Beef Tongue Tacos

It's a funny thing about beef tongue - it really looks like tongue, complete with taste buds. It is also very large, again not terribly surprising but still a lot to wrap your head around. As Mr. said, "You know that a year ago we were vegetarians and now you have a beef tongue in the sink." Of course I used the innocent brown eyes tinged with a bit of indignation, of course I have a beef tongue in the sink! Of course I'm going to eat it! Of course it freaks me out because it kind of feels like pinching my own tongue in a very over-sized sort of way but I was determined to do it. As much as my hubby loves me and no matter how adventurous he may be, Mr. made himself a vegetarian taco that night.

This hasn't been the greatest lead up to dinner. What you may not know is that beef tongue is incredibly tender with a very subtle beef flavour that easily soaks up flavour. For the quantity of meat you can get out of the tongue it is very economical. I know a lot of people use the meat in sandwiches and I can see why, the tender slices are a nitrate-free, natural alternative to lunch meat. To be honest, the reason I made tacos was to disguise some of the more "tongue-like" features and I would highly suggest it. There is a reason why mothers never tell their kids what it is until after it has been eaten, it's tasty but can give you a bit of a shaky knee reaction.

I am still torn about the experience. I enjoyed preparing and eating this dish. It was undeniably delicious and to think that such a large portion of meat was not carelessly thrown away is reassuring when so many people are quick to throw away, particularly in light of the offal movement. I gave up being a vegetarian because of something a friend said to Mr. and I: "You're proud of your vegetarian for ethical reasons but is it environmentally friendly? You got your protein from imported almonds or whatever but it's not from here. My meat from down the hall from a fellow farmer. I traded him vegetables for it." We were standing in the farmer's market when we ran into Ted, the lanky farmer from whom we bought our vegetables and he made a valid point. We meekly stated that our tofu was local but was it enough? As much as we enjoyed our vegetarianism in some respects we had an uneasy relationship with it. So much was imported, shipped in from dots on the map. We slowly started incorporating meat from local producers, people we knew and had worked alongside at the market. We knew the farmers, their ethics and views on how to properly raise animals without the use of antibiotics, growth hormones and anything funky. I do not fault anyone for being a vegetarian, how could I? I do believe that we need to think about where our food comes from and what we do with it, eat natural foods in their whole state (despite my ravenous sweet tooth) and just start thinking about our impact on the world.

A note: We have a policy of full-disclosure with our children (kidded down of course), so after pretending to lick Miss N's face with the cooked beef tongue and explaining what it was, the kids still ate it. In fact, Bubs had seconds.

The Recipe

one beef tongue

one onion, diced

250 mL red wine

2 overly ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced

cumin

salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil the beef tongue in water for about 3 hours.*

2. Once you are able to handle it, you will have to peel the skin off of it. I made an incision down the centre of tongue then using a paring knife peel it kind of like a apple. The skin will peel off fairly easily but it does take some encouraging. Reserve.

3. Heat olive oil on medium heat until it slips easily across the bottom of a high-sided frying pan. Add the onion, cook until translucent.

4. Dice the tongue and add to the pan. Lightly sear and add the wine. Keep the temperature high for just a few minutes to burn off the alcohol.

5. Add the tomatoes, garlic, cover and allow to reduce on low heat.

6. Add the cumin, salt and pepper. All of this is to taste.

7. Serve with ribbons of spinach (instead of iceberg lettuce!), diced tomatoes, grated cheese and any other favourite taco toppings. Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday: Gertrude's Plates

A treasured find in Dad's apartment: His mother's beloved blue plates.

Carrot Soup

This past month has been a very long month, both physically and emotionally draining and in the midst of it all I could not even think of blogging. We did, however, eat and this warm and creamy carrot soup was one of the many dishes of comfort my family ate to feel a little more centred. There is a hint of spice, an underlying sweetness and the heartiness of carrots buoyed by red wine. Crumbles of chevre on top melt into the creaminess of the soup and add a great punch of tang against the subtle backdrop of the soup. This soup will warm you.

The Soup

1 onion, diced

5 medium sized carrots, peeled and diced

250 ml dry red wine

2 healthy spoonfuls of plain yogurt (goat is best for tang!)

500 ml water

S & P to taste*

chevre

olive oil

*I ran out of stock so had to use straight water - to compensate I had to add a lot more salt than usual. If using stock, obviously you won't need to freak out your family with the amount of salt you're adding.

