These are the pieces that most people seem to eat in restaurants. When I can get good pieces, I relish them at home. I don’t insist that they be tried; but they are worth the eating. Chicken livers are covered on pages 33–34 of “Hors d’Oeuvre & First Courses.”
Even I don’t eat pork liver, finding the taste too strong. Various dogs that I have had over the years loved it. Kosher calves’ liver is finer and lighter in taste than other kinds. It’s worth asking if it is available. All liver is good against anemia.
If the liver has a membrane around it, pull it off. Hope that your butcher has removed any large veins. If not, they will need to be cut out.
4 thick strips bacon (about 4 ounces)
1 large onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon safflower oil
1 pound calves’ liver sliced ½ inch thick, outer membrane removed, cut into 4 pieces
Freshly ground black pepper
Cook the bacon over medium-high heat in a 10-inch skillet until crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Put on a plate. Add the onion to the hot pan and cook until soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Move the onion to another plate. Pour the safflower oil into the pan. Place two pieces of liver in the pan at a time. Cook just until brown, about 30 seconds a side for rare liver. Move to a serving platter. Repeat with the remaining pieces. Place the bacon and onion on top of the cooked liver. Add pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
SERVES 2
It is too bad that sweetbreads are usually served and eaten only in restaurants. They are easy and quick to make, and actually most people love them.
Try to avoid capers packed in vinegar. A good Italian store or online market should be able to supply salt-packed capers. Oddly enough, small ones are better than big ones.
Basic teff (see page 169) makes a good accompaniment, or serve Simple Spring Vegetables (page 146) as I did.
2 cups chicken stock (any of the homemade stocks, pages 203–4, or sterile-pack)
2 tablespoons capers in salt (do not rinse them)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ cup rice bran
1½ pounds sweetbreads, cleaned (see sidebar, opposite) and cut into approximately 4-inch pieces
Safflower oil
In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, reduce the chicken stock to 1 cup. Stir in the capers and lemon juice. Set aside.
Spread the rice bran on a large dinner plate. Individually turn the sweetbread pieces until well coated.
Pour oil ¼ inch deep into a 10- to 12-inch skillet over high heat. When the oil shimmers, gently place the sweetbread pieces in an even layer in the pan. As soon as they brown (they will brown quickly) turn them over and cook on the other side until browned. Put on a platter and pour the caper sauce over the top.
SERVES 4
VARIATION
Calves’ Brains with Caper and Lemon Sauce
To cook calves’ brains, make sure to trim away the brain stem (it is a bright white tube extending downward from the brain). Also, separate the two lobes (halves) of the brain by trimming away the white connective tissue that joins them. Two brains should weigh just under 1 pound, so each lobe is roughly 4 ounces. Dredge the cleaned lobes in rice bran and continue as directed, cooking the pieces for 5 minutes on one side and 4 to 5 minutes more on the other side.
SERVES 4
This requires that the family not be squeamish eaters. I start with a raw tongue, but it’s okay to buy a cooked one.
12 medium new potatoes
15 white boiling onions (each 1 to 1½ inches in diameter), peeled
1½ cups dark beer
5 cups apple cider
1 cup apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
6 small carrots, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, and then across into 2-inch pieces
1 large head garlic (about 20 cloves), smashed and peeled
One 1½-pound piece cooked beef tongue, skin and fibers removed
1 medium head green cabbage, cut into 6 wedges through the core
Place the potatoes, onions, beer, cider, vinegar, cloves, sugar, and salt in a large wide pot over high heat. Cover. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook, covered, at a moderate boil for 10 minutes.
Add the carrots, garlic, and tongue, pushing the vegetables away as much as possible to allow the tongue to nestle in the liquid. Cover. Return to a boil. Lower the heat and cook, covered, at a moderate boil for 5 minutes.
Lay the cabbage wedges on top of the other ingredients. Cover. Return to a boil. Lower the heat and cook, covered, at a moderate boil for 20 minutes or until the cabbage is tender.
Serve slices of tongue, along with a variety of the vegetables, in a large rimmed bowl with a bit of the broth. (The tongue can also be presented on a large platter with the vegetables. The broth can be served on the side.)
SERVES 6
The rich but not domineering flavors of the Marsala and mushrooms make this an elegant dish. It can be multiplied to serve as many as desired.
1 to 1¼ pounds veal tongue
½ cup Marsala
1 ounce dried porcini
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
In an 8-inch saucepan, bring enough water to a boil to cover the tongue. Add the tongue. Reduce the heat to a low boil and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
While the tongue is cooking, put the dried mushrooms and Marsala in a 2-cup glass measure. Microwave for 1 minute. Using a skimmer or slotted spoon, lift out the mushrooms. Strain the liquid through cheesecloth or a fine sieve. Put the mushrooms back in the liquid and set aside.
Put the tongue on a plate and reserve the liquid.
Allow the tongue to cool slightly. Hold it with a cloth. Pull off the thick skin, using a sharp knife if needed to loosen the skin where it sticks. Cut off the root ends. Save them for the dog, who will be ecstatic.
Add enough of the reserved cooking liquid to the mushroom mixture to cover. Cook in a microwave oven or small pan on the stovetop for a minute. Stir and cook for a minute more.
Thinly slice the tongue crosswise and put in a small saucepan with the mushroom mixture. If needed, add enough of the reserved cooking liquid to cover. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with boiled rice and a side salad to one vigorous or two more fastidious eaters.
