In my last article we spoke all about the treatment of animals (in particular, turkeys and the “Bird Flu” epidemic). Lots of people contributed, including a lot of vegans - so it might seem a little strange that I’m following it up with a recipe for offal. I’m not trying to lose any of my new friends, I assure you!
Why are so many people put off by offal? If we all agree that animals should be treated with respect (whether or not we decide to eat meat), doesn’t it make sense that we should make the most use we possibly can out of them when they are dead? Wouldn’t it be disrespectful to kill a living animal to use only it’s prime cuts of meat?
The recipe for “Devilled Kidneys” dates back to Victorian times, although mine is not entirely true to the original mold. Sure, I’ve used kidneys, cream and mustard, but I’ve skipped the Worcestershire Sauce and Cayenne pepper, replacing them with red wine and paprika for a different taste.
This recipe serves 2, and makes for a delicious breakfast.
(Almost) Devilled Kidneys Recipe - Ingredients
- 2 Pigs Kidneys (Cut in half with all the core removed, then roughly diced)
- 1 Shallot (Finely Chopped)
- 75ml Double Cream
- 4 Slices Brown Toast
- 1 tsp Wholegrain Mustard
- Butter
- Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Paprika
- 1 Glass Red Wine
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
(Almost) Devilled Kidneys Recipe - Method
- Toast the bread, spread with butter and cut into triangles. Arrange in the middle of a plate on top of each other but facing alternative directions (4 slices each plate - we’re serving 2 people).
- Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the shallot for 3 minutes until softened but not browned
- Add the kidneys; cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Add the wine and reduce by 1/2 - this should take a couple of minutes at a reasonably high temperature.
- Lower the heat and add the paprika, mustard salt, pepper and cream. Stir well.
- Allow to simmer until sauce is thickened.
And to serve…
Pour devilled kidneys over the toast and eat while still hot. Enjoy!
Jeanne
Y
Lil
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)
peabody
Katie
Coffee and Vanilla
We Are Never Full
Kalyn
mycookinghut
February 8th, 2007 at 6:36 am
In Asia, pig kidney and a kind of noodle served in ginger/sesame oil broth are eaten during birthdays
February 8th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Yum.
Could you possibly scrounge up a method of cooking duck heart? It is my favorite thing on the menu at St John (the London offal-focused restaurant), and I’d love to be able to try it at home…
February 8th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
tigerfish: It seems other countries don’t have the same kind of stigma about eating offal as the English/Americans do? We must be becoming used to our meat coming in little sanitary packages (with a sanitary towel underneath!)
Jared: Certainly the only way I’ve ever cooked Duck Heart is when used as part of a stock. It would also work great as part of a pate/confit, or even just fried up in a chilli sauce. I’ll have a look into the way St John cooks it and see if I can come up with something suitable.
February 8th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Excellent! It’s (annoyingly) not in Fergus Henderson’s ‘Nose to Tail’ cookbook. It seems really simple - I think they grill them and then serve them with, well, something green and leafy.
It does, however, strike me as something that could be very easy to get terribly wrong!
February 8th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Hi Scott, thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving comments.
You might be surprised by it’s quite usual in Singapore/Malaysia/Hong King and many other Asian countries(I suspect). , kidney, intestines, cooked in various ways…and we EAT ALL OF THEM!
Reply - Quote
February 8th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Hi Scott! I enjoyed your ‘offal’ article..I wrote one myself last year about how I was trying to overcome my own taste phobias and I currently have some chicken livers and a pigs trotter in the freezer that I’m waiting to use! The devilled kidneys look really tasty!
February 8th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Scott, those kidneys look gorgeous. I firmly believe in eating the whole beast. However, I will want to know that the beast lived a good life, free of drugs, pasture-raised…which all goes back to your previous post. I imagine that you’re right when you say it has something to do with the way people purchase their meat.
February 8th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
tigerfish: I checked out your site - nice work - very interesting stuff!
Freya: I’ve never tried pigs trotter but would love to - I’ve seen it cooked on TV before.
Vanessa: Absolutely, and I think that’s the whole point. I think I can feel the subject matter for my next poll coming along…
February 9th, 2007 at 12:08 am
wow Scott, looks easy and you did not have any problems cleaning the odor of the kidneys ? Usually in chinese cuisine, there’s a few hassling steps like soaking it overnight with vinegar and salt before we cook in soups or stir-fry with liver. You made it so easy, that’s great
February 9th, 2007 at 12:44 am
Scott said: “It seems other countries don’t have the same kind of stigma about eating offal as the English/Americans do”
It’s very true Scott. Offal is preaty popular in Poland, especialy pig’s liver (that’s an info for benefit of your visitors, I guess you already know it thx to your wife
). Two most popular ways of cooking it is;
1. Make it same way as stew - just replace beef with liver.
2. Fry it with chopped onion. Season with salt & pepper - simple as that. Taste great with mashed potatoes.
@MeltingWok: I’m not sure about kidney, but liver has strong odor too. To get rid of it & make liver more juicy & tasty (never tryied it with kidney, but may work too
) soak it in milk for at least 2 - 3 hours (best when soaked overnight).
