Thursday 27 November 2008

Good Oil For Good Health

I was recently invited to a dinner party held by Glynis Murray and Henry Braham. They wanted to tell us about their product, Good Oil, that is made with hemp seeds. Intruiged, off I went to Westbourne Park. We were very well looked after indeed; they have an admirable story of years of struggle to get their product launched from using this sustainable and ethically sound crop. The dinner menu, cooked by their talented son Ben, was all made to showcase the oil.

When I think of hemp oil it brings to mind crusty old hippies, and visiting dodgy shops full of 'ornamental' bongs, the heady scent of incense, and horrible shoulder bags made of hemp. I cast this out of my mind when we tried the starter, a pea and pecorino crostini. You could really taste the oil in this, as it made it taste a lot more earthy and lent a nuttiness to it. Venison and cranberry casserole followed with a great mash potato, but for me the best way for using the oil was drizzling it over vanilla ice cream. Don't ask me how it worked, but it most certainly did.

So, armed with a bottle I decided to give it a go for myself. Special oils seem to work well on pasta dishes, as the pasta works well as a bland background for you to dress.

Good Oil Spaghetti & Rocket

For 1

100gr dried spaghetti or linguine

50gr cured pork product - chorizo, bacon or spicy salami works well

1 handful of washed rocket

1 clove of garlic

Squeeze of lemon juice

1 tbsp Good Oil

Parmesan

Cook the spaghetti until al dente. Meanwhile, in a dry, non stick frying pan, fry the pork on a low heat with the clove of garlic, cut in half. When the pork has released some fat (or has cooked, if it's bacon) remove the garlic and discard it. Once the spaghetti has cooked, add this to the frying pan along with the oil, rocket and lemon juice. Toss well, sling it on a plate, and top with plenty of Parmesan and lots of black pepper.

So perhaps cured pork products aren't particularly healthy, but Good Oil is. Not only does it contain half the saturated fat of olive oil, it also has a higher content of Omega 3, 6 and 9 than any other oils. Out with the old (olive oil) and in with the new.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice one Lizzie... 'twas a great night indeed. Let me know if you have any more recipe ideas or indeed if your bottle runs dry...

Take care

Rax

Anonymous said...

This looks great Lizzie, I'll be trying it. Really looking forward to experimenting with GOOD Oil. I love the flavour!

Niamh

Anonymous said...

Have got some spicy salami in my fridge at the moment! Can't wait to try it out, altough I don't think mine will look as radiant as yours!

Just to let your readers know that they can claim a free sample of Good Oil by becoming a fan of their Facebook page on: http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/pages/Good-Oil/53476080306

Loved reading your post especially when you get to "Toss well, sling it on a plate". Sounds like my kitchen at home!

Chris

Douglas Blyde said...

I think it is very important to be well-oiled. I am a particular fanatic of Hemp, particularly when infused into the 'Pret a Manger' Detox Bunny. I very much look forward to trying this rather obviously titled, but seemingly perfect otherwise, 'Good Oil'...

Kavey said...

I keep coming across Hemp Oil at foodie shows/ fairs/ expos. I tried it again recently at the slow food thingummy at the South Bank late November. Quite liked it but couldn't decide, so didn't get a bottle...

dermatology laser said...

Olive oil is the only vegetable oil that can be consumed as it is - freshly pressed from the fruit.