Lesson 04. Traditional Fats

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04. Traditional Fats

Traditional Fats [Wardee] If there’s one topic in nutrition that’s most misunderstood, fats have got to be it. Let’s clear the air! First, we’ll debunk the prevailing myths about fats. Next, we’ll cover why the right fats are essential in a healthy diet. Finally, we’ll go over all the kitchen/baking properties of traditional fats.

You’ll find links to all books and ingredients mentioned in this lesson on the Recommended Resources Page for this eBook/class.

If you’re a member, go online to the Member Area to watch the videos that correspond to this lesson: Healthy Fats, Ghee, Mayonnaise, Coconut Bark and How To Season a Cast-Iron Skillet So It’s Nonstick.

Lipid Hypothesis: A Myth A prevailing myth of our time is the lipid hypothesis. This is the theory — just one of many — named in the 1950s by Ancel Keys. It is “the theory that saturated fats and cholesterol in our food raise cholesterol levels in the blood, leading to heart disease.” This hypothesis grew as scientists tried to explain a steep rise in heart disease. At the turn of the 20th century, less than 10 percent of deaths were from heart disease, but by 1950, heart disease accounted for 30 percent of all deaths.

Many doctors (President Eisenhower’s physician among them) pointed out that the increase in heart disease coincided with an increase of liquid vegetable oil and hydrogenated oil consumption, along with an overall decrease in the consumption of eggs and traditional fats. But other scientists insisted that reducing animal fats was the way to stay healthy. So by the 1970s, the prevailing explanation for the rise in heart disease was the lipid hypothesis.

Mary Enig and Sally Fallon wrote a whole book — Eat Fat, Lose Fat — debunking the lipid hypothesis. It is a great book, and I highly recommend it (here’s my review and summary). They reviewed the studies that had been used to support the lipid hypothesis, plus others that were left out, and came to very different conclusions than Ancel Keyes!

“If you’re like most people we meet, when you hear about the benefits of coconut and other saturated fats, you may wonder, ‘If saturated fat is so great, why have I always been told it’s bad?’ The fact is that for the last four decades, saturated fats, including coconut oil, have been banned from general consumption, condemned and locked away for the misdeeds of polyunsaturated fats, trans fats, and refined carbohydrates, foods that are still at large wreaking havoc with American waistlines (not to mention our life expectancy).

If eating saturated fat caused heart disease and weight gain, then eliminating those fats should have resulted in a decline in heart disease and an increase in weight loss. But look around you. That’s not what happened! While we Americans have been dutifully eliminating fat from our diet, eating low-fat foods, and avoiding saturated fats from tropical oils, butter, and red meats, obesity rates and the overall incidence of heart disease have continued to climb.

The truth is that the ‘diet police’ condemned the wrong culprit. It was not saturated fat or coconut oil (a dietary staple in countries such as Thailand and the Philippines with consistently lower heart disease rates than our own) that caused our galloping heart disease rates. An entire body of research implicates

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refined grains and sugars (especially high-fructose corn syrup) — not saturated fats — as the cause of obesity, and vegetable oils and trans fats as key factors in heart disease.” —Eat Fat, Lose Fat

Traditional people groups — such as the Masai in Kenya, and Punjabi Indians — ate a high-fat diet and were virtually free of heart disease. As I already pointed out, the rise of heart disease in the 1900s coincides most directly with a shift away from traditional diets and toward processed vegetable oils and refined carbohydrates.

Why is the lipid hypothesis is so pervasive in our culture? The multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical industry, as well as a food industry dependent on cheap vegetable oils, stand to benefit monetarily when we believe this lie. Sadly, most people do believe it and suffer for it.

Does Fat Make You Fat?

This is another prevalent myth — the idea that eating fat makes you fat. This is not true. In fact, the reverse is true — avoiding fat is likely to cause weight gain. Consider these three reasons:

First, eating fat (the right kinds, which we’ll cover in a bit) helps you feel satisfied. Fats send signals to your brain that you’re happy and satisfied. If you don’t eat the fats, you don’t feel satisfied, and you tend to overeat. And gain weight.

