Monday, April 8, 2013

certainly the oddest kitchen chore ever

A few months ago, i placed my first order with US Wellness meats.  They have minimum order requirements, so on top of the "rather ordinary" sale items i thought i'd try out, i got something "whimsical" to meet the quota.  The other day i took it out of the freezer, and today J and i did the preliminary step of the preparation of ...

LAMB FRIES!!!  :-D

Following the instructions in the Kindle version of "Odd Bits" i bought last month, we just skinned two pairs of ovine testicles.  Yep -- the weirdest thing that has ever gone on in MY kitchen!  It wasn't too difficult, but it wasn't like peeling vegetables, either.  The first thing to make sure of is that you have a VERY sharp knife and plenty of patience.

They're now sitting in a bowl of brine, and tomorrow they'll be poached, sliced and fried, then served with a bacon-and-onion mixture.  I'll let you know how we rate them!

27 comments:

  1. "All about the culinary habits of the fine people of Georgia."

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaRzTZ12fTY

    ReplyDelete
  2. I eagerly await the food review. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. and we eagerly await the ... experiment. :-) i rather suspect it'll be kinda like sweetbreads.

      Delete
    2. I've had beef testicles. They just tasted like regular beef.

      Delete
    3. that's interesting! the author describes them as mild-tasting, but says that from older animals there's more flavor.

      Delete
  3. Never tryed it myself. Please, give us your feed-back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. if anyone in our circle had ever tried it, i would have guessed YOU might have -- you seem to have interesting ways to use several variety meats! i'll certainly report our opinions.

      Delete
    2. No, not me. I am sure even having testicles in my fridge will cause a nervous breakdown in my husband.

      Delete
    3. :-) i kinda thought my husband would refuse to help prepare OR eat them.

      Delete
  4. ok you got me here, why do they need to be skinned? I read about that for a beef tongue, but then got bored with it and just started eating it. Poor doggies, they wanted some.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you didn't share with your doggies??? ;-) ...i was wondering what would happen if one cooked them un-skinned, myself. the texture of the membrane is very different from the gland itself, though -- maybe it would contract and make the insides cook funny? if it would cause an explosion, i like to think the cookbook author would have warned us.

      Delete
    2. an explosion? Now that will be fun. Maybe Alton Brown can do that show.

      Delete
  5. Certainly different. I'm with the others here and await your feedback.

    Best Wishes Jan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. they're poached and waiting for the final step of the cooking. the ones my husband skinned firmed up to almost as good a shape as the ones from which i more carefully cut the filaments.

      Delete
  6. Jeez Tess you're making me cross my legs !

    Eddie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. lol -- unless you're a sheep, you don't have a thing to fear!

      Delete
    2. Hi Tess

      I have been accused of everything under the Sun but never been called a sheep, yet.

      Regards Eddie

      Delete
  7. wow! I don't think I'll be eating testicles anytime soon, but I think I'd eat testicles before brains...when the apocalypse happens I'm moving to your house Tess-

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i'd love it if you'd come visit before THAT!!! an apocalypse might interfere with the electricity, and if it were in the summer we'd both miss the A/C and we wouldn't be able to have ice cream....

      Delete
  8. O, no, I would eat beef brains before any organ meat, it is so delicious. Actually, I am looking forward to eating it in Russia when I visit my mom. The organ meat that I wouldn't eat is the cow's udder - really unpleasant aftertaste.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i haven't had brains ... yet. :-) how do you like them prepared?

      Delete
    2. The taste of brains is the same as of the spinal cord that goes through spinal bones, but differently shaped. I slice brains when they are half-frozen because it is easier and pan-fry after breading (I put thinly sliced almonds in a chopper and add very little potato starch to the mix to use for breading). Pig brains are available for sale in US (made by Armour company), but much less tasty. It is sold in one of our local so called "red necks" stores.

      Delete
  9. good lord...brains, testicles, udders, oh my! :)

    ReplyDelete