An order of trotters and tripe to stretch yer budget, love?

[*anj*]

According to this article (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/global/2008/09/24/noindex/do2303.xml&source=EMC-exp_24092008) in the Telegraph, a popular London market is beginning to stock more humble cuts of meat in the hopes that budget conscious consumers will have renewed interest in what's become old fashioned food.
I know that in many cultures people have long prided themselves on the ability to consume the entire animal "from snout to tail" as they say in this article. There is a use for just about every part of an animal. That idea has become decidedly out of fashion in our modern, fat conscious world, but if you think about it, it's actually more humane and certainly more "green" if you will. I mean, if you're going to the trouble of raising and slaughtering the animal, why throw away the offal? I suppose those parts are sold for pet food nowadays.

Anyway, it was an interesting article. :001_smile:

[Virginia Dawn]

Well, I still remember the day my dad accused my mom of serving horse meat for dinner. :tongue_smilie:

Oh yeah, beef hearts, liver, tongue, head cheese. Yum. (not)

What about some salt pork in those beans?

Fried squirrel anyone?

I just wish some of these hunters around here could see their way to offering us some deer meat this winter.

[Amy in Orlando]

:tongue_smilie:I just finished reading "The Jungle" this afternoon. :tongue_smilie: (I can't believe I've never read that book.) I can't even think about meat.

[lovemyboys]

According to this article (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/global/2008/09/24/noindex/do2303.xml&source=EMC-exp_24092008) in the Telegraph, a popular London market is beginning to stock more humble cuts of meat in the hopes that budget conscious consumers will have renewed interest in what's become old fashioned food. :001_smile:

Viewership of Top Chef on Bravo will go way up -- they're often using humble cuts of meat to help restaurants be more thoughtful of how they process food. Fried sweetbreads, anyone?

[*anj*]

Well I'm actually going to try beef tongue. I've had a phobia of it ever since I was a little girl when my mother served it without peeling off the outer skin. Ummmm, imagine you're maybe seven years old and you're eating this meat and you can feel the taste buds on it? I did not like that.

Still, my farmer is selling it really cheap ($5/tongue!) so in the interest of budget consciousness I will give it a whirl. One of the women in my co-op has a recipe that she got from her mother and she raved over it.
We'll see.
I'd better not tell my kids what part of the "beef" it is! :001_huh:

[Kate in Arabia]

Somebody brought up Little House in the Big Woods in another thread, and I remember that section in the book where they slaughter a pig, and use the head for head cheese. Seeing the book mentioned made me curious about head cheese, what all is involved in that, lol....

[elegantlion]

I will become a vegetarian by then. UGH!

[TejasMamacita]

Well I'm actually going to try beef tongue. I've had a phobia of it ever since I was a little girl when my mother served it without peeling off the outer skin. Ummmm, imagine you're maybe seven years old and you're eating this meat and you can feel the taste buds on it? I did not like that.

Still, my farmer is selling it really cheap ($5/tongue!) so in the interest of budget consciousness I will give it a whirl. One of the women in my co-op has a recipe that she got from her mother and she raved over it.
We'll see.
I'd better not tell my kids what part of the "beef" it is! :001_huh:

Well here in Texas every Sunday at the little Mexican markets you can get barbacoa, which is beef face and tongue meat cooked slowly all Saturday night so you can have delicious tacos for breakfast on Sunday morning before church, except we don't go to church:glare: but we do actually eat barbacoa almost every Sunday.

It's delicious!:D

[*anj*]

Well here in Texas every Sunday at the little Mexican markets you can get barbacoa, which is beef face and tongue meat cooked slowly all Saturday night so you can have delicious tacos for breakfast on Sunday morning before church, except we don't go to church:glare: but we do actually eat barbacoa almost every Sunday.

It's delicious!:D

So you mean that they have freshly roasted cow heads all lined up on the counter? Ahem.
I so respect that on a cultural and culinary level, but I'd prefer to come to your house and eat it already stuffed in the tortilla than go pick it up at the market, if you know what I mean! ;)

[Amy in Orlando]

Well here in Texas every Sunday at the little Mexican markets you can get barbacoa, which is beef face and tongue meat cooked slowly all Saturday night so you can have delicious tacos for breakfast on Sunday morning before church, except we don't go to church:glare: but we do actually eat barbacoa almost every Sunday.

