Grilled Sweetbreads with Chimichurri Sauce

Hey Guys! Let’s do dinner Sunday, oh and by the way, I’m cooking Pancreas! Delish!

So that’s not the normal line you use to intice guests to taste your cooking? Fair enough, but with this recipe it might be. I love sweetbreads. I love sweetbreads when someone else makes them. Preferably a professional. My experience with the tender, creamy meat was fairly limited before I moved to Louisiana, but when you can find them cooked to perfection at restaurants like Bistro Daisy and Le Petite Grocery, one gets over any aversion one might have to organ meat. It helps that Rare Cuts sells the tender little morsels. The Gambit even came up with 5 Splendid Sweetbreads in New Orleans recently. Everyone loves them!

So, not too long ago I twisted the arms of Max and Annie over at Do It Yo Damn Self and convinced them to let me experiment on their tummys. For the record, there was not a whole lot of arm twisting, as they were more then happy to oblige.

Sweetbreads, for those of you who are not unfamiliar, are the thymus or pancreas of a calf or lamb. Yummy! In all honestly, they are terribly unappealing when raw and require careful preparation and cleaning. They are soft and heavy, reminiscent of a water balloon. Many recipes call for you to poach them before grilling or sauteeing, which brings out a terrible sour odor, but also firms them up, making the tricky meat easier to work with. After par boiling shock them and remove as much of the outer membrane as possible. Higher quality sweetbreads will have less to remove. As unappealing as this all may sound, the nasty beginnings though yield a delicious outcome.

Because we were cooking something a little bit out of the ordinary for us, we decided to keep the preparation simple. After poaching I made a quick and easy Chimichurri sauce (thank you Gourmet Magazine). Usually I love a mint chimichurri, but I was afraid such a strong flavor would overwhelm the subtle flavor of the sweetbreads. It was a good call. We threaded the poached sweetbreads onto some skewers, brushed on some olive oil and then threw them on Max’s grill for about 8 minutes. Perfection!

For the Sweetbreads (serves 4)

1 lb sweetbreads
1 cup distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Soak 8-10 wooden BBQ skewers in cold water. Bring water (enough to cover), vinegar and salt to a boil in a pot. Add the sweetbreads and let simmer for 10 minutes. Shock with cold water to immediately stop cooking. Remove any obvious outer membrane. Thread on the prepared skewers and brush with olive oil. Salt and pepper lightly. Sear on a hot grill for about 6-8 minutes or until golden and beginning to crisp. Top with chimichuri sauce.

Chimichurri Sauce (serves 4)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced shallots (about 2 medium)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients, save the olive oil and mix thoroughly. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mixture, whiskey as you go so as to fully incorporate the oil. Let stand 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.