Mystery Meat

I wasn't always a fan of what was inside of all the tasty critters that I ate growing up, but that is a product of my American upbringing. Lets face it, the pinnacle of eating the tasty bits culminated when my parents made Liver and Onions as a kid. I love them to death, but they cooked those livers so long that you had to chew for hours just to gag it down. Not a good beginning to my foodie career in fine eats.

Then more than a decade ago I began to travel and discovered something: we as a culture BUTCHER the finer foods sometimes because we are spoiled by the 'rich people' cuts of meat. It doesn't take a genius to cook a chicken breast and have it taste delicious, but it does take a genius to take bits that are discarded and turn them into something that just melts in your mouth. That is cooking.

Along these lines I got myself some chicken gizzards and hearts last night from the supermercado, not because there wasn't other cuts of meat that looked just as good, but because I wanted a challenge. So after cutting them up at home and throwing them into the small crock pot for 14 hours with a bit of water, a bullion cube for salt, I now have the protein and broth that I'll use for the next few days.

The trick with any cut of meat that is tough is long, slow cooking. This will get rid of any of the funny flavor that others accuse organ meat of rightfully having (that iron bitter that seems to turn off any school child), and dissolve the fats in the meat to make the most tender cut of meat you have ever eaten. That is cooking. So tonight I'm taking my chicken and some fresh onions, some warm rice, and the very last of my homemade salsa and making fajitas in my study as I work on yet another document.

Tomorrow for lunch I have already pulled some of the broth from the crock pot and intend to make some chicken noodles for lunch with some onions and carrots, which is all about putting all the cut up ingredients into my skillet, setting the burner on high, and adding broth until it is all cooked. Simple, filling, and warm. My kind of meal on an Autumn day.

Until then, experiment, you might be surprised with what you create. Bien Camino.