
Ease of Preparation: Easy
Time of Preparation: 25 minutes, plus 2 days soaking time
Yield: 4 servings
If you’ve never cooked sweetbreads before, fear not! This recipe is the perfect place to start! Creamy and mild, sweetbreads are blanched and breaded before being served with a tangy and briny olive tapenade and a citrusy-sour sumac vinaigrette.
Ingredients:
Sweetbreads:
- 12 ounces (340 g) veal sweetbreads
- Milk, to cover
- 4 cups (1 L) water
- 1 lemon, juice
- ½ cup (120 ml) all purpose flour
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) sumac
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil
Tapenade:
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) chopped pitted black dry-cured olives
- ¼ cup (60 ml) finely chopped roasted red pepper
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) finely chopped anchovies
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) finely chopped caper berries
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) chopped flat leaf parsley
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoons (15 ml) olive oil
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pomegranate molasses
- 1 ½ teaspoons (7.5 ml) honey
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) chili flake
- Salt and pepper
Broken Vinaigrette:
- ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) pomegranate molasses
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) sumac
- Salt and pepper
Method:
For the Sweetbreads:
2 days before cooking, place the sweetbreads in a bowl or small container, cover them with milk, and allow them to soak in the refrigerator overnight.
Remove the sweetbreads, discarding the milk, and trim any veins or dark bits. Rinse them well and set aside.
Place the sweetbreads in a small pot, cover with water, add salt and lemon juice.
Bring the water to a boil, and blanch for about 5 minutes, until cooked through but still soft. Remove the sweetbreads and plunge them into an ice bath to stop the cooking.
If your sweetbreads are large, slice them into medallions.
Spread the flour on a plate. Season sweetbreads with salt, pepper, and sumac.
Toss the sweetbreads in the flour until well coated on all sides.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium-high heat and cook the sweetbreads until golden brown on all sides.
Add butter to the pan and allow to melt, baste the sweetbreads with the hot butter for 2-3 minutes until finished cooked and crisp.
Place the browned sweetbreads on a paper towel-lined plate and set aside, tenting loosely with foil to keep warm.
For the Tapenade:
In a bowl, toss together the peppers, olives, anchovies, caper berries, garlic, parsley, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, and honey. Season with salt, pepper, chili flake.
For the Broken Vinaigrette:
In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, pomegranate molasses, sumac, salt, and pepper.
Stir with a fork, do not emulsify.
To Serve:
On a serving plate, fill a 3-inch ring mold or cookie cutter with the tapenade to a depth of ¼ inch (6 mm). Remove the ring, leaving a neat circle.
Top the tapenade with a small portion of the sweetbreads.
Drizzle the Broken Vinaigrette over and around the sweetbread.
Repeat to make four plates.
Serve immediately.