Beef Tongue Recipe

I know ya'all have been DYING to know the outcome of my Beef Tongue Extravaganza!!!

(And I'm not even from the South - so "ya'all" isn't even a 'natural' term for me!)

Okay, for starters, there's a borderline pornographic pic + recipe here... No, I didn't use that particular recipe, but the photo made me giggle 'til margarita shot-up my nose, so I felt it was worth sharing, at least!!!

I actually Googled "How to cook Beef Tongue" and got a buttload of "hits." Here's what I ended up with (merging most of 'em into ONE) (My modifications are noted in [brackets]):

1 3 lb large beef tongue
1 Onion, quartered
1 Carrot, sliced [I used about 6-8 baby carrots, actually]
3 Ribs of leafy celery
6 Sprigs of [fresh] parsley
3 Bay leaves
10 Peppercorns, cracked [actually, I ground the peppermill about 15x]
[3-5 Cloves fresh garlic, sliced]
[3-4 Bouillon cubes]
[4-5 Tbs Onion flakes]

[*Addendum: Might want to add a bit of salt to the water! No, I don't know how much - but I ended up needing to "salt" the meat slices when I ate it the next day.]

I started out by scrubbing the tongue, then soaked it in cold water for appx 90 minutes (changed the water about 3 times).

Then I filled a large pot (I'm guessing it's appx 5 qts +/-) with cold water. Enough to cover the tongue + appx 2". Then added the above ingredients. Put it on the stove... Brought it to a boil, then covered it, and turned it back to "simmer" (low, rolling boil). Let 'er boil for about 60 mins/lb. So, about 3 hours in my case. I did stop, midway through, to flip the tongue over (it kept wanting to float to the top and the topside would tend to dry out. I covered it w/the wet veggie matter).

After appx 3 hrs, I pulled it out and plunked it into a bowl of COLD water. Grabbed a pair of cooking shears, a knife and a fork, and proceeded to "skin" the tongue (outer surface of the tongue turned white during cooking). I did my best to "preserve" the meat underneath and actually did a halfway decent job of "skinning" it (Plunging it in cold water was a *very* good idea!).

It seems pretty tender, now - but, after skinning, I decided to plop it back into the pot 'o water/veggies on the stove to let it simmer a bit longer...

[Addendum: I'd turned off the burner, but let the tongue sit in hot water for appx an add'l 20 minutes. You definitely *don't* want to overcook it, or it'll get tough and gross!]

I did slice a hunk or two off of it - and it tastes GREAT!

Although, personally, I am more "familiar" with Beef Tongue as cold-cuts/lunch-meat. I'm anxious to put it in the fridge, then thin-slice it with my Deli-Slicer tomorrow. I'm *sure* it'll make deeeeeee-licious sandwiches tomorrow!

Okay, that's it from my world! Hope I haven't grossed anyone out TOO badly!!!