Actually cooking organ meats week after week
This recipe was adapted from Jennifer McLagan’s recipe in Odd Bits called Beginner’s Tripe. And it’s aptly named because it’s a winning dish. Tripe is tender grandma-food at it’s finest and this dish brings out all of the best properties of old-style cooking and well-prepared tripe! McLagan’s tender tomato-stewed Beginner’s Tripe reminded me of my own grandmother’s kitchen, despite never being served tripe there myself!…
Happy Thanksgiving! This year, be sure to include the giblets! I like to prepare the gravy right into the roasting pan itself. Along with the giblets, I mix in all the tasty browned bits and gelatin off the bottom of the pan. Turkey Pan-Gravy with Giblets is the perfect nutrient-dense sauce for your roast turkey and holiday sides!…
Tongue tacos are definitely a thing. Because tongue is a super fatty, meltingly tender meat. And it’s mild in flavor. And it could easily win over even with the skeptical consumer. But why be limited to the second half of the day? If Americans are enjoying cold cereals morning, noon and night – then I advocate we flip that and bring our favorite dinners to the breakfast table. Breakfast Tongue Tacos are a great way to start your day. Plus, it better aligns with the ‘savory, sour, fermented and tepid’ elements we see in breakfasts around the world. …
Brains and eggs are a great combination since they have similar textures. This version of Persian-styled Brain Frittata (or Kuku/Kookoo) feels like an improvement on simpler single-dish servings. I simplified a recipe I found by skipping the poaching and mixing raw brains directly into the raw eggs. Of course, every time I make kuku, it reminds me of a celebratory New Year’s dinner several years back. Brain Kuku has all the love and delight of that meal and will have a repeat performance in our home….
Cozy Chicken Heart Soup is perfect for boosting nutrient density as the weather cools. Our family seemed to be on the verge of getting sick this week and I have been focusing on cozy favorites like braised roasts, our favorite Pho, marrow, and simple soups. We started this week with this Chicken Liver Mousse, so I didn’t think we needed more liver, but was still focusing on nutrient-density as I scoured my freezer. I found one lone bag of chicken hearts and knew that now would be a good time to use it….
Tripe Pasta with Fennel, Anchovies, and Pine Nuts is the meat-based / low-inflammation version of an old favorite. My sister emailed me a version of this recipe in 2005. On the Standard American Diet (SAD) diet at the time, I promptly made it with pasta and it was a favorite. Alas, it was in remission for many years after adopting more of an ancestral diet, but I never forgot the flavors. This is the perfect comeback….
Even while many organ meats have strong flavors and unfamiliar textures, sweetbreads are white meat and easy to love. How to improve sweetbreads? Besides bacon or a lot of butter, seasoned ground pork will do. In this dish, we combine herbs, pistachios, aromatics – along with the meats – into a heavy cooking vessel. There is nothing complicated about Sweetbread Terrine, but it does take a few days and several fun steps to pull it all together….
The body doesn’t lie. When I started eating a whole-foods, nose-to-tail diet, changing from the standard American diet, my body quietly rejoiced. Inflammation went down, mental clarity went up. The list of specific improvements is almost too long to recite. Persistent cold sores went into remission, but they remain a reminder to this day of stress imbalances in my own life. The amino acid lysine can resolve these quickly; gelatinous skin and bone broths are great real-food sources. For me, Chicken Feet with Ginger and Honey is an old favorite that serves well in these situations….
Braised Sweetbreads with Mushrooms is classic French cooking. A modern cook might simplify and combine steps, but by attending to detail, flavors are perfected along the way and complement the simple sweetbreads. Alas, the mirepoix, bouquet garni, flavorful ham, and broth elevate this dish to rich comfort food. Braised Sweetbreads with Mushrooms are tender, succulent and flavorful. As usual, Mastering the Art of French Cooking does not disappoint. …
No doubt there are as many versions of Mondongo as there are families who make it. Along with the tripe, potatoes, carrots and oregano seem to be the foundation. As usual, many versions will supplement the broth with trotters or hooves or other bones (adding gelatin and minerals). After reading several versions, I adopted the spices and vegetables that worked for us….