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Dinner for one: kidney in red wine sauce
I'm aliiiiive
Depression is a cruel mistress so I've spent a lot of time eating tinned and microwaved meals, but I'm back and at it again.
I realise kidney isn't for everyone, but what you need to know is you're wrong and it's delicious.
Ingredients:
2 kidneys (pork, in this case)
200g mushrooms
shallots
garlic
salt/pepper
butter
cream
red wine
beef stock
Note: you can use veal kidney and I personally prefer it, but it is a lot more expensive. Approximately the same weight was €9 for veal and €1 for pork. Beef is also an option, but I find the taste much less appealing.
Grab your kidneys
That's what pork kidneys look like, very pretty, very misleading. Slice them open and you get:
Yeah that's pretty bad. It might also not smell that great, but don't let that discourage you.
Grab a very sharp knife or a good pair of kitchen scissors and start cutting away, all the white stuff has to go. The bobbly darker red bits can be taken out too, but it's less important.
Once done, I slice them into three pieces each, but you can leave them whole.
Put a pot of water on and once boiling, toss in the kidney.
Careful, a minute is plenty, two minutes and you risk them being cooked all the way through.
You will notice the water getting some foam or scum on top, that's the filth coming out of the kidneys. Drain after a good minute and let cool. I like to rinse them once or twice while cooling to get rid of the blood that will still be coming out.
In the mean time, finely slice a shallot and put a pan on (I used a small stainless steel pan). Let it it heat up (a good indicator is water droplets tossed into the pan evaporating immediately) and put in a nugget of butter. Let melt, let foam and add the shallot.
This'll need a few minutes to glaze and become nicely aromatic.
Crush and finely chop or grate some garlic and put on a second pan. Heat it up too, butter, garlic. Chop your mushrooms and once the garlic is ready (just a minute or two), add to the pan. Salt and pepper to taste.
Once the shallot is ready, toss in those pieces of kidney and don't touch it again right away. It doesn't need to be in the pan long, but you do want it to brown nicely.
When mushrooms are done, turn down the stove to keep them hot but stop them going rubbery.
When the kidney is done (not bloody anymore, but can stay vaguely pink in the middle), take it out of the pan and put it aside. I wrap it up in aluminium foil to keep it warm.
The pan that held the kidney stays on the stove.
Pour in your red wine (for one person, 200ml is plenty). Let that boil down a little and add some 400ml of beef stock.
Let that boil down again to about a third. Then add some cream and let it come to a simmer again. Taste, add more salt and pepper if needed.
Then plate.
And enjoy.
Depression is a cruel mistress so I've spent a lot of time eating tinned and microwaved meals, but I'm back and at it again.
I realise kidney isn't for everyone, but what you need to know is you're wrong and it's delicious.
Ingredients:
2 kidneys (pork, in this case)
200g mushrooms
shallots
garlic
salt/pepper
butter
cream
red wine
beef stock
Note: you can use veal kidney and I personally prefer it, but it is a lot more expensive. Approximately the same weight was €9 for veal and €1 for pork. Beef is also an option, but I find the taste much less appealing.
Grab your kidneys
That's what pork kidneys look like, very pretty, very misleading. Slice them open and you get:
Yeah that's pretty bad. It might also not smell that great, but don't let that discourage you.
Grab a very sharp knife or a good pair of kitchen scissors and start cutting away, all the white stuff has to go. The bobbly darker red bits can be taken out too, but it's less important.
Once done, I slice them into three pieces each, but you can leave them whole.
Put a pot of water on and once boiling, toss in the kidney.
Careful, a minute is plenty, two minutes and you risk them being cooked all the way through.
You will notice the water getting some foam or scum on top, that's the filth coming out of the kidneys. Drain after a good minute and let cool. I like to rinse them once or twice while cooling to get rid of the blood that will still be coming out.
In the mean time, finely slice a shallot and put a pan on (I used a small stainless steel pan). Let it it heat up (a good indicator is water droplets tossed into the pan evaporating immediately) and put in a nugget of butter. Let melt, let foam and add the shallot.
This'll need a few minutes to glaze and become nicely aromatic.
Crush and finely chop or grate some garlic and put on a second pan. Heat it up too, butter, garlic. Chop your mushrooms and once the garlic is ready (just a minute or two), add to the pan. Salt and pepper to taste.
Once the shallot is ready, toss in those pieces of kidney and don't touch it again right away. It doesn't need to be in the pan long, but you do want it to brown nicely.
When mushrooms are done, turn down the stove to keep them hot but stop them going rubbery.
When the kidney is done (not bloody anymore, but can stay vaguely pink in the middle), take it out of the pan and put it aside. I wrap it up in aluminium foil to keep it warm.
The pan that held the kidney stays on the stove.
Pour in your red wine (for one person, 200ml is plenty). Let that boil down a little and add some 400ml of beef stock.
Let that boil down again to about a third. Then add some cream and let it come to a simmer again. Taste, add more salt and pepper if needed.
Then plate.
And enjoy.