My Offal Week :)

Curiosity piqued by this thread... I stumbled onto this. Figured I'd pass it along.

[url=http://www.seriouseats.com/the_nasty_bits/]Serious Eats: The Nasty Bits[/url]

I grew up eating a thick gelatinous gravy of goat's/cow's feet, a delicacy back in India. Every time I eat it nowadays, I distinctly feel an increase in energy levels, not to mention that it tastes so good. I get them from halal butchers, but also spotted them in Korean supermarkets.

[QUOTE=vb66;920185]How did you get over your liver aversion? I gag at beef liver but have managed to down chicken livers (doused in spices, coconut flour, and then fried). Any tips?[/QUOTE]

I find I like calves liver the best and then chicken liver. I am not exactly "over" my aversion, but can tolerate it now without gagging.

I soak the liver in apple cider vinegar for a few minutes, rinse, cut in to very small cubes and dredge in a curry spice mixture. I fry it in very hot ghee until it is crispy brown - but don't leave it in so long that it get too brown. Then I serve it tossed in a mixture of freshly chopped cilantro, lemon juice, and sea salt. I always eat it was big slices of jicama. The fresh taste of the jicama between bites of liver sort of resets my palate. I think the acidity of the lemon/cilantro mixture really helps.

Good luck :)

[QUOTE=Leida;919965]OMG, I absolutely love the idea of chicken hearts on skewers! That's one mean Valentine Day treat![/QUOTE]

What a funny idea! It would be pretty clever for valentines day. I made mine in an asian marinade with coconut aminos (instead of soy), rice vinegar, a little brandy, a pinch of brown sugar, fresh chopped garlic, and fresh ginger. I marinaded them over night and served them with hot sauce. All of them were gone!

[QUOTE=KerryK;920208]Regarding the chicken hearts, do y'all trim anything (like grisle or hard fat/veins) or are they go as is?[/QUOTE]

Nope. I rinse them in warm water, which allows some of the attached fat to detach from the heart (I eat CAFO chicken heart) which helps a little.

[QUOTE=lorichka6;920254]Curiosity piqued by this thread... I stumbled onto this. Figured I'd pass it along.

[url=http://www.seriouseats.com/the_nasty_bits/]Serious Eats: The Nasty Bits[/url][/QUOTE]

Wow - what a great resource! I'm bookmarking that for future reference. I had never heard of grilling beef tongue. Looks interesting.

[QUOTE=KerryK;920208]Regarding the chicken hearts, do y'all trim anything (like grisle or hard fat/veins) or are they go as is?[/QUOTE]

The recipe I have says to remove the fat and the veins. The chicken hearts I bought were already cleaned pretty well - a couple had a little fat I had to trim, but all the obvious veins were gone. I was happy because it seems like it would take a lot of time to clean all those hearts!

[QUOTE=jammies;920339]I find I like calves liver the best and then chicken liver. I am not exactly "over" my aversion, but can tolerate it now without gagging.

I soak the liver in apple cider vinegar for a few minutes, rinse, cut in to very small cubes and dredge in a curry spice mixture. I fry it in very hot ghee until it is crispy brown - but don't leave it in so long that it get too brown. Then I serve it tossed in a mixture of freshly chopped cilantro, lemon juice, and sea salt. I always eat it was big slices of jicama. The fresh taste of the jicama between bites of liver sort of resets my palate. I think the acidity of the lemon/cilantro mixture really helps.

Good luck :)[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I'm going to try this!

This is a great cookbook if you ever bought some offal with good intentions but then get it home and think, "What in the heck am I supposed to do with this?"

[url=http://www.amazon.com/Odd-Bits-Cook-Rest-Animal/dp/158008334X]Amazon.com: Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal (9781580083348): Jennifer McLagan, Leigh Beisch: Books[/url]

[QUOTE=sakura_girl;920083]You recently posted a thread about going to the Asian market and seeing offal, right? I suggest you look there for chicken hearts, because that's where I get all of mine :)[/QUOTE]

I just looked at the ethnic market (it's mostly Mexican) and all they had were chicken gizzards. I tried cooking and eating one of those and it was too tough. I suppose there's a trick to it but I don't know what it is. Then they had pork kidney but I'm afraid to try that because I read somewhere that sometimes it tastes like a bus station. They also had all kinds of pork bits--heart, feet, tails, tongues--but I guess I'm not ready for any of that (or in the mood for a large heart). So I bought fresh chilled chicken liver and pork belly at Whole Foods instead. I'll keep looking for chicken hearts. Someday I'll get lucky.