February 9th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
MeltingWok: Well, Kidney does have a very distinctive smell…I didn’t do anything to combat it, but I’m aware of a few methods. Voidan mentions an excellent one, below.
Voidan: My wife cooks and loves liver with onion and mashed potato. She says chicken (or any other poultry) liver is especially delicious!
February 9th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
I love offal, I do! i don’t understand why everyone else gets all funny about it but I’m glad there’s more for us. You should have seen my office-mate’s face when I came back from lunch and told him I’d had a ravioli of calves sweetbreads. He definitely wasn’t impressed. It was delicious though!
Kidneys are one of my favourite things to eat, especially in brandy with cream and mustard. I usually only find lamb kidneys so I mostly make those. I’ll get around to trying the pig version one day!
That reminds me… I havea liver recipe to write up.
February 9th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Ros: Glad to hear it - but I’ve still got a lot to try. I don’t consider it about the “challenge” or anything similar - rather, it’s all meat, so why don’t we just eat it?
February 9th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
I still don’t like eating offal, even though I sometimes cook it. But then when I was younger I couldn’t stand onions, mushrooms, tomato, blue cheese…. and I now enjoy all of them. So maybe it will come one of these days. My dad loves offal. Something to do with his Jewish upbringing I think. Mind you he eats liver and bacon, so maybe this is not the reason.
February 9th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Trig: It’s getting quite popular in the professional restaurant trade, isn’t it? Maybe you should sample a little of what you cook - I’m sure you’d just love it!
February 10th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Now here is something you don’t see on foodblogs often - kidneys! When I was a kid my mom made these and liver quite often, but I haven’t had them in about ten years. Well, that’s not true, because in Israel they serve roasted kidneys, livers and hearts on skewers - pretty tasty, though most of my travel companions were a little grossed out by it.
February 10th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Ari (Baking and Books): Now that sounds interesting - offal kebabs! I’m sure most offal wouldn’t object to the treatment, either. I’m still not quite sure what people see as gross about offal - since they eat the meat anyway. Social constructions, and all of that.
February 10th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
I’m a bit ambivalent about offal. I love liver of any kind but esp. foie fras. I’m okay with sweetbreads but can’t do brains or tongue. I don’t know about kidneys. I think it has a bit to do with what one grows up with.
I’m better than the rest of my family, though, who only eat chicken, turkey, beef and pork - and then only the ‘meat’.
February 11th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Katie: I’ve not tried everything, myself. I’m still yet to try brains - and I would, but they’d have to be served right. I love good food, so it would have to be presented as such. But there are some enthusiasts out there who’ll eat anything pretty much regardless of how it’s presented!
February 11th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
@Scott: I tried brains - it’s not, what my kind of tigers likes most… Taste is good, but its consistency is far too thin for me. It’s like some kind of jelly - not what I expect from meat. On the other hand my gandmother like it & cook it quite often.
@Katie: tongue is the best meat - it’s pure muscle. Only heart muscle work harder in animal (or human as well) body. It taste best served in horseradish sauce with mashed potatoes & carrots (cooked in water & served with some butter). It’s definatellyworth to try
February 12th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
I used to have somewhat of a phobia about offal, but the older I get the more relaxed my palate becomes (so to speak!). Even as a child I adored tongue though - and despite its looking, well, like a tongue, I was never put off by it when my mom made it with mustard sauce. Yum yum yum. Oxtial was also a firm favourite since I was a kid. Later, liver and bacon and chicken liver pate got me onto liver. Kidneys were something you seldom saw on menus in South Africa and never in our house, but I have learned to like them (although I usually prefer liver). I’ve never had heart so can’t express an opinion. I absolutely *adore* bone marrow and although I can’t remember the taste of brains (having only had them once) I have been told that the texture is similar. I have had dishes made from pig snout or trotters but I’m not sure if I would like to gnaw on a fully recognisable trotter or snout! Having said that, I have had fatty, crispy little sheep tails on the barbecue and loved them. Oh, and I LOVE black pudding an morcilla. I suspect that I would baulk at lung - not at all convinved of the spongy texture…
But let me be off - I have a chicken liver pate recipe to post!
February 12th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Voidan: I’d be more then willing to try tongue. Incidentally it would be just great with Polish horseradish (chrzan) which is totally different to the creamy English style.
Jeanne: Ox tail - great to mention it, because I’ve asked my butcher to get me some, and as such it will be on this site in the next couple of weeks!