Second, eating fat helps stabilize your blood sugar levels so your body doesn’t go into storage mode with a slowed-down metabolism. Plus, even blood sugar levels mean you’re more likely to have energy needed to exercise and improve your health. And finally, when people eat low-fat diets, they tend to eat more refined carbohydrates than quality protein. Protein usually comes with fat, which these people are avoiding. Inevitably, the excess refined carbohydrates leads to weight gain because our body stores it up as fat, or fuel, for later.

Saturated vs. Unsaturated

Fats are either saturated or unsaturated. (Keep in mind that a fat on your pantry shelf might actually be made up of a blend of types of fats, chemically speaking. For instance, coconut oil is 90 percent saturated fat, and the rest unsaturated.) You’ll find good technical explanations in the homeschool nutrition text Real Food Nutrition and Health, but for now let’s keep it very basic and simple.

Saturated fats pack closely and well because of their chemical structure, keeping them solid at room temperature. Think butter, lard or coconut oil. There are common types of saturated fat, called acids — butyric acid, lauric acid, stearic acid and so on — but you don’t need to remember the types so much as you should remember that our bodies can make the various types needed from saturated fat in the diet.

Unsaturated fats, both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, don’t pack so well because their chemical structure is more irregular (there is at least one atom sticking out somewhere); thus they are liquid at room temperature and more susceptible to rancidity. Think liquid vegetable oils like olive oil.

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Trans-fats or hydrogenated fats are fats that have been forced to accept extra atoms in order to make their structure more regular and pack together more tightly (like saturated fats). The purpose? To create a cheap, shelf stable oil. Interestingly, whenever saturated fats are blamed for heart disease, a careful review actually proves that trans-fats are to blame.

Essential Fatty Acids

Essential fatty acids, commonly called omega-6 and omega-3 fats. This is a special type of fatty acid found in saturated and unsaturated fats. These fatty acids are incredibly important for regulating cellular inflammation, moods, behavior and many other cellular functions. Our bodies cannot make them — we must get them from diet. Also, we must get them in the right ratio for optimum health. Traditional diets, high in saturated fat, offered a ratio of 1:1 (omega-6:omega-3). This is very good; for good health, an optimum range is between 1:1 and 4:1. Sadly, the standard American diet offers a ratio of 20:1! A high ratio of omega-6 is one of the primary causes of heart disease.

What’s to blame for the heightened ratio of omega-6 in the standard American diet? Corn. With its 46:1 ratio (omega-6:omega-3), it is ubiquitous in virtually all processed foods. And yet even more alarming, animals raised for meat are primarily fed corn. The fat in unnaturally raised animals (raised in feedlots instead of pasture) has experienced the same shift in omega-6:omega-3 ratios as the standard American diet.

Why Do We Need Fat?

We are made of fat — saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. (We are not made of essential fatty acids, though; these must come from diet.) Interestingly, the types of saturated and unsaturated fats eaten in traditional diets closely follow the composition of fats in our bodies. In our bodies, you’ll find primarily saturated fats, followed closely by monounsaturated, with polyunsaturated at less than 4 percent.

Fats are basic building blocks, making our cell membranes and hormones and healthy skin. Our brain is 65 percent fat! We store fat for insulation, and we can burn excess stored fat as fuel. Fats carry and help to digest fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Fat enhances our immune system. I mentioned before that fat stabilizes blood sugar levels, which implies to me that fats can prevent the onset of diabetes. Fats — the right ones — are really important!

Traditional Fats

We’re going to dig into all the traditional fats available to you, a traditional cook. First though, some basic principles to guide your consumption of fats.

1. Give your body the type of fats it needs. Remember the fats of which the human body is composed? Primarily saturated, followed by monounsaturated, with polyunsaturated at a lowly 4 percent. While your diet doesn’t have to perfectly conform, this is a good rule of thumb. Eat mostly saturated fats. Keep polyunsaturated fats to a minimum (these are yellow seed oils, discussed next).

