Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and The... (85 page)

SWEETBREADS WITH PEARL ONIONS

Serves 6

2 pair
prepared sweetbreads

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ cup balsamic vinegar

2 cups
beef stock

2 tablespoons arrowroot mixed with 2 tablespoons filtered water

2 pounds pearl onions, peeled and sauteed in butter

Slice the sweetbreads at
³
/
₈
-inch intervals on the bias. Saute, a few slices at a time, in butter and olive oil. Remove to a heated platter and keep warm in the oven. Pour off browning oil, add balsamic vinegar and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up any accumulated juices. Add stock, bring to a boil and reduce to about half. Spoonful by spoonful, add arrowroot mixture until desired thickness is obtained. Return sweetbreads to the sauce and stir in pearl onions. Simmer a minute or so before serving.

One of the most important contributions in this field has been made by Professor Fred Hale. He has shown that many physical deformities are readily produced by curtailing the amount of vitamin A in the ration of pigs. He produced fifty-nine pigs that were born blind, every pig in each of six litters, where the mothers were deprived of vitamin A for several months before mating and for thirty days thereafter. In pigs, the eyeballs are formed in the first thirty days. He found, as have several others, that depriving pigs of vitamin A for a sufficient period produced severe nerve involvements, including paralysis and spasms, so that the animals could not rise to their feet. He reported that one of these vitamin A-deficient pigs that had previously farrowed a litter of ten pigs, all born without eyeballs, was given a single dose of cod liver oil two week before mating. She farrowed fourteen pigs that showed various combinations of eye defects, some had no eyes, some had one eye, and some had one large eye and one small eye, but all were blind. . .. One important result of Professor Hale's investigations has been the production of pigs with normal eyes, born to parents both of whom had no eyeballs due to lack of vitamin A in their mother's diet. The problem clearly was not heredity. Weston Price, DDS
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration

PREPARATION OF KIDNEYS

Most kidneys are sold with their layer of fat and the thin filament surrounding the kidneys peeled off. There may be a button or knob of fat on the underside of the kidneys; retain this if possible—it is a very nourishing fat, highly prized by primitive peoples.

Both whole and sliced kidneys should be marinated in lemon juice for several hours before they are cooked. Remove from lemon juice and dry well with paper towels before browning. Whole kidneys should be cooked until they are just pink inside.

Both lamb and veal kidneys can be used in the following recipes. They should be very fresh with no unpleasant odor—check with your nose.

GRILLED KIDNEYS WITH HAZELNUT BUTTER SAUCE

Serves 4

1 pound kidneys, cut into walnut-sized pieces and marinated several hours in lemon juice

2 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons
crispy hazelnuts

½ stick butter

1 tablespoon finely chopped chives

Remove kidney pieces from lemon juice and dry well. Thread on buttered skewers and baste with melted butter. Grill under the broiler about 5 minutes per side. Meanwhile, chop hazelnuts and saute in butter until lightly browned. Stir in chives. Divide kidneys among individual plates and spoon sauce over.

Many investigators have presented important data dealing with the role of vitamin A in prenatal as well as postnatal growth processes. It is known that the eye is one of the early tissues to develop injury from the absence of vitamin A, hence the original name for this vitamin was the xerophthalmic vitamin. . .. Edward Mellanby has presented important new data dealing with vitamin A deficiency and deafness. He states, in an abstract of a paper read before the Biochemical Society, in London in November 1937, the following: In previous publications I have shown that a prominent lesion caused by vitamin A deficiency in young animals, especially when accompanied by a high-cereal intake, is degeneration of the central and peripheral nervous systems. In the peripheral system it is the afferent nerves which are principally affected, including the eighth nerve. . .. It has now been possible to show that vitamin A deficiency produced in young dogs degenerative changes in the ganglia, nerves and organs of both hearing and balance inside the temporal bone. All degrees of degeneration have been produced, from slight degeneration to complete disappearance of the hearing nerve. . .. The serious effects of deficiency in vitamin A on pregnant rats have been investigated and reported by Mason as follows: Abnormalities are described in the pregnancies of rats maintained on diets deficient in vitamin A in varying degrees. Prolongation of the gestation period up to 26 days in severe cases and a long and difficult labor, which might last 2 days and often resulted in death of both mother and young, were characteristic. Weston Price, DDS
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration

