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Sweetbreads, Anyone?


ScotteeM

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Mr. and I had our first taste of veal sweetbreads nearly 29 years ago, on the occasion of our first anniversary, in a restaurant on South Street in Philly called "Wildflowers." We were hooked.

Nearly 2 years later, Bon Appetit published a recipe in their June, 1978, issue for Sweetbreads Financiere. Even with the limited availability of ingredients back then (in Ann Arbor), we tried the recipe and loved it.

Twenty-seven years later, my copy of that issue is yellowed and grease-stained. Now that we have access to wild mushrooms (unheard of in 1978-era Ann Arbor), the dish is even more wonderful. And with Wegmans carrying sweetbreads fairly frequently (a good thing, since our previous source had been the French Market in Georgetown, so we went a while without them), we are eating them more frequently.

Aside from a couple of recipes in a cookbook from a restaurant in Philly called "The Frog," which are wonderful, we are at a loss to find any other recipes. I want to branch out and try other sauces and cooking methods.

Anyone willing to share recipes you might have tucked away for these delicate morsels?

ScotteeM

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Here is my favorite way to prepare sweetbreads, simple and by no means fancy. They will be crispy on the outside to complement the soft and creamy center.

Remove skin and break into pieces.

Pat dry and season with salt and pepper.

Dust with flour (Wondra works really nicely for these).

Fry in a pan of clarified butter until golden.

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Here is my favorite way to prepare sweetbreads, simple and by no means fancy.  They will be crispy on the outside to complement the soft and creamy center.

Remove skin and break into pieces.

Pat dry and season with salt and pepper.

Dust with flour (Wondra works really nicely for these).

Fry in a pan of clarified butter until golden.

So you don't poach or weight them? It sounds easy and delicious!

ScotteeM

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Not exactly a recipe, but I had a nice sweetbreads dish earlier this summer at The Buttery in Lewes, DE. Sweetbreads, scallops, and morels. Sweetbreads & scallops seemed to be dredged in flour and sauteed in butter with the morels and probably a bit of wine. Very simple & nice.

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Not exactly a recipe, but I had a nice sweetbreads dish earlier this summer at The Buttery in Lewes, DE.  Sweetbreads, scallops, and morels.  Sweetbreads & scallops seemed to be dredged in flour and sauteed in butter with the morels and probably a bit of wine.  Very simple & nice.

Sounds pretty yummy to me!

Thanks,

ScotteeM

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Anybody know where I can get sweetbreads in the city (lots of mentions of Wegman's but it's unfortunately out of my radar). I don't know of any farmer's market vendors doing veal so I imagine I'll have to stick to the grocery stores on this one....does WF carry them? or do I need to check at Dean and Deluca?

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Union Meats at Eastern Market has a variety of, uh, variety meats. I don't know if they have sweetbreads, but you could check with them. It's possible they could order them if they don't stock them regularly.

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Call Pam the Butcher at Wagshal's. I think they normally carry them, but if not, you can ask her and she'll get them for you.

Wagshal's may technically be in the District, but it's equally painful to organize a trip out there, so it's a secondary option. I'll try at Union...they were quite helpful when I ordered my first pig-roast pig a couple years ago.

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I ended up getting some at Union Meat. About $7 per piece (lobe? gland? whatever?). Fergus wasn't kidding when he said

Once the sweetbreads are cool enough to handle, <after poaching> peel the membrane off the little glands, a slightly fiddly process but well worth the trouble when it comes to the eating

Fiddly is putting it lightly if my experience was typical. Such a pain in the ass.

But damn, they are delicious little buggers. Definitely not an everyday thing, but they certainly are making quite a fine lunch right now, with some fried okra and toasted pine nuts.

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