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2. Eliminate yellow seed oils like corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower, vegetable and canola. These oils are not only mostly polyunsaturated, but tend to be extracted through high-pressure or chemical processing, leaving behind rancid oils (which are deodorized before hitting the store shelves). Even if you can find expeller-pressed and less-likely rancid versions, still they have high omega-6:omega-3 ratios, and should be reduced or eliminated for that reason.

3. Choose pastured animal fats. The omega-6:omega-3 ratio essential fatty acid ratio in meat and milk shifts when animals are fed corn. Accordingly, choose fats from pastured animals. Grass-fed butter. Lard from pastured pigs. Tallow from pastured cows or goats. You get the idea.

4. Choose traditional plant or animal fats rather than modern or conventional. Traditional animal fats are typically high in saturated fat, and most plant oils are primarily unsaturated. However, tropical oils like coconut and palm are exceptions, with high amounts of saturated fat. Refer to the chart that follows for all the choices and their applications.

5. Avoid “smoking” fats. Each oil has a smoke point — the point at which it begins to smoke when heated — and when this temperature is hit, the fat starts to oxidize. Oxidation is linked to heart disease and cancer.

6. Choose gentle extraction methods for plant oils. Usually this involves no-heat expeller pressing. Coconut oil is a notable exception — unrefined options include expeller-pressed, centrifugal or fermented. All of these are considered gentle and traditional. Although you should avoid the yellow seed oils mentioned above, sparing use of the following oils can add delicious flavor to dressings, sauces and dishes: sesame oil, avocado oil and macadamia oil.

7. Eat a diet generous in good fats. How generous? Certainly higher than the USDA Food Pyramid suggests! It really depends on the person. However, let me tell you this: It would be hard to eat too much.

This chart lists the most commonly used traditional fats, as well as their smoke points and their suggested usage.

Cooking Fats Smoke Point Usage

Duck and goose fat 375°F sautéing

Chicken fat 375°F sautéing

Lard (pork fat) 370°F sautéingbaking (replace shortening)

Beef and mutton tallow 400°F frying

Butter 350°F rawsautéingbaking

Ghee (clarified butter) 485°F rawsautéingbakingfrying

Extra-virgin olive oil 250°F to 450°F condiments — raw*fresh pressed, high-quality olive oil

will have a higher smoke point; if you’re not sure when the oil was pressed, assume it has

a low smoke point

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Red palm oil 425°F sautéingfrying

Unrefined coconut oil 350°F rawsautéing

baking (replace shortening)

Avocado oil 520°F rawsautéing

baking (replace shortening)frying

Unrefined sesame oil 350°F for extra flavor in dressings, sauces and other dishes

Macadamia nut oil 410°F for extra flavor in dressings, sauces and other dishes

Cooking Fats Smoke Point Usage

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The Fats Wardee Uses

[Wardee] Just a handful of the fat choices above can cover all your traditional kitchen needs. Here’s what I keep on hand. We use butter or coconut oil for frying and baking, and lard/tallow occasionally. We use butter for toast and to melt on vegetables. We use extra-virgin olive oil as a marinade or for dressings. I use avocado oil for mayonnaise and stir-fry. (I do have some specialty oils that I use now and then — like red palm oil for the healthy homemade popcorn that tastes like the movie theater.)

You can learn to make your own butter in our Cultured Dairy eCourse. Coming up in this lesson, we will teach you how to make your own ghee (clarified butter).

You can also check out my blog post on rendering your own fat; I rendered goat fat, but you can follow the same method for lard or tallow. If you have access to it, you can also check out the archived Thank-You Video showing how to render lard or tallow.

The Fats Haniya Uses … Plus, Her Best Tips for Using Traditional Fats on a Budget

[Haniya] Fat is the basis of flavor in cooking. It allows better absorption of nutrients, such as the fat-soluble vitamins. It provides energy and is incredibly important for brain development, especially in children. We should eat generous amounts of fat! With one big caveat: only traditional, unrefined fats such as grass-fed butter (or ghee, lard and tallow), extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, etc. So, while I don’t plan my meals around which fat I’m going to use, I definitely add it liberally and with gusto to pretty much everything, knowing that I’m nourishing myself and my family in doing so!

