Glazed Sweetbreads with Mustard Greens
A basic, adaptable preparation for a variety of vegetables
Equipment
- Cutting board
- Chef's knife
- Hard plastic food container
- Saucepan or stockpot
- Skillet or saute pan
- 1/8th size sheet pan or cookie tray
Ingredients
Sweetbreads and brine
- 12 ounces sweetbreads
- 100 grams kosher salt preferably Diamond Crystal
- 1 liter water
Poaching liqud for sweetbreads
- 1 medium onion
- 4 cloves garlic smashed and peeled
- 3 inches ginger root, sliced
- 3 kaffir lime leaves OPTIONAL
- 1 stem lemongrass OPTIONAL
- 2 cups dry sherry
- 2 cups chicken stock
Glaze and mustard greens
- 3 tablespoons sliced almonds
- 3/4 cup rice
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 small onion
- 3 inches ginger peeled and minced
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1/4 cup neutral oil high smoke point, like peanut or coconut
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon malt or black vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3/4 cup sweetbread poaching liquid
- 6 cups washed mustard greens
Instructions
Brine sweetbreads
- Stir together water and salt until dissolved. Add sweetbreads and refrigerate overnight.
Blanch sweetbreads
- Boil enough water to cover sweetbreads in a saucepan or stockpot. Prepare an ice bath, if using.
- Blanch sweetbreads until outer membrane turns opaque. Remove from water to ice bath if using, and peel membrane, remove external fat, and any other undesirable connective or vascular tissue.
Poach sweetbreads
- Bring aromatics and sherry to a simmer in a small saucepan or stockpot and reduce by half. Add enough stock to cover sweetbreads and return to a simmer. For better flavor, simmer aromatics in stock for at least an hour.
- Poach sweetbreads in stock for 25 minutes, and check. They should be opaque all the way through, but still feel tender and creamy. If necessary cook for up to another 20 minutes. If you're uncertain, you can err on the side of caution and stop cooking during this step, as they will be cooked further in the glaze.
- Remove from heat and chill in liquid. If you want to press the sweetbreads, put a plate on top of the sweetbreads in the pot and weigh it down with a container filled with cold liquid.
Prepare rice, glaze sweetbreads and mustard greens
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Spread almonds on sheet tray and toast about 5 minutes, till light brown and aromatic.
- Put the rice in a pot and cover with a double volume (1 1/2 cups) of reserved poaching liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 25 minutes (45 for brown rice). Turn off heat and let rest at least 5 minutes before serving.
- Pat sweetbreads dry with a paper towel and cut or break into pieces of the desired size and shape. Dredge in cornstarch and tap to remove excess.
- Heat oil in a skillet or frying pan over medium high heat until shimmering, and then sear sweetbreads, turning, until evenly browned. Reserve and drain all but 1 tablespoon oil.
- Add onions, garlic, and ginger to pan and sauté until they start to turn translucent.
- Add sherry to pan and reduce by half. Add soy, vinegar, honey and poaching liquid, and bring to a simmer. Add sweetbreads and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Make sure the sweetbreads are evenly and generously coated with the glaze and remove from the pan.
- Add mustard greens, and if necessary, a little water to the pan and cook just until wilted.
- To serve, spoon the greens over the rice, and top with sweetbreads and toasted almonds.
