Question about organ meats from a pg mama!!

[Milkymommi]

Sooooo... I'm a reformed veggie and a handful of months deep into TF and LOVING IT!! I want and need to venture into organ meats. Right now I'm most concerned about just getting it into my body since I'm pregnant and I'm looking for the quickest, most effective way to git it done! I'm thinking about just cutting up a few little frozen pieces of chicken liver and swollowing it like a pill with water daily. I usually have 2 hanging around in my freezer waiting to become part of my weekly bone broth. Is this a good idea or simply rediculous? LOL 

I'd like to try my hand at a pate or something similar but I don't have a food processor anymore. It died.

What do ya think?

[cocobean]

I would have suggested pate but that's out! I would totally suggest buying a new food processor just for this reason.  I made a big batch of pate and split it into 3 portions and froze two.  I had never really liked liver before this(hadn't really given it a chance).  The first portion I struggled to eat.  But, I just tried to have a little every day and now I love it!  It is also such an easy lunch for DS and I.  He really likes it.  It's so good! 

Also beef liver and onions is delicious.  You do use a little bit of unbleached white flour but it's not much so I don't stress.  If you do eat it this way don't chew it to much.  After a little while it gets a little wierd tasting. 

Have you thought about grinding heart and adding a little bit to meals you make with ground beef? 

I have not tried this, but I do hear that beef tongue is really good.  A friend of mine tells me it taste just like a really tender roast.  I can't say that I am brave enough to try this.  Don't know if I ever will! 

[Milkymommi]

Yeah... def going to be in the market for a new processor for sure. I actually read about adding heart to ground beef. I wish I had read this earlier since there is one sitting in my freezer and we had ground beef tonight!! Next time. LOL Beef liver and onions looks so tempting and it's on the list of must try things. I actually have had it once in my life as a child and I remember it smelling great and tasting odd. My mother and grandparents were super into it. I'm just over here WILLING myself to love this stuff! I know from what I'm learning that it will be so beneficial for me to find a way to get liver in at least once a week... trying to come up with the best game plan is the trick. Thanks mama! I'll have to get your advise on the pate recipe when I manifest a new processor.

[cristeen]

Love me some beef tongue.  In fact, I'm sitting here eating a big bowl of it as I type this. 

Beef tongue really does taste just like any other beef cut - a bit milder, actually, but it doesn't have it's own flavor like kidney or liver.  Tongue is all about texture.  Some people like their tongue to be really, really tender, to the point it's almost melting.  I do not like it that soft - it reminds me of eating a sponge.  I like it to be firmer, so it actually gives me something to bite into, while being tender enough that you're not going to wear out your jaw.  Beef tongue has to be boiled/simmered (I suppose you might be able to braise it, but that'd be messy).  I drop the tongue into a pot of water (enough to cover) with half an onion, a few peppercorns and a bay leaf.  Cover, bring to a boil, simmer for 2 hours.  No more.  By the time you get to 3 hours it's mushy.  Remove from the water and pop in the refrigerator for a couple hours until it's cold.  Now, this is the part that the squeamish will have trouble with - you have to peel the skin off of it once it's cooled down.  If it's properly cooked, the skin will come off fairly easily - you might need a knife in a few places.  If it's undercooked, that skin won't want to come off at all.  Once skinned, I either cube it (3/4 inch) or slice it (1/4 inch), and brown it in a cast iron skillet with plenty of fat (CO).  I like to steam a pot of potatoes, cube them and toss them into the pan with the tongue, give them both a really solid brown crust - the kind that gives you crunch.  Serve it in a bowl with sour cream and hot sauce or I like cilantro mayo with it.  Or you can spoon it into a tortilla and have tongue tacos. 

[Bantams]

Definitely try chicken liver pate!    It's worth buying a new food processor for.  But I've also used an immersion/stick blender with the chopper attachment.  They're pretty affordable. 

I use Julie Child's recipe, modified a little:

Ingredients

• 1 lb. or about 2 cups chicken livers
• 3 T minced shallots or sweet onion
• 2 Tb butter
• 1/3 cup Madeira or brandy
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• ½ tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• Pinch of thyme
• ½ cup (4 ounces) soft butter
• Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions

Look the livers over and remove any greenish or blackish spots. Cut the livers into ½-inch pieces.

Sauté the livers in hot butter for 2 to 3 minutes, until the livers are just stiffened, but still fairly rosy inside. Scrape into the blender jar.  Cook the onion/shallot over low heat until soft, then pour the wine or brandy into the sauté pan and boil it down rapidly until it has reduced to 3 tablespoons. Scrape it into the blender jar.

Add the cream and seasonings to the blender jar. Cover and blend at top speed for several seconds until the liver is a smooth paste.

Then add the soft butter and blend several seconds more.

Force the mixture through the sieve and taste carefully for seasoning.  I usually add more salt, pepper and allspice.

Pack into the bowl or jar, cover with waxed paper, and chill for 2 to 3 hours.

You can cook heart just like beef stew meat - it is a muscle after all.  Sear slices of it, then add onions, garlic, red wine, broth/stock, and seasonings.  Cook on low heat for several hours until it's almost tender, then add potatoes, carrots, etc, and finish cooking.

And tongue tacos are fantastic!  Kidneys are pretty good when properly prepared, but I've only had them cooked by someone else.  They were from a pig we had slaughtered hours earlier - and they were grilled with garlic and rosemary.  Just slice it thinly before serving.

Kelsey

[Smokering]

I totally read that thread title the wrong way. I was like "Dude, that's hardcore"...

[Milkymommi]

Baaaaaah hahahahahha LMAO!!!!!!! That's fantastic. omg