Jellied Beef Tongue
Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 9b
This recipe will probably excite these few who either grow up in USSR or have relatives from that country/time.
I am both, and this dish brings a lot of childhood memories of New Year celebrations and other family gatherings.
For the rest of you jellied beef tongue (zalivnoj jazyk, zalivnoe) may be more of an exotic something you may never try, here are some pictures to a look at in case you don’t feel that adventurous to cook it.
Few notes to the recipe. I’ve ended up using more gelatin than the ingredients picture shows, that is because I’ve decided to do more than one plate. Rule of the thumb 1 pack (1/4oz) for about 1 cup of broth.
Second note is about execution: I’ve realized that it may be easier to arrange the decoration pieces when gelatin starts to settle a bit, and not before pouring the broth in (as I did), because broth moves them around :).
Ingredients:
- 1 beef tongue (about 2.5 lb)
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- Parsnip piece
- Celery piece
- 3 bay leaves
- 6 black peppercorns
- 3 allspice corns
- Salt to taste
- 3 packs (1/4 oz each) of unflavored gelatin (for 3-4 cups of broth to jelly)
- Water
- Few slices on lemon
How to prepare, step-by-step:
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Prepare ingredients: (depending on how many dishes you plan to to make amount of gelatin you need will vary, I used 3 packs for about 4 cups of broth for this recipe which yielded 3 deep plates of jellied tongue):
Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 1 -
Start by cooking the tongue. Here are quick recap on how to do it, see the how-to for detailed instructions if needed (depending on the size of the tongue, cooking it may take somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5h):
Soak and clean Boil, rinse and boil again Add vegetables and roots Add bay leaves and spices Remove skin when ready Salt and cook a bit more -
Somewhere close to the end move about one cup of broth the tongue was cooking in (strain it through a sieve) to a sauce pan to cool down till room temperature. When it is cooled down, pour all gelatin into it and let it soak for few minutes:
Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 3 -
When tongue is ready, remove it from the pot it was cooking in and let it cool down, and slice it:
Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 4 -
Strain rest of the hot broth into the pot with gelatin:
Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 5 -
Mix it up until fully dissolved (heat it up until light simmer if needed):
Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 6 -
Arrange sliced tongue in a deep plate or some deep dish:
Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 7 -
Decorate with slices of carrot or/and slices of lemon (or skip this step all together):
Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 8a Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 8b -
And pour gelatin dissolved in broth over it:
Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 9a Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 9b -
Allow dishes to cool down to room temperature and for gelatin to begin to settle:
Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 10 -
Then move to fridge to finish up the process (may take few hours):
Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 11a Jellied Beef Tongue: Step 11b -
When ready, slice it up and serve:
Jellied Beef Tongue
