Errrrrr...flight or bite?

Slip of the Tongue

Getting to know the man who raises the meat I eat has its perks.  In my weekly sojourn to the farmer's market this summer, a slip of the tongue about our efforts to eat nose to tail resulted in a gift of the gab...or, moo.

Barrie presented me the following week with a thick disembodied cow tongue...complete with taste buds and cow spots.  Not only did Barry slip me a tongue, he also gave me his heart - but that will be another post...

I carried my precious cargo home, excited to taste that tongue in my cheek.  The tongue was the size of my forearm and was shrouded in a thick skin.  I simmered in in a stockpot with:

two large onions, peeled and roughly sliced

one head of garlic, peeled and crushed

6-7 bay leaves

1 tbsp of peppercorns

2 tbsp of kosher salt

enough water to completely cover the tongue

1.  Bring to a rapid boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 3-4 hours or until the tongue is very tender.

2.  Cool slightly; remove the thick skin and the rough bits at the bottom of the tongue.

3.  Slice into 1/4 inch rounds and julienne.

4.  Pan-fry until golden brown in some olive oil.

5.  Serve with  warmed flour tortillas, fresh lettuce, tomatoes, salsa verde, cilantro, red onions avocados or other favourite taco toppings.

Verdict:  the meat was surprisingly rich and fatty and reminded me of the consistency of corn beef hash.  It was very beefy and was a perfect foil for the acidity of the salsa verde and fresh vegetables.  The girls gobbled their tacos up without batting an eye lash.  Jian even insisted on helping me to peel it.  It was delicious though Glenn was not as excited as the three of us.

Even the cat wanted in on the action; the cat got my.......nah!!!!!!!!!! See?  I held my tongue on the puns.

Turf on Surf

Sockeye with Parsley Pesto

My dear friend, Connie introduced me this to divine recipe - I believe Connie received this recipe from her dear friend, Hannah.  Everything Connie touches is magic. Food and the ties they reveal are magic too.

How does one make wild Pacific Sockeye even better?  Slather it in a green turf of crushed flat leaf parsley...my kind of turf and the freshest of surf.

4 ingredients and even the unrepentent landlubber will eat to the gills.

1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, stems discarded and roughly chopped
1/2 head of garlic, skinned, and finely minced
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1 immaculately fresh sockeye fillet

1.  Mix the first three ingredients together.
2.  Spread a thin layer of olive oil in a dish and place fillet, skin side down and slosh around
3.  Smother the orange flesh with the pesto and let rest from 20 min to 4 hours in the fridge.

4.  Heat BBQ to high with lid closed.
5.  When grill is ripping hot, slide the fillet on and close the lid.
6.  Check flesh after 8 minutes and remove when the thickest part is still bright orange (medium rare)
7.  The skin will be crisp and blackened...for those of delicate disposition, the skin can stay on the platter at service.  For those with large ovaries, remove the skin immediately and eat it all before it softens.


***we served ours with brown rice (with butter and soy sauce) and a garden salad.