I don't know why it took me so long to get around to cooking one. Tongue is so tasty and flavorful...now I'm wanting mutant animals so I can get more than one tongue per steer. And the broth from the skin...wow...wow....ummmm, wow!There are quite a few methods for preparing tongue. I got impatient and used the pressure cooker. It was a 1.35 lb tongue and I cooked it at 8 lbs of pressure for a half hour. I used a trivet and about a half cup of water on the bottom. I used the natural release method.
While the meat was cooking, I heated the coconut oil for deep frying some white corn tortillas. While that was heating, I dissolved some gelatin/sugar/cream of tartar/salt in some diced tomatoes and chilies. The tongue is a high gelatin muscle, like rib eye, but I always like to make sure I am getting enough.
When the pressure was out of the pressure cooker, I grabbed the tongue with some tongs and ran it under some cold water. When it is cool enough, the skin is SUPPOSED to just release. I guess I was too impatient again and ended up cutting it off until I got to the tip. The skin at the tip pulled right off with ease. I diced the meat into small cubes and put it in with the tomatoes. In hind sight, it would have been down right decedent to fry them up a little first, fajita-ish, then put them in the sauce.
The only thing needed now was the taco "shells". I tried "draping" the tortillas on the end of a wooden spoon. They didn't drape well and the hot oil actually made the sides float up. Then I tried tongs, holding onto them on one half while pressing them against the side of the pot. That worked better, but then they puffed up a lot while being held under. I stopped at 2 tortillas per person. They weren't pretty but it's the thought that counts, right?
Ok, so the end product was a fresh fried tortilla, yummy meat topping and a glop of sour cream. A fabulously messy meal that we all enjoyed immensely!
But that's not the end......
No, now I had this delicious smelling liquid at the bottom of my pressure cooker and tongue scraps, mostly skin, but some meat on there too. So out comes the gallon bag of frozen onion skins and leftover bones/gristle from other meals. I took the trivet out and emptied the contents of the bag into the pressure cooker. I added water and some vinegar and salt to 2/3 full. It's a 6 quart cooker. I brought it to pressure and cooked for 45 minutes according to the instructions. I let it the pressure come back down naturally and strained the big stuff out of the broth with a slotted spoon into a strainer over the pot.
Total yield 3/4 of a gallon of double strength, very gelatinous broth.
The broth has become a simple potato soup, sausage and potato soup, and potato and cheese soup.
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