Favorite Brains Recipe?

[Digital_is_the_new_Analog]

I have a few friends who are really into brains, and I’ve recently acquired a taste for them myself.

How do you like your brains? I usually do them with a little Worcestershire, but occasionally I go with a good Carolina BBQ sauce.

Am I missing any awesome recipes?
ETA: I found this recipe, but I haven’t tried it yet. Thoughts?

[Lancia]

Like most organ meats, brains are best fresh, as in just harvested. The frontal lobe sauteed is to die for. Of course, as with any meal that has organs as the main entree, the side dishes are critical. Fava beans work well, and I’ve always enjoyed a nice Chianti to round out the experience.

[Ike_Witt]

Sorry but fava beans and chianti go with liver not brains.

[sylmar]

I’ve tried them a few times, nothing to write home about. Mushy texture and bland to the point of banality, it takes some effort to make them passable.

Most techniques advise some sort of coating/breading to add a little texture and then finish with a rich sauce that has a little bite, like Browned Butter with a squeeze of lemon ( Beurre Noissette?).

[aruvqan]

I am not overly fond of them, but one recipe I have tried was a fairly old one.

You start by peeling off the membrane and removing any blood vessels and soaking it briefly in salt water. Slice into one inch thick slices and press gently for about half an hour between sheets of paper towel to firm it up and then poach in court bouillon. We had it with a sauce maltaise so the brains sort of soaked up that flavor so it wasn’t as dead bland. Sort of an animal tofu

I have also had it chopped and stirred into eggs in a fairly classic southern brains and eggs, but that really turned me off. It was made with the nasty canned pork brains. Blecch.

[Lukeinva]

Interestingly it seems that there are no recipes for brains on the food network site. However, Martha Stewart has a recipe for pickled brains, but it’s really just a halloween spoof as the “brains” are made with cauliflower.

Here is a real recipe for Majorcan Style Brains (cut & pasted from this site):

1 pound calves' brains

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 1/4 cups chicken stock

2 egg yolks

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

Remove skin and any nasty-looking pieces from calves' brains. Rinse in cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with flour and season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add seasoned brains and brown slightly all over. Add vinegar and stock, reduce heat to low and let all simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

Remove brains from skillet. Slice them and place slices in a 9x13 inch baking 

dish. Cook skillet juices rapidly to reduce. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Strain skillet liquid. In a small bowl beat egg yolks and mix will with the cream. Whisk mixture into skillet sauce. Pour sauce over brains and heat through in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Hope this helps

[even_sven]

Pig brain is good in Sichuan hot pot- very custardy and rich. Despite that, I can barely eat it as its squicks me out.

[Darryl_Lict]

I’ve mistakenly ordered a sesos (cow brains) burrito. It was actually pretty delicious. It’s got a boatload of cholesterol though. I haven’t ordered it since the mad cow disease scare because I really don’t want to die of that disease.