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I've just rendered my very own, highest grade, beef tallow... and made my Victorian Great Grandmother, Grace, very proud.
In case you didn’t know, Tallow is beef FAT, in the same way
that Lard is pig fat and Duck Fat is, well um... duck fat.
I’m lucky enough to be friends with an awesome woman who just happens
to supply local Cape Town restaurants with the most amazing Wagyu beef (gold mine as friends go, right?)
For those of you who are not yet familiar with this wonder-of-
nature, it is a breed of cattle that
originates in Japan where it is known as
‘Kobe beef’. Kobe Beef is Wagyu [pronounced ‘wag-you’] that comes from the Kobe region in Japan. Here
they are regarded as a national treasure (it’s that good) and for many years
only the Emporor, his family and his Samurai could eat Wagyu beef. It is
rumoured that they fed these treasured beasts a strict diet, including beer, and washed them with the Japanese rice
wine, Sake, spat by monks (yes, spat on, with sake, by monks – how delightful).
That’s how much they love their cows.
Well, not sure if they do that here in the Free State, but these
beauties, now farmed locally, are (more importantly) fed a wholesome diet that does not contain any animal
by-products or growth stimulants, and they are not given routine antibiotics. All the beef is
certified and can be traced back to the original farm. It’s important to know
where your produce comes from and how they treat their animals. We want foods
that are healthy and produced responsibly and humanely, right?
But why is it so tasty, and nutritious? Why is it the ‘bees
knees’?
These Wagyu cattle produce world classs tender, flavoursome
and succulent beef due to its unique marbling which dissolves and melts during cooking giving the beef
its tenderness and flavour.
Marbling refers to the little specks of fat dispersed in the
lean tissue that results in the tastiest stuff around. The Japanese Wagyu is
the highest marbling breed in the world.
Whats so great about marbling?
The marbling is the fabulously high fat content that is made
up of mono-unsaturated fats and possesses a uniquely high concentration of
omega 3 fatty acids. We need omega 3’s in food to assist in immune resistance,
vision, building cell membranes, blood clotting and blood pressure as well as
protection against heart disease, arthritis, depression, Alzheimer, high blood
pressure as well as having anti-carcinogenic properties.
And this beef contains a much higher proportion of these
desirable mono-unsaturated fats than any other beef. That’s why it’s so good for you (and tastes so damn divine).
So, if it’s the fat in the steak that is actually what makes
it so tender, and so tastey, and so healthy, how can I get more of it without
having to increase my protein quota per serving? Well, you get your hands on
some of that delish fat and you render it (which is a posh way of saying you
melt it into a jar) into a spreadable, scoopable, and yes, lickable beef tallow
used for healthy frying and cooking.
(Pssssst... I have found a super deli based in Newlands, Cape Town, where you can, in fact, buy beautiful grass fed beef fat just for this purpose. Check out Gogo's Deli, I spoke to Dedire, and she confirmed that if you ask for it, she can get it for you! This is the real deal people!
And, although I pondered whether to keep my friend and her Wagyu all to myself, I realised it would be jolly nice of me to share and spread the fat, um, I mean, the lurve... and because she is just so darn lovely, she's happy for you to buy directly from her offices. Oh, and tell her Nourishing Nibbles sent you...
You can reach Blake's Fine Foods HERE. You're welcome.)
**Vegans, Vegetarians and the Squeamish, look away now... this is not for nancy's...
~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Pssssst... I have found a super deli based in Newlands, Cape Town, where you can, in fact, buy beautiful grass fed beef fat just for this purpose. Check out Gogo's Deli, I spoke to Dedire, and she confirmed that if you ask for it, she can get it for you! This is the real deal people!
And, although I pondered whether to keep my friend and her Wagyu all to myself, I realised it would be jolly nice of me to share and spread the fat, um, I mean, the lurve... and because she is just so darn lovely, she's happy for you to buy directly from her offices. Oh, and tell her Nourishing Nibbles sent you...
You can reach Blake's Fine Foods HERE. You're welcome.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
**Vegans, Vegetarians and the Squeamish, look away now... this is not for nancy's...
 |
| I know this is not attractive, but just think of the possibilities... |
A 1kg chunk of this amazing fat rendered almost two litres
of the liquid stuff. I poured some into a little jar for use this week, and the
rest into ice cube trays and froze it into single serving chunks for future.
So when I need to fry up some onions or cauli-rice, or
chops, or a fried egg, I just pop one of these bad-boy-blocks out the freezer
and into my pan... voila! Healthy, delicious and bursting with incredible
flavour.
Here’s how:
Tip: Once you have managed to buy some of the good stuff
from your local butcher, store it in the fridge until you are ready to get at
it, otherwise it can go rancid.
Start by chopping up the fat into blocks roughly the size of
ice blocks. This will make the melting go quicker.
Place fat chunks into
your large stock-pot and turn heat onto a gentle medium-to-low heat and allow
the melting to begin, lid off [This could also be done in a slow cooker or even
in the oven].
That’s it. Nothing else added. It might need a stir in the
beginning after 10 minutes or so, in case it wants to stick to the bottom. You can see the ‘oil’ start releasing very
soon and the pieces of fat getting smaller and crispier.
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| After 30 minutes |
Once the pieces are small and crunchy looking and the oil is
starting to get darker turn off the heat and allow to cool.
 |
| Almost done |
*This oil will be insanely hot so please be careful around
pets and children.
Now we want to strain out the crunchy bits and decant into
jars or ice trays and eventually refridgerate and/or freeze. A leeeeeetle
patience is required, you cannot pour hot oil into cold jars, plastic colanders
or anything else that doesn’t like quick heat. [It will, however, solidify at
room temperature, so don’t leave to cool for too long, it should still be a
pouring consistency].
Place your colander/pasta strainer over a large bowl and a
clean tea towel or muslin cloth in your colander. Pour the cooled, liquid gold oil through the
cloth and colander to strain. I let it cool for a little longer until I was able
to squeeze the cloth and get every last drop. But this is messy on your hands
so use gloves, or skip this step, I just wanted every... last... drop.
Now you can pour into a jug and decant elegantly into (clean
and dry) glass jars, or silicone ice trays for convenient single size servings.
If you are using a large jar, the fat does solidify in the
fridge and can be slightly hard to scoop out. It should be fine to keep it on
your counter at room temperature for a few days, or in the fridge overnight and
on counter to soften during the day. Otherwise, I suggest decanting into
smaller jars, keeping one on your counter to last the week and the rest in the
fridge. If your jar was clean and dry (not too much to ask?) your tallow could
last a year in the fridge...bonus.
The crunchy crumbly bits left in your muslin cloth can be
snacked on like crackling, if you are wicked like me, otherwise discard them.
This is a really cost effective excercise as it is so much cheeper
than frying everything in butter or coconut oil, which I now only use for
'pimping' my Butter & Egg Coffee, Chai Tea and similarly, hot chocolate. And my other expensive
Olive Oil is now only for drizzling over my salad and veges, oh and making my
30-Second Mayonnaise. Now there is absolutely no reason to use toxic seed oils like canola or sunflower anymore.
Now go, my little Martha Stewarts, go and make your Great
Granny’s proud and render your own healthy tallow!
Let me know how it goes...
Much Love, Gratitude and Happy Nibbling
xox
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