Legs of the calf: recipes, benefits

To the gut, the average consumer has a disdainful attitude. But in vain. In Italy, France, Spain, where the gourmet cuisine is close to the masses, the by-products are very, very much in honor. A special demand is the so-called sweet, or picnic, meat. This is the thymus, or thymus, calf or lamb, glands and other jelly-like formations in the body of young animals. In English they are called sweetbreads , which literally means "sweet bread". This naming is not taken from the ceiling: in ready-made form, the thymus gland surprises with the smell of freshly baked sweet loaf and dessert taste. In pre-revolutionary Russia this part of the calf carcass was called milk and used in cooking quite often. In France, ris de veau is soaked in cognac and is prepared from delicatessen delicacies. In Italy, goat's veal gland is added to the pasta, risotto, seasoning with garlic and herbs. And in Latin America (Uruguay, Chile and Argentina) prefer to fry it on the grill. In this article, we will reveal the secrets of the proper preparation of delicacy and give several recipes for dishes with this part of the carcass.

What is calf thymus gland?

Photo of it in its raw form does not cause a surge of saliva. Let's put it bluntly: the gland resembles a piece of fat. But behind this small, weighing three hundred grams, part of the veal carcass in France, hunt restaurants, marked by Michelin stars. It costs a picnic meat not cheap - at least sixty euros per kilogram. But even a high price does not ensure the availability of the product. What is the calf thymus? This is the organ of the immune system, located on both sides of the trachea. Iron regulates the development of a young animal, protects it from disease. As the calf grows, it decreases in size. And when the animal turns into a cow or a bull, and altogether atrophies. Therefore, the most valuable are the thymus glands of very young calves.

Deficient product

Get the meat in the store is almost impossible. And in the market it appears extremely rare. Even in the period of mass slaughter of calves, it is easier for the farmer to sell the entire carcass entirely than to engage in jewelry work to extract the tender thymus gland. Yes, and in our people are more appreciated a tenderloin, a brisket, a scapula, tongue and a liver. Many people do not even know what the calf's thymus is, where this organ is located and what it tastes like. But this product is valued in the same way as foie gras, black truffles and similar delicacies. In addition, the flesh meat requires a special approach, not only from the butcher, but also the cook. You can not throw a gland like a steak into a frying pan, you need to tinker with it for a long time. Not every landlady knows how to treat gentle "milk". And the culinary value of the product directly depends on the preliminary manipulations with it. And if everything is done correctly, you will soon be able to enjoy the amazing taste of tender pate-like meat.

Harm and benefit of the throat of the calf

This product contains important substances for health. Potassium, regulating water and salt metabolism, has a beneficial effect on the smooth functioning of the heart. Also veal "milk" is useful for capillaries, vessels, muscles. Because of the effect on the bone mass, the calf's thighs are shown to eat people who have undergone fractures. Vitamins C and D strengthen immunity. It is useful to eat dishes with the calf's thymus to optimize the hormonal balance. But it's worth knowing! The gist of the delicacy is that it can not be made a daily dish. Veal "milk" people used to eat from the Middle Ages. Then they noticed the cunning of "sweet bread". With the frequent use of picacious meat, the kings are attacking the gout - gout. In order not to lose freedom of movement, too often you can not indulge in delicacy.

Pretreatment of the product

At pikalnogo meat aristocratic nature, therefore and the approach to it should be delicate. To us, the thymus glands of the calf fall, alas, in frozen form (mainly from Argentina or Australia). But if the storage conditions are met - at a temperature of -18 ° C - "milk" can wait for its hour at least six months. When cooking, the taste of "sweet bread" is not lost. But for a start the thymus gland is put in cold water for eight hours. During this period, the fluid is changed three times. When the veal throat loses all the blood, it is transferred to milk. After an hour, clean the outer film, remove veins, grease residues, connecting films. Then the "milk" needs to be whitened. To do this, they are boiled in water with salt and lemon juice. Exactly five minutes after boiling iron, a contrast shower is arranged. To ensure that the meat does not lose shape and remains elastic, it is dipped in ice water. After that, the iron is cooked according to various recipes.

