Fish & Chips

Fencing night ...

I need a quick, easy meal, earlier on and so tonight, we like to have Fish & Chips from our local Chippy.

Fish & Chips are an institution in Britain and not at all the junk food you might think, so long as a few observations are made.

First, and probably most important, is the batter. Batter is made from milk and flour. Wheat flour. We absolutely know how bad for us wheat flour is, but this is a one-off, so it's alright, right? No! Actually, this is quite a regular one-off, so caution is needed, especially for folks who show an intolerance to wheat.

Interestingly, batter was originally intended to be discarded. Batter protects the fish from the intense heat of the fat and should be cracked open, the fish eaten and the batter ignored. That's how we do it.

Second, fats. So many Chippies now use so-called healthy fats which have poor resistance to oxidisation when heated. Luckily, our local uses beef dripping and only beef dripping, proudly displaying this behind the counter.

Dripping is traditional, and it's great to see that here in the north, particularly, this tradition is being upheld.

So, we have good fat, some slow-releasing carbs to fuel the evening's activity and a great pack of protein. It's a good meal by any standard. You know what? I'm going to have a can of D&B with it!

Best of all ...

Our local bags up all the fish scraps, tail-ends and so on to see at cat food. Three bags for a quid! Each bag over a pound in weight. Our kitten absolutely loves it! I say kitten, he is, he's just over nine months old, but just shy of 10 pounds and measured half an inch short of three feet!

He gives us a sound reminder to Eat Like a Predator.

Right! Off to go stab some friends ...

Cod & Parsley Sauce

Classic British, simple and homely.

Cod & Parsley Sauce is a really quick meal to put together, especially if you're simply re-heating leftover vegetables, but here goes ...

For the sauce, you'll need raw or A2 cow milk, cream, onion, parsley, white pepper and sea salt; cod, naturally; vegetables.

Gently simmer a roughly chopped onion in milk for a few minutes, drain off and return the milk to the pan. You could have poached your fish in the liquor, but I fancied fried tonight. Raise the heat and reduce, adding in double cream to help thicken and a good handul of curly parsley.

Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables.

Finally, in a heavy based skillet, soften some butter and fry off your cod steaks. They'll take maybe five minutes each side and once flipped, lower the heat.

Put it all together on a plate and you've got dinner sorted. Eat, enjoy, go about your evening.

Dairy

Anathema to the paleo lifestyle?

Not necessarily! It's about sourcing the right kind of dairy ...

Lactose intolerance aside, there is the secondary issue of A1 beta casein; a protein which has been implicated as a potential factor in diabetes mellitus, ischaemic heart disease and also as a modifier of behavioural symptoms associated with some neurological conditions such as autism.

You will find that most of the cow milk that you encounter will be A1 type, from Fresian and Holsten breeds representing the majority of milk cows in Europe, the US and Australia. A2 type milk can readily be had from other species:  sheep, goat, reindeer, buffalo; but there is hope for cow milk: Guernsey and Jersey breeds carry a very high incidence of A2 type milk.

For real world eating, fermented and fatty dairy is safest from cow milk. My sauce was made from Jersey milk and double cream, which is something like 50% fat; 48%, apparently.

That said, do consider dairy sources other than cow ...

Goat milk, for instance, has a number of advantages over cow milk: lacking in agglutinin, naturally homogenised, greater concentration of digestive-friendly medium chain triglycerides, significantly lower levels of allergenic S1 alpha casein proteins and higher in all manner of vitamins and minerals including B2, B6 and A, niacin, calcium and protein.

Moreover, rather than minimising the negatives by sourcing the best cow dairy, goat dairy can be considered to be actually positive, even healing for all manner of digestive disorders and thereafter promoting healthy digestion. Sheep dairy is practically identical to goat so sheep products should also be considered, along with buffalo. Mozzarella, anyone?

... an interesting aside.

Deep! Deep! Cheesecake

I'm known for my cheesecakes and when there's a party, I make a cheesecake. Tonight, we're hosting but it doesn't matter. I'll make a cheesecake ...

The cake needs time to set, so prepare the day before and dress on the day.

You'll need:

• Cream Cheese
• Double Cream
• Vanilla Paste
• Honey
• Biscuits - gluten-free if you like
• Coconut Oil

First, the base - break up a bunch of biscuits. I used straight-up Digestive biscuits. Yes, wheat, but big deal! This is a party and a bunch of non-primals will be along so ... what does it matter? Once. Okay, twice a year. Big deal!

Use gluten-free if you like, or make up some almond and coconut flour base. Your call ... 

Either way, set it with coconut oil and stir together to ensure everything has been coated with the oil.

Now, your mould. I use a large 10" wide cake tin with one of those clips on so you can easily remove the sides. Press the biscuit mixture into the mould and press again, getting it nice and tight. Pop it in the fridge and the cold will do its magic, solidifying the base.

Next, the cheese - Using twice the amount of cream cheese to double cream, whisk together with some vanilla paste and honey. How much? Well, for this 10" I used two 300g tubs of cream cheese and a 300ml carton of double cream. Double cream? Heavy cream will do - it's not quite as fatty as British double cream, but it will do fine. Vanilla paste? Enough. Honey? Sufficient.

Cream cheese should be single ingredient. Cream cheese is made from milk, so that's what you should see on the ingredients, if they're listed at all. Philadelphia? Puke! I know I've got Digestive biscuits in the base, but the cheese is the star ... get it right!

Whisk together until it's as firm as possible and spoon into the mould over the now chilled base.

Commit to the fridge overnight and before serving, dress with berries. I went with a sort of Union Flag design for a bit of fun.

So, backing up a little ...

If you want to make these smaller in, say, Chef's forming rings, do so! You can leave the base out and just enjoy the cake - that's what it's all about. We enjoy this regularly.