Sweetbreads are one of my absolute favourite things to eat. If you haven’t tried them yet, do run out to your nearest butcher and get some and try out this recipe – or get yourself to a restaurant that has them on the menu. In fact, perhaps do the latter first. That way your love for them can blossom, untarnished by their perhaps less attractive exteriors.
Sweetbreads are glands (the thymus gland from the throat and/or the pancreas gland from the heart or stomach) taken from calves or lambs. When lightly sauteed they become these glorious soft, unctuous, melting little nuggets of sheer gastronomic glee. When deep fried and crispy they send me skipping over the green culinary hills/around my kitchen/around the restaurant dining room, so to speak or metaphorically….sometimes neither. Mostly literally.
How to get a hold of them? Most good butchers should be able either to have them or to acquire them for you. Just go have a word with your local one and see what they say. They’re always really cheap too. Find a butcher with an abattoir and they might even give you them for free, rather than bin them because their normal patrons are peasants and don’t buy them. Preparation? See below in the recipe section.
I like this recipe primarily because it tastes great. I took the concept from an Alan Murchison recipe and changed it about a bit. A crunch of crisp breadcrumbs on the outside oozing into central, juicy, moist sweetbread. This paired with sweet, caramel deep and savoury white onion puree. Delightful. This recipe is also a good one for sweetbread virgins. Let’s be honest….sweetbreads on their own don’t look the most delightfully delicious things in the world. All knobbily and….sinister. The cast of Alien called….they want their props back. See the photos below to see what I mean. Coated in yummy breadcrumbs and deep fried to a crispy, golden buttery brown they look a little bit more ‘user friendly’. Sugar coat them, get ’em tried, ‘get em hooked. Bamm.
I have included a photo guide below the recipe. I understand that this might put a few people off and a lot of times cooks don’t include photos of them, only of the yummy end cooked product. However I think it is important to establish a link between source and product – so…I’d encourage you to look and try not to be a big girl and be put off.
Anyway, I hope you like them as much as I do!! So good as a starter, snack or lunch. Feel free to pilfer the onion puree too for other uses – great with scallops, chicken, even lamb.
Sweetbreads are glands (the thymus gland from the throat and/or the pancreas gland from the heart or stomach) taken from calves or lambs. When lightly sauteed they become these glorious soft, unctuous, melting little nuggets of sheer gastronomic glee. When deep fried and crispy they send me skipping over the green culinary hills/around my kitchen/around the restaurant dining room, so to speak or metaphorically….sometimes neither. Mostly literally.
How to get a hold of them? Most good butchers should be able either to have them or to acquire them for you. Just go have a word with your local one and see what they say. They’re always really cheap too. Find a butcher with an abattoir and they might even give you them for free, rather than bin them because their normal patrons are peasants and don’t buy them. Preparation? See below in the recipe section.
I like this recipe primarily because it tastes great. I took the concept from an Alan Murchison recipe and changed it about a bit. A crunch of crisp breadcrumbs on the outside oozing into central, juicy, moist sweetbread. This paired with sweet, caramel deep and savoury white onion puree. Delightful. This recipe is also a good one for sweetbread virgins. Let’s be honest….sweetbreads on their own don’t look the most delightfully delicious things in the world. All knobbily and….sinister. The cast of Alien called….they want their props back. See the photos below to see what I mean. Coated in yummy breadcrumbs and deep fried to a crispy, golden buttery brown they look a little bit more ‘user friendly’. Sugar coat them, get ’em tried, ‘get em hooked. Bamm.
I have included a photo guide below the recipe. I understand that this might put a few people off and a lot of times cooks don’t include photos of them, only of the yummy end cooked product. However I think it is important to establish a link between source and product – so…I’d encourage you to look and try not to be a big girl and be put off.
Anyway, I hope you like them as much as I do!! So good as a starter, snack or lunch. Feel free to pilfer the onion puree too for other uses – great with scallops, chicken, even lamb.
