
Pressed Tongue
This is an incredibly simple, yet highly nutritious recipe. I have to say that the first time I tried to cook tongue I really didn’t like it – but then I discovered that I had cooked it all wrong! Tongue really needs a long, slow cook, which makes it easy to remove the skin but, more importantly, makes it taste just like slow cooked beef (which, let’s face it, it kind of is!!).
I have made this recipe to a 2:1 fat to protein ratio, which makes it suitable for a ketogenic diet. The suet was used raw and grinds up to a fine powdery consistency making it really easy to mix in.You might want to use an app such as Cronometer if you want to make sure you have the exact proportions correct, but I wouldn’t worry too much as you won’t go far wrong with the amounts I used (the tongue may vary slightly but not enough to stress over!)
You can eat this as is, cutting straight from the loaf once it is ready, or you can slice some up and fry it in a pan – and it takes on the consistency once again of slow cooked beef – either way it is absolutely delicious!
Try it for yourself and see!
Ingredients:
- One whole beef tongue (mine weighed 1097g once it was cooked, and this is the weight you need to use for your measurements)
- Raw beef suet – 250g (if your tongue is significantly heavier or lighter than mine you may want to adjust your suet amount up or down accordingly. You want to achieve a 2:1 ratio BY WEIGHT – but don’t forget that there is some fat in tongue so you will need to adjust for that too if you want the specific ratio).
- Salt
- Optional Spices/Herbs
Directions:
- Place the tongue in either a slow cooker, or a large pan and cover with water. Add a couple of teaspoons of salt. Place the lid on and slow cook overnight.
- Weigh out your suet and place in a food processor and grind until it is very small, light pieces (like tiny pieces of styrofoam!). Place in another bowl temporarily.
- When cooled, remove the tongue from the pan and peel the skin off and discard. The tongue should have taken on the consistency of slow cooked beef.
- Place the tongue in the food processor and give it a whizz until smooth, then start adding the suet so that it mixes in with the tongue. Add a teaspoon of salt (and pepper and other spices if you desire).
- Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper, (making sure to cut the piece much larger than the tin as you will need extra to fold over the top) and then spoon the mixture into the tin. Press down firmly and then fold the remaining paper over the top. You will then need something heavy to put on top (you could use another loaf tin with heavy objects placed inside – I used some weights from my gym!).
- Place the tin in the fridge until it has set completely.
Viola! Your pressed tongue is read to eat! Either as it is or fry it up in a little beef or pork fat – simply gorgeous!
This freezes well, so I sliced mine into smaller portions and popped them in the freezer.
How do you eat yours?!