Sunday Morning Breakfast

What I ate:

• Pastured, organic egg
• Pastured, organic bacon
• Organic apple clafoutis
• Homemade, raw goat milk yoghurt

Why it's good:

• Pastured eggs are the only type of egg shown to contain a superior nutrition profile to other eggs (even those organic, 'free-range' ones they charge a premium for in the grocery store). They're high in vitamin A and D, and omega 3 fatty acids - crucial for our health and sadly lacking in our diets. The eggs were cooked in pastured bison fat. Saturated fat is the only fat stable enough to use for cooking. And, of course, saturated fat from healthy animals is integral to our health.

• Pastured bacon brings you all the joy of bacon without the guilt of supporting industrial agribusiness confinement operations. Again, fat with vitamin A, and the overall heightened nutritional profile, from animals that have been raised on grass, in the sunshine.

• The apple clafoutis was a take on a recipe I found on Elana's Pantry. We don't eat grains so this is a nice tart, similar to a pancake without the flour to knock us into a sleepy coma. It's made with eggs, raw goat milk, vanilla, and maple syrup that we purchased from our friend who produces the most wondrous, local, maple syrup. If you try out Elana's recipe, skip the agave in favour of raw honey or maple syrup.
• The goat yoghurt is a tasty way to get some much needed probiotics into our guts. We aim to get some good bacteria in every meal, usually through kefir, different types of yoghurt, or fermented vegetables.
• Most of all, our meal was good, as in 'goooooood', because it tasted delicious and I shared it with my lovely family on a slow, rainy Saturday morning. It was one of those mornings with no agenda - nothing to do, but sit and chat, sipping warm tea while the rain pitter-pattered on our roof.

Ghee-lish

Ghee is a clarified butter void of any milk solids or water. More importantly, ghee is absolutely delicious. I've been making ghee for years now and I'm sure that I would be unable to cook in the style I'm used to without it. It adds a rich, nutty taste to vegetables, sauces, and baking. If you have anyone in your family that has problems with the milk proteins in butter, you may likely find that ghee is digested well. I have found that I can easily use ghee, even though I am intolerant to dairy products. It's worth trying.

Ghee is used daily in Indian and South Asian homes. It's very easy to make. The beauty of ghee is that it's a saturated fat which means that it's stable to cook with at higher temperatures. (If you would like to read further on the right types of fats to cook with, this is a good starting point.)

I sometimes mix our ghee with organic, extra-virgin coconut oil.  We use it as a spread on bread, to bake with (using a 1:1 ratio with any butter called for), on popcorn (gloriously delicious!), and to cook with. In fact, this is the only fat I cook with aside from goose or duck fat.  I usually make a big supply of ghee every two weeks.  If you make it correctly, getting all of the water and milk solids out of the ghee in the cooking process, it will not have to be refrigerated.  

Ghee

What you need:

1. Organic, unsalted butter, raw if you can get it (use as much as you want, I usually buy 8 blocks at a time)
   
2. Sieve
3. Cheesecloth
4. Jars, butter dishes, or whatever you want to store the ghee in

What you do:

1. Put the butter in a deep, heavy pot. If you have enameled, cast iron cookware that will hold it, use it.  If not, whatever you have that is heavy and big enough will do. 
2. Bring the butter to a boil and then quickly reduce to low heat. You want the butter to be lightly simmering, a few bubbles here and there.
3. You will notice some foam on top of the butter.  If there's a lot of foam, you can skim a little off, taking care to not disturb the butter.
4. It usually takes anywhere from 20-45 minutes for the ghee to be ready. A golden crust will form on the top of the liquid. The liquid will be a deeper, golden yellow colour. You will notice a different smell - deep and rich, almost 'nutty'. The liquid should look clear below the crust. 
5. Place the cheesecloth in a sieve over a bowl. Pour the ghee through the cheesecloth slowly (be careful, it's really hot). Pour the filtered ghee into clean jars, butter dishes, or any other vessel you want to store it in. Let it sit at room temperature to cool off before putting the lids on.