Ghee

By:  Maria

Ghee is a delicious food.

Ghee is butter that has been gently heated to a clear, golden color. For those that are casein/lactose intolerant - no worries - all milk solids are removed in the heating process. Milk proteins (casein and whey) do some bad stuff in our bodies. The milk proteins are pro-inflammatory, and contribute to cardiovascular disease, auto-immune disorders and cancer.

Unlike some other oils (i.e., olive oil), ghee has a high smoke point, which makes it great for cooking (The smoke point determines when an oil actually starts to burn and release free radicals due to oxidation). The very low oxidation rate means you can leave ghee unrefrigerated.

When I can't get my hands on butter from a grass-fed cow, I prefer to use organic butter; since it is free of rBST and other additives found in regular butter.

The uses are varied, but always delicious. I use ghee to scramble eggs or make omelets, flavor my bowl of soup or bone broth, saute veggies or use in my pancake recipe.

The flavor is ghee-licious! A nutty, almost caramel flavor that you simply cannot get from butter.

The fun part comes when you begin to flavor your ghee with things like garlic, cinnamon, cardamom or even oregano, basil or rosemary. The possibilities are truly endless and all infused flavors have turned out beautifully.

You can purchase ghee, yes, but it can be expensive. If you're budget-minded like I am, making your own is not only easy; you are able to choose the quality of butter used and, like most things made at home, it simply tastes better.

Ingredients

1 lb unsalted grass-fed or organic butter

Preheat oven to 225.

Place butter in a glass baking dish and place in oven.

Heat until the butter fully separates and a clear golden liquid is on top (the solids you see in the photo above should eventually drop to the bottom). This may take an hour or slightly longer, depending on oven temperature.

Remove from heat once the color is a clear gold color.

Line a sieve with cheesecloth or even a coffee filter and place over a new pot or glass bowl. While still hot, carefully pour separated butter through cheesecloth-lined sieve so the milk solids are caught in the cheesecloth.

Toss the cheesecloth with caught milk solids into garbage, but pour the strained ghee into a glass container (the canning jars work great).

Let ghee cool at room temperature and cover.

It will keep for many months.