NT October thread - Page 4

[Brisen]

Is that whole milk buttermilk? I am kind of confused with the recipes in NT. The buttermilk that comes from making my butter is at least as thin as skimmed milk. Would I make the buttermilk described above (whole milk buttermilk in NT?) using my buttermilk from my butter? Or only if I let the cream sour before I make the butter?

[lao80]

I don't really know. That recipe seems like whole milk buttermilk. I've used that recipe and it seems thicker and whiter then store bought buttermilk. So, maybe you could try adding a 1/2c store bought to you buttermilk left from making butter and it would turn out more like the original store bought kind. KWIM? Let me know what happens if you try it.

[HerthElde]

Brisen, just go with whatever you'd prefer. I love the homemade buttermilk from homemade cultured butter (all I do to culture mine is leave the cream at room temp for a few hours). The buttermilk may not be thick, but . . . well, it's real buttermilk, isn't it? And I think it's just fine in recipes ('specially pancakes ). I can't work out the math in my head as to which way would be cheaper for you (is math brain the first to go while pregnant? :LOL) - you may just want to do it that way. I don't think there's anything wrong with sweet butter either it just doesn't have the same "sour" kind of flavour (or all the bacterial cultures) - and if you want it salty, you could always add salt to his butter for negligable cost.

[toraji]

Originally Posted by JaneS

Gotta be a specific reason why it's better than Knox Gelatine? Anyone know?

I am guessing because the Radiant Life version comes from BSE-negative tested cows while the Knox comes from any old cow.

[G&B'sMama]

I don’t usually post on this thread, but I had a question about an NT recipe and thought someone might be able to help. I was trying to make the Zaruthsian (probably spelled wrong, but close) Bread recipe. I soaked my wheat berries for 3 days and they were very soft. However, no matter how long I processed them in the food processor, they never got “smooth”. At best I got a lot of chunky stuff and very sticky glue stuff. I was actually using the dough to make crackers- so I spread it as thinly as possible on some parchment and put it in the food dehydrator. This morning the spread was mostly dry and probably edible, but I don’t think it is a very good result. Anyone ever tried this recipe, what did I do wrong? The recipe talks about rolling the dough out for crackers- what I got was not rollable. Any tips?

[mountain mom]

Hi everyone, sorry to jump in mid sentence so to speak.

I have been keeping up with the thread, not much time to post though. I am conducting on going flora balancing programs this fall and winter, compiling research to write a book in the spring. Part of the program is using fermenting projects to bring wellness back to the terrain of the body.

I will be directing the participants to this thread to glean information from all of you wise women!! Thanks so much in advance I really appreciate it. Almost all the members of the group are MDC Mamas BTW.

Take care everyone.

[lao80]

I found our answer.

CULTURED VERSUS OLD FASHIONED BUTTERMILK:
* "Cultured buttermilk," commonly available in US supermarkets, is not the same as "old fashioned buttermilk," about which I get many questions. The latter is the liquid which remains after churned butter is removed. The two buttermilks bear few traits in common. See the following description of churning butter for the differences.

CHURNING BUTTER:
In "olden times," farm families would let freshly milked milk sit for half a day and skim off the cream which had risen. This cream would be set aside in a cool place, around 50-60 F. Each milking's cream would be added until several gallons had accumulated. In the meantime, naturally occurring bacteria in the cream would cause it to slightly sour. This souring increases the efficiency of churning. The accumulated, slightly sour, cream would be churned at the optimum temperature (approximately 58 F) such that the butter was firm enough to separate out, but soft enough to stick together into a mass. The butter was removed, washed in very cold water to remove the remaining milk, and salt worked in to preserve it. The remaining liquid after the butter was removed was called buttermilk. I call it "old fashion buttermilk," which is slightly sour, has the consistency of milk, but is slightly paler. It has flakes of butter floating in it. Commercial manufacturers sometimes add colored "butter flakes" to imitate the old fashioned buttermilk. However, the two products are very different, cultured buttermilk being thick and tart, old fashioned being thin, and slightly acid, depending on how sour the cream got before it was churned.

[Brisen]

Ah, thank you, that does explain it! My buttermilk isn't paler than my milk though, it is kind of orangey-er, almost brownish-reddisher (but not darkly so). Almost like very very milked-down chocolate milk.

[Brisen]

Canned Sardines?

Anyone have experience with using canned sardines? I know I need to eat more fish, but I can't find it cheap. I've always enjoyed snacking on sardines out of the can, and my dad would make sardine and butter sandwiches. Anything else I can do with them?

Is it just the oily fish that have all of the good omega-3 stuff and the fat soluble vitamins etc? We usually eat Alaskan pollock.

[gardenmommy]

Tell me what I can do with cream. I've already made two pounds of butter this week, and I don't feel like making any more just now.

I have about 3 cups worth. I might make french toast with it, unless someone can suggest something else.

Thanks!

[yitlan]

Originally Posted by gardenmommy

Tell me what I can do with cream.

