Oxtail Broth

The benefits of broth are boundless. You can read a full breakdown of the mineral content at Mark's Daily Apple but in basic terms it's crammed full of gelatine, collagen and calcium in easily digestible form which the body can utilise immediately. Medicinal use of broth is common in many families as treatment for colds or flu and I've found it to be the best hangover cure since a bacon sandwich and banana milkshake. Having done a little experimentation with beef bones, I've found the best broth — which sets like jelly when cooled — comes from using oxtail, either exclusively or as a blend with other beef bones.

You will need:
1.5kg oxtail
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 carrots
3 celery sticks
1 onion
250g vegetable peel and trimmings (optional)
Frying pan
Large stainless steel stock pan with lid

1. Firstly place the pieces of oxtail in a frying pan over a high heat to brown on all sides.

2. Once browned, remove the oxtail pieces and deglaze the pan with a little water or red wine to release the cooking juices and any tiny pieces of caramelised meat from the bottom. Pour this into a large stock pan.

3. Add three sticks of celery, an onion (or several shallots in this case) and three carrots all roughly chopped. You can also use leftover peelings and trimmings from other meals which keep well in the freezer. Onion peel adds a rich brown hue to the finished liquid.

4. Place the oxtail and all vegetables into the stock pan.

5. Add three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar — preferably unfiltered — and enough cold water to cover the ingredients.

It won't look particularly appetising at this stage... 

6. Pop a lid on the pan and turn up the heat. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down as low as possible. The aim is for the pan to be simmering for 12+ hours so it needs to be low and slow. Extended periods at high heat are likely to destroy some of the nutrients.

7. After 12 hours you may wish to take the broth off the heat, strain and enjoy but it's worth noting that you can simmer the broth in excess of two days or until the bones have dissolved. Even after 12 hours, with a high enough acid content from the vinegar, you may find the bones crumble when touched meaning their mineral content has successfully been transferred to your healthy and delicious broth.

I aim to drink around a pint of this a day which not only gives me energy in a super-light and easily digestible form, but also inhibits my hunger pangs and meat cravings. And before bed time it relaxes me into a blissful sleep state.

Truffle Butter

I know, I know butter isn't 'primal' but I'm introducing myself gently. Baby steps! Also after reading the go-to bible on study based dietary choices - Nourishing Traditions - I'm sold on the idea of butter being one of the 'good' fats. Although I haven't yet managed to acquire any raw milk to make my own raw butter, I always get the best I can find in the local health food shop. On this visit it was Yeo Valley organic unsalted butter.
With regards to the truffle, I'm not entirely sure of the species as it was a very generous leaving gift from the head chef of a restaurant I recently departed. From the research I've done along with the current season, it would appear to be a black winter truffle (makes sense) and it's definitely from Italy.
I noticed it had started to 'give' a little when squeezed so worried it was going past it's best. Nothing stores and preserves fresh ingredients like fat, so I set about making truffle butter.

You will need:
1 pack of softened butter
1 ripe black truffle
Salt to taste
Fine grater
Mini blender or mini blender attachment for a stick blender

1. Grate the truffle with the fine grater and keep to one side on a non absorbent surface. Originally I had it on a wooden chopping board. Needless to say any fruit chopped on there over the next few weeks will be truffle scented. Fine if you enjoy your bananas like that. I don't.

2. Cut the butter into cubes and place into the mini blender with half the truffle. Whizz it up and add the salt to taste. Take out the blades and mix through the rest of the grated truffle gently as to not break up the pieces too much.

3. Scoop it all out onto greaseproof paper and mould into the desired shape. The best way to store it long term is to freeze it. Roll the butter into a log and twist the paper at both ends then seal in cling film or a freezer bag. Whenever you fancy a bit of decadence, slice off a chunk of the butter to melt into pasta or onto a seared steak. It should keep around 6 months frozen.

I used truffle salt too which added to the intensity of the truffle flavour. It was from Eataly in Genoa, Italy. They have branches all over Italy, in the USA and even in Japan but sadly none in the UK. So if you see this salt anywhere, snap it up. The tiny freeze-dried white truffle flecks add a surprisingly strong aroma which is delicious on poached eggs.

Magic Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise has always seemed so inconvenient to make. The constant whisking, the drip-by-drip addition of oil, the danger of splitting, getting the temperature of the ingredients right... Too much fuss. BUT as it turns out, a stick blender (sometimes called an immersion blender), can take the pain out of the normally laborious process. You can literally chuck all the ingredients together in a beaker and whizz it up. Even after seeing various sources claiming it was a 5 minute job, I felt dubious and documented every step of my first attempt incase it all went wrong.

What you'll need:
1 large organic free range egg
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup light olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt

Also a stick blender and a tall thin beaker or glass jar which fits the head of the blender all the way to the bottom. Most stick blenders come with this included in the box.

1. Crack the egg into the beaker or jar. Some recipes call for the egg to be fridge fresh, some call for all the ingredients being room temperature. Mine were bought fresh from the shop and endured the crisp 40 minute walk home so were more on the cold side of room temperature.

2. Add the teaspoon of Dijon mustard, which should be at roughly the same temperature as the egg. 

3. Add the freshly squeezed lemon juice. 

4. And then the oil which should bring the total of the ingredients to one cup of liquid or eight fluid ounces.

5. Leave the ingredients to settle in the container. When you first add the oil it will agitate the other ingredients which can hinder the emulsification process. I left mine for around five minutes.

6. Put the stick blender all the way into the liquid, still switched off, and push down until it touches the bottom of the container. The comes the scary bit - switch the blender on! For the first 30 seconds you will need to hold the blender to the bottom of the container so it doesn't move. You'll see the mixture turn white at the bottom (your homemade mayonnaise!) and begin to slowly move up the sides and further up into the oil. Once nearly all the oil has transformed to mayonnaise you can move the blender around a little, up and down and tilting it. And... That... Is... It. 

Done! Thick and creamy fresh mayonnaise with none of the gross hydrogenated oils or added E numbers you find in the shop-bought version. It should last around 1 week kept in a tightly covered glass jar and can be flavoured in the same way as any mayo, add garlic and you can have homemade aioli or add capers, anchovy and tuna for an Italian tonnato sauce.