It's delicious!:D

I'm so much better just NOT knowing what I'm eating. Once I start thinking about it too much, :::shudder:::

[paula j]

I'm so much better just NOT knowing what I'm eating. Once I start thinking about it too much, :::shudder:::
:iagree:This is definately how I feel! When we had a cow butchered last winter I told them to keep the tongue and a few other parts.

[klmama]

When we had a cow butchered last winter I told them to keep the tongue and a few other parts.

I do that, too. I split a cow with a friend, and she takes all of the organ meat. She serves her family tongue, brain, heart, liver, kidney, and probably some other stuff I've forgotten. I keep thinking I should try it, but I just don't see it happening unless she serves it to me!

[TejasMamacita]

So you mean that they have freshly roasted cow heads all lined up on the counter? Ahem.
I so respect that on a cultural and culinary level, but I'd prefer to come to your house and eat it already stuffed in the tortilla than go pick it up at the market, if you know what I mean! ;)

Well, you might want to go to a Mexican restaurant and skip right on by the market . . . because . . . yes you can tell what it is when you buy it. But seriously, it is so delicious. Shoot! My mouth is watering . . . I can't wait for Sunday to get here, LOL. :tongue_smilie:

[*anj*]

Well, you might want to go to a Mexican restaurant and skip right on by the market . . . because . . . yes you can tell what it is when you buy it. But seriously, it is so delicious. Shoot! My mouth is watering . . . I can't wait for Sunday to get here, LOL. :tongue_smilie:

Oh, alright then. I'll try anything once. What time do I show up? :lol:

[*anj*]

I do that, too. I split a cow with a friend, and she takes all of the organ meat. She serves her family tongue, brain, heart, liver, kidney, and probably some other stuff I've forgotten. I keep thinking I should try it, but I just don't see it happening unless she serves it to me!

I would love to split a cow with a friend. I think that will have to be my goal for next year: to identify a farmer who produces the kind of beef that we want and then to find someone to split it with me. My life would be so much easier if I had a cow in the freezer! :001_smile:

[nmoira]

Well I'm actually going to try beef tongue. I've had a phobia of it ever since I was a little girl when my mother served it without peeling off the outer skin. Ummmm, imagine you're maybe seven years old and you're eating this meat and you can feel the taste buds on it? I did not like that.I've tried tongue and tripe, and actually like haggis (so I think I've got lungs covered), not to mention the things I've tried at sushi restaurants. The thing I cannot bring myself to try is tendon. The phó (closest I could get to the right accent) restaurants in town have tendon on the menu, and I get grossed out even seeing the word.

[Ishki]

Well I'm actually going to try beef tongue. I've had a phobia of it ever since I was a little girl when my mother served it without peeling off the outer skin. Ummmm, imagine you're maybe seven years old and you're eating this meat and you can feel the taste buds on it? I did not like that.

Still, my farmer is selling it really cheap ($5/tongue!) so in the interest of budget consciousness I will give it a whirl. One of the women in my co-op has a recipe that she got from her mother and she raved over it.
We'll see.
I'd better not tell my kids what part of the "beef" it is! :001_huh:


Bad, bad memories. I had a dear friend that was Basque, and they often cooked beef tongue. I remember several times being at her house for dinner and looking at that hunk of meat in some sort of tomato, green pepper, onion type sauce and saying a prayer I didn't throw up after the meal. I don't recall the taste being so terribly bad, but the texture. OMG. Soft, squishy, eeew....

Forget all I said and enjoy your tongue. ;)

Janet

[Martha]

well it's about time.
I wish we could get cheaper cuts of anything around here.
But really, even the cheap cuts are expensive compared to pasta, beans, and rice.
*sigh* I'm so sick of black beans and rice. And it used to be one of my favorite meals.:( But at least the kids still eat it. And then the left over rice makes fried rice for breakfast the next morning.
Still cheap meats are cheaper than produce!
The most expensive meal we've had in the last 2 weeks was chef salad!

