Last night was an accomplishment, if for no other reason than that all the meats – absolutely all of them – would normally be coyote and magpie food. This year, in an effort to make as much use of the animal as possible, I took as much offal as I could. Yen and I got together to see what we could make of my new collection of variety meats – and the following was the result:
heart salad
flambé de rognons a la calvadocien [kidney]
liver and onions
tongue sandwich
southwest-meets-asia stewed tongue
grill finished braised rack of ribs
potato crusted pan roasted liver
This was pretty outside the box for me, and I had a few moments – firstly with the smell of cooking kidney – that was a little on the gross-out end. However. For the most part, by mid-way through each dish, I had gotten over my mental problem with what I was eating, and I found I actually enjoyed the dishes more than I thought I would. I think I expected more vile textures and stronger flavors. I felt by the end of the evening that this wasn’t really THAT adventurous a menu. So much to learn, so little time.
