Everything is better with you know what
December 2nd, 2009
Bacon.
Oh my god, just writing that probably put 5 lbs. on my hips, right?
It all goes back to being afraid of fats – all fats. Well I have to tell you, if you haven’t already heard: You. Need. Fat.
But, bacon? Omigosh I can’t even imagine… Trust me, I hear you. When my mom cooked bacon I would literally pick away the fatty parts and just eat the meat. As if that were saving me from untimely cellulite.
Here’s the thing. What’s more natural than eating fat from an animal? Our prehistoric ancestors hunted down their meals and I’m pretty sure they’d have eaten it more or less whole. Not a lot of Crate and Barrels selling knives to create choice cuts of meat.
That, to me, is preferable to canola oil which is highly refined from the rapeseed and bathed in hexane. No thanks.
So I encourage you to think about the quality of your fats, where they come from, and how long human beings have been consuming them. Heart disease has only become a major issue in the past few decades – pork fat has been around forever. I tend to place the blame for sickness on stress and a processed food diet full of refined sugar.
Let’s be clear. I don’t eat bacon every day. Some people do, but I like to do things in moderation. I know that’s not sexy – it sounds better if I say “Lose 10 lbs. today on the bacon diet!!!” But an all-or-nothing culture is one of our biggest problems. I agree with Michael Pollan about eating mostly plants.
But sometimes, eat bacon. Buy the best quality nitrate-free bacon you can find. It’s real food. And it’s freaking delicious.
French Fish Stew (aka Cotriade)
adapted from Mark Bittmans’ How to Cook Everything
1/2 cup minced bacon (uncooked)
2 large onions, chopped
1 lb. potatoes, unpeeled and chopped
1 lb. sweet potatoes, unpeeled and chopped
1 tsp. dried thyme
6 cups chicken stock
1 lb. white fish steaks or fillets, cut into chunks
1/2 head curly or dinosaur kale, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
Salt + pepper to taste
1. In large pot, cook bacon at med-high heat. Stir and cook until it’s crisp, then use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon and set aside for later. Leave the fat in the pot.
2. In same pot, on medium heat, cook onions until soft. Add potatoes and sweet potatoes and stir well. Add salt, pepper, thyme, and stock.
3. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
4. Add fish and kale, cook another 5-10 minutes until fish is tender but not falling apart. Add lemon juice. Ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley and bacon bits.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays hosted by Cheeseslave.
I couldn’t agree more. The quality of the fats we eat is so important and makes such a difference taste-wise! The nitrate-free bacon I get from my meat CSA is absolute heaven.
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:46 amHey Michelle! I agree with you about whole foods and making peace with having animal fats in moderation (if only when you eat at others’ homes for the sake of being polite and gracious, etc.) But I didn’t know that about canola oil! What do you use for cooking, then, for an oil that doesn’t smoke at high heat?
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:38 amFat is good! But due to my veggie nature, I’m going to stick with avocado & olive oil
Thank you for entering the yoga mat giveaway!!
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:07 am@Daria – Is it thick sliced?
@Elizabeth – Butter and coconut oil are best for high heat cooking. Unrefined sesame oil does well for med-high heat and olive oil for low/no heat. Hope that helps! More info on canola oil can be found here http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/conola.html
@Erica – I love me some avocado and olive oil any day! Thanks for offering a great giveaway!
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:01 amHere here! I love this post! I’m a big fan of “the good bacon.” That’s the bacon I get from the farmers market that’s from pasture-raised pigs. It’s AMAZING. It’s thick and I am SO lucky to live in a city where I can get it easily. Not cheaply, but easily.
Prather Ranch Meat Company sells it- I think it’s called Range Brothers brand. Get it if you ever see it.
http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/prather_ranch_meat_co.php
Here’s a blog post I made on how to save money by saving your bacon fat! http://balancedbites.blogspot.com/2009/09/quick-money-saving-tips-save-your-fats.html
Diane
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:11 pmI always believed that using fat – even “bad” fat – in moderation makes life worth living. I do stay away from trans fats.
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:33 pmAs a cheapo grad student with food issues – i swear by Trader Joe’s natural peanut butter. and basically live off it with oatmeal and cereal and fruit. Not healthy – since I eat so much, but it covers basic food groups.
i wonder about the heart disease in history thing…. i’m a medieval history student so that a lot of the sources are partial or in completely different mindsets. i have looked at miracle stories in which people believed they were healed of an illness/deformity or saved from danger by a saint. it is interesting to see what people considered diseases. In addition, i have also seen medieval noble feast menus – mostly meat, several courses, each course with many dishes. Of course a lot of teh population did not have consistent access to enough nonmeat food adn even less to meat. In addition, people were much less sedentary. Then again there are the factors of what else was killing people: malnutrition, illness, childbirth, childhood diseases, war, exhaustion… sorry – mind riff but it would be a great topic! hmmmm…. fall back dissertation topic in four years…. haha
December 4th, 2009 at 3:50 ammichelle, you’re totally right; we crave those fatty, juicy, supposedly ‘naughty’ foods for a reason! And by buying the good quality stuff, we not only do ourselves good, but the sustainable farming crew too.
December 4th, 2009 at 1:08 pmAnd I think you have my favourite sentence of the week… “But sometimes, eat bacon”.
agreed!
I LOVE bacon! I like to sprinkle a little on my salads every once in a while. I agree with you, we do need quality fats and oils in our diet. Low-fat diets are one of the most unhealthy ways of eating.
December 4th, 2009 at 5:38 pmI love your post on fat! When I first started my ‘healthy’ journey, I cut fat out all together (everything was ‘fat free’). My hair started to fall out in clumps and I had a rash on my arms! Now I try to stay way from ‘fat free’ things because most have added chemicals anyway.
*tip* did you know you can take regular popcorn kernals (2 or 3 tablespoons) and put in a small brown bag. fold the top down 3 turns and put in the microwave? It pops perfect, no added fats/preservatives!!
December 5th, 2009 at 12:17 pmThis sounds delicious! I’ve not made a fish stew before, but this is certainly one to try.
December 8th, 2009 at 9:19 am