I admit that tongue is not as readily available as it used to be, unless you buy it from a farmer who has recently butchered one of his beef cattle. But tongues can be found with a bit of diligent searching. Personally I like buffalo tongue, which I buy on occasion from a local bison farm. But the usual fare is beef tongue. The slow cooker method is practically no work and the tongue has a long time to flavor itself with the broth mixture. Tongue is nearly all meat except for the hard rind that coats it, and of course that is skinned off before serving. It has a consistency and flavor of corned beef, and if you don't mind eating something that came out of a cow's mouth you're in for a pleasant treat. You don't mind eating eggs, right?
You will need:
1 tongue, beef or buffalo, about 3 pounds 2 quarts of cold water 6 whole cloves 6 whole peppercorns 2 teaspoons of salt 4 whole bay leaves 1/4 cup vinegar (I use cider vinegar)
Wash the tongue first of course, because you don't know where it's been.
Into a slow-cooker (the longer oval cooker is best for this) place the water and spices, and immerse the tongue. Set the temperature to LOW and set the timer for between 10 and 12 hours. Then go about your business.
When the tongue has cooked remove it from the spiced water and plunge it into a basin of cold water. This helps to loosen the skin. When cool enough to handle, start skinning the tongue. You will notice that the skin has started to split on the underside of the tongue, so tat would be a good place to start. Strip off the skin, using a sharp knife to take off any stubborn areas, until you have a nice meaty tongue to work with. Set the tongue upright on a plate and start slicing from the tip. As you work your way toward the rear of the tongue the slices should be more horizontal, so that your slicing knife should be nearly parallel to the table by the time you have finished. This slicing helps your family to regard the dish as slices of meat and not a whole tongue, so that they are not envisioning French-kissing a cow. Serve with carrots and potatoes. For condiments you can use just about anything from ketchup or mustard to barbecue sauce. I prefer mustard and horseradish.
I like to have fun with the whole tongue (yes, I know I'm playing with my food) by flapping it up and down while singing “La-la-la-la-la...” or making it lick my daughters' faces while I make slurping noises. Usually the girls' responses are the same: “Mom! Get that thing away from me!” But once the tongue is served up it becomes more attractive, and my entire family enjoys the meal. If you've never tried tongue I suggest you do. It may be the best thing you ever ate.
