It was the spring of 2009 and Kelly and I were spending a couple of days in London en route to Wales. It's impossible to pick a restaurant in a city like London, but there was one chef's cooking I really wanted to try, based initially (and entirely) on a 2006 episode of Anthony Bourdain's "A Cook's Tour". Bourdain would go on to state, in his introduction to this chef's 2004 cookbook, that this is his favorite chef and his favorite restaurant in the world. The place? St. John. And needing no introduction, the chef in question is Fergus Henderson. Any time you see something other than chicken breast, scallops or filet mignon on a menu (the beef cheeks at the Brooklyn Warehouse, for instance), you can thank Fergus Henderson. The champion of using all parts of an animal, not just what is (usually incorrectly) considered the choicest cuts. Nose to Tail eating.
Our lunch that day at St. John was an inspiration. We ate pigeon. Gulls eggs. Eel scratchin's. And none other than Fergus Henderson himself was seated at the table next to ours!
Fast forward to today. Among the many farmer's market purveyors we have established relationships with, one of our favorites is Bill Wood of Wood 'N Hart Farm. The lamb that Bill sells is (in my opinion) the best there is. Considering the province's best chef's serve his lamb in their restaurants means I'm not alone in my assessment. I once prepared a rack of lamb from Wood 'N Hart that approached perfection. It was cooked to a beautiful, blushing rare (more luck than skill) and served with a homemade mint sauce with mint from the garden, following a recipe from my Grandmother in Wales. Where they know a thing or two about lamb. The entire dish was prepared with only six ingredients, and that includes the salt & pepper. The dish was all about the lamb, and the lamb was incredible.
Lamb Tongues
We enjoy the challenge and the respect for the animal inherit in "nose to tail" cooking, and regularly buy lamb heart and kidney from Bill. One morning he handed us a small plastic bag filled with lamb tongues. Having no clue on how to prepare lamb tongue, I turned to the only cookbook in the house I could count on for a preparation: Fergus Henderson's "The Whole Beast".
Here are the lamb tongues, washed and ready.
The first step is to gently simmer the tongues in chicken stock with some garlic and aromatic herbs for about 2 hours.
Next, remove the tongues from the stock, allow to cool slightly, then peel.
Once that's done, the tongues are halfed and added to some shallots (sauteed in duck fat), some beets (cooked in the same stock as the tongue), and some bacon.
The dish is finished with a sprinkle of a little sherry vinegar. I served it on top of mashed potato.
The tongue was really quite easy to prepare. The texture is a little like liver, but more firm. This dish was absolutely delicious and will definitely be made again. And to think that lamb tongues are usually thrown in the garbage!
NOV 2012 Update:
By popular (ie one) request the complete recipe, shamelessly copied verbatim from Fergus Henderson's "The Whole Beast", which I highly recommend.
6 lambs tongues (rinsed well in cold water)
7 cups chicken stock
1 head of garlic, separated & peeled
a bundle of fresh thyme & parsley pulled together
6 young turnips w/ green tops kept (I used beets)
2 dollops duck fat
16 shallots, peeled & left whole
1-1/4 pound piece of bacon, cut into chunks
Salt & pepper
Sherry or red wine vinegar
Cover tongues in a pot with the stock. Add garlic and herbs, bring to a boil then simmer for 2 hours. Remove tongues and allow to cool until handle-able, then peel. While doing this cook the turnips in the stock.
When cooked remove turnips and return tongues to the stock.
In an ovenproof frying pan brown the shallots in some duck fat. Then pop into oven (375 F) for 15 mins, making sure they don't burn. Remove tongues from stock and slice lengthwise. In a frying pan heat some duck fat, fry the bacon and add the tongues and turnips, allow to colour then add the shallots and a splash of the stock to half-cover the pans contents. Let this start to boil, add greens & season with salt & pepper, then cover pan and simmer for 2 mins. Remove ingredients with a slotted spoon to the serving plate then ladle some of the pan liquid over top. Just before serving sprinkle with a little vinegar.
