Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and The... (96 page)

From the strictly nutritional point of view, the macrobiotic diet has been reported to result in kwashiorkor (extreme protein deficiency) among strict adherents. A group of researchers at the University of Michigan made a study of babies who were maintained on the Zen macrobiotic diets and not only found that they were suffering from malnutrition but further warned that mothers should not restrict their babies entirely to the macrobiotic diet. The Zen macrobiotic diet includes a special infant formula called Kokoh and the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition reported that infants fed on this baby formula from birth usually are underweight within a few months and below average in their total body length. Additional research and clinical observation found that babies who eat no animal protein fail to grow at a normal rate; this study found that infants on "vegan" diets, except for early breast feeding, did not grow nor develop as normally as babies on diets containing animal products or vegetarian diets supplemented with cow's milk. The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition stated that perhaps the most harmful diet for growing children is the Zen macrobiotic diet and reported that the results of such diet can be scurvy, anemia, hypoproteinemia, hypocalcemia, emaciation and even death. H. Leon Abrams
Vegetarianism: An Anthropological/Nutritional Evaluation

STUFFED LEG OF LAMB

Serves 6-8

1 leg of lamb, boned removed and butterfly cut

3 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 cup
crispy pecans
, chopped

6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 cup cooked spinach, well drained and chopped

½ cup mint leaves, chopped

grated rind of 2 oranges

1 teaspoon dried thyme

¼ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons Dijon-type mustard

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced

1 cup dry white wine or vermouth

3-4 cups
beef stock
or
lamb stock

1 tablespoon gelatin (See
Sources
), optional

juice of two oranges

sea salt

Open out the roast. Cut several lengths of string and have them ready. To prepare stuffing, saute onion in butter. Add pecans, spinach, mint, garlic, orange rind, thyme, and cinnamon and blend well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Allow to cool a minute and stir in the egg. Spread mixture on the roast, roll up and tie well at intervals. Slice the second onion and spread it in a stainless steel roasting pan. Place the roast on a rack in the pan. Blend mustard with melted butter and brush on the roast. Bake about 1½ to 2 hours at 350 degrees. Remove roast to a heated platter and keep warm in the oven while you make the sauce.

Remove rack from pan. Add wine, stock, optional gelatin and orange juice to the pan and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up any accumulated juices. Boil until the sauce reduces and thickens, skimming occasionally. Season to taste. Strain into a small saucepan and keep warm until lamb is served.

Currently the American Heart Association's recommendations call for a diet of no more than 2000 calories per day of which no more than 30 percent should be fat, with only 10 percent as saturated fat. We analyzed the 1896
Boston Cook Book
menus for calories, fat, protein and carbohydrates. . ..

The
Boston Cook Book
menus suggest that the typical city-dwelling American at the turn of the century consumed about 2900 calories per day, with about 40 percent of these calories as fat and 20 percent of calories as protein. (Farm families probably consumed even greater numbers of calories.) The ratio of saturated fat to unsaturated was at least one to one. This rich diet of cream, butter, eggs, meats, vegetables, grains and fruit produced a generation of healthy, hearty, intelligent Americans, in spite of the fact that they consumed substantial amounts of sugar and white flour. Abundant dietary dairy fats contributed to strong bones, keen minds and healthy immune systems. The "prudent" low-calorie, lowfat diet of the American Heart Association is hardly a prescription for good health, even if sugar and white flour are absent. Traditional diets, including the traditional American diet, were hearty and rich, and provided nutritious protective factors for strong bodies, freedom from degenerative disease and clear minds well into old age.
Americans Now and Then

RACK OF LAMB

Serves 4

1 rack of lamb

1 slice whole grain bread

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced

½ cup dry white wine or vermouth

3-4 cups
beef stock
or
lamb stock

1 tablespoon gelatin (See
Sources
), optional

sea salt and pepper

In the food processor, process the bread into bread crumbs. Add butter, sea salt and parsley and blend well. Spread this mixture on the top side of the rack of lamb. Place garlic cloves and sliced onion in a stainless steel roasting pan. Set the lamb on a rack in the pan and bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes. The lamb should be rare to medium rare. Remove lamb to a heated platter and keep warm in the oven while making the sauce. Remove rack from the roasting pan. Add wine, stock and optional gelatin and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up any accumulated juices. Boil vigorously until sauce reduces and thickens, stirring occasionally. Strain into a saucepan and keep warm on low heat. Season to taste. To serve, cut the rack of lamb between the ribs. Place two chops on each plate and spoon sauce over.