Argentine salad "Molejhana"

Correctly bleached thymus gland in a cut resembles bees' honeycomb or crumb of rustic bread. Cleared of veins, it is easily divided into segments. We take a hundred grams of this delicacy and fry in olive oil, slightly salted and peppery. With spices do not zealous: they can score a delicate taste of "sweet bread". We bring the pieces to a golden color, add the clove of crushed garlic and immediately remove it from the fire. In parallel, fry a couple of potatoes. Now prepare the sauce. A little green onions and parsley fry in butter. Add a quarter of a glass of creamy cream. Transfer the sauce into a blender, crush, drive one yolk, mix. The dish is covered with leaves of frisee lettuce, we spread on sides of half of cherry tomatoes. In the middle, let's put a salad and pour carefully with sauce.

Italian flesh meat

The trophic gland of the calf (400 g) is soaked and bleached. Then it is divided into twelve pieces and pinched by thin slices of black truffle. Fry from all sides on low heat in a mixture of crumbs of white bread and a spoonful of butter. Then they add salt and season with a pinch of white pepper. Half of the cleared artichokes are cut into thin slices. Fry them until ready in the same bread-and-butter mixture as the calf's poultry meat. Salt and season with nutmeg. Connect both components. Separately, prepare a little brown sauce, boiling beef broth. Cool it and water the dish. Serve to the table, adorned with celery leaves.

Pariquiada

This dish from the calf throat is very popular in Argentina and other Latin American countries. It is interesting that the meat in this case requires a minimum of pretreatment. It is simply soaked in water to drain all the blood. And then cook on the grill. You can fry the pariyllum in a conventional frying pan with butter. To do this, the soaked sweet meat should be divided into segments, fried in olive oil with lemon juice and a pinch of salt. When it acquires a golden hue, throw one crushed laurel leaf. The final touch: pour out a glass of whiskey into a frying pan, mix it quickly, close it with a lid and remove it from the fire. We serve this fiery stuff hot with freshly baked cakes or on a puff pastry. The young Argentinean pink and white wines blend with the pariglia. You can recommend this dish Montfleury Bodegas Weinert.

Pical meat with black currant

Two handfuls of picked berries to grind in a blender to the state of mashed potatoes. We'll need a calf thyme soaked in cognac. The dish of the Burgundian cuisine is a small piece of picata meat in a sauce of shallots. This last ingredient (two heads) is thinly sliced and stewed in a quarter cup of white wine until the liquid is completely boiled. Fill one hundred and fifty milliliters of veal broth. Boil it in half, add 25 g of butter, salt and pepper. Put the sauce in a warm place. In the frying pan, we burn olive oil, quickly fry the pieces of the thymus gland, and then for another three minutes weighed on low heat. We exfoliate in a colander. Add blackcurrant puree to meat. Serve with mashed potatoes and pour the whole dish with hot sauce from shallots.

"Fat"

Bleach the calf soaked properly with the calf. We divide it into pieces. Each slice is larded with bacon, tongue or (preferably) truffles. Pieces of cucumbers are added to the saucepan. We prepare the breeze. To do this, cut into thin slices of parsley root, celery, carrots, onions and white leeks. Fill veal broth, salt, add spices to taste. Boil until the amount of liquid is reduced by half. Then, with this breeze, pour the pieces of the meat into the meat so that they are completely covered with it. Cook on low heat under the lid for about half an hour. Preheat the oven to moderate heat. Remove the lid and place the stewpan in the oven. When the surface of the cut is clogged, turn off the fire and take the calf's thymus gland. Garnish for such a dish should be as neutral as possible: boiled rice or mashed potatoes. You can serve the main dish on the hairline or krustad.

Sweet bread in the Languedoc

In the south of France, the calf's thymus is especially appreciated. Recipes differ from each other only with garnish, sauces and a form of serving, while the manner of cooking of the meat of the meat remains unchanged. An inseparable ingredient in "sweet bread" is a truffle. Consider, for example, the perigee recipe.

Half-kilo chicken fillet finely chopped with a knife. 250 grams of bread crumb is soaked in broth, we interpose a pack of butter. Rinse and add to chicken meat. Solim, season with nutmeg, pepper, drive two eggs. Half cooked stuffing we cook for a couple, and from the second half we form meatballs. In brezes we boil 300 grams of chicken combs. A handful of truffles are boiled in a glass of broth and Madeira. Solim and add a crushed chive of garlic. We lay out the boiled minced meat. In the middle we place meatballs, scallops, truffles. Fill sauce with perigee. Top spread the thymus gland of the calf. Fill the whole dish with the rest of the sauce.