[WendyK]

I like tripe and fatty cuts of meat. I buy em because they taste good. I'm not anti fat though.

[Julie Smith]

Perhaps I'm a vegetarian, but I can't really imagine one part of the animal being more disgusting that another. It's all meat. Mind you in my mind there are three types of meat; sliced, hunk, tube. And I will often say to my dh I'm making a hunk of meat, or I bought you some sliced meat. It's all the same to me.:ack2:

[Ishki]

well it's about time.
I wish we could get cheaper cuts of anything around here.
But really, even the cheap cuts are expensive compared to pasta, beans, and rice.
*sigh* I'm so sick of black beans and rice. And it used to be one of my favorite meals.:( But at least the kids still eat it. And then the left over rice makes fried rice for breakfast the next morning.
Still cheap meats are cheaper than produce!
The most expensive meal we've had in the last 2 weeks was chef salad!

If I go to our local Albertson's after 8:00 PM, I can usually find ground beef marked way down. The 7% is still a little too spendy, but the 12% I can for about $1.29 a lb. which is a great deal around here. All our meat is stretched with beans or pasta to make it go further.

Prices for produce is outrageous. I'm so thankful for our garden. During the winter I limit my produce buying to spinach, cabbage and occasionally sweet potatoes and squash. Oh, I will buy a 10 lb. bag of carrots at Costco, but not much else.

Janet

[Book Crazy]

When I was a kid we loved tongue sandwiches. It was cold and cut into really thin slices.

I loved going to my grandparents, and visiting the market, where the tripe stall was. We would buy tripe and cow heel. My nan would make cow heel pie. With the tripe, we would put salt and vinegar on it, trying to fill all the holes. It was called honeycomb tripe and eat it. Umm, umm. It was raw tripe by the way. Never had it cooked.

[*anj*]

Perhaps I'm a vegetarian, but I can't really imagine one part of the animal being more disgusting that another. It's all meat. Mind you in my mind there are three types of meat; sliced, hunk, tube. And I will often say to my dh I'm making a hunk of meat, or I bought you some sliced meat. It's all the same to me.:ack2:

I was thinking that a vegetarian would see it that way. If you'll eat the thigh, why not eat the tongue, right? :lol:

[Doran]

THINK being the operative word. There is something I find tremendously appealing about using the whole animal IF I'm going to bother eating meat at all. I wrestle with my carnivority sometimes and were it not for the fact that one of our children is a huge meat eater, I might just go back to being a herbivore myself. But, in principle, if I'm going to eat it, I'd just as soon eat it all. Trouble is, I haven't a clue how to do that. I'd need to have a mentor to teach me how to cook the stuff. But as long as I know how the animal was raised, I'm not innately disturbed by eating organ meats or face meat or any other part. I often think about native people who lived off what they hunted, how they would have NEVER in a million years eaten only the prime cuts, leaving all the other good stuff to the dogs. They would never in a million years have hunted a goose, breasted it, then left the rest for garbage. Skins were used for clothing. Feathers were used for stuffing pillows/mattresses. Okay, so they also had some pretty stinky mattresses...but, I'm just saying. :D

For the record, half a cow is around 250 lbs. of meat and costs about $800. It's economical (rounds out to around $4/lb. after butchering and packaging). But, you gotta have a lot of freezer room for that much meat!

Moo!

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:fd03e_ie0gthMM:http://synkronyzer.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/cow3.jpg

[Martha]

If I go to our local Albertson's after 8:00 PM, I can usually find ground beef marked way down. The 7% is still a little too spendy, but the 12% I can for about $1.29 a lb. which is a great deal around here. All our meat is stretched with beans or pasta to make it go further.

Prices for produce is outrageous. I'm so thankful for our garden. During the winter I limit my produce buying to spinach, cabbage and occasionally sweet potatoes and squash. Oh, I will buy a 10 lb. bag of carrots at Costco, but not much else.

Janet

Oh man, Albertson went out of business here. But my dh used to run up every other day to grab up the meat section stuff at closing for 1/2 or ever 75% off . I sure miss that!

