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Lamb oysters, make sure they are skinned. Easiest way is to freeze them then make a thin slice along them and the "skin" will peel away like the skin of a tomato after blanched.
Then to cook the oysters, we deep fry them. Usually sliced 1/8-1/4" thick, depending on size can cut in half and it'll be fine. Thin sliced, 350-370* oil. Thick sliced go down around 330-340
For the heart, it's like squid/calamari. Either hot and fast rare to med rare, or low and slow until tender. I like to put it on the smoker and go till it's tender. Heart will give you about the best beef flavor ever, some not crazy about texture. My kids love it and ate it when they were young. I didn't tell them it was heart until after they tried it.
Worst part about heart is the cleaning and getting rid of sinew. If it's already cleaned, that is fantastic!
I'll eat liver, but I don't know what to do with heart. Do you?
Heart isn't really organ neat. It is muscle meat, but well exercised so it can be tough if you aren't careful.
If you coarse grind heart, it makes the best chili ever. Or roast it until it is medium rare and slice thin and it is like roast beef.
The only way I've ever seen testicles prepared is sliced battered and deep fried. Those were beef... Rocky Mountain oysters. ... but I'm sure you could do the same with lamb
Generally, offal in my House is dog food. One of the local delis that made great pressure fried chicken did a darn good chicken fried chicken gizzard.
I've been buying beef liver and heart from local farmers for the past several years. I'm lucky to have the resource. As others have noted, tongue has gotten expensive in most places, although you can probably find it cheap on occasion. We used to love tongue sandwiches when I was a kid. Some mayo and lettuce and two slices of bread. Tongue was boiled till well done. We used to love gizzards when I was a kid too. Just tossed them in a frypan with some oil and cooked till well done.
GOOD liver and heart - as others have noted, you can cook quick and hot, on a grill or in a saute, and a bit rarer than medium rare is best. But you can also go low and slow for a stew-like dish. I would not buy nor choose to eat grocery liver, as the quality is poorer, and the taste is much more, well, livery. Good liver is almost sweet, and the liver flavor is very mild. I especially avoid grocery store chicken liver, since who-knows-what got fed to THOSE chickens.
I've tried to use the game I get from nose to tail, but the ick factor for testicles, eyeballs, and brains has always dissuaded me. Lungs go to the dogs, and I don't use the tripe, as I've never had anybody to show me how to clean and manage that.
I eat all that regularly except for testicles and spleen. Yeah, cow's-tongue is just delicious, but the price of it now, just cannot justify buying it.
Cannot comment of cooking, I just throw it in a pan or pot and cook offal until it looks kinda done, then eat.
I eat all of them and some, although when I was buying chicken hearts and liver, a checkout clerk tried to make comments about me cooking for my animals. When I said I am going to cook it for myself, she almost fainted
I believe that nose-to-tail eating is both economic and sustainable. Not to mention that all are delicious food.
So, I will add to your list cheeks, kidneys, lungs, tripes, legs, necks, tails, brain, sweetbreads, ligaments, blood and skin.
Heads, hearts, liver, cheeks, testicles I buy at a Halal store. Legs, brains, sweetbreads, spleen, tails, tendons, lungs at a butcher store (some are special request). Other stuff I usually find in Asian markets.
All, correctly prepared are delicious delicacy. Just remember that most innards are very high in cholesterol.
And don't feel insulting, I would never eat any of the ones you mentioned! LOL
Not eating processed food? Ever? What do you think happens with offal at slaughter houses? Get wasted?
Meat, fat and other slaughter by-products (blood, intestines, soft tissues from feet, head etc.) are used as raw materials for the manufacture of processed meat products.
I've tried to use the game I get from nose to tail, but the ick factor for testicles, eyeballs, and brains has always dissuaded me. Lungs go to the dogs, and I don't use the tripe, as I've never had anybody to show me how to clean and manage that.
Tripe is generally used as the base for menudo, a Mexican soup dish. I must admit that I finally tried it BUT I cannot handle the texture.
I do not buy kidneys or chitterlings as I do NOT like to clean them. Steak and kidney pie is pretty good although I have never seen it served in the US. I used to serve chitterlings in my cafeteria years ago as it was a regional favorite. However, I would serve them from a particular vendor who was trusted in the area.
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