Fermentation is popular with both the Paleo and Weston A. Price communities, whether it be sauerkraut or kimchi the benefits of probiotics, in our ever more sanitised world, is more important than ever. Kombucha, for those of you who don’t know, is a fermented drink made from sweet tea; it has many reported health benefits, including boosting metabolism & digestion – it also tastes great, a bit like cider, and has a very nice natural fizz.

Unfortunately kombucha isn’t very popular in the UK so don’t go looking for it in your local supermarket, although you may be able to find it in health shops if you are lucky. The best bet is to look for it online but it can be quite expensive, especially if you are paying for delivery on top. The other option, and by far the cheapest, is to make it yourself for just a few pence per litre.

Almost all of the ingredients can be found relatively easily, the one thing that you may have to hunt for is the live culture or scoby that is essential to making kombucha. Scoby is an acronym for ‘Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast’, it is also referred to as a mushroom or mother; it is disk shaped and usually white, although it will darken with age. This is what ‘eats’ the sugar in the sweet tea & creates the carbon dioxide that gives the drink it’s fizz. Scobys can be purchased online, for example from happykombucha.co.uk, or they are quite often given away by fellow fermenters – this is because with each batch of kombucha a new scoby is created, with the original scoby also being preserved for future use – it is, therefore, easy for an avid fermenter to build up quite a collection of scobys which they will be happy to pass on.

Once you have your scoby, you will need organic white sugar, organic tea (black, green, white, etc, but avoid teas with added oils, such as Earl Grey, as they will not work), mineral or filtered water and some kombucha (bought or from a previous batch) or vinegar. Organic sugar and tea is available from most supermarkets and isn’t expensive – it’s important to use organic as the scoby may be harmed by toxin residue from pesticides in non-organic varieties. Likewise the fluoride in standard tap water may also harm the scoby so mineral water or (brita) filtered water is essential – if you have access to natural, non-fluridated, high mineral content water that would be perfect. Finally the scoby needs a slightly acidic environment in which to live so the addition of either kombucha  or vinegar (white distilled if possible but definitely not raw vinegar as that would interfere with the scoby) is needed, use approximately 10% of the volume of the sweet tea you are using, i.e. 100ml of kombucha or vinegar for every litre of sweet tea. Apparently the first batch made using vinegar may not be the most palletable, if this is the case use this only as starter, subsequent batches will be much better tasting.

So here are the step-by-step instructions on how to make kombucha:

Here is a freshly fermented batch of kombucha, I use some of this as the starter for my next batch, notice the white, newly formed scoby on top:

Next, the scoby is removed, ready to be reused, I usually separate the new scoby from the old one if they are stuck together, but that is personal preference:

Keep the scoby and some of the kombucha in a plastic container as you prepare the new batch:

Now you can fill up your bottles with the remaining kombucha – passing it through a sieve if necessary, use only plastic, wooden or stainless steel utensils:

Once bottled, store in a warm place, out of direct sunlight, to ‘second ferment’ (behind a fridge or a high kitchen shelf would be good choices), this is when the kombucha will become fizzy. Even though the scoby has been removed, fermentation will continue, fill the bottle right to the top as this will help increase the fizziness. It’s also useful to label the bottles, record what type of tea you used and how long the fermentation lasted – this will be useful when deciding what works best for you. When you are ready to drink the kombucha put it in the fridge for a few hours to chill, try not to leave it in the fridge too much in advance of drinking it as this will reduce the fizziness.

Here is some sweet tea that I pre-prepared, make this at least 8 hours before you need it so it has time to cool to room temperature, but not too long that it could spoil. For every 2 pints of water use 1/4 cup of sugar and 2 – 3 tea bags. Remember that the sugar is for the scoby to feed off, do not be tempted to use less as it won’t work, the finished kombucha will not contain much sugar. Kombucha should ferment for a minimum of 7 days and up to 1 month, the longer the kombucha is left the more sugar is consumed and the more ‘vinegary’ the taste so be prepared to experiment until you are happy with the balance of flavours.

