Kidneys

I’m not quite Fergus Henderson, but some of the best-tasting stuff - organs, blood, guts, tails and entrails - truly go to waste in this country. At least I’m not alone in this thinking in my household. My four-year-old daughter and I battle it out for the last piece of liver – any kind: chicken, turkey, calf or duck (she’ll stab your hand with a fork if you even try to reach for that one).

This started with the first Thanksgiving that she was eating solid food. At the tender age of one year and two months, she decimated the turkey liver all on her own. I look forward every year to that turkey liver. Until she’s married and on her own, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to have it again.

My husband prefers to take a pass on organ meat, mainly due to his concerns over cholesterol. So I don’t serve it too often. But when Mike works late, I’ll make a mess of hearts and gizzards for my daughter and me to “share” – you can guess who powers down the most. When we roast a whole chicken, we cook and eat the contents of the inner packet before we even season the bird. Or I’ll get a small but thick slice or two of calf’s liver for us to cook perfectly pink with juices running. Ketchup? Never. She’s a purist and takes it straight.

So when I saw a pair of veal kidneys glistening and fresh, I couldn’t pass them up. And the price? The butcher was giving them away.

Lightly browned then kept warm, the kidneys were served with a pan sauce of butter, shallots, white wine and a whisk of Dijon mustard. How could you go wrong? Apparently, I did.

“I just passed a stone, and you’re serving me this?!?”

That part was true. Mike had had a really rough go of it, but two weeks had passed [term intentional] since the stone did. I suppose it wasn’t quite enough time.

He made a go of it, though, in part because I think the sauce was so good. But I could tell he was straining a bit at the table.

My daughter, however, was on the verge of licking her plate clean.

“May I have some more, please?” she said at least three times, reaching for the serving platter.

“She loves organ meat,” Mike kept saying, as she shoveled it in and I passed another slice to her.

In the end, I gave Mike a pass, too. “Just swirl the potatoes in the sauce,” I said, which he did, with relish. And we had a good laugh about it later.

Rognons de Veau a la Moutarde
Thank you, Anthony Bourdain.

2 whole veal kidneys
S & P
1 T Vegetable Oil
2 T butter
2 shallots, thinly sliced (more if you like sweet, sweated shallots)
¼ C. white wine
½ c. chicken stock
2 T Dijon mustard.

S/P the kidneys and sauté in the oil and 1T butter. Cook 2 mins per side. Set aside and keep warm.

Discard the fat from the pan, add the rest of the butter and cook the shallots until soft. Deglaze with the wine and reduce by half. Add the stock, bring to a boil, and cook for 5 mins. Whisk in the mustard.

Slice the kidneys, arrange on a platter and spoon the sauce over them.