Here are the fats and oils I keep on hand no matter what in my kitchen:

‣ organic Kerrygold butter‣ avocado oil (this I don’t buy organic since I have yet to find a source for it, and avocados are on the

Clean Fifteen List, meaning they are a cleaner crop when it comes to pesticides even when grown conventionally)

‣ organic coconut oil

With these three oils (two solid fats and one liquid oil), I find I can cook or bake almost anything without feeling the lack. Although I used to buy olive oil, I don’t anymore since I’ve found it hard to obtain fresh and not rancid.

I do most of my high-temperature cooking with avocado oil (sautéing or roasting veggies, frying eggs, etc.). When baking, I use coconut oil since recipes usually require larger amounts of oil, and coconut oil is the cheapest for me. I make salad dressing or homemade mayonnaise with avocado oil — it is so mild-tasting (no bitterness) that we all love it!

I save my butter, which has a lower smoking point than avocado oil, for enjoying with toast or tossing veggies in after they’ve cooked. One of my favorite things to do with carrots or potatoes is to boil them until soft, drain the water, then toss in butter, salt and pepper. So yummy! Finally, I do occasionally (as I have room in my budget) get raw cream from the grass-fed Jersey dairy cows of a local farm. I recently discovered that a dollop of fresh sweet cream, added to the blender when making smoothies, yields the creamiest, most delicious smoothies I’ve ever tasted!

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Ghee: Clarified Butter

[Wardee] Pronounced with a hard “g” and a silent “h,” ghee is highly preservable, highly pure, clarified butter. Cultures around the world use ghee. My Arabic family calls ghee “semni” or “semna.” My grandmother and namesake, Tata Wardeh, used it often in cooking, especially for her delectable Arabic desserts; plus, she taught my mom how to make it. You’ll find ghee used in India, Germany, France, Brazil, England, Uganda and elsewhere, too.

Why Make Ghee?

You’re probably familiar with the basic process of making butter from the Cultured Dairy eCourse. Surprisingly, butter still contains water and milk solids, no matter how well you wash it. The water and milk solids make it more susceptible to spoiling. Many traditional cultures turned their seasonal butter into ghee — so it would store better through the off-season without need for refrigeration or freezing. (However, it is best to store ghee in cool storage such as a cellar.)

Ghee has a higher smoke point of 485 degrees Fahrenheit (when compared to butter’s 350 degrees Fahrenheit smoke point), making it more suitable for high temperature sautéing and even deep frying. And, the making of ghee purifies butter from milk solids, reducing its lactose and casein content. Although not completely casein- or lactose-free, ghee usually works well for those who are not highly sensitive.

Ghee has a rich, nutty flavor — making it a wonderful, flavorful addition to main dishes, side dishes and desserts.

The Basic Process of Making Ghee

Butter is heated and allowed to simmer until two things happen. First, it separates into three layers. A bunch of sediment falls to the bottom of the pan, and some impurities float to the top. The middle layer, also the thickest, is a perfectly pure layer of butter oil — or ghee. Second, during the simmering, the impurities are often browned (but not burned) to give the ghee a rich, nutty flavor. This process takes about 30 to 40 minutes over direct heat or 8 to 12 hours in a slow cooker. Then the ghee is strained to separate out the sediment or solids, and allowed to cool and harden.

The Best Ghee

Not all ghee is created equally. In the last lesson we discussed how grass-fed butter offers a better nutritional profile than conventional butter. Same with ghee — the best butter makes the most nutritious ghee. I think you can see where I’m going with this. Grass-fed butter offers the most vitamins and the best fatty acid profile. Please choose grass-fed butter if you can. If you do, your ghee will contain the essential fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, as well as an omega-6:omega:3 ratio in the proper balance.

It is not as important to use raw butter, because you heat the butter to make ghee. Of course, if you’ve got raw butter, use it! When I make ghee from my raw grass-fed butter, I don’t bother to culture it (as we learned in the Cultured Dairy eCourse). This is because I’m going to heat it to make ghee, which will kill the beneficial organisms anyway. However, I can see someone using cultured butter to add another flavor dimension to their ghee.

You may start with homemade or store-bought butter. Acceptable commercial brands are Kerrygold (not whipped or lite), Tillamook and Organic Valley. Most of their cows are on pasture. You may also have a local grass-fed butter source, too!

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How to Make Ghee

‣ 1 to 2 pounds of unsalted butter, preferably grass-fed (you can use salted if that’s all you’ve got)

Yields 1 pint of ghee per pound of butter.

In a Slow Cooker. (This is my favorite method.) Put the butter in the slow cooker. Turn on to low. Leave uncovered, and let simmer for about 8 hours (or up to 12), until the solids floating at the top are nicely browned and the simmering has evaporated the water.

On the stovetop. (This is the fastest method, pictured at right, which Haniya also demonstrated on video.) Put the butter in a saucepan. Turn on to low to medium-low. Leave uncovered and let come to gentle simmer. Allow to simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until much water has evaporated out and the floaty bits are browned. Don’t let it burn; adjust heat as necessary.

Both methods. Put a funnel over a quart jar. Line it with a pillowcase-weight cotton cloth, or a piece of 90-thread-count cheesecloth folded twice (to make four layers). Skim off the floaty bits at the top of the ghee.

Gently ladle the ghee into the jar, straining it through the cloth. Try not to disturb the sediment at the bottom. If you do get sediment in the ladle, that’s OK but it may clog the cloth. If the cloth gets clogged, rotate it so a fresh part of the cloth lines the bottom of the funnel.

Continue straining until all the ghee is in the jar. Discard the solids to the compost, or add to a dish where they won’t be conspicuous — like soup!

Cover jar loosely and let the ghee cool. It will harden as it comes to room temperature. Cover more tightly when cool. Keeps for about two to three months at room temperature. Keep cool to store for up to a year.

Clean-up. There’s very little sediment waste, and I feed it to the chickens. You could also add them to a casserole or soup — a dish where they wouldn’t be conspicuous.

To clean the cheesecloth, rinse well, then add a dot of dish soap and scrub between your hands. To sterilize, boil for 2 minutes or toss in a sanitary washing machine cycle.

How to Eat Ghee

Use ghee anywhere you’d use butter and more! Remember, its high smoke point allows you to do high temperature frying or sautéing. You can bake with it. You can spread it on toast or add a dollop of it to your oatmeal. Its nutty, rich flavor may take some adjustment, but I think you’ll enjoy it very much! Here are a few delicious recipes calling for ghee:

‣ Creamy Polenta (see Lesson 11)‣ Sausage and Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash (see Lesson 15)‣ Instant Pot Grain-Free Pumpkin Cheesecake (see Lesson 16)

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Mayonnaise Recipe

[Wardee] Make your own more-delicious, healthier, and less expensive mayo in just a minute or so with a few common real food ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. I’ll show you how!

Ingredients

‣ 3 to 6 organic or pastured egg yolks, room temperature

‣ 1 tablespoon prepared mustard ‣ 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar ‣ 1/2 teaspoon sea salt ‣ 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder ‣ 1 cup organic, expeller- or cold-pressed oils (I use avocado oil)

Equipment

‣ quart-size glass jar‣ stick blender, blender, food processor or whisk with a bowl

Yields 1 pint (2 cups).

You can use a food processor or blender. Or a stick blender and a quart-size jar work great. Combine all ingredients, EXCEPT oil, into a quart-size jar or blender. Blend a bit. Now keep blending while slowly pouring in the cup of oil. Before long (in just a minute or so) ... you have mayonnaise! Refrigerate. Keeps one to two weeks.

What Oils to Use

Any liquid oils work for mayonnaise. However, you’re probably interested in using the healthiest ones, right?

That means we should use healthy traditional fats/oils — organic and cold- or expeller-pressed — like extra-virgin olive oil, melted coconut oil and/or avocado oil. However, olive and coconut tend to impart stronger flavors into the mayonnaise. That is, unless they are more refined; more refined often equals a mild flavor. Unfortunately, though, refinement also equates to less healthy.

