Ghee – Liquid Gold
If you’ve never heard of it…read on. If you have, read on anyway. We’ve got some good info for you today. Ghee is an ancient food, used in Asian and Indian cooking for hundreds of years. It is similar to clarified butter but ghee is more purified and unlike simple clarified butter, ghee contains no lactose or casein, the sugar and protein naturally occurring in milk products that make those people with milk allergies, sick and unable to digest milk products.
Ghee has many healthy benefits. It is an anti-inflammatory food, it is known to boost the immune system, and actually aids in digestion, is heart healthy, and boosts the metabolism.
The great thing about cooking with ghee is that it has a nutty butter flavor, it has a very high smoke point, meaning it is perfect for sautéing and cooking at higher temperatures up to 485 degrees, and it has an extended shelf life and does not need to be refrigerated.
We found this chart of the many benefits of ghee on draxe.com:
Ghee is becoming easier and easier to find in local markets. It can also be found at Whole Foods and on line here.
If you are adventurous you can make ghee at home. The process for making it, though a bit time consuming, is actually very simple. It involves heating butter until the milk solids and the fat separate, and the water in the butter is evaporated. Butter is typically about 20% water. One other note. Everything we’ve read has suggested that it is a good idea to use grass fed butter to achieve the best flavor in your ghee.
We found this simple video on blog.bulletproof.com:
Homemade Ghee
16 ounces (1 pound) of unsalted butter, preferably grass fed butter
1. Cut butter into cubes and put in a saucepan.
2. Melt butter over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Watch as the butter undergoes several stages — first it’ll foam, then bubble, stop bubbling, and finally foam again. When the ghee is bright gold and there are reddish brown flecks of milk solids at the base of the pan, the solids have caramelized and it’s ready to remove from heat.
3. Let the ghee cool for 2-3 minutes.
4. Using a strainer that’s double-lined with cheesecloth, pour the ghee through. (The fat will go through; the dairy protein will not.) Discard the protein and let your ghee cool completely before storing in a tightly sealed jar.
Give it a go, either making your own, or buying some on line. Then use it on your vegetables, to saute your meats, to cook your eggs, you can brush it in your toast, toss it with your popcorn, even put a teaspoonful in your morning coffee to give yourself a boost. Basically, anyway you could use butter, you can use ghee with its delightful flavor. And with so many wonderful health benefits, it is often called “liquid gold”. You can find a $2 off coupon for Organic Valley Ghee here.
If you are sensitive to dairy products you may be able to eat ghee as it is lactose and casein free, but check with your doctor or health care provider to be sure.
Stay tuned. Tomorrow we have a yummy recipe for you using ghee that is also gluten free. This is one you can try this weekend. See you tomorrow 🙂
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