Beef Tongue!

Before you say, YUCK, let me describe how I prepared this delicious dish and then  you decide. I had never cooked or even eaten tongue before so I was pretty excited. OK, some of the photos are pretty gross, but the end result was surprisingly good.

I did not realize that Beef Tongue is so large. This one was nearly 3 lbs. and a little over 12 inches.

Ingredients:
1 (3 lb.) Beef Tongue
1 large onion, sliced
6 garlic cloves, smashed
1 bay leaf (I used 2.)
1 whole star anise (Also added 2.)
1/2 tsp. black peppercorns
2 Tbsp. salt (Next time I would double amount of salt.)

This gives you a better idea of just how big this thing is!

Preparation:
I did quite a bit of research before beginning to prepare the tongue and somewhere read that soaking your tongue overnight in salt water is a good idea so that is what I did.

Rinse tongue well with cold water and place in a deep 6-8 qt. pot. Add cold water to cover by 3 inches, then add remaining tongue ingredients. (I added all the ingredients first and then placed the tongue on top.) Cover pot and bring to boil. Simmer, partially covered, until tongue is fork-tender, 3 to 3 1/2 hours. (The recipe called for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, but my tongue needed more time.)

Once tender, transfer tongue to a cutting board (reserve 1/2 cup liquid) and when cool enough to handle, peel off skin and trim any fat or gristle. (This part was pretty gross.)

Cooked, unpeeled.

Cooked, peeled. The skin is quite thick and leathery.

Skim off fat from cooking liquid (–there really was not much fat. My tongue was very lean.) and pour liquid through a paper-towel lined sieve into a large bowl, discarding solids. Keep tongue warm, covered.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 1/2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 cup heavy cream (I only had light and it worked well.)
2 Tbsp. whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. prepared Horseradish
1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp. dill, chopped
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Preparation:
Cook shallot in butter in 2 qt. saucepan over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until softened. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking for about a minute. Gradually whisk in reserved cooking liquid and cream, then bring to a boil while whisking. Simmer sauce, whisking, until slightly thickened; 2-3 minutes. Whisk in mustard, herbs, lemon juice, salt/pepper to taste.

Thinly slice across the tongue (not length-wise) and serve with the sauce. I served with Pickled Asparagus and a thinly sliced French Baguette. There was lots of leftover tongue, which I cut even finer–nearly shredded–and used for Lengua Tacos; very popular where I live on the Mexican border!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar (I used brown sugar.)
2 Tbsp. pickling spices
1 – 1 1/2 lbs. asparagus, rinsed, tough ends removed
Preparation:
In a wide 4-5 qt. pan combine: vinegar, salt, sugar, pickling spice, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add asparagus. Make sure asparagus is completely covered with water. If not, add more. Simmer, stirring occasionally until asparagus has faded to dull green and is tender-crisp-about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup ice cubes to stop cooking. Let stand at least 30 minutes (I let mine stand an hour so it would get a little more pickled.) Drain asparagus and either serve right away or store in a container in the fridge.