Clean out your fermenting vessel using warm soapy water, avoid anti-bacterial detergent if possible, and fill it with sweetened tea. Use glass if possible as glazed vessels (even sauerkraut crock pots) may conain lead which could be dangerous when making kombucha. Next, add the previously reserved kombucha and stir.

Next we add the scoby, clean side up, it may float on the top or sink to the bottom, either is fine! Then place a clean paper towel or some clean thin cloth over the top of the bottle and secure it with an elastic band.

You can now leave your kombucha in a warm place, out of direct sunlight, to ferment. Over the course of the fermentation the tea may become cloudy – this is fine! You may also see brown stringy pieces coming from the scoby, this is also fine, in fact it is a sign that the scoby is healthy and doing it’s job. Towards the end of the fermentation you will also probably see air bubbles under the newly formed scoby.

The only time you need to worry is if the scoby has any black marks or spots on it or if the kombucha smells off – this could mean that a foreign particle has somehow infected the drink. Also be aware of the potential for cross contamination, do not place fermenting kombucha near a rubbish bin or other fermenting items such as kefir or sauerkraut. There really is no reason why you shouldn’t be enjoying this healthy and tasty drink all year round for very little cost. Please leave me your kombucha making tips below or feel free to ask any questions you may have.

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One of the most difficult aspects, for most of us, when following the paleo diet is finding the quality ingredients needed to prepare a nutritious paleo meal. Most supermarkets really don’t cut it; they are the size of an aircraft hanger but once you’ve ignored the breakfast cereals, bread, fruit juices, additive-laced tinned and jarred produce the sugary junk and packets of who-knows-what, you’re not left with much – maybe some Kerrygold butter, New Zealand lamb and a few organic fruits and vegetables if you’re lucky – you certainly won’t find lard made from pastured pigs, grass-fed organ meats, unpasteurised dairy & kombucha!

Thankfully, the Internet has opened up other avenues, with local farms & small artisan producers selling great produce directly to the customer, as well as more specialised online mega stores catering for some of the less mainstream foods which are popular amongst real-food-eaters. Great as online shopping is there are a couple of downsides; firstly: delivery can be expensive – especially for heavy packages; and secondly: waiting two to three days for your items to arrive can sometimes be impractical.

After some recent searching I found the website of the Real Food Company in Alsager, just north of Stoke-on-Trent. A REAL shop, selling REAL food – catering for followers of paleo, SCD and Weston A Price, vegetarians and anyone who cares about good quality produce! Being only about an hour’s journey from where I live in Birmingham I just had to pay them a visit, and it was definitely worth it. Firstly, Alsager is a beautiful little town and is worth the visit on it’s own, the surrounding area is also perfect for a fantastic day out and a picnic. We combined our journey with a visit to a nearby National Trust park.

As for the Real Food Company itself, it has a very interesting history, started by husband & wife team Carol & Nick back in 1990 as a means of getting easier access to good quality food for themselves and their young daughter Silvie. They sold only vegetarian foods up until ten years ago when they came across the work of Weston A. Price and rethought their philosophy on food and nutrition. They still cater for vegetarians but now also sell nutrient dense animal-based foods which are promoted by the Weston A. Price foundation and paleo followers alike. They have also built up a great team who work alongside them; both Emma and Jess helped us so much on our visit – giving us so much advice and help that we couldn’t thank them enough!

I have to say I was amazed by the range of products that they sell; some made by independent artisans and local suppliers, right through to foods from more well-know brands such as Biona. There is so much to choose from; a well packed freezer full of grass-fed stock bones, organ meats, fish & fantastic steaks; organic fruits and vegetables; locally-produced raw dairy (cream, butter, cheese and goats milk), kombucha, pastured eggs, fermented foods, raw chocolate & honey, teas of all varieties, organic spices and a whole range of cupboard essentials! They also act as a hub for kombucha scoby & kefir grain sharing – if they have been recently donated live cultures they will happily pass them on, upon request, at no charge! For me the highlight was being able to get some raw cream & butter – especially a new type of raw butter they have only just started selling that is mixed with seaweed for added iodine, totally delicious when melted on some steamed broccoli!

