with artificial medication, or surgery, or radiation, or all three. All of these treatments are a massive and powerful assault on the body and its natural systems, often doing great harm. Success is defined by a cessation of the symptoms. Usually, the symptoms return in the future, worse than before, and the cycle begins again.
Nature’s Laws
We all have an immune system, and other bodily functions that are designed to fight off disease and keep us healthy and regenerating. Modern science and medicine arrogantly claim to know how they work, but this knowledge is still incomplete. They just know the tip of the iceberg. This iceberg is powerful and complex beyond our understanding.
We have a powerful desire to eat, and eat food that will satisfy us. We are born with it.
The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Weston A. Price did not have the chronic diseases that plague modern humanity. They did not have scientists, or laboratories. They did not have doctors or dentists, though they had healers. They knew far less about the tip of the iceberg than we do. But they knew something very important. They knew how to feed the body, the whole body. And the body sustained and protected them, just as nature intended.
These peoples did not have peer-reviewed studies, or computers, but they had something else. The accumulated experience of thousands of years of living, passed down from mother to daughter, from father to son, from healer to healer, from wise person to wise person. This priceless knowledge was based on the combined experience of tens of thousands, even millions of the ancestors of their people, who paid careful attention to their own observations, filtered through the wisdom of common sense, and passed on this knowledge.
The healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price knew what to eat, and what not to eat. They knew how to prepare food. They knew how to combine food. They knew how to preserve food, though they had no refrigerators. They knew how to satisfy their hunger, with the right foods, properly prepared. They did not decide what the laws of nature were, they discovered them. They knew how to avoid the natural toxins and dangers in their land. They obeyed the laws of nature, and were rewarded.
I think modern people have lost most of this knowledge, and no longer know how to obey nature’s laws. We have tried to substitute the incomplete knowledge of science and technology for the laws of nature, to make our own laws. And we have suffered terribly for this, as shown by the huge and increasing amount of chronic illness in the most “advanced†nations.
Science and technology have accomplished wonderful things in many areas, and have greatly improved life. But their knowledge in the area of nutrition and health is partial and incomplete. I support real research, research based on the desire to learn and share, rather than the desire to exploit. But much of this research has not been completed.
What happened to me?
I think my body’s functions were supported and activated. I think that the changes I made enabled my body’s systems to function the way nature intended them to. I think the avoidance of toxins reduced the burden on my body’s systems, enabling them to function better. I think that following the Weston A. Price diet, eating traditional foods, and eating traditional food combinations gave my body’s systems the fuel and resources they needed to function properly.
I don’t know how to cure, prevent, or mitigate any disease. But following the old wisdom discovered by Dr. Price has allowed me to follow nature’s laws, which has enabled my body to function properly. And I enjoy the fullness of life.
For more information about Dr. Weston A. Price, please visit these websites: The Weston A. Price Foundation and Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
This post is also part of Fight Back Friday Blog Carnival at Food Renegade.
Steak and French Fries—Still My Favorite Meal
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Old Fashioned French Fries, recipe on page 198 of Tender Grassfed Meat.
I know literally hundreds of ways to turn grassfed meat into wonderful meals. But I have to confess something. My favorite meal remains what it always has been—steak and French fries. I am not alone in this. Many accomplished chefs have admitted to the same desire.
Steak and French fries have gotten a very bad reputation over the last 40 years. I contend that the steak and French fries I will enjoy this coming Father’s Day will be nourishing and good for me, as well as absolutely delicious.
The Allure of Steak and French Fries
Why have steak and French fries remained so popular, even if most people think they are a guilty indulgence? Steak and French fries are a traditional food combination, going back to France. The French know something about good traditional food combinations. I will point out that the original steak and French fries used grassfed beef for the meat, and good old saturated animal fat, such as beef tallow or lard, for frying the potatoes. The potatoes used for this traditional dish were organic, since all food used to be organic. The combination of steak and potatoes provided a meal that had a perfect pH balance, with the potatoes balancing the meat. Frying the potatoes in plenty of good animal fat tamed the high glycemic index of the potatoes, since the potatoes were fried in such a way to ensure that they would absorb plenty of the fat. In fact, potatoes were always cooked with fat (usually animal fat), in traditional Europe. As a follower of the teachings of Dr. Weston A. Price, I consider the fat of healthy grassfed animals to be one of the best foods I can eat. An excellent article on this subject is “The Skinny on Fats.â€
Perhaps the greatest attraction of this combination is the joy of eating tender, juicy meat with crisp, delicious potatoes.
My Traditional Steak and French Fries
When I think of steak and French fries, I am not referring to the usual combination of a factory steak with factory potatoes fried at high heat in a modern vegetable oil. I think of a traditional, grassfed steak, with organic potatoes, fried at moderate heat in a traditional fat such as beef tallow or old-fashioned lard. This recreates the original ingredients that gave birth to the tradition.
