Following on from my Fourth experiment....in preparation for buying my own beast...I am sourcing organs and other parts of the beast that are not as well known or commonly eaten.......
I have prepared the Heart & Liver by soaking in salted water with a dash of vinegar....I repeated the soaking overnight...and drained the diced meats this morning. I'm sure others who know this meat, could tell me I am doing it all wrong, but I do want to remove as much of the mineral taste as I can. I'm not sure how I am going to cope with this flavour......But here goes.........................
First I sautéed the onions until clear, then add the bacon
when slightly cooked add both to a bowl and stand aside
Fry off the sliced mushrooms
and add to the bowl of onion and bacon
Then toss the cubed meat into seasoned herbed flour
Sift the floured meat...do this in batches
Then shallow fry the cubed meat until cooked through...
do this in batches too, as too much in the frypan will destroy the oil.
When all the meat has been fried,
add the cooked mushroom, onion and bacon
back into the pan and mix thoroughly.......
Then add enough boiling water to make the gravy
and cook for 10 minutes to cook the flour taste out.
Serve with mashed potato made from boiled spuds
and home-made yoghurt with a dash of salt to taste.
After the fuss one older son made over the tongue , tripe and tail.....I just didn't have the nerve to tell them what they were eating....both hubby and mum knew what they were being served tonight for tea.....but I just served the boys "Braised Steak and Onions with Bacon"....I'm sure other people have done this with their children...I know it happens even with vegetables.......I'm not sure I feel good about the deceit, but there is no way in the world that I think they would have tasted it; had I told them beforehand.
While tasting this as I was cooking it, I was rather shocked that I liked the taste....of both meats....Yep! I liked it....but in larger amounts, it turned out to be a bit strong.....
*I did it though! I tried it! Unfortunately I could only eat 3/4 of my meal....
*Hubby enjoyed it and finished his plate....
*Mum said she was used to having liver cooked on its own, and that it was probably the liver that made the meal taste strong, she only finished half her meal.
*DS16 licked his plate clean, but he also loved the tongue and knew it was tongue before tasting it.
*DS19 came in and asked me a hoard of questions...."What meat it was that?"......"Where's the tongue, Mum?",..."It better not be in my stomach"....."It had a weird taste, I think you did something", .."You're hiding something, I just know it"............
All I could bring myself to tell him, was that it was steak, but a bit bloody :(
Conclusion: Preparing this meat was fine....I didn't wear gloves, as handling bloody meat doesn't bother me. I have grown up baiting crayfish and yabby nets....and as kids, we had to clean whatever we caught, trapped or shot.....
I did notice that there was an amazing silence while eating dinner tonight....I don't know if it was my imagination, or it really was there, but no-one was speaking tonight....None of the usual chatter!.....For now I have no more 'meats' in the house and are not going out of my way to look for more....I think the house needs a break from the suspicion of what is brewing in the house.....
When I order our beast....I will keep the heart and liver, but I will prepare it separately next time...I think I would enjoy the flavour of the heart on it's own without the minerally taste of the liver.....so yes! I am willing to eat it again.....and maybe next time I will be more honest with certain DS's.
Would you try serving this to your family?
