Snoop Puss
Head Chef
Over at the "Spanish rice and what?" thread posted by DaCook in the General Cooking Questions forum, Steve A joked about whether I could cook him a plate of Riñones al Jerez. Not my favourite kidney dish but I started looking around on DC for offal or organ meat threads. And I can see they're not universally popular, to say the least! Odd because it would be hard to imagine Spanish or French cuisine without offal. And I can hardly bear to think of the uproar in Italy if offal was banished from menus. In Greece there would be a revolt.
So here's a kidney recipe for Steve A - not in sherry, but a version of a recipe in a book by Antonio Carluccio. He uses calve's kidneys but it's easier to find lamb's kidneys in the UK, for example. Plus I prefer the slight herbiness of the vermouth to the white wine Carluccio recommends. In addition, I personally leave out the parsley that Carluccio uses as I find the texture not quite right in this recipe.
In honour of Steve A, RDG, Urmaniac, the new honorary Italian lulu and any other members from Italy I haven't yet come across, here we have
Lamb's kidneys with garlic and parsley
Enough lamb's kidneys for you and your fellow diners - membrane and core removed. Slice finely into halves or quarters depending on the size.
Flour
Butter
Garlic - amount to your taste, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
White vermouth - dry Martini or Noilly Prat (which I prefer) - quarter of a glass per two people
Chopped parsley - one tablespoon per two people
Dust the kidneys in the flour and fry in the butter for five minutes or so, turning the pieces at frequent intervals. Add the garlic and black pepper and fry very briefly before adding the vermouth. Stir vigorously to scrape up the tasty bits on the bottom of the pan and leave to reduce for a minute or so depending on how much vermouth you added. And that's it. If you're using the parsley, add it just before serving.
I have to be honest at this point and say I'm not a huge kidney fan but I do like this. Don't ask me why this and not kidneys in sherry. In this recipe, the garlic is pungent from being fried so briefly, the kidneys don't have any suspicious niff to them (a smell some people seem alarmed by) and the texture is absolutely perfect.
So here's a kidney recipe for Steve A - not in sherry, but a version of a recipe in a book by Antonio Carluccio. He uses calve's kidneys but it's easier to find lamb's kidneys in the UK, for example. Plus I prefer the slight herbiness of the vermouth to the white wine Carluccio recommends. In addition, I personally leave out the parsley that Carluccio uses as I find the texture not quite right in this recipe.
In honour of Steve A, RDG, Urmaniac, the new honorary Italian lulu and any other members from Italy I haven't yet come across, here we have
Lamb's kidneys with garlic and parsley
Enough lamb's kidneys for you and your fellow diners - membrane and core removed. Slice finely into halves or quarters depending on the size.
Flour
Butter
Garlic - amount to your taste, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
White vermouth - dry Martini or Noilly Prat (which I prefer) - quarter of a glass per two people
Chopped parsley - one tablespoon per two people
Dust the kidneys in the flour and fry in the butter for five minutes or so, turning the pieces at frequent intervals. Add the garlic and black pepper and fry very briefly before adding the vermouth. Stir vigorously to scrape up the tasty bits on the bottom of the pan and leave to reduce for a minute or so depending on how much vermouth you added. And that's it. If you're using the parsley, add it just before serving.
I have to be honest at this point and say I'm not a huge kidney fan but I do like this. Don't ask me why this and not kidneys in sherry. In this recipe, the garlic is pungent from being fried so briefly, the kidneys don't have any suspicious niff to them (a smell some people seem alarmed by) and the texture is absolutely perfect.