Sweetbread recipes

I was recently at Fresh Farms and noticed that they sell (what looked like fresh) sweetbreads. I didn't catch if they were beef, lamb or veal. Yesterday while having lunch in Greektown, I tried the sweetbreads at Roditi's...the first time I have ever had this dish. Good golly they are wonderful. They were served simply with lemon wedges and the standard greek side of rice and potatoes, but everyone got these, so I don't think that they were meant to truly go with the dish.

So, on my mental list of dinner to prepare this week and knowing where I can get these, I am looking for sweetbread recipes. I checked the recipe index here and couldn't find any varations.

Does someone have a tried and true sweetbread recipe that they could post here? Also, what would you serve alongside sweetbreads? Rice? Potatoes? Noodles?

I've made this recipe a bunch of times. I've had it for years. I think it's from Saveur.

Panfried Sweetbreads with Chablis Sauce

3 Servings

1 pound sweetbreads
1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 bouquet garni(sprig parsley,thyme,bay leaf), tied with kitchen twine
4 black peppercorns
9 tablespoons butter
1 cup chablis
1 cup rich veal stock(or demiglace)
1/4 pound snow peas, trimmed and blanched
18 cherry tomatoes, stemmed and peeled

1. Put sweetbreads into a large bowl of cold water and soak for 2 hours, changing water every half hour. Drain, then transfer to a medium pot. Add carrots, onions, bouquet garni, 2 tbsp. salt, peppercorns, and enough cold water to cover sweetbreads by 1". Bring just to a boil over medium heat, remove pot from heat, and set aside to allow sweetbreads to cool completely in the cooking liquid, 2-2 1/2 hours.

2. Clarify 3 tbsp. of the butter by heating it in a small skillet over medium heat, skimming foam as it rises to the top, until foam subsides, 1-2 minutes. Pour clarified butter into a small bowl, discarding milky solids, and set aside. Transfer sweetbreads to a clean surface and discard cooking liquid and aromatics. Using a thin, sharp knife, remove and discard as much membrane and fat as possible, then slice sweetbreads on the bias into 1/2"-thick pieces. Preheat oven to 200°.

3. Heat clarified butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season sweetbreads with salt and pepper to taste. Working in 2 batches, brown sweetbreads on both sides, 1-2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in oven. Remove any blackened bits from skillet, then add wine and cook, scraping browned bits stuck to bottom of skillet with a wooden spoon, until reduced by three-quarters, about 5 minutes. Add veal stock and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half(to about 3/4 cup), about 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, melt 2 tbsp. of the butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add snow peas and tomatoes, season to taste with salt, and cook until warmed through, 2-3 minutes. Keep warm over lowest heat.

5. Add the remaining 4 tbsp. butter, 1 tbsp. at a time, to the reduced stock in skillet, stirring constantly after each addition, until butter is incorporated and sauce thickens, 2-3 minutes. Adjust seasonings.

6. Divide sweetbreads between 4 warm plates and spoon some of the sauce on top of each. Garnish each plate with snow peas and tomatoes.

This was a recipe from Julia Child Cooking with Master Chefs. Daniel Bouloud created the dish. It calls for sweetbreads and veal chops. It would be great with just the sweetbreads alone. If you decide to do both, you need to adjust the cooking time of the chops, otherwise they will be way overcooked. Not sure what he was thinking.

Roasted Veal Chops and Sweetbreads with Lemon and Rosemary

6 Servings

VEGETABLES

12 ounces sweet onions, spring or Vidalia
4 celery stalks, medium-sized
3/4 pound carrots
3 fennel bulbs, about 1 pound
6 ounces radishes
6 ounces turnips
15 garlic cloves, peeled and split

MEAT

2 pounds sweetbreads, kept in bowl of ice water
6 sprigs rosemary, 10-12 inches long
3 veal rib chop, about 1 3/4" thick,8-10 ozs. ea.

SEASONING
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups veal stock

FINISHING
1/2 teaspoon rosemary, chopped
3 tablespoons chives, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chervil, roughly chopped


Preparing the Vegetables:

Onions. Trim away the green stems and the root ends; cut in half and then into wedges 1 in. wide.

Celery. Peel and cut into 2-in. pieces.

Carrots. Peel and trim the greens away, leaving 1/2-in. stem(if baby), or cut into thin slices.

Fennel. Trim the feathery tops and remove the 2-3 tough outer leaves; trim away the root ends and cut into 1/2-in. wedges.

Radishes. Leave whole but cut away the green leaves and the root ends.

Turnips. Trim away the stems within 1/2-in. bulb and peel them with a paring knife; or trim all the ends from regular turnips, peel them, and cut into 1-in. wedges.

May be prepared several hours in advance; keep them separate, cover with plastic or a wet towel, and refrigerate.

TRIMMING THE MEATS: Poke a hole horizontally through the center of each sweetbread with a long skewer or a knife. Push a sprig of rosemary through the hole, leaving 1/2 inch of leaves protruding. Tie a piece of butcher's twine around the circumference of the chop to keep the meat securely in place. Cut 3 sprigs of rosemary into inch-long pieces and tuck them into the string surrounding the meat.

Preheat the oven to 475°. Season the chops and the sweetbreads with salt and pepper. Dust lightly with Wondra flour and pat off excess. Pour 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil into the large roasting pan and set over high heat. When very hot but not smoking, add the veal chops and the sweetbreads. Stir in 2 tablespoons of butter and slowly brown the pieces on both sides.

When the meats are nicely browned, push them to the sides of the pan, swish 4 tablespoons of butter into the pan, and scatter the vegetables around the meat, sprinkling them with salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir gently over moderate heat for a few minutes, then drizzle the lemon juice over all, and pour in the wine.

Set the hot pan in the middle level of the preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the wine has reduced almost to a glaze, then add the veal stock to the pan. Roast for another 15-20 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices until the veal is lightly springy when pressed, and cooked through.

Remove the chops and sweetbreads from the pan; set them aside and keep warm. Return the roasting pan and vegetables to the oven for another 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables are very tender and the cooking juices have reduced to 1 cup of liquid. Transfer the pan to the stove top over low heat, and stir in the chopped herbs, reserving a few tablespoons for the finished dish. Adjust seasoning and keep warm.

Set the chops on a cutting board, discard the strings, and work rapidly from now on. One at a time, leaving a serving of meat on each chop, neatly cut off 3 slanting 1/2-in. slices of meat, and arrange the slices in the center of your warm platter. Arrange the bone-and-meat servings around the slices. Remove and discard the sprigs of rosemary from the sweetbreads, and cut the sweetbreads into 1/2-in. slices. Lay them on the platter around the veal. Spoon the vegetables and sauce over and around the veal, and decorate with the chopped herbs.