Sunday, July 31, 2011

Beef Tongue in a Crockpot

My sister, Merilee Sine, her husband, Glorn, and their children have been visiting and I wanted to serve them something memorable. Last year when they visited I cooked bbq duck, breaded and fried frog, bbq milkfish, eel, baked quail, and durian. They were so adventurous and fun that I had to do try something else. I didn't have as much time to do preparation, so I had to scale way back, but what I finally settled on was beef tongue, to go along with tacos made from fresh tortillas and salsa from Ranch Market. I have had beef tongue before, at Haejangchon Dolgooi, a Korean barbecue restaurant, and I had pork tongue as part of our whole pig dinner at Ford's Filling Station. I found a recipe for beef tongue tacos on allrecipes.com which required the tongue to be cooked in a crockpot overnight, or at least 8 hours. I enlisted Judy to cook the tongue in the crockpot, 
but we did not have a full 8 hours before we ate. The cow tongue is massive, 

the part you see being just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. 
It sort of looks like the nose on an elephant seal
We cut it into chunks and had it as one of the add-ons to our tacos. 
It was a little rubbery, but still good. Judy put a portion of the tongue back in the crockpot so that it could cook some more. After several more hours I put it in the fridge, then brought it out the next morning. We ate the visible portion of the tongue, removing the outer layer of skin, 
then cutting the tongue into thin wafers and re-heating them in the microwave. 
I liked it quite a bit better in thin slices and the Sines gamely each gave it a taste. Judy said she was up to trying it again, next time cooking it longer and infusing the broth with a little more oomph, perhaps some bullion. 

4 comments:

  1. I think this has definite potential. The texture is dense, like organ meat, but the flavor is more traditional, like roast beef. Let's try it again.

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  2. This is for you, Bob:
    http://beckstrombuzz.blogspot.com/2011/07/we-believe.html

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  3. Well, that is a new way to look at the gift of tongues. The term, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" may also have some application.

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  4. Have had cow tongue for a long time but do know it takes a long time to cook. Always added bullion and salt and onion to broth in final hour or so. Used to eat like a BLT (Beef lettuce Tomato)

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