Ghee

I love butter and if you knew how much butter we used to go through in any given week, you'd think I was related to Paula Deen.  When our pediatrician, Dr. Julie Buckley, said that casein (a milk protein) was one of the most irritating things to the gut lining - thus the need to eliminate it from our diets - I thought, "OK - We can do that".  

When I realized that butter contained casein, I thought, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and, in horror, asked out loud, "What about BUTTER?"

Dr. Buckley suggested we use ghee in place of butter. I have to admit, the thought of making such (another) huge change to our diets saddened me - even scared me a little.  

But ghee is nothing to be scared of.  It's actually clarified butter and is made by heating butter in a pot so that the moisture evaporates, milk solids settle on the bottom and a white froth rises to the top. Ghee is used primarily in Indian cuisine, and is praised, among other things, for being easy to digest.

NOW - I've come to love ghee.  It has a high smoking point which makes it easy to saute with.  I use it to make eggs, pancakes, saute veggies and in the topping for my grain free peach crisp (post to come). 

Ghee can be expensive to buy, but is easy-peasy to make.  If you give it a try, post in the comments section and let me know what you think of it.

Ghee

What you need:

1 pound unsalted butter (good to use organic, but I admit I don't)

1 pound salted butter (traditional recipes use unsalted, but I like a mixture of each)

1 large pot

fine sieve

cheesecloth

glass or stainless steel container with pour spout

small container with lid to store ghee (I bought two from Walmart)

cooking thermometer

What to do:

Put salted and unsalted butter in large pot.  Place pot on burner, turning heat to medium-low.  The butter will melt and a white froth will rise to the top.  Skim it off.

It will go through a stage of large bubbles and popping (keep kids out of the kitchen when making it) and then, the bubbles will get really small.  This is when you know you're almost done.  

Bring the butter up to 225F. Once up to temperature, take the pot off heat.  Allow to rest 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the sieve into the container with a pour spout.  Line the sieve with a double thickness of cheesecloth.

When 20 minutes is up, carefully pour ghee through sieve, allowing froth to be caught in cheesecloth but leaving solids that settled in bottom of pot.  Discard solids.

Allow ghee to cool further, then pour in container with lid.  Do not place lid on container until ghee is fully cooled or you will add moisture.

Ghee will keep for a long time in a closed container at room temperature as long as utensils used to remove ghee are always clean, and no drops of water get into the container (which could introduce bacteria).