Re: Nourishing Traditions Recipes

November 2, 2002

My Nourishing Traditions cookbook is literally worn out. It's used everyday,

several times a day. There are only three recipes I can say that haven't

worked for me...dutch baby pancakes, muffins and the banana bread. So I use

recipes I have and like and prepare them the NT way (soaking the flour

overnight in the cultured dairy and butter, etc). It takes awhile to figure

out what works for you and what doesn't. For instance, when soaking beans I

had one flop after another soaking them in whey. As soon as I used lemon

juice and soaked them for 32 hours instead of 24 it was an absolute success.

With the oats, the lemon juice was awful, the whey delicious. With the

stock, I let it simmer five days instead of one to three. Five day stock has

so much gelatin in it you literally scoop it out with a spoon. It takes

some trial and error and experimentation to learn what products you like best

and what equipment. Until I invested in some Pampered Chef stoneware I had a

ton of flops. With the old style cooking I've found the old style cookware

works best. I have bookshelves of cookbooks and use one or two recipes out

of each. With NT I've made probably 70% of the recipes and use them all over

and over again with tremendous success. The first year however I never would

have survived without this message board and good friends that were cooking

the way I was as some of the procedures seem so opposite of everything we've

been taught. I will never forget my first experience with culturing milk. I

left it on the countertop for a week or so until it clabbered. I picked up

milk from the farmer every week, and set it out every week, however for the

first two months I fed the clabbered milk to my dogs, cats, chickens,

ducks...after a couple months I figured if they didn't get sick it was time

to sample it myself. Now I leave the jug of milk sitting on the countertop

for two or three weeks and just pour out what I need, when I need it without

ever refrigerating it. It's amazing how our ideas of refrigeration, and

healthy bacteria change with time and experience. It's also been interesting

to watch our tastes change. Things that weren't good the first year are

delicious now. Not only with our family but friends as well. Three years

ago a little gal whose parents are divorced started coming to our

neighborhood every other weekend to visit her Dad. She and my daughter

became good friends and would play all day together, always at our house,

however when meal time arrived she would eat at home. Day after day she

would try what we were having, but after a few bites would decide she would

rather head home where Top Ramen and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were

being served. Now, when she arrives, she checks in with her Dad Friday night

and gets down here as quickly as possible hoping she's in time for dinner.

She asked me the other day if I could help her find a NT cookbook so she

could give it to her mom for Christmas. Give yourself time. Try a recipe

once then come back to it again a year or so later. The recipes may not be

satisfying at first as they don't have the sugar and refined grains but with

time your body will crave the fats and heavier meals and you will find your

other cookbooks spend more and more time on the bookshelf.

November 2, 2002

Hi Ellen,

I've had similar problems with some of the recipes in NT.

I know from previous posts on this board that several people really

liked the meatloaf recipe and the kidney & rice casserole. I haven't

tried either yet.

I've made and enjoyed the Beans and Rice Jamaican Style. I used

slightly less salt & pepper than she suggested and I didn't have any

jalapenos on hand. It was still yummy.

> I am still quite new to the Nourishing Traditions way of eating,

and

> I like the principles explained in the book. However, I have been

> experimenting with recipes in the book, and I'm not having as much

> success as I hoped. Is it just me, or is it that maybe Sally is

> either not a great chef or doesn't provide enough explanation for

the

> novice regarding these methods?

>

> I would love to hear which recipes members of the group would

highly

> recommend! And, are there other good cookbooks based on these

> principles?

>

> Thanks!

>

> Ellen

November 2, 2002

I've also had mixed results with the recipes in NT, and not for

lack of kitchen experience on my part. There will, of course, be

variations in results with any recipe based on who's cooking it,

the ingredients, the equipment, etc. Mostly, I use NT principles

for the basics, like stock, how to prepare and cook grains,

ferment various foods, using good fats and other nutrient-rich

ingredients. Some of the recipes from NT I've used have come

out delicious (for example, yogurt herb bread, coconut

macaroons, stuffed peppers, kimchi, rugelach, potatoes gratin),

but some have been unappetizing or a complete flop (notably,

the muffins and banana bread). I prefer to bake things using

sprouted flour and a regular recipe, or sourdough, rather than

the method of soaking the unsprouted flour overnight. It's the

book I turn to first in the kitchen, but I've really never been one to

cook from recipes except for baking, so for me it's more of a

guidebook of healthy ingredients and methods that preserve or

improve nutrient availability than it is a recipe source. I'm sure

there are many more recipes in it that are delicious that I haven't

tried yet, but a lot of them seem more involved and convoluted

than I have time for, and have too many ingredients that I just

don't keep on hand (usually seasonings), so mostly I end up

using the basic concepts to do my own thing.

> Is it just me, or is it that maybe Sally is

> either not a great chef or doesn't provide enough explanation

for the

> novice regarding these methods?

Well, I can't comment on what kind of chef she is, but I have

noticed in some recipes that there seems to be a deficiency in

the explanation.

Aubin

November 12, 2002

In a message dated 11/11/02 4:48:37 PM Eastern Standard Time,

ellen_davin@... writes:

> Ellen responds: So, I guess you are saying that if I make

> butter with the cream from my milk, that what remains is unfit to

> use? I can see where it would mess up cream cheese making (as I

> said, duh!), but as to all uses (barring feeding pigs), that puzzles

> me. So much so that I asked the nutritionist that introduced my to

> NT. She said that it should be fine. She said that as long as you

> are eating the butter as well, you are eating the whole food. I'd be

> really interested to hear others' comments on this. (I also culture

> the buttermilk -- what remains from the cream after making butter.

> Any problem there?) And, if I don't skim the cream from my raw milk,

> how do you blend it so that it is incorporated, not just setting on

> the top?

Lol, sorry about that. I didn't mean healthwise (as long as you are eating

butter), I just meant, in my own opinion, most fat-free stuff doesn't taste

very good. I've used buttermilk to water down my pancakes before, but that's

in place of water, not milk ;-)

If you have no complaints about the taste, go right ahead. Sorry!!!

:-P

Chris

____

" What can one say of a soul, of a heart, filled with compassion? It is a

heart which burns with love for every creature: for human beings, birds, and

animals, for serpents and for demons. The thought of them and the sight of

them make the tears of the saint flow. And this immense and intense

compassion, which flows from the heart of the saints, makes them unable to

bear the sight of the smallest, most insignificant wound in any creature.

Thus they pray ceaselessly, with tears, even for animals, for enemies of the

truth, and for those who do them wrong. "

--Saint Isaac the Syrian

November 13, 2002