Oh, the horror!!!

Food, glorious food. It has kept us alive for thousands of years, it has nourished us, comforted us, brought us back to health, brought entire communities together, it is a focal point at celebrations. Without food (and water and air) there would be no 'us'.

If you are to believe popular magazines and tv programmes, food is also the reason that we are obese, have diabetes, have heart problems, have all sorts of medical issues. They are right! Food is the starting point for all these problems. Just not in the way they would like you to believe. Fat is not bad for you, nor is sugar or salt. Processed foods are. So is meat from animals that have hormones injected to grow bigger, faster. Crops continuously grown on the same soil require more chemicals to make them grow better due to nutrient depletion of the soil; that is bad for you.
A lot of our current medical issues (such as the 'explosive increase' in obesity, diabetes and heart problems) are fairly recent. According to reports the increase was most significant after the 1980's. This is also the time processed foods became more readily available. Coincidence? And then there is modern medicine; a blessing to us all but it also means that certain illnesses that were difficult (if not impossible) to detect twenty or thirty years ago are now detected far earlier or more easily.

Processed food; it is so easy to go for what is labeled a 'healthier alternative' or 'naturally low in fat'.

Yoghurt, for me, is one of the easiest ways to con the consumer. You won't see an ad on tv without it mentioning 'Bifidus (Acti)Regularis' or 'probiotic', but those same ads won't tell you that this is found in (almost) any yoghurt. Bifidus Regularis doesn't even exist; Bifidus does (it's official name is Bifidobacterium animalis DN 173 010) but Regularis was invented by Danone: “regularis” part emphasises being “regular” and the “is” at the end suggests a scientific derivation... In other words; it is just 'clever' marketing to make you part with an extraordinary amount of money for what is nothing more than pasteurised, fermented milk.

If you want to eat more healthily, for whatever reason, you don't have to go for the expensive 'diet' foods. Just cutting out processed foods will help. Two ways of thinking can help you to do this:

1. Could I make this at home? If you could make it at home, it would be a good buy, although you could of course try to make it yourself... For instance:
• Olive oil can be made at home, all it needs is a simple pressing of olives.
• Margarine, however, is far more difficult to make as it requires a lot of homogenising of ingredients with all sorts of products that are hard to come by.
2. Is the ingredients list very long or does it contain ingredients that you wouldn't find in a 'normal' household kitchen?

Fats are necessary in your diet for various reasons. Choosing full-fat items is even better for you than choosing the low-fat alternative as many of the low-fat varieties have chemical ingredients to enhance the flavour and texture of fat. Not to mention the fact that low-fat cheese, yoghurt and milk also need extensive processing to remove the natural fats. Real, unprocessed food is more satisfying because of the flavour and this decreases the amount of 'pick-me-ups' we all need at some point during the day.

Now, I am not saying 'bin all the marge and eat only lard', even though lard is the best, natural, source of vitamin D, but if I have to choose between marge and butter my choice will always be butter (and some lard and suet for pastry or frying). Like my auntie says: 'A little of what you fancy does you good'. As a matter of fact, I like the flavour of suet so much that I have even got a sweet suet 'biscuit' in my baking repertoire. But I cannot take the credit for this recipe; credit belongs squarely with my mother-in-law.

Suet is the hard fat found around the kidneys in animals but we are most accustomed to beef suet. Granted, in its unprocessed state it doesn't look the most appetising (thank heavens it comes in a handy 200gram box, cleaned and shredded) but it does create the most delicious, flaky pastry and is well worth a try.

(Sweet) Suet 'Biscuits'

Ingredients:
For the dough

• 100 gram self-raising flour (or 100 gram plain flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder)
• 50 gram beef suet (you could use vegetarian suet but this is a combination of palm oil and rice flour and does create a slightly different pastry)
• a small knob of butter (this is optional but it makes the pastry even flakier)
• pinch of salt
• enough water to bring it all together (my mother-in-law and husband use cold water but I prefer to use warm to hot water)

Method:

1. Mix the flour, salt and suet
• If you are using butter, rub the butter into the flour before adding the suet
2. Add just enough water to bring the flour and suet together into a dough
• The amount of water you will need depends on the quality of the flour so start with just a tablespoon and add more if required
3. Quickly bring the dough together into a ball
• I know people say that you need to not overwork your dough but I have found very little difference in texture with this particular pastry so don't worry
• It is standard to let your dough rest before you start rolling it out but, as I prefer to use warm/hot water, I never really bother in doing so
4. Flour a flat work surface, place the dough on top and add some extra flour to prevent the roller from sticking to your dough
5. Roll the dough out

To make the 'biscuits' you will need to decide if you want sweet or savoury. If I make sweet biscuits, I will cut the dough into individual portions but if I make savoury biscuits I leave it as is, put the filling on top, fold and bake.

The following fillings work really well:

1. Sweet
• any tart jam such as raspberry, blackcurrant or gooseberry
• lemon or lime marmalade
• stewed, tart, apples
1. After the pastry has been rolled out (and cut into individual portions) add a little dollop of filling on top and fold/roll up the side to keep the filling in whilst baking
2. Sprinkle with a little sugar before baking in the centre of a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 10-15 minutes until golden brown, or same as below if you want to make 1 large biscuit
2. Savoury
• ham, caramelised onions and cheese (such as cheddar or even a soft goats cheese)
• ham, mozzarella and tomato
• ham, fried mushrooms and cheese (a gentle blue cheese would work well)
1. After the pastry has been rolled out (and cut into individual portions) add slices of ham, onions, mushrooms, tomato, cheese or any other ingredients on top and fold the pastry over to keep the filling inside when baking
2. Bake in the centre of a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 20-25 minutes until golden brown, or same as above if you want to make individual biscuits

In the end, the combinations are only limited by your own imagination and you could even use extra flavourings for the dough such as dried herbs or spices. My advice, however, is to use tart fruits and jams if you want to make a sweet version as this will cut through the richness of the pastry.

That just leave me to wish you happy eating

Enjoy

• If you want to know more about lard, check out 'Weed'em & Reap' here
• If you want to know more about Bifidus (Acti)Regularis, check out 'what is bifidus regularis' here
• If you want to know more about processed food, check out 'Healthy Eating' here
• If you want to know more about the myths around BMI, check out 'Foz Meadows' here