Apart from food there is also a selection of natural personal hygiene & cleaning products for sale. This is something I have recently become very interested in after discovering just how toxic some off-the-shelf products can be. I picked up a jar of shaving gel made from hemp oil, which I am very impressed with and some Rhassoul powder (Moroccan clay) which is a fantastic skin & hair cleaning product with detoxifying properties that has been used in the Middle East for centuries.

What impresses me most about the Real Food Company is their total passion and commitment to what they do and the hard work they have put in over many years to build up a network of suppliers, both large & small, who share their ethos. Hopefully, one day, every town will have at least one shop like like the Real Food Company, one selling real food, just as nature intended – free of toxins and extraneous processing that degrade quality for the sake of extending shelf-life.

For contact, see below:

48 & 50 Sandbach Road South

ALSAGER

Cheshire

ST7 2LP

01270 873322

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I was chatting to someone, who works for a medical company, about the Paleo diet, we’d talked in the past about what constitues being Paleo & he had a general understanding of the principles. He mentioned that he’d had chance to speak to an endochrinologist who worked for the same company as he does & had asked his opinion of the Paleo diet. The endochrinologist hadn’t heard of the Paleo diet per se but his recommendations for what he thought constitued a healthy meal was a piece of meat the size of your fist with plenty of vegetables and a small portion of carbs, not a million miles from what most Paleo folks would eat on a fairly regular basis, of course there was no mention of dietary fats, grains, legumes or dairy. The conversation then continued along the lines of “but the trouble with fad diets is…………..” at which point a figurative light bulb went off in my head. How ironic, I thought, that the person I was talking to & his endocrinologist colleague both viewed Paleo as a fad diet.

Well let’s have a look facts for a minute – the Paleo diet is what the genus homo has subsisted on for over 2 million years. Our forebears lived off what they had close at hand, obviously geography dictated variations, for example fruits & vegetables would vary between the tropics & colder more northerly climes but the diet would’ve comprised of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables with some nuts, seeds & eggs, all based on the season. The agricultural revolution happened very recently, around 10,000 years ago, and the massive explosion in the consumption of refined carbohydrates, processed foods & massively increased sugar intake has happened in only the last 100 – 150 years.

It’s certainly no coincidence that the decline in health that we have seen in recent years is inversely proportional to the increased consumption of processed foods, which is, in turn, leading to a strain on health services and a miserable existence for those people suffering from the consequences. Framed in this context Paleo is not a “fad diet” but an efficient fuelling system that has enabled us to thrive and evolve into who we are today, the real “fad diet” is the the over-processed, sugar rich diet which is, sadly, all too common today.

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Barbecue season has finally arrived, admitedly it’s late and it probably won’t last too long, but that’s all the more reason to take advantage of it while we can. There’s no doubt that the smell of fresh meat being cooked over hot coals excites us like almost no other type of cooking, food is usually hidden in the oven, casserole pot or slow cooker as it cooks, but on a barbeque the full glory of our food can be seen as it transitions from raw, all the way through to it’s succulent, cooked best!

With all the attention being paid to the meat it’s nice to have your side dishes prepared in advance so you can forget about them once the guests start to arrive. Coleslaw is a really simple and tasty side dish, but equally simple and tasty is rootslaw – the same as coleslaw but using root vegetables, such as celeriac and swede. The addition of lemon juice and mint to the dressing really lifts what are usually quite dull vegetables to a surprising level of freshness!

If like me you don’t like weighing and measuring every single ingredient in a recipe, this will be right up your street. Certain types of cooking require precision, such as baking, but sometimes it’s better to just use your own judgement. For that reason I am giving only approximate measurements:

The vegetables:
Half a swede
Half a celeriac
A couple of carotts
A few spring onions
A bunch of mint

The dressing:
Half a lemon
A couple of desert spoons of creme fraiche
A glug of cider vinegar
A splash of olive oil
Salt & perrpe to taste

Firstly peel your root vegetables and grate them – if you’re lucky enough to have a food processor with a grating attachment this should only take a few minutes, otherwise the old fashioned manual grater will have to do! Next, finely slice the spring onions, chop the mint and add to the vegetables. Now add a good glug of cider vinegar and mix well. I find the slaw has more of a zing if the vinegar is added at this stage rather than being mixed into the dressing – be generous but if there is any vinegar standing in the bottom of the bowl after it has been mixed, tip it away.