We were all set to put in a small garden this year, but alas the weather during planting time was horrible. And I'm glad we didn't as it would have all turned to molded mush, if it grew at all. I'm guessing that's part of why produce is so high too. If we feel that way, I imagine the farmers feel it too.

[Jane in NC]

My father had fond memories of his mother making head cheese (and if you don't know what it is you can read more here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_cheese)). I ate it too until one day I realized just what was in this stuff.

My mother loved ox tail soup so that was a regular winter meal for us. As was hasenpfeffer with rabbits that my uncle raised and my father would kill and skin. I think maybe we were all a bit more connected to our food even a few decades ago.

Today, however, I eschew beef and pork and mammal meat in general. I wonder if it is all of those childhood memories...

Jane

[*anj*]

http://platform.ak.facebook.com/www.new/app_full_proxy.php?app=3396043540&v=1&size=o&cksum=8134982813801c30daf48d336b357186&src=http%3A%2F%2Fchotchkies.flair.nliven.com%2Ffla ir_img%2Fb%2F4%2F0%2Fe%2Fb40e852c6d5f444bdc6b1c7b6 973ea766606d549.jpg

[Heather in the Kootenays]

When my European friend helps me butcher chickens, there is so much less waste - feet, innards - all go to her soup pot. And she was not happy that she missed the pig butchering - there would have way less waste there too. And she's a great cook.

[Laura Corin]

I can't get DH to eat them though - the nearest he gets is chicken liver pate/foie gras.

Laura

[gardening momma]

My dad used to occasionally buy beef tongue, and use it for sandwiches (cooked & sliced). We never had to eat it. He and my mom are deer hunters, so we always had venison, including venison liver. I'm not too fond of liver, more because of the flavor and texture, not so much about the fact that it's an organ. I used to eat chicken & turkey hearts when I was a kid. We all liked them so much that mom kept a post-it note inside a cupboard door that kept track of whose turn it was for the heart.

[camibami]

My grandmother made tongue when I was a girl- I love it. If I could find it, I'd make it now. So good the next day as a sandwich!

I'm not a vegetarian, but I never really "got" the concept that one animal/animal part was more disgusting/less disgusting then the other. I have eaten dog and possum for that reason- if you are going to eat one, no sense making distinctions like this one is "more worthy" of not being food! I imagine the cow is just as upset as the dog that he's getting slaughtered, you know?

I guess I'm an equal opportunity carnivore.

[Jill]

I like all that stuff - liver, heart, tongue. And though I've never tried them before, I do have a pair of chicken feet in my freezer from a recent butchering party. I also took all the gizzards from "my" birds. I took lots of fat too to make schmaltz. yum! I am a carnivore. I feel better - am healthier - as a carnivore. My husband - no. He's more of a grain/bean eater though he feels better on less processed carbs.
I am hesitating to raise any hogs because of the huge processing involved. Birds are pretty easy to clean up. But pasture-raised pig fat has lots of vitamin D! and I like pork fat and though I'd like to be able to walk the walk on this one, I may have to wait a bit. you know, see just how bad the economy gets... I'd buy trotters, they're probably great in bean soup. - Jill in ND

[GSMP]

I could handle it if it is in say scrapple. Not that thick chunked stuff you find in PA.

The finely ground stuff mixed with corn meal. I don't think I could bring myself to cook the other......sorry...eewww:D.

I threatened to have frog legs one night and my poor son broke down into tears.

[Spy Car]

I love (and can make a killer) Menudo with beef-tripe, and split beef-feet, and of course hominy corn, getting hungry.

And if you have never had lamb tongue (boiled with onions and garlic) you haven't lived :D

Lamb tongue is so different from Beef tongue. Soft and unctuous. Mmmm

Bill

[newbie]

I love (and can make a killer) Menudo with beef-tripe, and split beef-feet, and of course hominy corn, getting hungry.

And if you have never had lamb tongue (boiled with onions and garlic) you haven't lived :D

Lamb tongue is so different from Beef tongue. Soft and unctuous. Mmmm

Bill

Yo quiero menudo, thanks Bill. There is nothing better when you are sick than menudo w/ all the fixings. MMMMMM>

[Momto4kids]

I will become a vegetarian by then. UGH!

I'll be right there with ya...... :tongue_smilie: