The new Paleo/Primal thread - please reintroduce yourself, newcomers welcome!

[misscph1973]

Wow, we got to 1000 messages!

Welcome back from the previous thread and welcome to all new!

I have been Paleo since September last year, I started as an ex-vegetarian/vegan, I wanted to give up gluten and I had been doing 5:2/IF, which lead me to Paleo/primal. I am 40, I have 2 kids age 8 and 6. I have no major health issues, but I would like it to stay that way. I have bad skin, which has improved since starting Paleo and my dandruff has disappeared. I have gained some weight since starting Paleo, but I was not overweight before, although I would like to get back on my pre Paleo weight - I just love Paleo mayonnaise too much ;) I still practice IF and I lift weights 2-3 times per week. My family is also Paleo.

I have just come back from a camping weekend where I was not strict Paleo as I was camping with other families and I just didn't want to spend my entire weekend telling my kids "no, you cant have it". I do think that Paleo camping is entirely possible, think tinned fish, nuts, sausages, eggs etc.

If those burgers don't go down well, giraffe, you know my lot will snatch them of your hand! Anything wild...

I told Dad about my sausage making and ''slowly'' he is starting to remember some of his bore and venison salami recipes (tips dad, tips!!)!

oops! *Meatballs!

Your family sounds adventurous Fav! Quite a success, we liked them, and the sauce was nice. I had put them on ice before cooking as apparently that makes venison less gamey dds weren't so keen though but ds had his. My children take it in turns to be difficult/ easy going!

Children?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I use cold meat to make sausages so I don't overdue on liquid in the mixture. ...must try ice on stronger mixes

Ha - yes we might have a stronger mix this eve, Dp craving gin and tonic

Can't find the place I read the nutty advice but this is similar forums.bowsite.com/tf/bgforums/thread-print.cfm?threadid=401090&forum=4

Been having the green smoothies in the morning and it make me less blood sugary than having them in the afternoon.

We had poached trout last night, much nicer than my usual skinny rubbery offerings.

, , just saw yet another comment on a thread "for those of you trying to eat healthier", where the op describes her diet (extremely high in processed carbohydrate, with very little fat or protein), and asks others to contribute.

After a couple of dozen posts a few people suggest adding protein, ie eggs, cutting back on yogurt and other sugary carb, which led to someone saying that tv doctor who cut out sugar ended up almost diabetic because cutting out sugar messed up his insulin levels.

For Fucks actual sake.

The commenter on Marks Daily Apple who said that TV "documentary" set back nutritional understanding in the uk by 10 years, was right.

Sigh. Bangs head on wall, sighs again...

I find unbelievable the attitude and knowledge change in the last few years. Even my dad- once a strong believer in home made/grown food-has changed his eating habits towards more wholesome
Pasta & bread. At least he still eats lots of fish.

My computer is playing up... Could you post the link to the Mark's post, Raw?

*change in diet.

My dad is the same he loves red meat but has cut it out. Don't think I can say too much to him though as he hardly ever eats sweets or drinks etc.

Favadi, , it was dr Briffa who did the horizon program rebuttal, tho saw a link to it on comments on a Marks Daily Apple article.

Don't know how to link off my phone. But if you google drbriffa.com, the rebuttal was posted on 31st jan, so is near the top of the blog still.

I feel the same, giraffe. My dad has the odd bit of dark chocolate (Trying to get him to have at least 75%), he doesn't drink but exercises and yet his cholesterol keeps playing up! Yet, whenever he visits, his levels go down!!! I feel powerless as his gallbladder was removed a few years ago and I just don't know what the right balance would be in his circumstance.

On a different note, a very different note: my ham is smoking and it smells just gorgeous!

On the back of bacon making : the ham could have benefited from an extra day or two of curing in the fridge;it smelled lovely out of the fridge and if, after smoking it at 100C for a 1-2hour a pound, doesn't look fabulous I can still 'finish it' in the pan! Just worried not about the taste! [yum]

Thank you, Raw. :)
I have indeed read Dr Briffa's, Diet Doctor's (and Zoe Harcombe's) responses. I'm not sure there are any 'reverse' converts from their regular readers. Other people... :(

I have just check on the ham and I think another hour would make it reach the magic number of 80C (180F). I couldn't resist trying the tiniest of bits and it was beyond promising, it was mouthwatering beautiful! Until it's cooled down the verdict is out (I suspect another recipe will be added to the little black book!) :)

Sounds delicious! I'm off to read Zoe and dietdr responses to that program (I'm so behind on my "reading up" this week!

