...maybe we should start thinking about using some of the cheaper cuts of meat out there.
I'm not thinking of frying steak as opposed to fillet, I'm talking about the head of a sheep. Yep, you heard me. This one's for summersadie
Take one sheep's head
1 onion
1 turnip
2 carrots
1 table spoon pearl barley
bunch of parsely
and some seasoning
Soak the head in salt water for 2 hours, then put into a large pan, cover with fresh cold water (no using the water from the pond for this bit, ok? It needs to be FRESH water), and bring to the boil.
Take the head out and remove the brains (which should be set aside for another dish - apparently they are delicious and known as the poor man's sweetbreads - I don't think I'll give them a try though, sorry). Return the head to the liquor, add the barley, the vegetables (sliced), seasoning and parsely and stir continuously until boiling. Put the lid on the pan and simmer for about 3 hours. Strain of the liquor (which can be used as soup), cut the meat off the head and serve with the vegetables and the barley.
Actually, it doesn't sound as nasty when you read the whole thing. But the thought of a sheep's head boiling up in my kitchen does make me a little queasy.
After seeing the post on an old recipe book summersadie picked up recently, I was having a good read through my own old and crumbly cookbook - modern (well it was back in 1946) cookery illustrated (which used to be my nan's). Some (well, a lot) of the recipes would make great cheap meals, I think I'll give them a go, and report back. If anyone is actually interested (but no sweetbreads, or brains, or tongue - please no).
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30 comments:
Let me know how you went with the Sheep's head stew! Ackkk!
Rita
eeehw! I'm not an enthusiastic meat-eater anyway and the thought of sheephead for dinner: eeehw again! Maybe you could consider a dish without meat?
Oh man - I shouldn't have read this post so early in the morning!
I'm all for cutting the costs and i'd probably try it to see what it tasted like but not sure how the hell i could even get the sheeps head in the pot in the first place!!
Think i'll just stick to the water and the barley and omit the sheeps head!
Have you noticed that 'eehw' sounds a lot like 'ewe'? ;) 'Nomen est omen' according to the Romans.
blurgh.... no no and doubly no... I can do with making my own pizza dough.. and gallons of tomato sauce to freeze.. I can use cheap chicken and minced beef.. but no SHEEP decapitated or otherwise.. *shudder*
mixed bean stews and chili are cheap meals.. especially useing the "stripy" tins of tomatoes, kidney beans, black beans, butter beans... and growing your own too!
I love a good hotpot or stew but no faces please, it's those last facial expressions that get to me!
We have been upping our intake of fried liver though so tasty, so cheap, so.......mummy can but more fabric!!!
oh you are totally freaking me out!! especially when you post a cute little photo of a sheep next tto that recipe!!!
I'm with Nicole - can't do anything with actual visible recognisable pieces :-( Definitely convert me to vegetarianism!
Oh YUK!!!
ugh - brings back those memories of my grandad boiling up a pig's head to make into brawn....I can smell it now....and feel the texture of the brawn in my mouth, complete with the occasional pig's hair....that, and the smell of the tripe and onions my mum used to cook....bleurgh.
Thanks so very much for bringing those memories back before lunchtime ;-)
xxx
I'm laughing out loud here- thinking of the 4 sheep's heads that I have up in the attic, sheep slaughtered by me, decapitated, I removed all the skin and the brain, cut it in halves, put it in salt for a few days, then up in the attic to dry. Then we put it in the pot, and simmer for a few hours. Served with potatoes, carrots and rutabagamash. Yummy!!! Many people here use it just before Christmas, it's a traditional dish. I don't use the brain though...;-D
ooooh - sounds wonderful! :-0 Reminds me of the Little House in the Big Woods when they boil up the pigs head to make "headcheese". Sheeps brains are a real delicacy here - one of our favourite french restaurants has Wednesday offal night and my mother pines for their crumbed brains. But don't serve it when I come over for dinner ... :-)
Grin you have a lot of squeamish readers :) Personally I like brawn made from pigs heads and I've cooked trotters in the past. As to tongue it's sold slices on every deli counter I've seen in the UK so many people must still eat it or is it just in it's raw state you don't want to cook it?
What about liver and kidneys?
Actually must search out a butcher that will do me fresh caul (the membrane round the internal organs) so I can make gluten free faggots, now that's a dish to confuse americans ;)
As you can tell I'm not in the squeamish camp and you don't want me telling my dad and the chicken stories here !!
I think having a few vegetarian/vegan dishes would be cheaper and less icky...
i heart you but sheep head...
hahahaha.
Yummm!! What time is dinner? Oh, wait, I'm in the USA. Guess I'll just have to pass on this one!!
LOL!!! Ohmygosh, I LOVE this post and the comments!!!
I do notice that you have the head boiling in liquor. What variety do you use??? I can envision beer, but are you thinking gin or whiskey??!!
LOVE Esther's mention of gluten free faggots...yes, I'm an American and would LOVE to know what this must be!!! LOL!!
This post reminds me of time passed when I used to make nearly all our family's food (children were young, I didn't work outside the home and money was tight) from scratch. It was time to make vegetable beef soup and that meant I needed to buy beef. My brother hunted racoons for their pelts and then cleaned and froze the animal for consumption.
I was visiting him, telling him I was about to make soup and he offered me a racoon. At first I shuddered. Then my practical side took hold and I accepted his generosity. (I hate hunting, but if the animal is used for purpose and not just money, I can tolerate it.)
I took this critter home, boiled the hell out of it and made my family's soup for the winter. They never knew!
LOL...what we will do when necessity comes into play!
Hugs
Oh, I am just giggling over here. We really do have it easy, don't we?
I totally enjoyed this post- and the comments! Who knew you had so many readers who actually ate this kind of stuff?! LOL!
cutting costs sounds good but the sheeps head certainly doesn't!
: )
I was so use to this kind of food when I lived in South America...And I remember to love them as a child. Now I'm not so sure about it,since we are trying to go vegetarian. I still love to eat 'tongue a la vinagrette' when we go to Argentina. I can't imagine that head bloiling in the pot...do you kids know what hteir having for dinner?? BTW Your package is going out tomorrow
My Gran's advice (from personal experience): Take out the eyes first, cause it can screw you up for life if the head rolls around in the boiling pot suddenly when you are standing there, and whited ('poached') eyes stare up at you! Worse if it happens to one of the kids (as it did with her). She says counting sheep to get to sleep stopped being an option after that (LoL).
Good luck. I'll bet it'll be tasty, despite the thought.
~Sonya (Sago)
EEEEK! Sheeps head!! My hubby is a butcher so thought I had heard of most things.....hope you enjoyed it:(
That's so nasty on so many levels :)
Come on everyone....this is what you're eating when you bite into a hot dog...
Mmmm Whaaaaa haaaaa
Tina
Back in the days of depressions and wars they weren't afraid of tongue and other stuff we find icky now and they really knew how to economise. I'm never EVER knowingly eating tongue or sheeps head but we could learn a few things from those who did.
HHmmmm, I think I will pass thanks! I have pretty tag button from a nice lady in the USA on my blog. How are your blocks coming along?
x
i'm with the "eew" crowd on this one. i could very easily become a vegetarian. and after thinking about sheep stew, it seems even easier. :P
my mum used to boil sheeps head to make brawn... I never ate it ..she spent years trying to make me eat offal I never did ...my kids have never had it....although my sister eats it so it must just be me....
I feel a little woozey and swooney after reading the recipe. May have to go and have a bex and a lie down. Loved the imagery though of sheep head lolling about in pot whilst you prod it with your crafty fingers.
ick. nothing else, thats all i got. ick.
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