Ahhhh, sweetbreads.

A long-time foodie favorite, many, many people still have not tried them, or even know what they are. To be honest I can’t say I blame them with a name like sweetbreads. I mean, they are neither sweet, nor are they anything resembling bread.

So what are they? Well, as eloquently as I can put it, sweetbreads are the thymus glands of young veal, pork and lamb. That’s right, today we’ll be learning about eating thymus glands!

“You sit there and eat ALL your thymus glands Billy, or no dessert!”

Now we can get these thymus glands from two places, the first is just below the throat of the animal, and the other is near the heart, which are generally more prized and more expensive as many consider them to have a better flavour. Here’s what they look like:

I have a strange feeling I may have grossed some of you out by now. But let me just say this:

Sweetbreads are delicious.

There is a reason many of the best chefs in the world have had them on their menus for years. If prepared right, you’ll order them everytime you see them on a menu. Alright, alright, well if they’re so good, why doesn’t everyone have them on their menus?

A couple reason:

1. First and foremost, they are extremely perishable, usually having to be prepared and eaten within 24 hours of purchasing. This makes them not very cost-effective for most restaurants.

2. Well, let’s not sugar coat it, thymus glands are a tough sell. I’m not sure why they came to be called sweetbreads, but there’s a good chance it was simply to call them something else other than what they actually were.

But let’s move on now from all the nay-saying and approach this with an open mind. What do they taste like?

They have a very delicate liver flavor with a slightly creamy texture. My favorite way to have them prepared is blanched, lightly battered and fried. I had one dining companion say they tasted like “the best chicken mcnugget ever, just a bit creamier”. Hey, whatever works.

Feeling adventurous enough to try them? Head out to Le Crocodile, the famous mainstay of fine French dining here in Vancouver, as they always have them in some form on their menu.

http://www.lecrocodilerestaurant.com/

Most people are familiar with (and love, for good reason)  Korean style BBQ short ribs. Sliced thin, marinated overnight and grilled over hot charcoal they are a fantastic alternative to standard BBQ fare. However, short ribs are not limited to just the grill for cost-effective enjoyment (they are considerably cheaper than your average steak) as I’ll show you with a follow up to my braising article – Braised Beef Short Ribs.

The short ribs in all their glory:

You’ll notice these are considerably thicker than the Korean BBQ style. These will be cooking for a longer period of time, so you’ll want to ask your butcher to slice them 3/4″ to 1″ thick for you.

Next slice up some fresh veggies. I’ve got some local garlic, new potatoes, carrots, onions and button mushrooms, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand.

Next, slice the short ribs in half and season them with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, then sprinkle 1 tsp of flour over each short rib. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and 1 tbsp of butter in a large heavy bottomed pan:

Brown the short ribs well over high heat on both sides. Getting a nice sear is important to the flavour of this recipe.

After well browned, remove them from the pot and brown the onions and garlic, then sautee the rest of the vegetables:

Now add the short ribs back to the pot, and add in the demi glace, beef stock, red wine, and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and bring mixture to a boil. (Full recipe posted at the end)

Now, I know not everyone is crazy like me and makes their own demi glace, then freezes it in cubes, so omit this step if you like and thicken the braising liquid with a roux at the end of the braising process instead:

Your pot should look something like this:

Pre-heat the oven to 375F, and once mixture is boiling, place the pot covered in the oven and braise for 1.5-2 hours or until short ribs are ridiculously tender.

Plate simply and garnish with a little flatleaf parsley if you like (I couldn’t wait and started eating mine before this step)

There you have it! Something new and some good eats if I do say so myself. Here’s the ingredients for those keeping score at home.

Braised Beef Short Ribs

2-3 lbs beef short ribs, 3/4″ to 1″ thick
1 lb new potatoes, halved
8-10 small carrots, peeled
3 gloves garic, diced
1 medium onion, sliced
10-12 button mushrooms, quartered
4 cups beef or veal stock
2 cups dry red wine
2 cubes or 2 tbsp demi glace, or the same amount of roux
2 cups whole canned tomatoes
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper

I had a bit of time over the long weekend to do some relaxing cooking for myself. It’s funny how that works, I cook for others for a living yet still find it relaxing and exciting cooking for myself in my spare time, which is why I love what I do so much.

Now, my plans for cooking today started off pretty normal. I was going to head out to the butcher and pick up a nice big bone-in pork butt, smoke it slowly all day and by dinner time, turn it into a huge pile of pulled pork for delicious smoky sandwiches all week long. I also planned on making some cornbread in my trusty cast iron skillet.

Neither of these things ended up happening, as my butcher’s shop was closed (for the holiday of course) and upon starting the cornbread I realized I was fresh out of cornmeal…somewhat of a key ingredient in making cornbread.

Determined to make something tasty and time consuming I ravaged my cupboards and found an old recipe I printed out a long time ago for everyone’s favorite guilty pleasure: brioche.

A quick scan revealed I had all the necessary ingredients and I went to work (don’t worry, I’ll post the recipe at the end). After some measuring and mixing the dough needed a couple hours to rise, and I was still looking for something tasty to cook up in the meantime. A raid through my spice rack and I found something interesting, some Ethiopian Berbere spice powder I picked up at Gourmet Warehouse awhile back. A fiery blend of spices, this was to be my starting point for a unique dinner, though not necessarily a traditional accompaniment for brioche, to say the least.

After a bit of searching I decided to make a traditional Ethiopian dish called Doro Wat, which is basically a spicy chicken stew garnished with hard boiled eggs. I’ve eaten this before at an Ethiopian restaurant but never prepared it myself.
The aromas in my house as I cooked were amazing, and before I knew it my brioche was in the oven. After a few hours of running around, improvising and cooking, here’s what I ended up with:

I did end up finding some pita bread in my freezer to simulate the traditional inerja bread of ethiopian cuisine, however I’d be lying if I said I didn’t dip a bit of the brioche in it too, and I’d also be lying if I said it wasn’t awesome.

Two complete culinary opposites in classic French cooking and Ethiopian came together in one strange and wonderful day of holiday cooking today.

Oh, and before I forget, here’s the recipes for the brioche and the Doro Wat:

Ethiopian Doro Wat (Chicken Stew)