Recipe
Ingredients (Serves 4):
600g sweetbreads
300ml chicken stock
1 knob butter
1 bay leaf
plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
50ml milk
salt and pepper
6-8 slices white bread, stale better but fresh will do
vegetable/sunflower oil
Onion Puree:
3 white onions, sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 big tablespoons of butter
150 ml chicken stock
salt and white pepper
nutmeg
glug vegetable oil
50ml milk
Method:
(see pictures for all steps below)
1. For the Onion Puree: Heat the oil in a big frying pan to medium and throw in the butter. Add the sliced onion and add a splash of the stock.
2. Cut a circle of greaseproof paper the same size as the pan and place over the onions, tucking the sides down. It keeps the steam trapped in and keeps your onions really moist and discourages them burning/colouring. Its French name is a cartouche. Reduce the heat to a low medium and cook like this for about 30 minutes, occasionally stirring and adding more stock if it looks like its getting a bit dry and sticking. The onions should be utterly soft with hardly any colour to them.
3. Remove the cartouche, increase the heat to a medium. Add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add the stock. Saute for about 10 minutes until the onions are more caramelised and the stock has reduced almost all away. The scent should be utterly intoxicating at this point.
4. Remove from the heat and put into a food processor. Add the milk, a pinch of salt, white pepper and a 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg and blend until very smooth and creamy.
5. Pass through a very fine sieve to remove any solids/onion skins. Store the passed, lovely smooth puree in a bowl until later and leave to cool.
6. For the breadcrumbs: heat an oven to 150 Celsius. Take the bread and put into a food processor to blend into tiny crumbs. Spread them in a baking tray and place in the oven for about 15 minutes until slightly golden and dry, stirring occasionally. Put back into the processor and blend again to form dry crumbs. Put to one side and allow to cool.
7. For the sweetbreads: take the sweetbreads and place them in very cold water. Wash for about 5 minutes constantly replacing the water. This removes all of the blood from them. Pat dry and place in a large saucepan. Cover with chicken stock and add the knob of butter and bay leaf. Put over medium heat and raise to boiling point. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes until the sweetbreads are plump and slightly further. This process is called blanching and it prepares the sweetbreads for further cooking, ensuring that later they will be tender, and allows their connective tissue and membranes to be more easily removed. Many recipes call for you to blanch them in water alone, but I think doing it in chicken stock injects more flavour. Remove from the stock and plunge into ice water/run under very cold water to stop them continuing to cook. Remove from the ice water and pat dry with kitchen towel.
8. The sweetbreads now need to be trimmed down. Using a small paring knife remove any small lumps of fat, connective tissue or black veins. The sweetbreads will also be covered in a very thin, tough membrane; using your fingers try to pull off as much of this as possible. Pull the sweetbreads into 2 inch bite size chunks. Place to one side.
9. Get 3 bowls. Fill one with flour and add a few generous pinches of salt and pepper to it to season it, mix. Fill another with whisked egg, add the milk and mix. Fill the 3rd with the breadcrumbs.
10. Get a large saucepan and fill it about half way with vegetable or sunflower oil. Set it over heat and heat the oil up to deep frying temperature. Test to see when it is ready by dropping a breadcrumb in and seeing if it sizzles – if so then it is ready.
Note – be very carefully when deep fat frying in your own home. A vast majority of household fires are caused by doing this so make sure you never take your eyes of it and make sure that it doesn’t get too hot or start to smoke. If it starts to smoke then immediately turn the heat off and let it cool down.
11. Take the sweetbreads and coat in the seasoned flour. Dip in the egg and then coat in breadcrumbs. Carefully place into the oil, laying it away from you to avoid splashes coming onto you. (Do this in batches of about 5-6), don’t overcrowd the pan). Deep fry, turning them half way, for about 1-2 minutes or until the sweetbreads are a deep golden brown and crisp all over. Remove and lay on kitchen paper to absorb the oil. Season with a little salt.
12. Serve the crispy fried sweetbreads immediately with the onion puree on the side!
Ingredients (Serves 4):
600g sweetbreads
300ml chicken stock
1 knob butter
1 bay leaf
plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
50ml milk
salt and pepper
6-8 slices white bread, stale better but fresh will do
vegetable/sunflower oil
Onion Puree:
3 white onions, sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 big tablespoons of butter
150 ml chicken stock
salt and white pepper
nutmeg
glug vegetable oil
50ml milk
Method:
(see pictures for all steps below)
1. For the Onion Puree: Heat the oil in a big frying pan to medium and throw in the butter. Add the sliced onion and add a splash of the stock.