Next, to the dressing – in a small mixing bowl add a couple of desert spoons of creme fraiche, the juice of half a lemon, a splash of olive oil and mix – it should be the consistency of single cream – so add more creme fraiche if too loose or more olive oil if too thick – then add salt and pepper as per your preference. Finally add the dressing to vegetables, mix thoroughly and serve!

The ingredients!

Peel and grate the root vegetables.

Add the spring onions, mint and cider vinegar

Combine the dressing ingredients.

Add the dressing to the vegetables and serve.

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I wish I could be super-organised in the mornings and get up as soon as the alarm sounds, but that rarely happens for me. Usually I’m racing against the clock and subsequently looking for a quick but nutritious breakfast before I leave the flat; let’s be honest, the one thing (and probably the only thing) that breakfast cereals have going for them is their convenience and speed, but certainly not their nutritional value! Recently I’ve been too reliant upon eggs for breakfast so I have resolved to be a bit more creative with my morning cooking whilst still keeping within the tight time constraints that most of us are limited by.

So today’s breakfast paired the classic combination of bacon & avocado! I don’t know exactly why these two work together so well, maybe it’s that opposites attract; creamy, soft avocado set against crisp, salty bacon but it certainly works for me. The recipe is as simple as it gets; firstly fry off your bacon, I just let the bacon cook in it’s own fat, turning it occasionally until it is nice and crispy. Then arrange some washed little gem lettuce leaves on a plate and place the cooked bacon on top. Finally, arrange some sliced avocado on that and finish it off with a few sliced spring onions. All finished in a matter of minutes & truly delicious, I only wish I had some fermented ketchup in the fridge to finish it off – I think that will be my next job! If you have any quick-and-easy Paleo breakfast recipes please let me know in the comments section below. Happy eating!

Crispy bacon on lettuce, I can’t think of a much better sight!

It get’s better with avocado & spring onions on top, it’s just missing some fermented ketchup though.

Another lettuce leaf makes the whole thing so much easier to eat.

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We all loved a glass of milk as a child and it still has a fond place in my heart today, although no longer a place in my fridge. I am lucky (if you see it that way) as I tolerate milk and dairy well, in fact I seem to tolerate most food & drinks quite well. That being said when I discovered the Paleo diet & read and listened to a lot of the science behind how our bodies digest & process certain foods I had some choices to make; which foods to eat & which ones to avoid? Dairy is a bit of a grey area in Paleo-land with advocates for & against, it’s very much a personal choice.

I decided that I no longer needed milk in my diet & the only appreciable difference it’s made to my life is that I now drink tea & coffee black, which I have come to prefer. This brings me to the point of this posting, here in the UK we are in the middle of a series of protests by dairy producers who are up in arms about being squeezed by price cuts & increased feed costs which would cause them to make a loss on the milk they sell to the big supermarkets. Although I do understand that these farmers work hard & deserve adequate recompense for the job they do, I find it hard to be sympathetic when I hear farmers saying the cost of feeding their herds has increased because the price of soy & grain has gone up in price! Excuse me if I’m wrong but don’t cows naturally eat grass, that grows for free?

Sadly we are cutting quality for the sake of price & convenience which is one of the main reasons that I quit drinking milk. So why not give your tea & coffee a try without milk & see if you can live without it too?

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Since starting the Paleo diet one of the things that has intrigued me the most is the importance of eating fermented foods. Up until starting Paleo I couldn’t tell you when the last time I ate something fermented was, sure alcohol is fermented – and most of us enjoy that every once in a while – but I couldn’t remember the last time that I actually ate food that was fermented. I occasionally bought sauerkraut from the supermarket but that is often Pasteurised after the fermentation process, thus killing the live bacteria that will be beneficial for us.