1. In a medium sized pot heat bout a tablespoon of olive oil until it slips easily across the bottom. Add the onion and lower heat to medium low. Cook until translucent and the liquid releases then cook a little longer.

2. Add the carrots. Allow a little browning on the edges of the carrots- that's flavour! I cut mine into medallions which was kind of a pain when it came time to blend it. I highly suggest dicing the carrots.

3. Raise the temperature to medium-high and add the wine to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Leave the wine and carrots to mingle a bit before adding the water. Cover and boil until the carrots are fork tender.

4. Remove from heat. I used an immersion blender to purée the whole thing. Feel free to use a stand blender but be very careful.

5. Once smooth, swirl in the yogurt. Don't forget to add the salt and pepper! Taste test!

6. Serve with toasted wedges and crumbles of chevre. Enjoy.

Wordless Wednesday: The Great Pumpkin Search

In a pumpkin patch, one must always dress well and consider the options.

Broccoli and Toasted Lentils

I am always struck by the self-discipline it takes for people to develop or even join a movement of weekly posts and actually stick to it. I am so frazzled with our lives to the point that I always think, why the hell am I stressed out and then I start listing the reasons in my head just so that I will feel justified in having a cup of tea and watching copious amounts of crime drama instead of cleaning the kitchen. Imagine my delight when last night I discovered this tweet by Emily about a new post at her blog well fed, flat broke and I thought: I like broccoli. I like tofu. Holy crap, I also like peanuts! And tonight's dinner was nurtured in my head at 2:00 in the morning.

Turns out, we didn't have tofu or peanuts, or any of the spices Emily used; instead, I just opted to run with whatever we had in the fridge and pantry and this dish was born. This is inspiration, you see an image, a smell comes to you as you walk through your neighbourhood or you realize your favourite vegetable is in season a few weeks earlier than expected. Last week we received a full head of broccoli in our CSA from the Hutten Farm and it was a lush, deep green that begged for a great dish for it to flourish. The toasted almonds combined with the toasted lentils add warmth to the dish, completely contrasted by the subtle lemon from the cooking process. Served on a bed of brown rice, this is a full meal in only two dishes and within 30 minutes. I am guessing at the time because I was making stout brownies at the same time and for about 15 minutes everything got a little jumbled before the brownies made their way into the oven.

It may seem like there are a lot of steps associated with the broccoli and toasted lentils but it's mostly because you will be adding different things in stages to preserve their texture and flavour. There is nothing worse than overcooked vegetables and a sure way to achieve mush is to add everything at once.

The Rice

brown rice

water

pinch of salt

Note: Don't freak out. There is a reason for my lack of measurements.

1. Layer rice in the bottom of your pot - remember, brown rice seriously fluffs up. I generally cover the bottom with an inch of rice.

2. Add water, cover the rice, shake the pot to settle the rice and add another inch of water above the rice.

3. Cover and bring to a boil then turn it down to low. Cook until the water disappears and there are holes down through the bed of rice. It should take about 35-40 minutes.

Broccoli and Lentils

handful of slivered almonds

one onion, diced

one apple, chopped

1/4 cup blue lentils - these hold their shape

the florets of one head of broccoli

cupped handful of chopped yellow beans

2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

red curry paste*

S&P to taste

1. In a heated pan, gently toast your almonds. This should take about 3-5 minutes and the almonds should turn to a golden brown, almost the same colour as light brown sugar. Set aside.

2. Toast your lentils and if you are like me, forget about them for a solid 7-8 minutes then hurriedly toss in 3 tbsp of lemon juice and enough water to lightly cover them. They should not be submerged. Cook for 15 minutes. Reserve.

3. Heat olive oil. Add the diced onion and cook on medium-low until the onion is translucent. Add the apples and about 3 teaspoons of lemon juice to break down the apples. Cover.

4. Add the broccoli and yellow beans. Lightly saute until the colour in both vegetables becomes vibrant. Add the lentils.

5. At this point, add the red curry. Use your judgment. I used the opposite end of my wooden spoon to take out just a hint and then mixed it in, I did this about 5 times. Children were eating the dish so it couldn't be spicy but know that red curry offers more warmth than a punch you in the mouth heat.