Favadi how are you smoking the ham? Would love to see a tutorial or photo sounds really yum

I was googling food combining recently because it came up in a paleo recipe book and I found Zoe harcombes response. I thought it was interesting because she could have presented it that the fat vs sugar show demonstrated keeping fats and carbs sep as in her diet plan was a good idea, but she really dismissed the show. I thought the fact they had prev done a show on BBC3 going in favour of a high fat diet was interesting! Thinking about it now I can't believe fat vs sugar wasn't on BBC 3 to be honest. It went for shock value above information I think.

Sorry just going back to dads for a minute Favadi, it is confusing isn't it and part of the problem is there is much contradictory advice (even within paleo or low carb methods).

Raw I am doing too much reading at mo, got chris kressers book from the library and it seems pretty useful but I am getting even more confused!

hi ladies

thanks for the tips on kids - I think getting them involved in cooking is definitely the way forward. I love the idea of making our own sausages and that ham sounds delish. I work above a branch of Waitrose and the other week I had no lunch prepared to went to find something in the deli isle - only 1 type of pate and 1 type of ham without added sugar/dextrose/wheat syrup etc out of a huge isle. Amazing.

have had horrendous start to new job - cold sore started last week on 2nd day, I treated as usual with tea tree oil, got worse, by Friday it had spread over my bottom lip. By Sunday am both lips were twice normal size and covered in blisters so have taken the week off. So stressful with work piling up and emails flying and being stuck at home looking like Pete Burns. Never had anything like this before, the Dr said stress. Still not recovered but I ordered some make up and hopefully can cover up to some extent yikes

i'm glad I didn't watch that prog sugar v fat, would have sent my blood pressure through the roof

The ham is wonderful moist, succulent and moreish. It reminds of when my grandparents used to serve a thick slice of ham and salad for lunch. I remember being fascinated at the different types of ham available here in Britain when in Italy we had only 3-Prosciutto crudo (cured), cotto(cooked) e spalla (shoulder but it was square!!!).

As promised:

Homemade Cured Smoked Ham

Ingredients

Pork of your choice (I used shoulder de-boned and rolled)

Per 1 kg (2lbs) meat

30g sea salt (ground at home) ~1 to 1 1/2 tbs of salt
1/4 tsp ground cinammon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground pepper
5 green cardamon (Seeds only)
2tbs rosemary finely chopped.

This recipe was intended to fulfill dh's desire to have Arista and ds's fancy for an Asian style ham. So long as you keep the salt at 30g/kg, you can choose whatever herbs and spices you fancy. Also if you'd like the ham to look pink instead of pale brown, you can use 2.5g/kg curing salt (never tried).

Method

-Mix all spices and herbs. keep the salt separate.
-Pat dry the meat.
-Rub the salt in the meat, followed by the spice-herb mix. Make sure the mix and salt are in every nook and fold. If using a rolled joint, it might be worth unrolling to rub the salt and seasoning.
-Wrap in abundant kitchen paper (I used 16-20 pieces in length); place in a zip-lock bag removing as much air as possible.*
-Place in the fridge for a few days.
1 day per inch in diameter + 3 Days was the suggestion on a web page I cannot find again. I go by the experience I gained with bacon which takes about ten days to cure (although 7 days as suggested in the original recipe works just fine)* My ham was just over 2Kgs and 5" in diameter. It should have needed 5+3=8days but my instinct told me to leave it for 10-12 days. I took it out at 11 days but an extra day or two would have been better (there was still some red meat**)
-Turn daily
-Remove from fridge
-Wash thoroughly
-Pat dry.
-Smoke it for 2-4 hours/kg in the oven at 80-120C or until the ham reaches 80-85C. I started at 120C for 1 hr and then lowered to 100C for 4hrs. (the fat had just started to render)