So I decided to make my own kimchi, a Korean dish of fermented cabbage, by following the recipe on Mark’s daily apple, so my gut could benefit from all the healthy live bacteria. The recipe is quite simple (so long as you can find a Korean supermarket to buy ingredients) and once made the kimchi is left to ferment for a few days in a jar covered with cling film. As food ferments it releases carbon dioxide and other gasses so it cannot be kept in an air tight jar; but we also need to stop any foreign particles from entering as that would cause spoilage and potential health risks – cling film is a reasonable compromise but it’s just that, a compromise. The obvious solution to this problem is some sort of valve system, so I started Googling to see what I could find. Well, It wasn’t long before I found instructions on how to make a home made fermentation jar which seemed both simple and inexpensive. All that is required is a Kilner / Mason style jar that has a two-piece screw lid, a brewers air-lock with grommit & some food grade lids that are suitable to be drilled (and the same diameter as your jar).

I already had the jars & I have a home brew shop within walking distance so the air-lock & grommit were easy to find. It was only the lids that proved a problem so it was back to the Internet again. Thankfully the people at Tattler, (who sell BPA-free reusable canning lids) were extremely helpful and sent me some over from the US – finally I had everything that I needed!

The procedure to make the fermentation jars is simple:

Firstly  – Drill a half inch hole into the lid with a ‘flat wood drill bit’

Secondly – Insert the grommit, this can be a little fiddly but patience is a virtue.

Finally – Screw on to the jar  and push the air lock valve into the grommit

For those who have any concerns about potential health aspects of the lids please have a look at Tattler’s web site for safety information. Also it is advisable to use a food grade grommit.

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There’s definitely something really appealing about a smooth & creamy dip, and for me hummus is the king. It’s extremely versatile & can be transformed with just the addition of a single ingredient, such as roasted red pepper, caremalised onion or even just a sprinkling of smoked paprika. Up until quite recently I thought it would be a food of the past for me as it contains chickpeas (garbanzo beans), which are a lectin containing legume. It’s a pity on two counts, 1) I love the taste of it; and 2) Pretty much everything else that goes into making hummus is fine.

Well, I recently discovered that fermenting hummus not only creates healthy probiotics and enzymes that help the gut to digest food but it also dramatically reduces the lectin content within the chickpeas – thus making it much more Paleo-friendly in my eyes. So, after my recent success in making fermented kimchi I thought I’d try my hand at fermented hummus. I’ve made non-fermented hummus so many times now that I don’t really follow a recipe any more, but I have reproduced the recipe that I use as my template below. I believe it is one of Jamie Oliver’s but I can’t find a link to it on the web now – I personally prefer a little more lemon juice & chili in mine but adjust as per your own preference.

340g / 12oz chickpeas (soaked overnight)
1 small, dried red chili
½ teaspoon cumin seeds (or ground cumin)
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 clove of garlic
1 ½ tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (it’s important to use the good stuff)
lemon juice to taste (approx two tablespoons)

Soak the chickpeas overnight (approx 8 hours) & then rinse thoroughly. Cover with fresh water and cook for 1 ½ hours or until soft, skimming any froth as necessary. Drain but keep some of the liquid for thinning out the hummus later.

In a pestle and mortar pound the chili and cumin seeds with a little salt. In a food processor add the chickpeas, garlic, tahini & pounded spices and pulse until all is combined & the consistency is like breadcrumbs. Add to this mixture the olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper and a little of the liquid that was reserved from the chickpeas. Pulse this until it is smooth, adding more cooking liquid as required.

Now for the fermentation! Spoon the hummus into a clean kilner-type jar, ensuring to leave a couple of inches gap for expansion as the fermentation takes place. Cover tightly with a double layer of cling film and secure with an elastic band. Alternatively, if you have an air-lock lid, as used in home brewing, use that as it will allow the fermentation gases to escape whilst retaining an air tight seal.

