There's an elk tongue on my counter. What do I do with it???

[spughy]

Ok, I've had tongue, I think I remember liking it - but how do I cook it? I have a vague recollection of needing to boil it for hours maybe with some herbs and an onion???? And then peeling it? NONE of my recipe books, even the one on game, has a recipe for tongue. Pah. What is this world coming to?

(Oh, wait, a friend has a copy of Mrs. Beeton's... I'll go call her...)

I also have an elk heart, but I think the dog's going to get that because I don't recall liking heart. It was moose, not elk, but how much different could it be?

[peridot83]

The Basque make delicious pickled tongue. It's marinated then sliced very thin.

[Gale Force]

Someone should go through old threads and make a list of "you know you are on the TF forum when.." titles. This one would make it for sure.

We chopped up tongue once and added it to beans. Mexican dishes are made with beef tongue all the time -- "lengua" is the name for the meat. A search for "lengua recipes" might help.

[spughy]

Ok, so I boiled the tongue and it turned out very nice and tender, if a bit bland, but shredded and mixed with my duck-fat mayo, it was very nice on a green salad. There's lots though (elk are big suckers) so I cut it into pieces and stuck them in the freezer for lunches.

The heart is reluctantly in the pressure cooker, stuffed with bacon, mushrooms, onion and garlic, stewing away in a mixture of beer and reduced broth from the tongue. I'll let you know how it turns out. It was just too much quality meat to give to the dog, and I think I was in a pre-adolescent silly stage when I decided I didn't like heart, so I'll give it another go.

[steffanie3]

How was it?

[spughy]

Originally Posted by steffanie3

How was it?

Oof. Very, very rich. There is still a substantial portion left in the fridge. I couldn't eat much of it, it's so dense. But tasty, definitely tasty. I'd do it again if someone dumped another elk heart on my doorstep.

I'm going to post the recipes on my blog when I get a moment. Using the broth from the tongue was definitely a smart move - the sauce from the braising liquid was phenomenal.

I have to wonder though, what did people do pre-freezers when they slaughtered an animal? I had to use both the heart and the tongue right away because I'd thawed them and couldn't re-freeze; the thought of a heart, tongue, liver AND kidneys to deal with all at once frankly frightens me.

Oh, I guess that's where sausage comes from. Never mind.

You want to know the real ironic part? A few days before my friend dumped all these elk bits on me, I'd splurged and bought some at the butcher's. Ha ha ha. I am SO done with elk for now. All I want for dinner is chicken. I think the elk steaks and elk ribs are going to stay in the freezer for a good long while.

[quietserena]

Your original title just begged for jokes...

[hibana]

I am totally craving tongue now. : (How often do you hear that in reference to food, out in the "real world"?)

[spughy]

Originally Posted by quietserena

Your original title just begged for jokes...

Dirty ones, I hope.

[quietserena]

Originally Posted by spughy

Dirty ones, I hope.

Not that I'd admit to it in public..

[EcoRover]

tongue and heart: both very good

Elk tongue and heart are both very tasty.

I like to pickle the heart, but the tongue gets baked with a chokecherry glaze and sliced for special dinner guests.

See my recipes with pics at EcoRover.

[WuWei]

There's an elk tongue on my counter. What do I do with it???

I think I saw this thread on BabyCenter earlier this week. Not. :


Pat

[spughy]

Holy thread resurrection!!!

I don't know how many times I've wanted a nice chunk of tongue since then. And you don't want to hear scolding I gave my DH and my sister for leaving the tongue on the moose they shot this fall for the bloody wolves!!! Sigh.