When cooking is done well and with care, the good smells all go together to contribute not only to the pleasure of the meal but also to its thorough digestion. The good smells coming from the kitchen activate the secretion of saliva and digestive juices. The stimulation of the taste buds by delicious tastes has the same beneficial effect.

A meal well presented by the harmony of its forms and colors, evocative of a work of art, is not a simple esthetic exercise; it is also an aid to digestion as the sight of an appetizing dish stimulates the digestive juices, just as does its good smell and taste. Claude Aubert
Dis-Moi Comment Tu Cuisines

LAMB RIBLETS

Serves 4

8 lamb riblets

½ cup naturally fermented soy sauce

2 tablespoons raw honey

Marinate riblets in a mixture of soy sauce and honey for several hours or overnight. Place in a baking pan and bake at 375 degrees for about 30-40 minutes or until nicely browned. This is great substitute for bacon.

BUTTERFLY LEG OF LAMB

Serves 6-8

1 leg of lamb, bone removed and butterfly cut

½ cup fresh lemon juice

½ cup naturally fermented soy sauce

Score the lamb fat if it is very thick. Marinate lamb at room temperature several hours or all day in soy sauce and lemon juice. Broil or barbecue about 15-20 minutes per side, until the lamb is medium rare. To serve, slice thinly across the grain and serve with heated marinade.

The experts on the Senate Select Committee claim that countries with a high animal fat intake have higher rates of colon and breast cancer. This is simply not true. In fact, the opposite appears more likely.

Take Finland and the Netherlands for example. Their per capita daily animal fat consumption is the same. But the Dutch consume four times as much vegetable fat as the Finns, and they have twice the rate of colon and breast cancer. Many other examples could be cited.

Enig and co-workers at the University of Maryland did a statistical analysis of the same USDA data relied on by the Senate Committee. They found a "
strong significant positive correlation with
. . .vegetable fat and
an essentially strong negative correlation
. . .with animal fat to total cancer deaths (and) breast and colon cancer incidence."

In plain language, you are more likely to get cancer from vegetable fat, such as margarine, than you are from animal fat, such as butter. "Negative correlation" means that despite what the experts said, butter and other animal fats may be protective from cancer! William Campbell Douglass, MD
The Milk Book

LAMB SHANKS

Serves 4

4 lamb shanks

1 cup red wine

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons vinegar

2 cups
beef stock
or
lamb stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed

several sprigs thyme, tied together

sea salt and pepper

Marinate lamb shanks in wine for several hours or overnight. Remove from marinade and pat dry. In a heavy, flameproof casserole, brown the meat on all sides in butter and olive oil. Pour out browning fat. Add tomato paste, marinating wine, vinegar and stock, bring to a boil and skim. Add seasonings, except salt and pepper. Bake in a 300-degree oven for several hours or until lamb shanks are tender. Remove lamb shanks to heated platter. Remove thyme. Bring sauce to a rapid boil, skimming occasionally, until it has reduced to about one-half and thickened. Season to taste.

LAMB STEW

Serves 6-8

1 leg of lamb, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 cup red wine

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3-4 cups
beef stock
or
lamb stock

several sprigs fresh thyme, tied together

½ teaspoon green peppercorns, crushed

½ teaspoon whole cloves

several small pieces orange peel

4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons arrowroot mixed with 2 tablespoons filtered water

sea salt and pepper

1 pound turnips, scrubbed and quartered lengthwise

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into sticks

1 pound small boiling onions, peeled and sauteed in butter

½ pound Chinese or sugar snap peas, ends removed

sea salt and pepper