Cow Tongue Fail (recipes 1 and 2)

Once upon a time I lived in Durham, Ontario, Canada. Our family lived in a duplex without any running water. (It was preparation for the mission field). I'm sure it was a pain on my parents, but I loved it. It was an adventure. The adventures didn't end at no running water. Oh, no! There were always adventures. Like the first snowfall that left over two feet of snow on the ground in a little over an hour. Or trying an iced cappuccino for the first time and continuing to drink coffee in the hopes that it would stunt my growth. Or, when our duplex neighbor, Mrs. Whatley, brought over some cow tongue for us to try. Ah! Cow tongue!

Cow tongue. It sounds gross. Okay, it looks gross. Today when I picked it up from Walmart one of the employees standing nearby said, "Oh! That is a disgusting looking piece of meat!" So, I sheepishly carried it from the meat isle to the cash register trying not to be seen with it (that walk felt eternal!).

But, I brought it home ready to prepare my first recipe for the 50+ new recipes of the Summer. See, when Mrs. Whatley brought over some cow tongue for us to try eleven years ago, it was amazing! I'd never been a fan of steak. Oh, I loved the flavour, but the steak I had had was chewy. Cow tongue had the flavour of steak, but was tender and delicious. Ever since Mrs. Whatley had brought it by, I'd wanted to try making it.

And so began the adventure. I unpackaged the meat and stuck it in the crockpot with a tablespoon of salt and pepper, some garlic, onion, and water.

It was a good photo prop. And how many times in your life can you hold a cow tongue... or would want to?

While the cow tongue was being cooked in the crockpot, I began to cook some artichoke. I have never eaten artichoke, so I decided why not fix that up to? I found a delicious recipe online. And set it to cook. 

While the artichokes were in the oven, and the tongue had been cooking for a few hours, it was time to cool down the tongue and peel it. (Yes, you have to peel off the skin and tastebuds to get to the real meat, appetizing, eh?). Except peeling the skin off is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I tried and failed. Like I said, it was hard! Thankfully, Jimmy was willing to help out! He peeled the skin off and was a pro at it! It was rough and I am sure disgusting, but he didn't complain and worked at it until there was no more skin on it. Thank you, Jimmy! (It was definitely an Instagram moment). 

After slicing the tongue and putting it in the oven for 15 minutes, tearing apart the artichoke, and cooking up some wholesome mashed potatoes and gravy, dinner was served. 

The verdict: Jimmy, Damarise, Megan, Faith and Sonya were my wonderful eaters. They put aside their fears and ate the cow tongue. Did it turn out like Mrs. Whatley's? Hardly. It was a bit rough. The artichokes were not my favourite tasting vegetable ever, and the mashed potatoes were a wee bit watery. But, my friends graciously ate it. They tried it and I was happy for that. 

However, the first two new recipes of the Summer were definitely on the fail list, and after trying to eat the meal, we gave up, took down one of our many boxes of cereal and had a bowl of cereal instead. Because when all else fails just eat cereal, right? Right!

Hopefully the next new recipes will go better... It's a fun adventure!