10 Things You Didn’t Know About Offal
You’re read about how offal is a true super food, packed with nutrients. Perhaps you use it regular in your cooking, maybe you've tried my chicken liver pate recipe? Here are ten little know facts about organ meats…
1. There are two types of offal, red offal and rough offal. Red offal refers to the parts of the animal above its diaphragm, such as the heart, lungs, spleen, ox tail, skirt, sweetbread and gullets. Rough offal is the name given to the parts of cattle from the rumen area, i.e. intestines, tripe, heads and heels.
2. The liver of Polar bears is very dangerous to humans, being far too high in Vitamin A. Indiginous populations never eat Polar bear livers. Seal livers are equally toxic.
3. Similarly the internal organs of the fugu pufferfish are very toxic – and if not prepared properly can be fatal.
4. Skirt (i.e. onglet steak or hanger steak) gets it’s unique savory taste from it’s close proximity to the diaphragm and kidneys.
5. Sausage skin is traditionally made from the intestines of sheep, pig or ox.
6. Demand for offal is far greater in the winter months, whilst in the summer relatively little is sold – this makes the summer months a good time to get cheaper prices.
7. Whilst the term offal used to just refer to the entrails, it is now taken to mean all of the insides, abdominals and extremities. The terms “organ meats” and “variety meats” are also used instead of offal.
8. The word “offal” comes from “off fall”, and literally refers to the pieces of the animal that fall away as the carcass is butchered.
9. Offal from birds is known as giblets.
10. If you find the taste of offal a bit much (and tolerate dairy), try soaking it in milk overnight before cooking it.
What do you think of offal? Do you eat it regularly – and what is your favourite type?
Share this:
10 (and a Half) Ways to Add More Fat to Your Diet
A big factor in my own weight loss and controlling my hunger has been increasing my fat intake. I find that when I eat more fat, I am full for far longer, don’t feel hungry, feel more energetic and have much better weight loss results.
So many foods are actually high in protein, not fat. As excess protein is converted into glucose, I'm careful to not eat more protein than I need to – which makes it even more important to increase fat intake.
Exactly how do you add more fat to your diet?
Dairy is a popular source of fat, so a key factor is how well you tolerate fat. You may be better on a strict Paleo diet, with no dairy – or on a lacto-Paleo (or Primal diet), which allows the inclusion of dairy. Weston A Price is also an approach which includes dairy. Instead of being strict about it for the sake of being strict, I think it’s far more important to learn how your body tolerates (or does not tolerate) dairy. I used to avoid all forms of dairy, recently however, I've been experimenting with dairy, specifically butter, which I’ve been eating with most of my meals. If you do decide to have dairy, make sure it’s good quality, perhaps you can have raw dairy, where you live.
Top 10 ½ ways to add more fat to your diet:
1. Avocados
Avocados are a great source of fat – and very versatile. You can eat them on their own with a spoon, or sliced up alongside your dinner. Or you can get inventive and cook a curry with avocado, or even make a smoothie or mousse with avocado.
2. Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is such a good oil – and being stable at high temperatures, great to cook with. When you cook in coconut oil, be generous with your serving – and if you've cooked meat for example, pour the remaining oil over the meat before you serve it.
3. Coconut Milk
If you like the taste, coconut milk or cream is a good base for many meals and smoothies. In fact, coconut is a great source of fat generally, get some coconut flakes to snack on!
4. Animal Fats
Perhaps the best fat sources, lard, tallow, mutton fat, bacon fat and even goose fat (though careful with the omega ratio) are great to cook in.
5. Butter (and ghee)
Butter is my current favourite. I add a generous wedge of butter to all of my vegetables just before I serve them. Many of the nutritional goodness of vegetables is fat soluble, so adding fat to your veggies is a good way of making sure you get the maximum nutritious benefit. Butter can be added to almost anything – and it tastes great.
6. Olive Oil
Whilst I wouldn't cook with it, olive oil is fantastic to dress a salad in. Sprinkle on a few nuts, add a boiled egg, some meat, avocado and perhaps some cheese and you can make a big improvement to the fat content of a salad.
7. Pork Crackling
Not only does pork rind taste great, it’s another good source of fat. A word of caution though – it’s really important with pork to ensure it’s high quality – ideally pasture raised and organic.
8. Eggs
Eggs are a great fat (and protein) source. Just make sure you eat the yolk! If I make cauliflower rice I often stir in an egg just before I finish cooking it as a hidden boost.
9. Bones
Ok, so I'm not suggesting chewing on bones, but some good quality grass-fed bones make a great bone broth full of good fat.
10. Nuts
Whilst you have to be careful with nuts as they can have a poor Omega 3/ Omega 6 ratio – and they can be easy to over indulge in – they are a great fat source. I prepare a small serving of nuts to take to work with me, making sure I have a good mix to ensure I get the different nutritional benefit each type gives.
