I sauntered up to the local butchers shop for a quick perusal for something for dinner the other day and got very excited when I spotted a small portion of lamb sweetbreads! I had been hunting these beauties down for months and here they are on my own doorstep. Awesome. Needless to say, I bought some. Off home I trotted with my spoils, thrilled that I could finally cook up these delicious morsels into crispy, creamy, explosions of flavour and texture. Ohm, nom, nom…

I soaked them for an hour or so in water to make sure they were well cleaned. Then, I placed them in a pan, and covered them with more water, a little salt and some ground black pepper. Then I brought the pan to a simmer, and let them poach for about 4 minutes untill they were firm yet still springy. I popped them into cold water to let them cool just enough so I could handle them. They have a membrane on them that is well worth peeling off. It’s a little fiddly, but well worth the effort when you eat them. I popped a plate on top of them to “press them”, and left them in the fridge overnight. Then I sliced them into small pieces, about the size of a large grape ready for the final cooking.

I got a bowl of flour very well seasoned with salt and pepper ready. I tossed the small pieces of sweetbread in the flour, coating all the surfaces lightly and then cooked small batches of them in a shallow pan of duck fat untill they turned golden and crisp on the outside. A green salad, served as a base to support the sweetbreads, which I drizzled with good extra virgin olive oil and a nice sharp balsamic vinegar over the top with lots of salt and freshly ground black pepper, set the dish off perfectly. They were crisp and crunchy on the outside and creamy and mild flavoured on the inside but with a richness that means you only need a small amount to satisfy the most discerning of appetites. This makes for a very economical dish.

Sadly, I didn’t take a picture of these morsels of goodness, I was too busy enjoying them. You will have to supply the details in your head, but trust me, the taste sensation is worth the effort.

Now that I have the basic technique right, next time I’ll dress them up a little more like the ones I had at Rockpool in Perth.

Enjoy,

kind regards,

J