Beef Tongue with White Wine and Mushrooms Recipe -- Gluten Free, Paleo, and Allergy Friendly

Apologies for the less than appealing picture; I was trying to take a more beautiful picture, but my friend asked me what I expected, its tongue after all. But I can assure you that, despite looking weird, it was delectable meat and I highly recommend it, if you are a fan of tongue in general. (I'm not quite sure why eating an animal's tongue is any weirder than eating their chest or legs, but hey, people can have their preferences. They just are missing out on something amazing, since there is no meat as soft as properly cooked tongue.)

I threw together this tongue recipe because I wanted to try something a little bit different than my sweet and sour tongue, and I still had a bunch of discount-bought tongues in my freezer. I know many people like using red wine in their recipes with meat, but I've found the pairing of white wine, mushrooms, and beef to be wonderful and so decided to try that with tongue. It didn't disappoint. In fact, it worked out so well that I cooked up another batch as soon as the first was consumed, both to be able to enjoy it again, but also so I'd have the recipe to share with you.

Something to note if you've never made tongue before is that cooking it takes a long time. Like really long. I'll cook tongue the first time 6-8 hours simmering or longer, or 2-3 hours in pressure cooker at pressure. If you don't cook it long enough, it will be rubbery. There are no shortcuts here.

Beef Tongue with White Wine and Mushrooms Recipe -- Gluten Free, Paleo, and Delicious

Ingredients:

2 beef tongues

Water as needed

2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions
1 box mushrooms
1-2 cups dry white wine 
1-2 cup beef broth (total of 3 cups liquid)
1 teaspoon salt to taste
1 teaspoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Instructions:

1. Bring your tongues to a boil with your bay leaves. You want enough water so that it will remain fully covered for the duration of your long cooking period. The more water the better, just in case. If using a regular pot, simmer covered 6-10 hours. (Try pulling some meat off the back of the tongue. If it comes off easily it is ready.) If using a pressure cooker, cook for 2-3 hours and then test if ready.

2. Strain the liquid and refrigerate the tongues until completely cool. (The freezer also works if you want to finish this sooner.) Dispose of the water- do not use this as the broth called for in part two, it tastes and smells too much like a barn stall.

3. Once cooled, you will be able to feel a hard outside layer of the tongue that you should be able to separate from the cooled tongue. Toss. (Or feed to your dog.) Check and remove any hard parts that you may have missed. Slice the tongue against the grain thinly.

4. Slice up onions and mushrooms and saute in olive oil. Add the wine and broth and salt to taste followed by the garlic and nutmeg. Decide if you will be baking or simmering this for the last part and then choose your pot or pan as needed. Place the sliced tongue in it and cover it with the aforementioned mixture. 

5. Cover and simmer for at least one hour, or bake for at least one hour. (The longer you cook it in part 1, the less you'll need in part 2.) Stop cooking when the meat is succulent enough to melt in your mouth. (Not an exaggeration, properly cooked tongue should fall apart when eating it.)

6. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Have you ever had tongue before? Are you a fan of not? How was it prepared? Does this look like a recipe you'd try?