Mixed Grill Part 1 - Rinones y Mollejas (Kidneys and Sweetbreads)

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            FOOD FUNNY
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Thanks to Lorrraine Peltier of Toronto for this true food funny:

Your food story about Quiche Lorraine the other day reminded me of the
time I worked at a large insurance company with about 100 employees on
one floor of a large office building. The mailmen were posting the
cafeteria menu for the day on the bulletin board. One of them asked
the other, "Who's Quickie Lorraine?" The other replied, "I don't
know, but she's not on our floor!"

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            TODAY'S RECIPE
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An authentic Uruguayan parrillada will include several cuts of beef
along with just about every other part of the cow. My family is
particularly fond of kidneys (rinones, with the squiggly line above
the first "n") and sweetbreads (mollejas, no squiggly line anywhere)
and we usually limit the selection of organ meats to those two, but
intestines (chinchulines) are also standard fare. Liver is never
included as part of a parrillada, and brains may be included although
that is rare.

Today's recipe underscores the simplicity of the Uruguayan parrillada,
with its emphasis on good quality meats and with little need for
complicated technique or preparation. In Uruguay beef or veal kidneys
are used, but lamb kidneys make a delicate and more subtly flavored
substitution. Sweetbreads, the thymus gland of the cow, can be
difficult to find in the United States. Ask your butcher to special
order them for you, and if he refers you to the bakery department,
find yourself another butcher.

Classic European cooking offers several long and complicated methods
for preparing both of these meats which involve blanching, peeling,
trimming, soaking, and pressing, but in Uruguay most of these steps
are viewed as unnecessary. Here is how the gauchos do it:

Mixed Grill Part 1 - Rinones y Mollejas (Kidneys and Sweetbreads)

Beef, veal, or lamb kidneys
Veal or beef sweetbreads
Vinegar
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

For the kidneys: If using lamb kidneys, slice them in half lengthwise
and cut out the white, fatty center. If using veal or beef kidneys,
cut them crosswise into 3/4-inch (2 cm) slices and trim off the white,
fatty parts at the center. Soak in water to which a little vinegar
has been added for 1 hour before cooking. Drain, pat dry, brush with
a little olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook over hot
coals until thoroughly cooked - you want the kidneys "well-done," with
no trace of pink in the center.

For the sweetbreads: Pull off and discard the thickest and toughest
pieces of membrane that surrounds the sweetbreads. It is not
necessary to remove every last bit of this connective tissue as most
French preparations will insist. Brush with olive oil and season with
salt and pepper. Cook over hot coals until cooked through. In
Uruguay and Argentina, sweetbreads are usually cooked well beyond the
"well-done" stage, and my favorite way to cook them is to grill them
until they are partially charred and almost black on the outside, and
they have shrunk to about half their original size.
Received on Fri Dec 19 10:07:51 2003