(Avoid the highly processed veggie oils such as canola, corn, etc. because of high processing, rancidity and high omega-6 fatty acid ratios. While avocado oil does contain omega-6 fatty acids, it also contains omega-3s to balance those out.)

So, a really good choice for mild-tasting mayonnaise is organic cold- or expeller-pressed avocado oil. It’s actually the only oil I use for my basic mayonnaise recipe now! (Although I often add a smidge of toasted sesame oil for flavor.) We really, really love it!

The Basic Formula

Want to take your mayo in a different direction? As long as you follow the basic formula, you can tweak from there! The basic recipe for mayonnaise is simple: mix together 3 room temperature egg yolks with some salt and raw apple cider vinegar. Optionally, you can add mustard, garlic, etc. for flavor. Then, while blending or whisking*, drizzle in 1 cup of oil(s). If all goes well, it should emulsify into mayonnaise almost like magic!

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What if Your Mayonnaise Doesn’t Work?

Sometimes — usually because of poor quality eggs or egg yolks that are too cold — your mayo won’t emulsify (thicken). It stays liquidy and runny, like the oil that’s added. It may even separate after being in the fridge for awhile. It’s simple to fix this!

Get out 3 more egg yolks and let them come to room temperature. Then, while blending, slowly add the liquid mayo mixture that didn’t work.

If that doesn’t work, and you were using a stick blender before, you can try using your food processor next time. Funnily enough, that has done the trick for me in the past!

Or, you can try using a whole egg and 2 additional yolks the next time you do the recipe. We prefer using egg yolks because they are more digestible and nutritious than egg whites, especially when raw, but it’s worth a shot.

Here’s an emulsifying tip from TCS member Beth H.:

“I can never get it to turn out when I ‘pour slowly while blending.’ I put everything but the oil in the jar. Then I put the stick blender in but don’t turn it on. Carefully pour the oil in the jar. I give it a second for it to settle. Turn on the blender and just keep it on the bottom on the jar for about 30 seconds. When you see it coming together, then slowly pull the blender up. Like, really slowly. Don’t let the blender get above the emulsion. When you get to the top, then I move the blender up and down and all around to make sure it’s all blended. When I do it this way, it always turns out.”

What to Do With the Egg Whites?

Egg whites are useful in lots of Trim Healthy Mama or Keto recipes … such as my Keto Dinner Rolls! There’s no waste when you use your yolks in sauces like mayonnaise and your whites in other dishes!

Compound Butter

[Lee Burdett] As a young married couple without kids, we moved to a new city eight hours from home. There, we met Mr. and Mrs. Samuels at church. We loved getting invitations to eat dinner at their house. Sam, retired from the Navy, had filled their home with beautiful things from around the world. Helen was a pearls-go-with-everything, warm and friendly lady who knew how to make her guests feel welcome.

But what I remember most about the first evening we spent with them was the butter. I’d never tasted anything quite like it — real butter (at the time still quite a rarity for me) blended with fresh herbs from Sam’s garden and a little fresh garlic. I couldn’t get enough. I spread it on everything from crackers to bread to potatoes, and anything else I could get away with.

The next week Helen brought me a tub of my own to take home and explained how it was made. “It’s compound butter,” she said. “You just mix up fresh herbs, whatever you want, into a pound of butter.”

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Turns out this simple technique has been used for as long as there have been great cooks. If you’ve ever had honey butter, you’ve had compound butter. The legendary Escoffier himself used compound butters to add depth and flavor to all kinds of dishes.

The most widely used compound butter variation is called “Beurre Maitre d’Hotel” (the head waiter’s butter), and is used in high-end restaurants around the world to accompany freshly baked bread, grilled steaks or chops. It is fresh minced parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper creamed into fresh unsalted butter that is rolled into a log and then chilled until the flavors mingle. Slices of the butter are placed atop hot sizzling steaks just before serving so the butter melts into the meat to make a simple yet delicious sauce.