6. Add those beautifully toasted almonds and season to taste.

Kale, Pork and Spaetzle, oh my!

What does it mean to eat healthy? We think it's important to offer our children and our selves healthy options, to fill our plates with whole grains, fresh vegetables and carefully selected portions of lean meat. You may visit the farmer's market or your local grocer and fill your cloth bag with a bounty of delicious fruits and vegetables. Your children can sniff those vegetables, smile shyly at the farmer and help you cook of all that into wondrous meals that you all eat and enjoy. Or so you think. It does not matter how healthy you strive to be or portend to be if there are little people (or even you) in your house who push the vegetables away to get to the noodles. It seems like a simple equation, doesn't it? Sometimes it isn't. Sometimes you will be told by a very apologetic doctor that your son, the one with pneumonia who has been sick for two weeks and barely eating that his iron is low and he will need a supplement. The doctor will be kind and gentle as he asks you questions about your sick child's diet and though he is satisfied that the problem is that the little guy's iron is low precisely because he's beens so sick; there will be nagging doubts that you didn't and have not been feeding your child properly. It just may send you into a tailspin of doubt about all that food you prepare. All those hours in farmer's markets and in the kitchen will seem as if for nothing.

As a family we went home and regrouped, which means to return to the kitchen, our dining room table and the market. Bubs and Miss N went back to running around the farmer's market on Saturday morning and sneaking plums and tomatoes out of baskets as I talked to Ted at the Hutten farm table so that I would be cajoled into buying them the pilfered goods. It was also opportune to have our rainbow kit from Kia at Today I Ate a Rainbow! as it gives us a chance to actually measure those green vegetables Bubs has apparently been feeding to the cat. It is also important to also eat food that is delicious, familiar and in the case of this aromatic soup, a healthy emulation of a not so healthy dish. The soup, though basic is flavourful and filling because of the large amount of kale which is why you only need a small amount of pork for each bowl.

The pork for this recipe came from a cheap cut but that does not mean it lacks in quality or protein and there are a lot of things you can do with those cheap cuts of meat - talk to your butcher or farmer at the local market, they really can help you. The kale came out of our CSA, making it local and no-spray and as with any leafy green vegetable, wash it well lest you end up with a gritty dish! I gave up using powdered stock a while ago because those things are filled with sodium and monosodium glutamate, otherwise known as MSG and I'm just not comfortable feeding that to my kids, if that is what you have on hand, I promise not to shun you. We do a fair amount of stovetop sears for our meat and then finish in the oven so it's imperative to have at least one pan with a snug fitting lid with a handle that won't melt all over the bottom of the oven.

Quick note: this is obviously not a vegetarian recipe but if you were to swap out the chicken stock for vegetable stock and use tofu (in the same spices) and you are golden for your veggie friends!

The Soup

Total cooking time: 30 minutes

3 cups/750 mL chicken stock

2 cups/500 mL hot water

2 onions, coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 apple, finely chopped

bunch of kale, cut into ribbons

handful of spaetzle

olive oil

1. In a large pot heat olive oil until it easily slips across the bottom of the pot when tilted, at this point add the onion. At this point you could sip on a glass of wine and chat with your significant other while the onions slowly caramelize at a low setting or you could speed things up at medium heat because the kids are hungry and circling.

2. Add the garlic and apple and stir to mix, heat for a 3-4 minutes. At this point add the kale and stir around to gently wilt.

3. Add the hot water and stock - to save time it's important that your liquid is hot as opposed to using cold where you would have to wait for the entire thing to heat up.

4. Once the whole pot is simmering away, add your spaetzle. I used only a small amount because the soup is already hearty due to the kale. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Season to taste with salt and cracked pepper.

The Pork

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 tbsp. sesame oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp. 5 spice

3 tbsp. coarse salt

pork back rib tips

1. Mix together first seven ingredients and poor over the pork rib tips, store in the fridge to marinate. This was Mr.'s part of the meal - he marinated for a couple of hours but ideally you could whip this together in the morning and leave throughout the day to stew in deliciousness.

2. When ready to cook, heat a pan on medium high heat with a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan. Sear the pork - should take about 3 minutes.

3. Pour the liquid into the pan and cover so that you can finish in the oven at 350º for 30 minutes.

4. Slice thinly and top the soup.

Photo Friday: Apple Picking in the Annapolis Valley