10 ½. Nut Butters
On a similar thread, nut butters such as almond, cashew and macadamia are also good, with the same note of caution about the Omega balance.
I’d love to hear your views on eating more fat. How much fat would you estimate you eat, and what are your top sources?
Share this:
How To Make A Perfect Roast Chicken
Share this:
Why You Need To Stop Buying Ground Beef
So many recipes call for ground beef (or mince meat, depending on where you’re from). It’s on sale in every supermarket and butcher, but what exactly is in it – and should you buy it?
What Actually Is It?
The point of mince meat, is to use all of the bits of the animal that can’t be used elsewhere. Commercially produced ground beef will typically contain parts from hundreds of different carcasses. This product is also a good way to make use of old dairy cattle, and other animals that wouldn't be used for the popular cuts of meat. A pack of ground beef could contain all sorts of different parts of thousands of cows, yet the ingredients will still say “100% beef”.
The E. Coli Risk
The other significant problem with ground beef, is the health risk.
E. Coli can get into the food chain when the dirty exterior (and particularly any faeces) come into contact with the inside of the meat – the bits that go into the mince.
In a small scale operation cross contamination like this is unlikely, but in a large processing plant, where workers are under pressure to turn around as many animals as possible, the risk is far higher. The way ground meat is made, means any bacteria that has accumulate on the surface of the meat will rapidly permeate through the whole product.
Where so many animal parts are present in one product, the risk is obviously greatly increased. To mitigate the risk, the meat is often vacuumed, washed with hot water and lactic acid, but these measures do not guarantee safety.
What’s The Solution?
For me, the solution is making my own ground beef. I have bought an old fashioned, hand operated mincer, that clamps to my kitchen counter. This means I can buy my own grass-fed organic beef, from my trusted butcher. This way I know exactly what my minced meat contains, I can make it fresh when I need it, and won’t need to store it, which will help the bacteria risk.
Do you make your own ground meat? I’d love to hear your thoughts on minced meat, and whether you’re happy to buy it, or make your own.
Share this:
How to Make Paleo Beef and Onion Gravy
Share this:
Do You Really Know What You’ve Been Eating?
Have you read about the horsemeat scandal in the UK? It seems that many products being sold as containing beef, have actually contained horsemeat. More and more products are being discovered across many brands as well as the supermarkets own brands. Most of the products are processed ready meals, with things like lasagne and spaghetti bolognese having been added to the scandal so far. Initially it was claimed “some” of the meat was horsemeat, but now it appears in some cases 100% of the meat has been found to be horsemeat.
One of the French food companies involved in the scandal, bought the frozen meat from a Cypriot food trader, who had bought it from a Dutch food trader, who had purchased the meat from two slaughterhouses in Romania. The French company then sold the horsemeat to a factory in Luxembourg, which was then sold under the Swedish brand Findus. This meat appears to be making it’s way into countless brands and products – with Findus just being the tip of the iceberg.
There is also concern that the horses may have been given the horse drug bute (phenylbutazone), which depending on the source you read, could be very harmful to humans if it gets into the food chain.
What ARE You Eating?
Most of the outrage so far seems to be at the fact that people have been eating horsemeat. Which yes, is outrageous and completely unacceptable (can you imagine if a similar scandal happened with pork?) But isn’t the biggest issue here that no one knows exactly what is in these processed food products? If they didn’t even know (and tell the consumers) that a frozen lasagne contains 100% horsemeat and 0% beef, how can we have any confidence about the other ingredients in the meal?
Even if the “beef” label is right on a product, with so much trading and smoke and mirrors masking the origin of the meat, I think we can be fairly confident a frozen ready meal is never going to contain grass-fed organic meat. In fact, I wonder how many different animals have contributed to the meat found in one ready meal? I guess it could be hundreds.
And what about the other ingredients? Is the tomato base of the spaghetti bolognese mainly tomatoes? Or is it bulked out with cheaper chemicals? Are the tomatoes that are used organic, or rather grown in glass houses with chemicals to help them grow as quickly as possible. Can we even be certain the tomatoes aren’t genetically modified?
How Can You Get Confidence About Your Food?
The only way to be certain about what you’re eating is to make it yourself. However busy you are, I don’t think there is ever a good reason to by ready made instant meals. It’s just not worth it. It’s also very important that as well as making your own food, you’re careful about the ingredients you use, particularly meat. It really is worth buying organic, grass-fed, pasture raised meat, from as close to the farm as you can get it (perhaps you can order from the farm directly, or use a local butcher who does). Always ask your butcher where the meat is from and how it was raised – and if he doesn’t know, it’s probably time to find a new butcher.
