As a Kansas City native, I was raised on burnt ends. I love ‘em all the way up to the clear blue sky! However, I’ve often found that the burnt ends I get from one point aren’t enough for me to share with guests and still get some myself. Plus, there’s the issue of having to cook a whole packer every time I want some. I started wondering if I could replicate burnt end flavors/textures with another cut of beef… A couple weeks ago, I was enjoying lunch at one of my favorite authentic taquerias and a thought occurred to me, “Why not tongue?” I’d previously eaten beef tongue in three forms: The kind that looks/tastes exactly like corned beef. My parents always had this around when I was a kid. The kind that you make into lengua tacos (such as the ones I was eating at that moment) The kind you can turn into a delicious pot roast-like dish. I decided it was time to add a #4 to the list. So, I procured a calf’s tongue at a local farmer’s market along with a beast of a tongue from good old Walmart. In my opinion, the biggest challenge to cooking/serving cow tongue is not the fact that it’s one tough muscle, it’s getting over the “yuck” factor of messing with a tongue! My kids, however, thought it was awesome. Without further ado, I give you my take on faux burnt ends, I'm calling 'em "Cow Kisses" Step 1: Slice up an onion and throw it in the bottom of your crockpot. Add as much/little garlic as you like. A shallot might be tasty here too, but I didn’t have one handy. Step 2: Rinse and pat the tongues dry. Throw those big lickers in the crockpot. Season with kosher salt & black pepper. We’ll be seasoning this with rub & sauce later, so you don’t need to go overboard on the salt. Step 3: Cover the tongues with water and throw in 3 to 4 bay leaves. Step 4: Let that crockpot rip for about 8 to 10 hours on low. I suppose you could also throw these in a stockpot and simmer for 3 to 4 hours if you’re in more of a hurry. I did this step overnight and boy-howdy did my house smell great in the morning! Step 5: And now for the icky part… Time to peel that leather from the top. It should be pretty easy to do, I just made a small slit at the end and used my fingers to peel the skin away. Step 6: You have a choice to make here. At this point, you have a superbly delicious/tender cut of meat here. You could shred it and make some great lengua tacos. Slice it into medallions and serve it as you would a rich pot roast. Or, continue on to bbq bliss! I sliced mine up into medallions and then into squared, “burnt end” style chunks. I seasoned them up with rub (Plowboy Bovine Bold, this time) and sauced with Hayward's Original. Step 7: They went into the smoker with some hickory wood at 275 degrees for about 3 hours. I mixed them around about every hour or so. I had enough sauce in there that I didn't really need to top them off. The verdict? They came out out-of-this-world delicious!!! My wife and friends were totally floored. Everything you could hope/want out of a burnt end and the flavor is just rich beefiness beyond belief! Truth be told, I probably could've ramped up the heat a little more for some added crispiness, but I was completely thrilled with the result. Enjoy!
I'm sorry but I don't think I could do it....Being from the south I have eaten opossum, musk rat, raccoon, chitlins, groundhog, bear, wild boar, turtle, crow, etc but I just can't do the tongue thing. Both my grandmothers ate it all the time but I just couldn't do it. Maybe it's time for me to give it a try though. Thanks for sharing.
But, was it a mooving experience or did the sandwiches just talk back the whole time? I just can't do it tho. I'd probably regurnsey-tate. Sorry, I'm being udderly ridiculous. I'll milk this topic no longer.
Okay---here's what you squeemish guys need to do. Have someone else make it for you sometime when you least expect it, but have them tell it's tenderloin or something else like that. By the time you figure it out, you'll be enjoying your second helping
I wouldn't make it myself without giving it a try from someone else's kitchen. I look at trying foods this way: 1 - others are eating it and liking it, people are not going to eat what they don't like 2 - people are not dieing from it, people are not going to eat what just killed their buddy So I figure if they're eating it, liking it, and not dieing from it, why not? I just might like it. Heck, I don't wanna miss out!
Sure, Steve, but with that attitude, be forewarned! Particularly if you see a gathering of burly Scotsman noisily enjoying a repast of something that smells simply 'offal'! The next thing ya' know yer bein' sarved oop' a wee-platter of thay ol' Haggis!
Actually, that doesn't look that bad. From the description I read on Wikipedia, yeah, I'd try it. Here is our area, scrapple is very popular. I've tried it on several occasions, hoping I might like it. Only once - a buddy of mine fried it up and it tasted pretty good. From Wikipedia: Scrapple is typically made of hog offal, such as the head, heart, liver, and other trimmings, which are boiled with any bones attached (often the entire head), to make a broth...
The tongue sounds great, but I did wonder what "burnt ends " were? Haggis... ....fantastic with neeps an taties, a traditional piping in of the haggis, a reading of Rabbie Burns, followed by a whiskey or 2, a great night.
Burnt ends are typically the pieces cut from the pointy end of a brisket with a burnt looking exterior
A whole "packer" brisket has two parts, the point and the flat. The flat is the part that becomes slices of brisket, whereas the point is a fattier part that you can cube up (after it has been smoked), season with more rub/bbq sauce and put back in the smoker for a while to get a little crispy. One legend is that Arthur Bryant's BBQ here in Kansas City used to serve them to patrons waiting in line. The patrons liked them so much that they started requesting them on a regular basis. Here's the Wikipedia entry on burnt ends: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnt_ends