Smoking

-Choose the wood. I used a bit of maple which I split into thin kindle using chisel and hammer.
-Place the wood in a grill pan/roasting tin -enough to cover the bottom as a thin layer;avoiding to touch the grill on which the ham will sit upon.
-Cover the wood in water to soak for a couple of hours. The placed upside down will act as a weight to stop the wood floating.
-Drain the wood but retain the water. Pour some of the water back into the grill/tin (1-2cm). I only needed to re-add water once.
-Place the grill/rack in the grill/tin and place ham on the rack,in the middle and cover to form a dome with foil (making sure it's well tucked under the lip of the grill/tin).
-Place in the oven at the desired tmp. (80-120C)***
_check every 1 1/2-2 for water and meat tmp.

Notes

Purists can tell me off! ;)
**The extra few days improve taste, texture and carving. Don't worry about under curing as both ham and bacon are finished in the oven.
meat discolors during curing. It turns into a deep red or reddish brown.
*The smoking is not essential. You could just use the same principle without the wood.
**The lower the tmp the more succulent the meat will be but subject to time constraint.

Sorry about the confusion on I had hoped that not having words in between they would remain . I should have used #

Mary. Sorry to hear your new job didn't start all that well.

giraffe, I hope I have satisfied your request of a tutorial and you are very welcome to ask any questions. :)

Oh Mary that sounds stressful in itself, esp in a new job. Hope it all settles down and you have a relaxing weekend.

Wow what an amazing recipe Favadi I have a tiny fridge but will try at some point. Silly question where did you get maple from, did you buy it or use a branch you found somewhere?

Bacon adapted from the link posted earlier.

Ingredients

For every 1Kg Pork belly
40-50g ground sea salt ~2tbs
1 tbs ground pepper
1 tbs ground fennel seeds
2 tbs rosemary finely chopped. (reduce to 1tbs if chopping in an electric grinder)

Method
As in the link with a few adaptations and notes.

I wrapped the bacon in paper and place it in a zip-lock bag. I use this system because: no draining during the curing; less mess in the fridge; reduction of contamination;easier to turn; occupies less space in the fridge; I can stack neatly multiple bacons or bacon and ham or bacon, ham and sausages...
The oven tmp is 90C.
No need for a meat thermometer it takes ~2hrs in the oven. The bacon is ready when it starts rendering the fat and a couple of fat drops land at the bottom of the grill. To be honest you can even tell by smell.:)
I never wait for the bacon to cool. I take the skin off immediately and make crackling. Whilst the crackling are cooking I slice a few slices of bacon and cook it straight away (watch the kitchen crowd!); the rest can cool down.Once sliced I freeze it in portions.

The most important ingredient is obviously salt; indeed salt was the one ingredient that originally flummoxed me (and Snow, if I remember well).
My experience in curing with salt:
-It only needs adding once at the beginning of the process.
-Can use as low as 30g/kg which will result in a more 'ham' taste
-Above 40-45g of salt the bacon is too salty but 50g might be required if using honey.

As for the spices and herbs use what you fancy. I've use fresh rosemary, thyme, oregano, hyssop, fresh fennel leaves...I found it best to chop herbs by hand (it seems they keep sweeter).

The maple was from a tree we had to take out. Where I live it's easy to buy wood as a small bag of kindling (which might need splitting a little). My local farm shop sell apple and pear kindling. The 'local' country park donated some hazel wood 'skewers' to for us to cook sausages on an open fire.
Once the wood had cooled, I soaked it in warm water to clean the fat out, wrapped in a tea towel and place on a radiator. I'll reuse it at the weekend to smoke some brisket.

Bacon description is making my mouth water! people would pay a lot of money for your homemade bacon I think, all the different woods and herbs must smell so yum.

It is mouthwatering and moreish, giraffe. :)

It's also very rewarding and much cheaper. The ham was about £6 for over 2kg. I chose the cheapest cut on offer with British farm assured logo. Now I know it works, I will use the meat I buy directly from the farmer.

I found my next project. I will report back on how easy it is or not to make Homemade cured salmon, smoked and unsmoked.