Ice cream, creme fraice/sour cream, a batch of Cream of XYZ soup. Pour it in your morning oats/millet/grains, pour it over fruit, pour it over dessert....l

[Gale Force]

Originally Posted by gardenmommy

Tell me what I can do with cream. I've already made two pounds of butter this week, and I don't feel like making any more just now.

A couple of times in the last two months, we have had "whipped cream parties." We whipped up the cream, added a bit of stevia, and ate it off of a spoon. It was a lot of fun and a good distraction for an otherwise not great day. I would definitely have another if I had extra cream. Of course, yitlan's ideas are a little more reasonable.

[Brisen]

Everything that yitlan said

Try whipping it on something, or in something. If you can find a refrigerated cheesecake recipe (google, you'll get a ton) or there might be something similar in NT -- it is uncooked cheesecake -- that calls for whipped cream. Basically, you make a crumb crust (use whatever NT substitution for regular graham crumb crust is in the book), and chill it. Whip 1 c. soft cream cheese, 2 c. whipped cream (I don't know how much cream you need to make 2 c. of whipped cream), and the recipe calls for 1 c. icing sugar. I think you can get powdered Rapadura....? Or just try skipping the sweetener, or add a bit of stevia. You beat all that together and pour it over the crust. It should chill for at least an hour (unless you're impatient and don't mind it runny -- we usually don't wait too long). Top with fruit.

If you do decide to try this, please let me know how it turns out... I keep wanting to try an NT friendly version, but I never have enough cream. Dh keeps making the SAD version with icing sugar, "whipped dessert topping," etc.

I'm going out to a new farmer that a friend of mine uses on Mon. He has super cheap stuff, and sells cream on its own (the farmer I'm getting milk from now only sells whole milk). So I will have plenty of cream for all those yummy things! Poor ds, we were having oatmeal the other day, and had run out of cream, so I put milk on his. "Mom, is this cream?" "No, just milk, we're out of cream." "But Mo-om, you know I like cream!" :

[Brisen]

:LOL Gale Force, I got to "whipped cream parties" and wondered where you were going with that!

So, a question about the book. I am reading through it again, and there are lots of references in the sidebars to the Masai and similar groups who ate only meat and milk. All from one kind of animal, iirc -- the zebu for the Masai, camels for some other group of herdsmen, etc. Then in the intro to the chicken chapter, SF cautions against eating too much chicken because too much of any one food can cause allergies and intolerances. Does that make any sense in light of the Masai's severely limited diet?

I'm also finding some of the cholesterol info in the sidebars hard to follow. I should be taking notes. It seems like sometimes the quotes say that cholesterol is good for you, and high cholesterol doesn't cause heart attacks etc. Some say that people on a high cholesterol diet don't die from heart problems as often as Westerners do. Then other quotes show that groups that eat a lot of meat (like the two milk and meat eating groups I was talking about above) don't have heart attacks and they have low levels of blood cholesterol. Why would low blood cholesterol be important if cholesterol doesn't cause heart problems? Wait a minute, I think I'm working this out here... One of the things I remember reading is that blaming cholesterol for heart problems is like blaming the firefighters for a fire -- cholesterol is there to repair damage. Correct? So Westerners have high cholesterol and heart problems because they eat a SAD diet which damages their heart/arteries, and then the cholesterol has to get there to repair the damage caused by it. The milk-and-meat eating groups have low blood cholesterol because even though they eat more saturated fat, their body doesn't need the cholesterol there to repair it. Is that about right? Does it make any sense at all? I'm just trying to wrap my brain around it. This probably should have gone in the cholesterol myths thread, now that I think of it.

[lao80]

That is correct. Fats are part of the make up of our cells and by eating bad fats our cells are not as strong and healthy because not all the carbon bonds are filled, leaving double bonds open for free radicals to attach them selves to. The weakening of the cells by accumulation of free radicals causes cholesterol to swarm the site. Fire fighters to the fire.

[Gale Force]

Cholesterol -- take this from someone who probably doesn't know a thing about it, but low blood cholesterol would suggest you are metabolizing cholesterol properly. High blood cholesterol means you are not metabolizing it correctly. One reason you might not be is nutritional deficiencies. I think low copper is associated with cholesterol problems. Your diet may be high in cholesterol, but blood levels low because your body can deal with it.

[Gale Force]

Originally Posted by Brisen

:LOL Gale Force, I got to "whipped cream parties" and wondered where you were going with that!

LOL. I need to be careful discussing this sort of thing. "My son and I had a whipped cream party yesterday."

[lao80]

This taste like cheesecake. I haven't tried other sweeteners yet.

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

2c yogurt cheese
3/4c sugar
1 1/4c milk
1/4c heavy cream
1t vanilla

Mix it all (I used the blender) then freeze it in your ice cream maker.

[cobluegirl]

ooh that sounds good.

[cobluegirl]

Originally Posted by gardenmommy

Tell me what I can do with cream. I've already made two pounds of butter this week, and I don't feel like making any more just now.

I have about 3 cups worth. I might make french toast with it, unless someone can suggest something else.

Thanks!

I drink ours in my coffee....I wish I had extra for butter..I haven't made any in a long time. Also you can freeze your butter if you don't eat it fast enough. Or just leave it in your milk.