I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this past weekend. I picked up lamb hearts and lamb kidneys. So now I’d like to ask for your help, my culinary friends.
I have been cooking kidneys for years. The simple recipe in summation is boil the piss outta them. That is: chop into small pieces, boil, rinse, repeat until they stop stinking, add some fresh water, corn starch, and parsley and heat until thickened then server over toast.
So, first, any other favorites for kidneys?
And any help at all for lamb hearts? The heart is my favorite part of the chicken, so I thought maybe lamb hearts will be like chicken hearts but more so. Chicken hearts get tossed in seasoned flour and fried like chicken. I have a feeling that would make the lamb hearts way too tough. So, suggestions?
cut heart into 1 inch dice, soak in cold salt water for a couple hours to remove blood. Trim off any tendon and blood vessels.
Put into a small coverable casserole, add chopped onion and as many cloves of garlic you want split in half [makes it milder than minced or crushed] and italian herbs to taste. Cover with red wine, cover casserole and bake gently for about 4 hours at 250-300 degrees fahrenheit. Serve over noodles.
Lamb kidney- I have to say I do very little to them other than taking the fat and membrane off them. I cut them in half (like a book or butterfly) take out the collecting ducts in the pelvis (the tubes), given them a little rinse, toss in seasoned flour, fry some garlic and onions until soft and slightly coloured, and then either fry or grill (broil) the kidneys until just cooked. Serve them with fried onions and garlic, crusty bread and parsley to garnish.
I will freely admit that my husband won’t eat offal no matter how I cook it- but this is a quick, cheap treat I make for myself.
Steak and kidney pudding or pie would be another option.
Remove anything white or vessel-y looking from the heart, making sure obviously that it’s not still in its little sac, and thoroughly washing out any clots remaining within. Either cut it into pieces or don’t, it doesn’t matter. Fry onions, carrots and celery (and whatever else you want) in olive oil and butter, then throw in the hearts to get a little brown on them. When you think they’re done enough, throw in some plain flour, just enough to take up the fat you fried it in (there will be no fat coming off the hearts, NB). Pour in some red wine, sherry or port, then either top up the pot with stock, or with passata/tinned tomatoes with the addition of stock powder. I actually usually use chicken or vegetable stock for this. Leave it to cook for a nice long time - hearts can be tough, being absolutely pure muscle. Cooked long and slow, though, they’re as tender as mercy. They’re also extremely good for you and delicious. I must ring the butcher and get him to order me some… I usually serve this with dumplings, which get thrown into the pot about twenty minutes before it’s time to eat and puff up like savoury clouds.
Make Haggis! There are many recipes all over the internet for it. You can boil it in a real lamb’s stomach or, as I did, just bake it in a pan.
Very simply put: you make steel-cut oats and/or pearl barley (I mixed whiskey in with it,) sautee a cup of very finely chopped onions, mix this together, and then mix it with equal parts lamb meat. Season with plenty of salt, pepper and any other spices you want. Then bake it in a pan in the oven.
Haggis is pretty easy to make; you can experiment with your own variations.