Elk Sweetbreads

[wyogoob]

Finally found time to cook some elk sweetbreads.

'Sweetbread' is a term for a variety of organs. Sweetbreads can be the tongue, the thymus, the heart, the pancreas, even the testicles.  Typically they are the thymus glands or pancreas taken from a beef calf.  I think they are called 'sweetbread' because no one would eat them if they were known as 'thymus' or 'pancreas'.  :)   

These are elk neck sweetbreads, the thymus gland that can be found on either side of the windpipe where the chest meets the neck:
 


Elk Sweetbread Recipe:

Ingredients:
2 - elk thymus glands
1 cup - milk
1 - egg
3 tbsp - flour or coating mix
1 cup - fresh mixed vegetables
3 tbsp - butter
1 tbsp - white wine
Salt and pepper to taste



Meat Preparation:
Trim any fat, tubes and fibers from the sweetbreads.
Soak in lightly salted cold water for an hour.
Parboil a few minutes; drain and cool.
Remove membranes and break sweetbreads up into bite-size pieces.

Prep options:  Tenderize whole or cut sweetbreads into bite-sized pieces.

Cooking Instructions:
Beat egg into milk and set in fridge to cool.
Rinse sweetbreads and then soak in milk and egg mixture for an hour.
Dredge with flour or favorite fry coating.
In a small fry pan over medium heat, cook vegetables in butter for 5 minutes or less.
Add wine to vegetables and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Fry the sweetbreads until golden brown (medium-well) in the pan used for the vegetables.



Comments:
Rich flavored, somewhat like chicken hearts.
Serve with toast.
Great with peas, lima or butter beans. 
Good dipped in Ranch dressing.

I enjoy restaurant sweetbreads as an appetizer, but few eating establisments around here offer them on the menu. But I have never had elk sweetbreads before.  These came out of a spike elk and are very tender and rich.  The only offal flavor, though not objectionable, came from a small part of the sweetbread that was a little medium-rare. 

I will save them from now on; dig them out of my friends elk; be the first on my block to have a Thymus Party.   :D

[pensrock]

I'll pass, but I'm sure there are some others who are more adventurous at eating than I am.

[Kahunas]

I like them if you slice them thin and fry them up like bacon.

[Tenpoint5]

I'll pass, but I'm sure there are some others who are more adventurous at eating than I am.

Come on Greg you might just fall in love with them. Don't ask just eat.