Monday, July 9, 2007

Lengua

Lengua

Lengua is one of my favorite dishes.

A delight to eat but a total bitch to make.

Scald 1 whole lengua or ox tongue in a pot of simmering water.
Scrape off outer layer of tongue.

Cleaning tongue is an absolute horror for me. I always end up
peeling than scraping as the outer layer of the tongue is very
tough and requires a very strong hand to clean it up.

How i wish there was pre-cleaned tongue available in the supermarkets!

Dredge tongue with flour and brown all sides in
1/4 cup President brand butter.

Add water to cover. Add 1/2 cup red wine and simmer
for 3-4 hours until very tender.

Midway through the tenderizing process, take out
lengua or tongue from broth and cool slightly.
Cut into thin slices and return to broth.
Continue simmering until fluid has reduced to just enough
to cover the sliced pieces of meat.

Add 1 big can of mushrooms, sliced and 1 bottle of
green olives.

Season with salt and freshly crushed peppercorns.
Thicken sauce slightly with cornstarch.

Serve.