Eat More Offals! A Guide
I’m a huge advocate for organ meat because it utilizes the whole animal AND provides economical, highly nutritious protein. Especially in our current climate where our supply chains are awry (more on that in my Stories), it's a good idea to learn how to integrate these cuts into your repertoire. Below are general suggestions on how to process common offals, but I encourage you to experiment. Feel free to DM me on Instagram (@chefjennydorsey) me if you have q's on cooking time/temp/flavor and I'll help you out.
Pig feet: stewed (3 hrs) or pressure cooked (90 min), then grilled/torched; also fantastic for making velvety broth
Pig ear: boiled (3 hrs) or pressure cooked (1 hr) then seasoned, breaded & fried; also 👍 as a cold appetizer
Pig kidney: my absolute favorite offal! Make sure to clean very carefully, then crosshatch and stir-fry; especially good with celery
Pig intestine: whole stewed (2-3 hrs) or pressure cooked (1 hr), then sliced and seared, stir-fried, grilled or deep fried
Pig heart: easier to clean than beef hearts; remove sinews, fat and silver skin then chop, marinate & sauté until medium-well
Pig/Beef/Lamb tendons: IMO best pressure cooked (1 hour) to harness its full, chewy-but-soft gelatin
Beef tripe (honeycomb is my favorite of the 4 stomachs): stewed (2 hours) or pressure cooked (45 min); superb in tomato/chili based braises
Beef heart: more work than pig hearts to trim all the valves; excellent as tartare, mixed into burger or sliced thinly & grilled
Beef tongue: poach (3-6 hrs) or pressure cook (1.5-2 hrs) or sous vide at 170F for 24 hrs, peel & shred/chop; or half-freeze, slice super thinly, marinate & grill
Veal sweetbread: my specialty! Blanch 1 minute, shock & peel, then sous vide at 140F for 1 hr, bread and fry
Chicken liver: poach (15 min), puree w/ aromatics for pâté (or puree & sous vide at 155F for 1.5 hours)
Chicken heart: soak in milk to remove the iron taste, then marinate & skewer for yakitori
Chicken feet: par boil & use for the BEST chicken stock; also great braised for dim sum
Chicken gizzard: I’m not in the crunchy camp, so I stew (4 hours) or sous vide (160F, 24 hours) until tender; bread & fry if desired