Compound butters can be used in myriad ways. They are easy to make and they freeze well, so they are handy whenever you need a quick flavor boost, an easy sauce, or a way to dress up simple food for company. Here are just a few ways you can use compound butter:

‣ Top steaks, lamb chops, pork chops, fish‣ Top steamed or roasted vegetables, or corn on the cob‣ Melt over new potatoes or mix into mashed potatoes‣ Spread on baguettes, muffins, toast, crepes‣ Top pancakes, waffles, English muffins, biscuits, crackers‣ Add an extra layer of flavor to sandwiches‣ Swirl into soups‣ Tuck underneath the skin of a chicken, duck or turkey before roasting‣ Melt into wine or balsamic vinegar reduction for a quick sauce‣ Cook with scrambled eggs‣ Toss with rice, quinoa or pasta for a quick side dish

Let’s use the Beurre Maitre d’Hotel as a template for making basic compound butter.

Beurre Maitre d’Hotel

‣ 2 sticks (1/2 pound) grass-fed butter, at room temperature (salted or unsalted, sweet or cultured)‣ 1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced ‣ 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed ‣ 1/2 teaspoon sea salt + a pinch or two more if using unsalted butter‣ 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Yields 1/2 pound.

Use a food processor, a mixer with a whisk attachment, or a bowl and wooden spoon to cream the butter. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Place a large sheet of waxed paper or parchment paper on the counter and scoop the butter onto the paper. Form the butter into a log shape about 4 inches tall. Roll the waxed paper around the butter so it’s a tight log. Fold or twist the ends and place in the refrigerator until firm. To freeze place the wrapped log into a freezer-safe container or zip-top bag.

Compound butter lasts about one to two weeks in the refrigerator, depending on what you used for the flavoring. Fresh herbs and juices don’t last as long, while dried herbs and spices will last slightly longer. Freeze for longer storage (up to six months).

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Flavor Combinations: Use the template above as a loose guide and substitute your own flavor combinations. Sweet or savory, your imagination is the limit!

For every two sticks (1/2 pound) of butter, use 1/4 cup minced fresh seasonings or 2 teaspoons dried. Use roughly 1 tablespoon of liquid ingredients. Keep in mind that if you use too much liquid, you’ll end up with a tasty dip instead of a spread. Add sea salt if you are using unsalted butter.

Here are some flavor ideas to get you started:

‣ Zest of 1 large organic orange, 1/4 cup Sucanat or coconut sugar, 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

‣ Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (are you singing yet?)‣ 1 tablespoon minced chipotle pepper, 1 tablespoon lime juice or zest, honey to taste‣ Homemade pesto and lemon zest‣ Parsley, dill, lemon pepper and sea salt‣ Cilantro, cumin, minced jalapeno, lime juice and zest‣ Oregano, rosemary, basil, parsley and minced garlic (for an Italian combo)‣ Tarragon, chives, Dijon mustard and white wine‣ Nasturtium flowers alone or with other herbs like chives‣ Mint, oregano, lemon zest (for a Greek combo)‣ Mint and harissa paste‣ Sucanat and pumpkin pie spice‣ Cilantro, garam masala or curry powder, and salt‣ Sesame seeds, soy sauce and fresh ginger‣ Black mustard seed, minced jalapeño, fresh ginger and turmeric‣ Capers and white wine‣ 3 to 4 slices cooked crumbled bacon, maple flavoring, maple syrup or honey‣ Soy sauce, shallots, garlic and hot chili pepper‣ Kalamata olives, lemon zest and fresh thyme‣ Sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and black pepper‣ Finely chopped green onion, black pepper and lemon zest‣ Minced porcini, chanterelle mushrooms, garlic or shallots, and red wine‣ Blue cheese or cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon‣ Fresh blueberries or raspberries mashed, lemon zest and coconut sugar‣ Toasted finely chopped hazelnuts, cocoa powder and coconut sugar‣ Toasted finely chopped walnuts, shallots, garlic, sea salt and pepper

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Peppermint Pattie Coconut Bark

[Wardee] According to the book Eat Fat, Lose Fat, unrefined, virgin coconut oil provides “vital nourishment to every cell in your body …” and also helps one to feel satisfied — decreasing cravings and persistent hunger. That’s why this candy is full of coconut oil — and yumminess!