KIDNEYS IN WINE SAUCE

Serves 4-6

2 pounds kidneys, cut into walnut-sized pieces and marinated in lemon juice

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ cup shallots, finely chopped

2 cups
beef stock

½ cup red wine

2 tablespoons arrowroot mixed with 2 tablespoons filtered water

sea salt and pepper

Remove kidney pieces from lemon juice and dry well. In a heavy skillet, saute in batches in 2 tablespoons each butter and olive oil over a medium flame until browned all over. Keep in a warm oven while making sauce. Pour out browning fat and add remaining butter and oil to the pan. Saute shallots gently until soft. Add stock and wine, bring to a rapid boil and reduce to about half. Add arrowroot mixture a spoonful at a time until desired thickness is obtained. Season to taste. Serve kidney pieces whole, with the sauce poured over; or slice the kidneys and warm the slices very briefly in the sauce.

KIDNEYS IN MUSHROOM SAUCE

Serves 4-6

2 pounds kidneys, cut into walnut-sized pieces and marinated in lemon juice

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ pound fresh mushrooms, washed, well dried and sliced

½ cup red wine

2 cups homemade
beef stock

1 cup
piima cream
or
creme fraiche

1 tablespoon fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
), optional

2 teaspoons Dijon-type mustard

2 tablespoons softened butter

Remove kidney pieces from lemon juice and dry well. In a heavy skillet, saute in 2 tablespoons each butter and olive oil over medium-high heat until browned all over. Do not overcook—they should be pink inside. Transfer to a heated platter and keep warm in the oven while making the sauce.

Pour out browning fat. Add remaining butter and oil to the pan and saute the mushrooms over medium-high heat until browned. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm in the oven.

Pour out browning fat and pour wine and beef stock into the pan, bring to a boil and reduce to about half. Add the cream and optional fish sauce and reduce further. Meanwhile, blend the mustard and softened butter together with a fork.

When sauce has reduced to desired thickness, reduce to simmer and whisk in mustard mixture. Slice kidneys and add to the sauce along with their juice and the mushrooms. Heat briefly and serve immediately.

Americans are being saturated with anti-cholesterol propaganda. If you watch very much television, you're probably one of the millions of Americans who now has a terminal case of cholesterol phobia. The propaganda is relentless and is often designed to produce fear and loathing of this worst of all food contaminants. You never hear the food propagandists bragging about their product being fluoride free or aluminum free, two of our truly serious food-additive problems. But cholesterol, an essential nutrient not proven to be harmful in any quantity, is constantly pilloried as a menace to your health. If you don't use corn oil, Fleishmann's margarine and Egg Beaters, you're going straight to atherosclerosis hell with stroke, heart attack and premature aging—and so are your kids. William Campbell Douglass, MD
Eat Your Cholesterol

The numbers game is the biggest weapon used by the anticholesterol centurions to frighten the populace into a diet fit only for a zebra. These commanders have decreed that the magic number is 200 (mg. per deciliter) for blood cholesterol, and the lower the reading the better. But recent exhaustive studies have shown that 250 is a level not associated with any increase in cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, the "lower-the-better" rule is not only bad science but very dangerous advice. Extremely low cholesterol readings, those in the lower 10% of the population, have an increased mortality from all causes. "From all causes" means accidents, cancer, strokes, lung or kidney disease, etc. William Campbell Douglass, MD
Eat Your Cholesterol

KIDNEY-RICE CASSEROLE

Serves 12

3 pounds kidneys

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon pepper

juice of 4 lemons

2 medium onions

6 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ cup red wine

2 cups
beef stock

2 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed

3 cups brown rice

2 medium onions

6 cups
chicken stock
or combination of chicken stock and filtered water

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 cup raisins

1 cup
crispy pecans
, chopped

2 bunches green onion, finely chopped