Meat as a health food: recipes from producers

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 270, 17 January 1989, Page 9

Meat as a health food: recipes from producers

Many traditional food combinations make health as well as taste sense.

For i n s t a n c e , favourite recipes often combine a tangy, high Vitamic C fruit or vegetable with beef or lamb in some form, to be eaten with potatoes, pasta, bread, rice o r some other starchy food. Think of the many dishes that combine beef or lamb with tomato or g r e e n peppers. Think of lamb and red-currant sauce and beef and horseradish ( a n exceptionally good source of Vitamin C when fresh, though commercially prepared sauce would not be so high). This custom makes nutrition sense for two reasons to do with iron intake. At the best of times, iron is a difficult mineral for our bodies to absorb. From meat we can absorb and use about 40 per cent of the iron, but from eggs, grains, nuts and dried beans we only take in about 10 per cent. At the bottom of the list are spinach and iron supplements, from which we get only about two per cent of the iron. The difference is because iron is present in food in two forms. In meat, poultry and fish much of the iron is in the "haem" form which the body can absorb more easily. In plant foods all the iron is in a form which is hard for us to absorb. Fruit and vegetables and meat, however, both have properties which help us absorb the more difficult-to-get-at form of iron. The Vitamin C in fruit and vegetables can lock on to this form of iron and help the body to absorb it. Bread, pasta and other cereal foods which contain entirely non-haem iron become much more useful to us because of the Vitamin C effect, which can double or

triple the amount of iron they supply. Meats like beef and lamb, themselves among our best dietary sources of iron, contain something called the " M F P " factor. Less iron-rich meats like pork, poultry and fish also contain the MFP factor (hence its name - MFP stands for meat, fish, poultry). This, like Vitamin C, helps the body to absorb otherwise unavailable iron from plant foods. For a real iron bonanza serve lean beef, lamb, liver or kidney with a rich Vitamin C source like kiwifruit and a cereal food such as wholemeal bread or pasta. Our s u m m e r y barbecue recipe for a lamb with a kiwifruit salad is one way to do just this. Barbecued Lamb Steaks Buy about 1 kg lamb leg steaks, or cut them from a boned leg of lamb. Trim any fat from the lamb. Marinade: 1 tsp finely chopped ginger 1 tbsp clear honey A few drops of hot pepper sauce ( e g

Tabasco or Trappey's) 1 tbsp olive or other oil 1 to 2 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp molasses Freshly ground pepper and a little salt Mix all marinade ingredients in a shallow dish or plastic bag. Add lamb steaks, turning them to coat all sides. Cover, or tie bag, then refrigerate until next day. Remove from fridge about one hour before cooking. Remove meat from marinade and drain. Barbecue over gas

flame or glowing coals for about five minutes each side. (If the weather is grim, cook inside under a wellheated grill, or fangrill in the o v e n , allowing 12 to 15 minutes at 200 deg C. Baste the lamb once or twice during fangrilling.) Serve the barbecued lamb with kiwifruit salad, or, if you prefer, serve the salad before the main course. Then serve the lamb garnished with red or green pepper strips for a touch of colour,

accompanied by crusty bread or new potatoes. Serves 4 to 6. Kiwifruit Salad 1 carrot 1/2 small onion, finely sliced in rings 1 stalk celery cut in thin matchstick strips 2 kiwifruit, peeled and sliced lightly toasted sesame seeds 1 spring onion, cut in small curls Dressing 2 tbsp white wine vinegar 2 tbsp olive, walnut or other oil ' 2 tbsp peanut oil salt and freshly ground pepper Thinly pare or scrub carrot, then grate (not too finely) Arrange carrot in the centre of a bowl or platter. Spread onion rings around the edge, then sprinkle celery

over. Decorate with kiwifruit slices and spring onion curls.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serves 4.