‣ 1 cup coconut oil ‣ 1/4 cup raw honey or maple syrup, or stevia

to taste‣ 1/4 cup cocoa powder‣ pinch sea salt‣ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ‣ 2 teaspoons peppermint extract ‣ 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Yields one 9-inch-by-13-inch pan full — or one 11-inch-by-13-inch baking tray full.

Line pan or tray with unbleached parchment paper. Set aside. Using a food processor, mix the coconut oil, sweetener, cocoa powder, sea salt and extracts until mixture is smooth and warm and exhibits some fluidity. Add the coconut and pulse to incorporate. Don’t over-mix or you risk chopping up the coconut. Using a spatula, spread the mixture out thinly (1/4-inch to 1/8-inch thick) on the parchment paper. Transfer to a level spot in the freezer. Let freeze for 10 to 15 minutes. Eat frozen; break off pieces the size you desire. Will melt at room temperature — keep frozen.

Almond Joy variation: Omit 1/2 of the coconut, substituting chopped crispy almonds. Omit the peppermint extract and double the vanilla extract.

Quick and Easy Spread With Healing Fats

[Jenna Ettlich] I got tired of swiping a dozen pieces of toast twice every day. Why twice? You know the drill … peanut butter AND jam, or butter AND honey. Too much swiping! So I wanted to make this process more efficient — while keeping yummy taste and healthful goodness.

Please welcome this Spiced Honey Coconut Spread. It’s a new family favorite! Just one swipe and you’re done.

Honey and coconut make a delectable pair. We also add nutrient-dense, sweet spices and a pinch of sea salt. This makes for a delicious, highly nutritious, quick and easy spread for breads! Not to mention hot cereals, fruit or anything else begging for a new flavor. So, why these ingredients?

Solidified coconut oil spreads like a dream. Also, it is less allergenic than nut-based spreads or butter (though you can certainly use those!). Finally, it acts as an antiviral, antibacterial, antimicrobial and antioxidant.

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04. Traditional Fats

Raw honey also contains antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties. This makes it a very healing food. Unrefined sea salt provides our bodies with needed trace minerals. And the spices included in this recipe have antioxidant properties.

Spiced Honey Coconut Spread

Every bite is tasty and highly nutritious, as well!

‣ 1 cup coconut oil, solidified ‣ 1/2 to 3/4 cup raw honey, to taste ‣ 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ‣ 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg ‣ 1/4 teaspoon allspice ‣ 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves ‣ 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Yields 1-3/4 cups to 1 pint.

Place all ingredients in your food processor. Process on high for about 1 minute. Don’t over-blend, or the coconut oil will liquefy and separate from the honey. Once your spread looks similar to what you see in the picture above, transfer to a pint-size jar for storage. Next, spread this delicious “butter” onto your breads, biscuits, rolls, pancakes, waffles or other breads that yearn for a welcome new flavor.

For another fun idea, top your hot cereal with it. A simple spoonful of the spread, raisins, chopped walnuts and whole milk provides for a beautiful, comforting breakfast. The spices are delightful!

Additional Links and Recipes

‣ Cultured Butter from Lesson 16 ‣ How To Render Pastured Pork Lard In The Instant Pot ‣ How To Render Goat Fat ‣ Home Rendered Grass-Fed Beef Tallow ‣ Avocado Oil: The New Fat In The Real Food Kitchen ‣ 4 Ingredient THM Chocolate Coconut Candy (Fat Bombs!)

Your Assignment

Your assignment with this lesson is to ditch the highly processed yellow seed oils and use traditional, healthy fats in your kitchen instead. Will you fry eggs in ghee? Try making homemade mayonnaise? Or create your own version of compound butter? If you’re a member of Traditional Cooking School, be sure to stop by our private members group to share what you did, and how it went. :-)

Go Online

Please use this space for your notes, or to jot down your questions. If you’re a Traditional Cooking School member, you can go online to watch the corresponding video(s) or chat about this in our private group.

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