Eat Fat, Lose Fat (42 page)

Peel sweet potato, cut into quarters lengthwise, and cut into small slices. Warm lard in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes and sauté about 15 minutes, or until golden, and season with a generous amount of salt.

Grains

All our recipes for wheat and oats are soaked overnight in warm acidulated water, a process that activates numerous enzymes that neutralize the many anti-nutrients and irritants in whole grains. Even people who are sensitive to grains can usually tolerate grains that have been carefully soaked and then cooked. However, our
Breakfast Cereal
is best for those who digest grains more easily.

Oatmeal is a delicious, warming, nourishing breakfast food. Serve with several of the following: butter, cream, a natural sweetener,
Coconut Sprinkles
, or freeze-dried coconut, raisins, chopped dates, or chopped
Crispy Nuts
.

Note: You can cook a large amount of oatmeal, store it in the refrigerator, and reheat a portion as needed, adding a little water to prevent burning.

In a medium bowl, mix oats in 1 cup warm water and 2 tablespoons lemon juice, vinegar, yogurt, or whey. Cover and leave at room temperature overnight. In the morning, bring 1 cup water to boil in a medium pot. Add salt and soaked oats and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 to 2 minutes, until oatmeal thickens.

Add 1 tablespoon grated ginger and ¼ cup pine nuts to oatmeal while cooking.

A few croutons in a soup or salad can turn an ordinary dish into an extraordinary one.

Cut bread into small cubes and sauté in lard with a generous dash of sea salt until golden. You may also cut the bread on the diagonal to make 2 triangles, sprinkle with salt, and sauté on both sides in lard or oil until golden.

This ingenious soaked-grain recipe was developed by Laurie Smith of the Weston A. Price Foundation. As it bakes it fills the house with a heavenly aroma. The final product is dry and crunchy and so sweet it requires no added sweetener.

In a large bowl, mix flour with milk, water, and whey, cover, and leave at room temperature overnight. In the morning add the remaining ingredients and more water, if needed, to make a pourable batter. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare two 9-by-13-inch baking pans with coconut oil and pour half the batter into each. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and lower oven temperature to 200°F. Allow cereal to cool and then crumble up onto baking sheets. Bake until completely dry and hard, about 1 hour. To get a uniform size, process briefly in batches in a food processor. Store in airtight containers at room temperature.

To serve, add raw milk or cream diluted with water and raisins or fresh fruit. Allow cereal to soften in the milk or cream slightly before eating.

Nuts

Many recipes in this book call for Crispy Nuts, and they are also great to eat plain as a nutritious snack. Crispy pecans, almonds, macadamias, peanuts, and cashews can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature; the omega-3 content of walnuts makes them susceptible to rancidity, so store walnuts in an airtight container in the refrigerator. We recommend skinless almonds, as the skins can be irritating to the digestive tract, even when soaked.

Place nuts in a bowl with salt and cover with water. Cover loosely and leave at room temparature about 8 hours.
(Note: Soak cashews for 6 hours, no longer.)
Drain in a colander and strew onto a stainless-steel baking pan or cookie sheet. Place in an oven set at 150°F and let them dehydrate for 12 to 24 hours or until completely dry and crisp. (You may also use a dehydrator.)

Desserts

For this pie crust, we cheat a little and allow unbleached white flour, to ensure that the crust is very light and the taste does not interfere with the taste of the filling. When you use a food processor, the results are foolproof.

Sift flour, salt, and stevia powder into food processor. Place butter on a board and cut into about 16 pieces using a sharp knife. Distribute butter over flour. Pulse processor several times until butter is broken into pea-sized pieces and is well distributed. Beat egg yolks briefly with a fork, dribble over flour mixture, and pulse once or twice. Have cold water ready. Turn on processor and immediately pour water in. Stop processor at once. (Butter should still be visible as pea-and seed-sized pieces.)

Turn crust onto waxed paper, wrap up, and squeeze together, forming a ball. Refrigerate several hours. Roll out on a pastry cloth, using unbleached white flour to keep dough from sticking.

For a French-style tart pan (with removeable bottom), press dough firmly into sides of pan and drape over the top. Roll a rolling pin over the top to trim crust evenly. For an American-style pie pan, line pan with dough and pinch edges to make a fluted edge.

Prick dough several times with a fork. Place in a cool oven and turn on heat. (Gradual warming will prevent excessive shrinking of dough.) Bake at 300°F for 15 minutes for a partially baked pastry and 25 minutes for a fully baked pastry.

Beat cream in a glass bowl with a whisk or an electric beater. When cream makes soft folds, beat in vanilla and maple sugar or stevia powder.

Stewed fruit is an old-fashioned dessert, but satisfying and healthy. Use the juice from stewed fruit for making
Kefir Fruit Soda
or add a small amount to sparkling water to make a spritzer. Serve stewed fruit with
Coconut Sprinkles
,
Whipped Cream
(previous recipe),
Whipped Coconut Cream
, or
Vanilla Ice Cream
(following recipe).

Cut fruit in half and remove the pits. You may peel fruit, but it is not necessary if fruit is organic. Place in a large pot with ginger and sweetener and cover with filtered water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for about 1 hour. Allow to cool and remove fruit with a slotted spoon to a serving bowl.

With the new small ice cream makers that include a double-walled canister you can keep in the freezer, ice cream making is very easy. Now you can have ice cream made with natural sweeteners, egg yolks, and pure cream, and without all the additives (many of which are not listed on the label). These ice creams are very dense in calories, but so satisfying that it is difficult to eat more than half a cup.

Homemade ice cream will be quite hard when you take it out of the freezer. (Commerical ice cream remains soft enough to scoop, even when frozen, because a compound akin to anti-freeze is added.) If you store ice cream in a shallow container and remove it from the freezer about 5 minutes before serving, it will be soft enough to cut or spoon. Adding 2 tablespoons of vodka or other liqueur will also help keep the ice cream soft.

In a large bowl, beat egg yolks with sweetener for several minutes until pale and thick. Beat in vanilla, cream, and vodka, if using. Prepare in the ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.

Beverages and Tonics

In addition to our versatile
Raw Milk Tonic
(an important part of Health Recovery) and homemade milk
Kefir,
you’ll find below several easy-to-make and delicious soft drinks made with water kefir grains or kefir powder (see Resources). You will be amazed at how simple it is to make these delicious, healthy fizzy drinks.

Other lacto-fermented drinks in this section include
Beet Kvass
(important in Health Recovery), which uses
Homemade Whey
as an inoculant, and
Kombucha
.

In a large glass, beat egg yolks with molasses and stir in milk. Sip slowly.

Place milk in a glass or ceramic container and add kefir grains or powder. Cover tightly and leave at room temperature overnight or until desired tartness is obtained. If you are using kefir grains, strain out the grains using a non-metallic strainer, rinse them with water, and either use again or store in a jar in the refrigerator with about ½ cup milk.

Easy-to-make, delicious kefir sodas are a wonderful alternative to commercial sodas. Instead of creating health problems, like modern soft drinks, our kefir sodas contribute to easy digestion and overall good health.

You can use either water kefir grains or kefir powder (see Resources). Use about

³
/
₄
cup grains or 1 packet powder for 2 quarts of soda. Place all ingredients in a 2-quart glass container, add water kefir grains or powder, fill with water to make 2 quarts, cover tightly, and leave at room temperature for 48 hours. Strain the liquid through a non-metallic strainer.