Sauteed Lamb Kidneys with Onion, Treviso Style
I wasn’t even sure what to expect when I brought home the package I had ordered from the butcher. What would lamb kidneys look like?
Cute, huh?
So, the first step is to wash them and put them in a bowl with vinegar and cold water for at least 30 minutes.
Here’s what they looked like after 45 minutes:
Not much of an improvement in appearance.
Then they are sliced like mushrooms, discarding the whitish core. Saute them for a couple of minutes until they shed a dark red liquid you discard. Then you wash them again. EWWWWW
Drain and pat dry the slices and quickly cook them with oil, butter and onion. Finally add parsley, salt and pepper and serve with pan juices.
I REALLY, REALLY wanted to like them. I like liver a lot, so I thought I might have a chance, and sauteing anything with onion and parsley sounds good too. Brad and I each tried a bite. It wasn’t horrible, in fact, they tasted a lot like liver… sort of. We ate a couple of bites and decided on ham and brie panini for dinner.
It seemed like a lot of prep to make the kidneys edible. Marcella says about the process, ” By this device they extract and discard some of the liquid responsible for the sharpness that is sometimes an objectionable component of kidney flavor.” If someone served me this dish, I would really think it was slightly odd flavored liver. I had a couple of liver dishes in the Veneto on our latest trip to Italy that I really enjoyed. I think I prefer liver to kidneys.
I really like these and made this recipe a few months back. If some people have trouble finding lamb kidneys, they might try a Halal (Muslim) meat market. That’s where I got mine.
I’m like you Palma, I like liver, but do not enjoy the taste of kidneys. I also like sweetbreads and tongue, but do not care for brains.
I really enjoyed your photographs, they were very descriptive.
De gustibus non est disputandum. But I feel free to dispute taste perceptions. Kidneys from a young lamb are not at all like liver. Liver is basically one-dimensional in taste. Kidneys are complex, with a fine firm texture and delightful piquancy that liver doesn’t possess.
Read Cindy’s post on chicken livers. She admits she doesn’t like them, which is legitimate and comprehensible. I, for example, absolutely loathe Tuscan crostini made with chicken livers. But Cindy posts a well-mannered and balanced report that does not seek to demonize a food that might seem most desirable to many others.
You must soak lamb kidneys overnight in milk to remove the uric acid. Then they taste delicious. Sorry but sioaking in vinegar is the worst thing you can do!
I usually give liver a milk bath for a couple of hours as well before sauteeing it.