Leave the jar at room temperature and wait for the the hummus to expand in the jar and become aerated, this could take 3 to 5 days depending on the ambient temperature. This is the result of the lactobacilli doing it’s job! Once this happens taste a small amount of the hummus; you should be looking for the familiar tingle or zing you get from fermented food on your tongue, not dissimilar to the tingle from the kids sweet ‘space dust’ but much more subtle. Also the hummus should not in any way taste rancid or off, if it does throw away and give it another go. If all is well secure the jar with an air-tight lid and refrigerate until required.

The ingredients:

The dried spices, ready to be pounded!

The filled food processor.

After initial pulsing without the wet ingredients the mixture is like breadcrumbs.

After the olive oil, lemon juice & cooking water are added the mixture thins out.

Finally the hummus is ready to ferment in the jar!

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Today’s meal was quite hearty as I trained in a fasted state this morning. I hadn’t eaten anything for close to 16 hours but I must say I wasn’t ravenously hungry, all the same I made sure that I slightly overfed myself. The meal comprised of some elements left over from a couple of previous meals as well as some slow-cooked buffalo mince casserole that I had cooked overnight.

The casserole was made using some beautiful grass-fed minced buffalo, bought from Laverstok Park farm, some vegetables (onions, garlic, swede, carrot and kale) as well as some home made lamb stock that had been sitting in the freezer for a while. I also added a little seasoning, a dried-herd bouquet garni & some tomato puree to thicken the sauce. To finish the meal off I added some left-over steamed cabbage, peas & courgette alongside some homemade ratatouille (onion, garlic, aubergine, courgette & tomato).

I usually add chili to most of my meals but I don’t think it would’ve worked with a root vegetable casserole so I’m glad I left it out. The kale was beautifully wilted after the 6 hour slow cook & the swede had become soft, translucent & slightly sweet in flavour. If I had to change one thing I would put fewer vegetables in the casserole, as I had two vegetable only accompaniments I don’t think it was necessary, but as a standalone meal it would be perfect.

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This weeks post workout meal was a completely new recipe for me so it was a bit of a risk to cook and document it for the blog at the first attempt, the fact is it sounded so interesting that I just had to give it a try. The star of the show is coconut & chili coated fried chicken, with a generous portion of steamed green veg on the side.

Ingredients for the coconut & chilli coated chicken:
3 x Chicken breasts
2 x eggs
Enough coconut flour to coat the chicken
1 x tsp Cinnamon
1 x tsp Turmeric
2 x tsp Garlic granules
Salt
Enough dessicated coconut to coat the chicken
Chilli flakes (as per your preference)
Coconut oil to fry

The technique involves a three step process to get from raw chicken breast fillets to fillets generously coated with chilli and coconut.

Firstly whisk two eggs in a bowl. Prepare the first coating by combining coconut flour, salt and the three dried spices in another bowl – ensure that there are no lumps in the flour and the spices are evenly mixed. On a shallow plate, combine dessicated coconut & chili flakes.

Pat down the fillets with some kitchen roll to remove any excess moisture. Take the first fillet and place it in the bowl of coconut flour and spices and ensure it is completely covered in the mixture, then shake off any excess flour. Transfer to the egg mixture and again make sure the fillet is completely coated in egg. Finally place the fillet on the shallow plate of dessicated coconut and chilli and ensure the fillet is coated in the mixture. Place the fillet on a plate and repeat the same process for the remaining fillets.

Next preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF). To cook the fillets heat some coconut oil in a frying pan, aim to have about half an inch or so of oil so the amount you use will depend on the size of your pan. Place the fillets in the pan and fry until golden brown on each side, this will probably take around 5 minutes per side on a medium heat but keep checking to ensure they don’t burn. Once the chicken has finished frying transfer it to an ovenproof tray or dish and cook in the oven for 20 minutes – always cut into the thickest part of the fillet to ensure it is cooked properly, if not put back in the oven for 5 minutes and check again.

Whilst the chicken is cooking in the oven lightly steam a selection of your favourite vegetables, I used broccoli, sugar snap peas & green beans.

The ingredients:

The coated chicken:

Frying the chicken:

The finished meal:

Please leave any comments below, especially if you have any suggestions on how to improve this recipe, maybe you can recommend different spices or something extra in the coating to add a different flavour?

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