Enter the world of grass fed organ meats with me, if you dare.
Though, if you’ve been reading my blog recently, then you came into this unusual world of organ meats when I shared my delicious and “heart healthy” (hehe) Heart Stew recipe with you.
Heart? Liver? Tongue? What’s next? Not sure… kidneys are in my freezer but would you believe I’m freaked out about those the most?
Okay, for those of you still reading, you brave souls, know that you’re about to fill your body with some powerful nutrition when you eat organ meats. And, beef tongue is actually a a fairly easy gateway organ meat, or so they say. I write “easy” because it’s easy to make in a slow cooker, but also easy because… it’s easy on the taste buds. Frankly, it’s darn right delicious when you get over the fact that you’re eating tongue, if you ever do. I’ve made it twice now and I’m still weirded out by it, but determined to get over that because they’re so nutrient dense, and I want my daughter to be raised with a palate for organ meats.
I know some of you might think I’m crazy for venturing into omnivore territory after being militantly vegan for so long. What can I say? I had to open my mind after experiencing a decline in my health and that of my family’s. Even now, over a year later from ending our vegan chapter, I experience pangs of regret for having been vegan so long, mostly because I was pregnant, lactating, and raising my daughter vegan. Better late than never though. I’ve experienced such consistent robust health during this year of adding high quality animal foods to my diet. My skin still amazes me it stays so clear and pretty. My child’s health and growth are stellar. My husband doesn’t experience injuries and colds like he did as vegan.
I must admit that I had a wicked fun time preparing this. Talk about some neuroplasticity-brain-building when you make something so unusual (and new, for me) as beef tongue.
According to Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal, the tongue is not an organ, technically. It’s a muscle just like tenderloin so that should ease the weirdness a little when you think about it. That’s why when you shred it up and eat it, you’d never know you’re eating tongue versus a more common shredded beef unless of course you knew. However, most perceive it as organ meat so I’m including it in my journey of organ meats.
(Grass Fed) Beef Tongue in the Slow Cooker
- 1 grass fed beef or bison tongue
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 2 leeks, white part, sliced
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- salt
- 1 quart homemade broth
- Filtered water, as needed
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- Rinse the grass fed bison (or beef) tongue under cold water and pat dry.
- Line the bottom of the slow cooker with the shallot, leeks, carrots, and bay leaves.
- Generously season the beef tongue with salt and place it on top of the vegetables.
- Add the broth (and/or enough filtered water) to cover the tongue.
- Add the cinnamon sticks.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 11 hours.
- Remove the tongue from the slow cooker and pull the skin of the tongue off by gently peeling it (use a knife if needed to assist in some parts). This part needs to be done while the tongue is still relatively warm for ease of removal, but you can wait until it’s cool enough to handle. Note: if the skin is coming off with meat attached, it should probably be cooked a bit longer.
- Shred the beef with two forks and serve with Cherry BBQ Sauce.
For a funny blog post on making beef tongue, check out Kitchen Stewardship’s post “How to Eat a Beef Tongue and What Not to Say to Your Husband.” Oh, in the future, I’ll share how I make Sous Vide Beef Tongue Ratatouille.