A grassfed steak has much more flavor and will sustain and improve the natural functions of your body. Cooked right, it will be tender and taste so much better. The cuts I prefer for such a festive combination are Porterhouse, or a bone in rib steak, though I will also enjoy a strip steak, or even a less expensive cut such as center cut shoulder or cross rib. A less expensive cut of steak was often used for this dish in France, which was called Steak Frite. The cut I choose for the classic version is tri-tip steak, and my version of Steak Frite is contained on page 77 of my cookbook, Tender Grassfed Meat. The book also contains more than 20 other recipes for grassfed beef steak. These steaks all have something in common—they all go great with French fries.
I use only organic potatoes for French fries. I think it is important to use only organic potatoes, because conventional potatoes have been heavily sprayed with a number of pesticides, and just do not taste as good. I will fry the French fries in rendered beef tallow, or natural, unhydrogenated lard. I will fry the French fries twice, initially at a very moderate heat. Some might ask, “Doesn’t that mean that the fat will get into the potatoes?†You bet the fat will get into the potatoes. That’s a good thing. Eating fat with potatoes is an old European tradition. My recipe for Old Fashioned French Fries is contained on page 198 of Tender Grassfed Meat. You can see how they look in the photo above. They taste even better than they look.
A meal of traditional steak and French fries provides important nutrients that will maintain and support the very structure of your body, such as your bones, muscles, and cells, while also supporting your immune system and other body functions. But my main reason for wanting steak and French fries is that it tastes so very good.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
This post is part of Fight Back Friday Blog Carnival at Food Renegade.
Don’t Fear the Natural Trans Fats in Grassfed Meat and Butter
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Pastured butter
Trans fats are getting a lot of press today. There is general agreement that the artificial trans fats made in a lab are very bad for human health. Numerous studies have implicated trans fats as contributing to heart disease and other illnesses. The federal government now requires that the presence of all trans fats be labeled. Unfortunately, the labeling requirement does not distinguish between artificial trans fats made in the lab and trans fats that occur naturally in dairy and meat products. This is a shame, because there is solid scientific evidence that natural trans fats actually reduce the risk of heart disease.
Does Grassfed Meat Contain Trans Fats?
My friend, low-carb advocate Jimmy Moore, made me aware of this issue. One of Jimmy’s readers was going to buy some grassfed meat. The reader looked at the package, and saw that the meat contained trans fats. The reader did not want to be harmed by trans fats, and did not buy the meat. Well, grassfed fat does contain a small amount of trans fats. However, the trans fats that occur naturally in meat and dairy products are very different from the lab-made trans fats that have been implicated in the studies. Here’s the link to Jimmy’s excellent article on the subject.
What Are Trans Fats?
There are two major kinds, which are actually quite different from each other. There is a kind of trans fat which occurs naturally in meat fat and dairy products. People have been eating this kind of fat for many thousands of years. Most of this fat is known as transvaccenic acid.
There are also man-made trans fats, which were invented in the 20th century. These fats are created by adding hydrogen under pressure to a liquid vegetable oil. This process turns the oil solid at room temperature. This kind of man-made fat is most commonly called partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. These lab-made oils greatly increase the shelf life of processed foods. They have also been found to increase the risk of heart disease, obesity, and other illnesses, in many studies.
Federal Labeling Requirements Do Not Distinguish Between Natural and Artificial Trans Fats
The federal government requires that all foods containing a certain amount of trans fats be labeled as containing trans fats. This is very confusing, because the labeling requirements do not distinguish between natural and artificial trans fats. It is actually possible that a product could contain both, such as butter that has had partially hydrogenated vegetable oil added to it. You cannot tell from the label if the trans fats in the product are the natural trans fats or the artificial trans fats. This is very unfortunate, because the difference between the two major kinds of trans fats is crucial.
Natural Trans Fats May Reduce the Risk of Heart Disease, Diabetes, and Obesity
Several recent studies done at the University of Alberta in Canada showed that transvaccenic acid substantially reduced risk factors associated with heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. The studies involved feeding transvaccenic acid to rats. The studies showed a substantial reduction in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and an even larger reduction in triglyceride levels. It should be noted that transvaccenic acid is 70-80% of the trans fats that naturally occur in meat and dairy products.
This research is completely consistent with the research done by Dr. Weston A. Price in the 1930s. Dr. Price studied a number of peoples eating their traditional diet. Some of these diets included large amounts of animal fat, and/or very large amounts of full fat dairy products. Both the animal fat and dairy products would have contained natural trans fats. The peoples studied by Dr. Price had no heart disease, no diabetes, no tooth decay, no cancer, and were not obese—as long as they ate their traditional diets, which were full of naturally occurring trans fats.