MAKES 1½ CUPS
I have a dear friend, Paula Frosch, who, upon hearing that I was having trouble getting kidneys to test recipes with, provided me a supply of kidneys through a friend who is a farmer-cum-butcher in Massachusetts. They turned out to be pork kidneys, which I had never cooked. The flavor and texture are much the same as those of lamb kidneys, but different from veal kidneys.
The kidneys varied greatly in size, from small ones that obviously came from suckling pigs to larger ones that weighed a little more than an ounce each. I developed this recipe and the two recipes that follow using these large pork kidneys, but then adapted them all for lamb kidneys, which are easier to get.
I found that the easiest way to clean them was to quarter them lengthwise and then to proceed with scissors as in the general instructions opposite.
The idea of using kumquats did not leap into my mind full blown. Rather, I was walking through the market, idly wondering what to buy and use. I saw the kumquats and thought that their astringent acidity would be good with the kidneys, as well as colorful. Kidneys do not cook to a wonderful color. Even after cooking, the dish wasn’t beautiful; the kumquats darkened as they cooked and softened. I had some pomegranates and sprinkled the seeds on top. That did the trick, both visually and by adding a lovely fresh pop.
¼ cup safflower oil
About 9½ ounces lamb kidneys, cleaned and cut into 8 pieces, about 4 pieces per kidney
¼ pound whole kumquats (about 1 cup), plus a few extra for garnish
½ cup hard cider or regular cider
2 tablespoons potato starch
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 pomegranates, seeded
Heat the oil over high heat in a 10-inch sauté pan, until it shimmers. Add the kidney pieces and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Turn the pieces over and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the kumquats and cook for 40 seconds. Add the cider and bring to a boil.
Stir the potato starch into ¼ cup water. Stir some of the cooking liquid from the pan into the potato starch mixture. Add the mixture to the pan. Turn off the heat and let cook by retained heat until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle each portion with some of the pomegranate seeds. Put an uncooked kumquat in the center of each portion. Serve with rice or another starch.
SERVES 4 TO 6
I know, yuck. Even my fabulous editor, Ann Bramson, would not eat them, let alone the two Chilean women who work with me. I made them, coerced the people, and surprise, a miracle: they ate them eagerly after a gingerly first taste. Three kidneys make a serving; but if tentative, serve one or half of one as a first course. They would be attractive on a bed of watercress.
The rice bran used for the coating is the only exotic ingredient here, but it is well worth having on hand as it is one of the best and only cleaners of arteries and blood veins. When I first tried it as a health supplement, I hated it; but now that I have found its proper role in life, I will try it often instead of flour or bread crumbs for coating. It gives a lovely crunch.
The mayonnaise-mustard combination makes enough for four kidneys if feeling brave.
2 plump lamb kidneys (about ¼ pound each), halved and cleaned (see page 140)
⅓ cup mayonnaise (homemade, page 190, or store-bought)
¼ cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup rice bran
2 tablespoons olive oil
Place the cleaned kidney halves to one side. Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, and lemon juice. Put a layer of the rice bran in a flat soup bowl. Turn the kidney halves in the marinade until completely coated. Gently pick the halves up one by one and place on the rice bran. Allow to sit a few minutes. Gently turn them over. The point is to get a nice coating.
Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan large enough to hold the kidney halves in one layer. Heat the oil over high heat, then turn the heat down to medium. Gently lay the pieces of kidney in the hot oil and cook for 3 minutes. With a pancake spatula, turn them over and cook for 3 minutes more. Eat immediately.
SERVES 1 OR 2
This title may seem like an oxymoron; but it describes this dish. It is just important to know that your guests don’t have a repugnance to kidneys. It makes a good amount of luscious sauce, but I don’t thicken it. I prefer to offer spoons of polenta, quinoa, or grits to give guests tastes of the delicious sauce.
The only real work is cleaning the kidneys. The rest goes very quickly.
¼ pound sliced bacon, sliced across in ¼-inch strips
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds mild onions, cut into quarters and thinly sliced across
2 pounds lamb kidneys, cleaned (see page 140)
1 pound oyster mushrooms or other mild firm mushrooms, cut lengthwise into ½-inch-wide slices
½ cup apple cider
1 tablespoon horseradish
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Put the bacon slices in a heavy pan with a tablespoon of the olive oil. Sauté over medium heat until the bacon begins to give off its fat. Add the onions and kidneys. When the onions have softened, move to a separate dish.
Add the mushrooms to the same pan and sauté for about 3 minutes. Pour on the apple cider and the horseradish and stir for about 3 minutes. Add back the kidney mixture and stir until warm. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE, 6 AS A FIRST COURSE
These are seasonal not only because they are so good in the fall but also because this recipe adds lots of flavor. Like much of the world today, meat seems to arrive Cryovac-ed. Kidneys usually come two to a package, with each weighing about 1¼ pounds. In this recipe they lie in a lovely marinade for about an hour, not to tenderize them—they are already tender—but to add rich flavor. The marinade makes about ⅔ cup sauce. Serve with rice or with Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes (page 165).
5 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
2 ounces ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
¼ cup gluten-free soy sauce
5 drops toasted sesame oil
¼ cup mirin
2 veal kidneys (one 2½-pound package), cleaned (see page 140) and halved
Put all the ingredients except the kidneys in a blender and purée. Pour into a flat dish long enough to hold the flat kidney pieces. Put the four pieces of kidney in the dish with the marinade. Allow to sit for about 2 hours, turning from time to time.
Heat the oven to 500°F. Put the kidney pieces and marinade in a roasting pan. Cook for 25 minutes. Five minutes before the end of the cooking time, pour in 1 cup water, scraping the bottom of the pan.
Remove from the oven and thinly slice on the diagonal.
SERVES 8