Sweetbreads

Doing a dinner-party this evening and the first course will be sweetbreads. My feeling is that an off-dry Riesling would work nicely with them. Any suggestions. They will be sauted and served on pasta. TIA.

so, what did you end up serving? sorry i missed this yesterday. if you are describing the dish accurately, tht would be the most austere version i've heard of. usually they are served with a cream sauce of some sort; and riesling would be great for sure.

I am a big fan of sweetbreads. They are the ultimate malleable food that offers a pleasant texture but adopts the taste of whetever preparation they are made with in a chameleonlike manner. You can make dishes that work with most white wines as well as light reds - Burgundy especially.

Here is a fave of mine (credit Georges Laurier, a French Canadian chef):

Roasted Sweetbreads With Bacon And Truffle Sauce
Yield: 6

Preparation time is 2 days.

Ingredients:

Roasted Sweetbreads With Bacon And Truffle Sauce
1 1/2 lb. sweetbreads
vegetable oil
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups mire poix
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs parsley
4 cups chicken or veal stock
8 slices bacon, cut, into, lardons
2 cups veal stock
1 oz butter
truffle oil
whole black truffle

Directions:
Roasted Sweetbreads With Bacon And Truffle Sauce
Soak the sweetbreads in water for at least 6 hours, changing the water every couple of hours.

Drain the sweetbreads and fill a pot with water, add a large pinch of salt. Slide the sweetbreads gently in to the water and simmer for two minutes. Drain them, place them in ice water to cool and drain again.

Trim any fat or membranes from the sweetbreads and put them on a towel-lined baking sheet. Cover with another towel and put another baking sheet on top with some light weights. The sweetbreads should compress to about 3 centimetres thick. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy saucepan. Season the sweetbreads with salt and pepper and drop them in to sauté until golden brown. Add the herbs, the mirepoix and chicken or veal stock and poach them, at a simmer, for 5 minutes. Remove the sweetbreads from the poaching liquid.

If using immediately, cut the sweetbreads into 3 centimetre thick slices. Add the bacon pieces to a frying pan and sauté until the fat begins to render. Season the sweetbread slices and add them to the frying lardons. Cook for a minute and baste the tops with any extra fat. Move the frying pan to the oven to bake for 10 to 15 minutes, turning them after about half the cooking time.

Meanwhile, put the veal stock on to reduce. Simmer until a cupful remains. Stir in the butter and add a few drops of truffle oil.

Serve the sweetbreads with the truffle sauce poured around, slices of truffle on top and decorated with chives.

Bill,
Many thanks for this post. I love the technique. I have always cleaned my sweetbreads fresh. I can imagine that the brief pre-poach makes a world of difference in handling. The recipe sounds like a perfect use of that wonderful item. I adore sweetbreads.

I always end up doing the cleaning job myself because my sous chef, SWMBO is for some reason disgusted with this process. It isn't all that bad, though when you give them the short poach the membrane seems to separate much more easily.

Here's another one I like, simple but tasty:

Crispy Sweetbreads with Sautéed Oyster Mushrooms, Bacon, Capers and Sherry Vinegar Brown Butter

Chef: Julie Francis, Nectar

Prepare sweetbreads one day in advance:
1 lb fresh sweetbreads 1 qt water
1 cup white wine 1 rib celery, diced
Y2 small carrot, diced Y2 onion, diced
1 sprig thyme
peel of one lemon

Combine all ingredients except sweetbreads and bring to a boil. Add sweetbreads and bring back to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes until firm. Remove from liquid and pull off outer membrane. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight with a weight to flatten them.

3 Tbsps capers
Y2 lb fresh oyster mushrooms, stems removed, sautéed in butter and shallots 1/8 cup bacon lardoons
1 head frisée, washed
1/4 lb butter
2 Tbsps sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsps olive oil

Cook butter over medium-low heat until it starts to smell nutty and the butter solids brown; do not burn. In a separate sauté pan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Season sweetbreads with salt and pepper and sauté on medium-high heat until crispy on both sides, approximately 1 minute per side. Remove from pan.
Combine frisée, capers, oyster mushrooms and bacon.
Whisk together brown butter and sherry vinegar. Dress frisée salad lightly with brown butter vinaigrette. Place sautéed sweetbreads on a bed of the salad; drizzle remaining vinaigrette around on plate.