Test your tastebuds on veal kidney and sweetbreads with black trumpets
Celebrated French chef Stéphane Reynaud grew up in a family of butchers, so it’s little surprise the man has spent the greater part of his life chomping through all manner of meat, from the traditional cuts to the edible innards. Offal, or organ meats, often cop a lot of flack but nose-to-tail advocates argue that using these less-popular parts of the animal is simply responsible eating. In Stéphane Reynaud’s Book of Tripe, the restaurant owner encourages home cooks to forget their prejudices, make mates of their local butcher and dare to cook beyond their comfort zone. This recipe for veal kidney and sweetbreads with black trumpet mushrooms serves five brave bellies.
INGREDIENTS
500 ml milk
1 litre water
1 tablespoon coarse salt
400 g veal ‘heart’ sweetbreads
1 veal kidney, trimmed of fat by the butcher
3 carrots, thickly sliced
40 g dried black trumpet mushrooms
100 g butter, chilled and chopped
2 French shallots, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons Cognac brandy
salt and pepper
TO MAKE
Combine the milk and water in a large saucepan. Add the salt and sweetbreads. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Refresh under cold water.
Remove the fine membrane from the sweetbreads, then devein and cut them into 4 cm cubes. Cut the kidney into similar size pieces and carefully devein.
To prepare the vegetables, cook the carrots in a saucepan of boiling water for 5 minutes, or until just tender. Drain. Meanwhile, place the mushrooms in a saucepan and cover with hot water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes to rehydrate.
Drain, reserving the cooking liquid. Return the cooking liquid to the pan and cook over a medium-high heat until reduced by a quarter.
Melt half of the butter with the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Sauté the shallots, then add the mushrooms. Stir in the carrots and sweetbreads, and finish with the pieces of kidney. Brown everything, then flambé with the Cognac.
Add the reduced mushroom juice and season with salt and pepper. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sweetbreads, kidneys and vegetables to a plate. Whisk the remaining cold butter into the cooking juices and serve immediately.
Recipe and images from Stéphane Reynaud’s Book of Tripe. Published by Murdoch Books. Photographed by Marie-Pierre Morel.
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