How to Find Natural Trans Fats and Avoid Lab-Made Trans Fats
Since the labels do not tell you if the trans fats are natural or artificial, how can you tell?
- Natural trans fats occur only in meat and dairy products. So if you see trans fats on the label in any non-meat, non-dairy food, you can be reasonably certain that the trans fats are artificial.
- If you see trans fats on the labels of meat or dairy products, you can expect that they contain natural trans fats, but they could also include artificial trans fats that have been added in processing.
- The best way I have found to deal with this problem is to buy only pure, unadulterated products in their most basic form, as unprocessed as possible. I also avoid products that have additives.
- Any product that has the words hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, almost certainly contains artificial trans fats.
For myself, I have decided to avoid all artificial trans fats to the extent possible. I have also decided to enjoy the benefits of the natural trans fats contained in grassfed meat and real butter.
Here are links regarding the studies done at the University of Alberta:
Health Benefits Discovered In Natural Trans Fats, University Of Alberta Study Shows
Human Health and Trans Fat in Cattle Products
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
Read more at Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.
Butter Helps Weight Loss
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Pastured butter
Pastured butter is one of the finest foods you can eat. It is perhaps the single most nutritious food available to us. The nutritional benefits of pastured butter are too extensive to summarize here. Here is a link to an excellent article describing the many benefits of butter: Why Butter Is Better. Yet butter has been under attack for decades. Many people are afraid to eat it. People think butter will make them sick and fat. The truth is that butter is very nutritious and helps in weight loss by providing necessary nutrients and satisfying the appetite. Yet a famous cardiologist came out recently and said that butter causes weight gain, citing a Spanish study.
Here is a “study†that I find convincing. Low-carb advocate Jimmy Moore has been eating eight tablespoons of pastured butter a day for the last several weeks. Jimmy Moore lost over 24 pounds in 3 weeks while eating 8 tablespoons of butter every day. Does that sound like weight gain? Butter helps weight loss.
But what about that Spanish study? Jimmy Moore interviewed a number of qualified experts about this Spanish study. They were not convinced, and pointed out many problems with the study and the way it was interpreted. Here is a link to Jimmy’s blog on the subject, which includes the experts’ response:
Does Butter Raise Insulin and Make You Fat? The Low-Carb Experts Respond to this Claim
Here is a link to my podcast interview with Jimmy Moore:
Stanley Fishman Cooks Grassfed Meats the RIGHT Way!
This post is part of Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.
Energizing Egg Recipe: A Nutritional Powerhouse
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat
Ultimate Energizing Eggs
This just might be the most nutrient-dense egg dish I know.
This recipe was inspired by low-carb advocate Jimmy Moore. Jimmy is on a very unusual diet. He is eating only eggs, butter, and cheese. For each egg he eats, he has 1 tablespoon of butter and can have up to 1 ounce full fat cheese. Jimmy is using pastured eggs from a local farmer, pastured butter, and raw cheese. The amount of nutrients in each of these ingredients is huge, and combining them enhances their value even more. This diet has ignited a storm of controversy on the Internet, but Jimmy is fine with it. He has lost over 20 pounds in two weeks, and has been able to give up artificially sweetened diet soda for the first time in six years. He is full of energy and feels great. Jimmy calls this diet “eggfest.â€
I should mention that this diet was specifically designed for Jimmy by health care professionals, and he is being carefully monitored while on it. Obviously, this is a short term diet, not a permanent one.
I am not recommending or condemning this diet. I am doing fine with the Weston A. Price Foundation diet, and I am not about to give up my grassfed meat and fat.
But I do recommend this egg dish, which combines all the elements of Jimmy’s eggfest to create a nutritional powerhouse. This is a wonderful dish for breakfast, and I find it really energizes me. And it tastes very good indeed. The stirring is very important as it really combines all the ingredients well. It may look like ordinary scrambled eggs, but wait until you taste it!
Here is a link to my podcast interview with Jimmy Moore:
Stanley Fishman Cooks Grassfed Meats the RIGHT Way!
Ultimate Energizing Eggs (The Jimmy Moore)
4 pastured eggs
4 ounces raw cheddar cheese, full fat
4 tablespoons pastured butter
- Chop the cheese into very small pieces.
- Break the eggs into a bowl and mix well with a fork.
- Add the cheese to the eggs and mix well.
- Heat the butter in a medium sized skillet over medium heat until the butter melts.
- Add the egg/cheese mixture to the butter and start stirring the mixture in a clockwise direction with a fork as it cooks.
- Continue to cook and stir until the eggs set. They should set within a few minutes and look just like the photo of the recipe.
Serve and ENJOY!
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival for March 31, 2010 at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
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