How much to allow :
Liver
Allow 120g / 4oz raw per portion
Kidneys
Ox - Allow 120g / 4oz raw per portion
Calves' - 1 kidney will serve 1-2 portions
Lambs' - Allow 2 kidneys per portion
Pigs' - Allow 1-2 depending on size
Hearts
Ox - A whole one will serve 4-6 portions
Calves' - one will serve two portions
Lambs' - Allow one per portion
Sweetbreads
Allow about 120g / 4oz or one pair per portion
Tripe
Allow 100-175g / 4-6oz raw per portion
Brains
Allow 1-2 sets per portion
Tongue
Ox - Weighs about 1.8kg / 4lb so will serve about 8 hot, or more if served
cold
Calves' - Weighs about 450-900g / 1-2lb each so will serve 3-4 portions
Lambs' - Allow one per portion
Oxtail
1 oxtail will serve 4-5 portions
Liver
There are several types of liver available; all are excellent
value but vary in flavour and texture. Whatever type it is, it should
be smooth and glossy. Wash it and remove any loose pieces of skin and
veins. Take care not to overcook liver, as it becomes hard and
uninteresting.
Ox Liver
This is fairly cheap but has a strong flavour and can be tough.
The texture is quite coarse, so it is best to use it in a casserole,
rather than for grilling, broiling or frying.
Calves Liver
This is the best and most expensive liver, but is not always
readily available. It is very tender and delicately flavoured, and is best
lightly fried, grilled or broiled with extra butter to prevent it drying.
If overcooked, it will become tough and flavorless.
Pigs Liver
Cheaper than lambs' liver, it has a very pronounced flavour
and rather soft texture, disliked by some. It can be fried, grilled
or broiled and is very good used in casseroles. It is the best liver,
( along with chicken livers ), to use for making pates and terrines. Some
of the strong flavour can be removed by soaking the liver in milk for an
hour before cooking.
Lambs Liver
Cheaper than calves' liver and with a stronger flavour but not
nearly as strong as pigs' liver. Probably the most popular and most
versatile type of liver. Fry, grill, broil or add to casseroles and
stews.
Kidneys
With any type of kidney, remove the skin and core before cooking -
a pair of kitchen scissors is best to use for this task. Kidneys can
be grilled, broiled or fried, as well as using for casseroles and pan fries.
They can also be blended with beef and other meats for casseroles,
puddings and pies.
Ox Kidney
The cheapest and obviously largest of the kidneys. It
has a fairly strong flavour and needs slow gentle cooking to make it tender.
The kidney is made up of many joined lobes, and a whole one weighs
about 675g / 11/2lb.
Calves Kidney
Much the same as ox kidney but of coarse smaller and more tender,
but used in the same way.
Lambs Kidneys
These are usually the best and most popular of all the kidneys.
They are small and well flavoured without being strong or overbearing,
and are tender enough to grill, broil, or fry whole, halved, or cut into
pieces. Do remove the thin outer skin and the core before cooking,
and take care not to overcook as they will become hard.
Pigs Kidneys
These are a little larger than lambs' and rather more elongated.
They are also stronger in flavour and can be cooked as for lambs',
but are usually halved or cut into smaller pieces. Also good to add
to casseroles.
Sweetbreads
These must be bought when they are very fresh and should be used at
once.
Calves' sweetbreads are the best apart from lambs', which are the most expensive
and usually even better. Allow one pair per portion and keep them as
white as possible by soaking them for at least 4 hours in cold water, which
should be changed several times, then put into cold salted water and brought
to the boil. Remove the veins and skin, place the blanched sweetbreads
between two plates to flatten them and allow to cool. To cook, either
coat in egg and breadcrumbs and shallow fry in butter, or cook in sauce.
Tripe
This comes from the stomach lining of an ox. It is a light
easily-digested meat, but it must be prepared carefully. There are
two types - ordinary or blanket and 'honey-comb' - and they come from the
first and second stomach respectively. Tripe is usually sold 'dressed'
or cleaned and par-boiled, but it requires further cooking. Tripe is
often served in a white onion sauce but can also be dipped in egg and breadcrumbs
and deep or shallow fried, or be simmered in a spicy tomato and garlic sauce.
It is not the flavour of which people are wary, but more the texture,
which almost melts in the mouth.
Hearts
Hearts used to be very popular as a tasty stew or casserole, but their
popularity has dwindled somewhat. However, it is an economical meat
with no fat, although being a strong muscle itself, it does require long
slow cooking to tenderize it. The gravy it makes has a marvellous flavour
and is full of nutrients.
Wash thoroughly and remove all the tubes and arteries.
Ox Heart
Is the largest and toughest, so should be cut into strips or
cubes and casseroled slowly. It can also be parboiled and then stuffed
and pot roasted with plenty of good flavouring vegetables and stock. A
whole heart will weigh from 1.5-2kg -
3-41/2lb.
Calves Heart
Smaller and therefore more tender than the ox heart, but they
still need slow cooking for preference, such as pot roasting or braising,
although they can also be stuffed and roasted, preferably under a lid of
foil.
Lambs' Heart
These are the smallest and most tender of all the hearts with
a very pleasant flavour. They are usually stuffed and roasted, pot
roasted or braised.
Brains
These must be bought when really fresh and used as soon as possible
after purchase. Often a butcher will ask a customer to order brains
when they are required for they will not keep, and it is up to him to make
sure he only sells them when they are very fresh. Calves' are the best
and are usually poached and served with a delicately flavoured sauce.
Lambs' can be cooked as calves' but are more often casseroled.
Calves brains should be soaked in cold water for 15 minutes, before
being put into a pan of cold water and brought to the boil. Remove
and take off the membrane before continuing. Allow
1-11/2 sets of brains per portion.
Tongue
When buying a tongue make sure that the skin is smooth, for the tongue
becomes rough as it ages. Salted and smoked tongues are available,
as well as fresh, ( though they may need to be ordered in advance ), and
they are best soaked in cold water overnight before cooking. Salted
and smoked tongues require only about half the cooking time of fresh ones.
Ox tongue has the best flavour and texture and can be boiled or braised
to serve hot or cold. Calves or lambs tongues are much smaller and
are usually sold fresh. They are usually poached or braised and more
often served hot.
The small tongues, once cooked, can be skinned, if preffered, and then returned
to the casserole before serving.
OxTail
This has a high proportion of bone and is usually rather fatty, but
it is an inexpensive meat with an excellent flavour, and with slow cooking
becomes very tender and ideal for rich hearty stews and soups.
It should look fresh when bought, with good red flesh and creamy white
fat, and the butcher will cut it ( if it isn't already cut ) into thick slices
ready for use.
It is a good idea to make an oxtail dish the day before required and allow
it to chill, so the layer of fat can be easily removed before it is re-heated
for serving.