"He's Gotta Have Ghee" -- WP Article from the past

Mike Oelrich

Howdy all,[p] All this talk about ghee made me go back and check "The Big Blue Binder" on my cookbook shelf. The search led me to an article that was in the Washington Post on March 24, 1999 entitled, "He's Gotta Have Ghee -- Going Butter One Better." You can find it on their website, but you'll have to pay a small fee to download it since it is from a couple years ago. Some highlights (my comments in parentheses):[p]1. Butter is about 18% water. Cooking it like this not only separates the milk solids from the oils, it evaporates that water out.[p]2. Since there are no milk solids or water in ghee, you can treat it like oil for sauteeing. (I will verify that there is nothing better for sauteeing onions, etc. than ghee!)[p]3. He quotes a source: "Ghee is great for the complexion. A thin film of ghee, best used before retiring and thoroughly massaged into a freshly washed face and neck, works wonders." (One would think that one shouldn't do this if one owns a cat.)[p]4. Try it for making popcorn -- use ghee instead of oil. (Obviously, this assumes you're not microwaving it in a bag!)[p]Quick recipe for ghee:[p]4 pounds of unsalted butter (which will make 3.25 pints of ghee -- it's a lot, but you can freeze it after sealing it in jars)[p]Melt the butter in a 4qt sauce pan over medium-high heat (since the water will be boiling out, the temperture will stay at about 212 until that water is gone, allowing you to use a higher temperature to start). Foam will rise to near the top of the pot then subside into rapid, clear bubbles. About 15 minutes after that, after the water has boiled off, the surface will be covered by low, large bubbles and a thin film. Turn the heat to moderately low (the water is now boiled out and you don't want to burn the milk solids) for approximately 15 minutes more, until the clumps of milk solids at the bottom turn golden brown.[p]Remove from heat and strain through a sieve lined with muslin or a clean linen handkerchief (I used several layers of fine cheesecloth and that seemed to work, too). Press lightly to remove all the liquid from the solids.[p]Store in Mason jars or similar, airtight containers in the fridge or freezer.[p]Note: (HIGH CHOLESTEROL!) Per 1tbsp: 125 calories, trace protein, trace carbohydrates, 14gm fat, 36mg cholesterol, 9gm saturated fat, 4mg sodium, 0 dietary fiber.[p]
MikeO

RhumAndJerk

MikeO,
Cool. Thanks for the info.
RhumAndJerk

Nature Boy

MikeO, Great info. I designed a label for an organic ghee years ago, and got a couple free jars of it. Never knew how it was made, but I did find that I could cook stuff in it without the burning I would get with butter. We used to pan cook fish in it and it was wonderful.[p]Glad the subject has been brought up again. Now I know how to make my own! Really don't need that kind of fat though![p]Cheers, and thanks for the info.
NB

RhumAndJerk

Nature Boy,
Yeah… right… all that fat. Just pass me a pulled pork sandwich smothered in sauce and slaw. Now that is low fat eating.[p]Actually, here is a quick way to do rice. I love this one and so do my kids.[p]Make a batch of rice like you normally would. In a small frying pan heat up some ghee and add to it any or all of the following: Chopped Raw Almonds, Chopped Raw Pistachios, chopped raw Cashews, Raisins and Golden Raisins. Lightly toast the nuts first and then toss in the raisins. The raisins are ready when they plump up. Then just dump the whole mixture over the cooked rice and mix it up.[p]Serve that with some Tandoori Chicken and you are in heaven.[p]RhumAndJerk [p]

Nature Boy

RhumAndJerk, LMAO!! Amazing how we think of fat when we see the numbers. Hey, a pulled pork sandwich only has 2 gs of fat.....oooops, I mean 2 ounces! Still lol. Hey at least I am starting to be at least a little concious about fat (seeing as EVERYONE in my Dad's family has heart disease!) But you have brought it all quickly back into perspective for me![p]Wow that dish with the nuts and raisins sounds awesome...and you have made me print out yet another laser print for the binder![p]Cheers.
Give me a pulled pork sandwich, slaw and some potato chips....but hold the Ghee please, I'm watching my fat. This is not just a standard lol..I am truly breaking up here.[p]NB

JJ

Nature Boy,
A testing firm in Huntsville, AL found that 76.8% of the fat was rendered out of a boston butt when cooked on an EGG. They took a slice of raw uncooked butt and tested it against the final producted and came up with those results.

YB

RhumAndJerk,
Here ia a article about Ghee i think you will get a kick out of.[p]Larry
[ul][li]Ghee for your health[/ul]

Nature Boy

JJ, Interesting stats there! I knew a lot of fat rendered out during the long cook. I wonder how much is left in that 23.2%?? Should we call pulled pork 76.8% fat free?? hehe.[p]

RhumAndJerk

Nature Boy,
Only in America would someone order a Diet Coke with a Big Mac and Large fries. The Coke may actually be the healthiest part of that meal.[p]R&J[p]