Archive for the ‘Food-Nutrition-Health’ Category

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Dairy fat: healthful or not?

Friday, May 27th, 2011

by Catherine Haug

A March 2010 study, reported in the The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1), looked at the effect of dietary saturated fat on risk of heart disease and stroke, by analyzing data from 21 previous studies. These studies included almost 350,000 subjects with between 5 and 23 years of follow-up. They found that:

“‘There is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of [heart disease and stroke].’ (1,2)

A related article from dLife, Nix the Nonfat Milk; Chuck the Lowfat Cheese (2), also reports:

“Also, a 16-year prospective study of more than 1,500 Australian adults, published in 2010, showed that those who ate the most full-fat dairy had the lowest risk of death from cardiovascular disease.” (2) [emphasis mine]

Huh? (more…)

Posted in Food-Nutrition-Health, Health | Comments Closed

Cheese Making with Kalispell Kreamery Milk

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, April 10, 2011

(photos by Shelli R. & Catherine Haug)

K.Kreamery Milk

ESP is offering a panel presentation on June 15, 2011 on Cheese Making at Home; and we offered a previous presentation by Fran W. in 2009 on (Making Cheese and Tofu).

While our panel members Fran and Shelli both use raw goat’s milk for their cheese, many of us do not have access to raw milk (it is illegal to sell raw milk in Montana). Fran discovered that store-bought Organic ultra-pasteurized milk will not curd for cheese, when she tried to make a sample for her 2009 presentation.

Now we have access to HTST pasteurized milk from Kalispell Kreamery (processed at a lower temperature than ultra pasteurized). Will it work the same as raw milk? Are modifications necessary?

(See my articles Food Safety & Pasteurization for more on the different types of pasteurization; and Cheese Making: Waxing the Round for how to preserve your cheese for storage). (more…)

Posted in Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Food-Nutrition-Health | 2 Comments »

‘Sourdough’ Pie Crust

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

by Catherine Haug, May 23, 2011

Now that you are learning to use sourdough, a natural leaven for baked goodies, are you wondering how to get the benefits of the fermented grain without the leavening for things like pie crust? If so, the answer is yes, you can, by using yogurt or whey as your starter (lemon juice also works, for those who cannot do dairy).

For a regular pie crust, use a mix of water and yogurt. For savory pies & tarts, such as Pasties, Lebanese Spinach Tarts and Mincemeat Pie, I like to use all yogurt (no water), for a slightly sour flavor that works well with the savory flavor of the filling.

I’d planned to make a crust for a rhubarb pie, so I thought I’d do a photo essay on how to make the fermented crust, including a link to my Rhubarb Custard Pie Filling recipe (pdf file prints on 3 x 5 index card). For a printable pdf version of this photo essay, see ‘Sourdough Pie Crust’.

Read on for more. (more…)

Posted in Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Food-Nutrition-Health, Home & Ranch | 3 Comments »

The Importance of Grinding Your Own Flour

Sunday, May 22nd, 2011

Messerschmidt Hand Mill

by Catherine Haug, May 21, 2011

(photo, left, from Lehman’s (2))

This is a companion post to The Problem with Unfermented Grains. Both topics were discussed at our recent May gathering (Making and Using Sourdough, a Panel Presentation).

In this post, I talk about the importance of using freshly ground flour, preferably using your own grain mill. This is because commercial whole grain flour is most likely rancid (contains toxic free radicals). Ronny impressed this upon us at the Sourdough presentation, but since grain mills do not come cheaply, she offers the following suggestions:  (more…)

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The Problem with Unfermented Grains

Sunday, May 22nd, 2011

by Catherine Haug, May 19, 2011

This is a companion post to The Importance of Grinding your own Flour. Both topics were discussed at our recent May gathering (Making and Using Sourdough, a Panel Presentation).

The USDA is really pushing the healthfulness of whole grains, putting them in the prime position at the bottom of their food pyramid (see below). But did you know that many of the nutrients in the grain are not available for absorption, including minerals and some vitamins? And that some components are actually toxic?

No worries, though; all is made well by fermenting the grain (i.e., sourdough; soaking with yogurt or whey), or sprouting the seeds before grinding. (more…)

Posted in Food-Nutrition-Health, Health | Comments Closed

In Support of Small Farmers & Gardeners

Friday, May 20th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, May 19, 2011

Did you see Mike Jopek’s piece in this week’s Flathead Beacon: Founding Farmers (05-18-11)? If not, check it out. He writes about how the USA’s founding fathers & former presidents George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were also farmers. And about recent efforts to protect small farmers and gardeners at the state and national legislative levels. He quotes Sen. Tester:

“If you eat, you are affected by the U.S. food policy.” (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Food-Nutrition-Health, GMO, Home & Ranch | Comments Closed

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