2. Cut a circle of greaseproof paper the same size as the pan and place over the onions, tucking the sides down. It keeps the steam trapped in and keeps your onions really moist and discourages them burning/colouring. Its French name is a cartouche. Reduce the heat to a low medium and cook like this for about 30 minutes, occasionally stirring and adding more stock if it looks like its getting a bit dry and sticking. The onions should be utterly soft with hardly any colour to them.
3. Remove the cartouche, increase the heat to a medium. Add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add the stock. Saute for about 10 minutes until the onions are more caramelised and the stock has reduced almost all away. The scent should be utterly intoxicating at this point.
4. Remove from the heat and put into a food processor. Add the milk, a pinch of salt, white pepper and a 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg and blend until very smooth and creamy.
5. Pass through a very fine sieve to remove any solids/onion skins. Store the passed, lovely smooth puree in a bowl until later and leave to cool.
6. For the breadcrumbs: heat an oven to 150 Celsius. Take the bread and put into a food processor to blend into tiny crumbs. Spread them in a baking tray and place in the oven for about 15 minutes until slightly golden and dry, stirring occasionally. Put back into the processor and blend again to form dry crumbs. Put to one side and allow to cool.
7. For the sweetbreads: take the sweetbreads and place them in very cold water. Wash for about 5 minutes constantly replacing the water. This removes all of the blood from them. Pat dry and place in a large saucepan. Cover with chicken stock and add the knob of butter and bay leaf. Put over medium heat and raise to boiling point. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes until the sweetbreads are plump and slightly further. This process is called blanching and it prepares the sweetbreads for further cooking, ensuring that later they will be tender, and allows their connective tissue and membranes to be more easily removed. Many recipes call for you to blanch them in water alone, but I think doing it in chicken stock injects more flavour. Remove from the stock and plunge into ice water/run under very cold water to stop them continuing to cook. Remove from the ice water and pat dry with kitchen towel.
8. The sweetbreads now need to be trimmed down. Using a small paring knife remove any small lumps of fat, connective tissue or black veins. The sweetbreads will also be covered in a very thin, tough membrane; using your fingers try to pull off as much of this as possible. Pull the sweetbreads into 2 inch bite size chunks. Place to one side.
9. Get 3 bowls. Fill one with flour and add a few generous pinches of salt and pepper to it to season it, mix. Fill another with whisked egg, add the milk and mix. Fill the 3rd with the breadcrumbs.
10. Get a large saucepan and fill it about half way with vegetable or sunflower oil. Set it over heat and heat the oil up to deep frying temperature. Test to see when it is ready by dropping a breadcrumb in and seeing if it sizzles – if so then it is ready.
Note – be very carefully when deep fat frying in your own home. A vast majority of household fires are caused by doing this so make sure you never take your eyes of it and make sure that it doesn’t get too hot or start to smoke. If it starts to smoke then immediately turn the heat off and let it cool down.
11. Take the sweetbreads and coat in the seasoned flour. Dip in the egg and then coat in breadcrumbs. Carefully place into the oil, laying it away from you to avoid splashes coming onto you. (Do this in batches of about 5-6), don’t overcrowd the pan). Deep fry, turning them half way, for about 1-2 minutes or until the sweetbreads are a deep golden brown and crisp all over. Remove and lay on kitchen paper to absorb the oil. Season with a little salt.
12. Serve the crispy fried sweetbreads immediately with the onion puree on the side!
Onions, butter, stock in pan.
CARTOUCHE!
Cartouche off and caramelise
Blend and pass
Smooth and delicious
Blend the breadcrumbs!
Sweetbreads in their raw form
one single one. Not the most attractive but oh so tasty.
Blanching the sweetbreads
Blanched, untrimmed sweetbreads. Spot for the odd bit of membrane.
THERE’S the membrane!
Trimmed and pretty. What a stunner.
Frying station! Flour, egg, breadcrumbs BOOM
Fry, my babies, fry
Plate
YUM