For most people reading this, ready meals aren’t likely to be an issue. But eating out probably is. It always bothers me that when you eat at a restaurant, or in a food court, the same issues apply. Where do they get their ingredients from? If they don’t make a big thing about their meat being grass-fed and organic, well, it probably isn’t. In the long term, the best thing is to ask in the restaurant. Hopefully this way the message will get through that people care, and want to eat good quality ingredients. There are some good restaurants who pride themselves on their local, seasonal organic produce – you just have to find them.
Isn’t it ironic that the sale of raw dairy, from a small farm with well raised animals, is illegal in many places; yet it seems to be common practice to sell food products without even being able to trace what the contents is, or where it comes from?
What are your thoughts on the food industry and the ingredients they use? And what about the horsemeat scandal? I’d love to hear where you stand, so please share your comments below.
Share this:
How to Make Paleo Chicken Liver Pâté
Share this:
73 Paleo Dinner Ideas
What are you having for your Paleo Dinner tonight? Have your dinners started to get repetitive and boring? Or perhaps you’ve got a joint of meat sat in your fridge and are looking for some inspiration about what dinner to make with it? My Paleo dinner recipe book is full of dinner recipes – you can check it out here. Meanwhile, here are some Paleo dinner ideas to cook and enjoy tonight…
Chicken Paleo Dinner Options
There are so many options with chicken! If you’ve got some chicken at home, perhaps one of these ideas will give you some inspiration?
- Thai green curry
- Chicken Fajitas. Either skip the tortillas or use lettuce, or Nori wraps instead
- Chicken casserole – make it in your crockpot/ slow cooker for an instant dinner
- Chicken kebabs
- Bacon wrapped chicken breasts
- Roast chicken
- Chicken salad with mango
- Lemon chicken in the slow cooker
- Jerk chicken
- Quick & easy chicken curry
- Paleo chicken pad thai
- Avocado Cashew chicken
Fish Paleo Dinner Suggestions
Fish is a great choice for Omega 3 – just make sure you get good quality seafood – and ideally line caught fish.
- Salmon burgers
- Paleo Sushi using nori wraps and cauliflower rice
- Pan seared tuna with lime and steamed veggies
- Smoked haddock omelette
- Chilli crab
- Salt & pepper squid
- Shrimp salad
- Chowder
- Baked trout & roasted vegetables
- Seared scallops
- Muscles with garlic
- Seaweed salad
- Paleo paella
- Fish stew
SAD Dinners
Missing a SAD favourite? Try the Paleo version!
- Make a Paleo pizza with a nut flour base
- Spaghetti bolognaise with zucchini noodles
 |
 |
Beef Paleo Dinner Ideas
Beef is another very versatile dinner choice, with literally thousands of menu options. Try one of these ideas tonight.
- Bunless burgers with sweet potato fries
- Meatloaf
- Lasagne (using eggplant and zucchini instead of pasta)
- Paleo meatballs
- Beanless chilli
- Spicy beef curry made with coconut milk
- A traditional roast beef dinner with roasted veggies
- A beef and broccoli stir fry
- Beef stew
- Beef stuffed capsicum/bell peppers
- Beef stroganoff
- Cottage pie topped with cauliflower mash
- Beef Goulash
- Beef Bourguignon
- Steak & Eggs
- Cinnamon beef hash
- The classic meat pie
Lamb Paleo Dinners
I always forget how much I enjoy lamb. Fancy one of these on your menu tonight?
- Shepherds pie topped with sweet potato mash
- Lamb shanks with cauliflower rice
- Lamb skewers
- Slow roasted leg of lamb
- Lamb tagine
- Lamb hotpot
- Lamb chops and mint sauce
- Lamb burgers served with a Greek salad
- Rogan Josh
Paleo Pork Dinners
You can do a lot with pork – this is one meat that I especially recommend getting the best quality possible. Ideally try to get pasture raised pork.
- Sausage and (sweet potato) mash
- Pork chops, apple sauce and steamed greens
- Ginger & orange pork ribs
- Sweet & sour pork
- Sausage hash
- Pork chops & apple sauce
- Moroccan pork
- Braised short ribs
- Paleo sausages with sauerkraut
- Pork tenderloin with pumpkin
- Sausage, red wine & almond casserole
Other Meats & Offal Dinners
For a nutritional boast, how about something more unusual – or some offal?
- Liver & onions. The classic combination – not to mention packed with goodness
- Chicken liver salad with poached egg
- Oxtail soup
- Barbequed Kangaroo
Winter Paleo Diet Dinners
Something comforting for cold winters nights
- Bone broth
- Mushroom soup
- Vitamin A soup
- Nasi Goreng
What are your favourite dinners? I’d love to hear some more dinner ideas from you, in the comments below! And if you enjoyed this post, please like and share it.
