In Defense and Praise of Pork Kidneys

I'd been reading a lot about kidneys in preparation for the pork kidneys I did tonight. The general theme was, in essence, 'if you're going to use kidneys, use veal or lamb - don't even bother with anything else.'

I was a bit nervous, because I had only one of the stepchildren - pork kidneys. But one of my older cookbooks said to treat pork kidneys like veal kidneys, so I felt that at least I had a start, and had the courage to proceed.

Maybe it's only because I've not yet had lamb or veal kidneys, but the pork kidneys met the grade and then some. They had this wonderful earthiness and firm but not tough texture. Phil likened it to really good mushrooms, and I think it's a good analogy.

The recipe I adapted called for the kidneys to be sliced. I wasn't sure about the direction, so I sliced one lengthwise and one widthwise. I didn't notice a difference, but Phil preferred the widthwise slicing because it put the fat (on the slices with fat) in the center instead of running along the ends.

In addition to the recipe provided here, I think the pork kidneys would be good sliced and sauteed in bacon fat, ghee or lard as breakfast meat.

Flambeed Kidneys
Adapted from Madeline Kamman's The New Making of a Cook.
Serves 4 (I made a half batch, but all of the sauce)

4 pork kidneys
2 T oil of your choice (I used lard)
salt and pepper to taste
2 oz bourbon or Cognac or Armagnac, divided in 2 1-oz portions
2/3 c stock of your choice (I used beef)
1-1/2 t German yellow mustard (see note below)
1-1/2 t Strong Dijon mustard (see note below)
1/4 t san on tou (Japanese brown sugar; see note below)
3 T unsalted butter at room temperature

NOTE: the recipe calls for equal parts Dusseldorf and hot honey mustard. I had neither and made the substitution of yellow and Dijon mustard plus some san on tou. It was really good. I think you can be flexible here.

FURTHER NOTE: The recipe calls for you to serve this on crustless toasted rounds of French bread. While that would soak up some of the sauce, I don't think it would add to the overall taste or effect.

THE LAST NOTE FOR THIS RECIPE: They call for you to use a sauteuse pan but (as you can see in the pictures) since it didn't need to be covered or stewed I felt more comfortable using my standard Griswold iron pan. It worked just fine.

Instructions:

Trim the fat and remove the membrane from the kidneys. Mine came very well cleaned, as the first post picture shows.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Salt and pepper the kidneys lightly. Raise heat to high under the pan. Add the kidneys and stir-fry, making sure to toss or flip so both sides hit the pan. Saute until the kidneys turn gray, or about 1 minute.

Flambe with one ounce of the liquor. Let the flames die out and immediately dump the kidneys and the sauce into a colander. Let drain.

This picture shows the kidneys sitting in the colander, draining.

Return the pan to the heat. Add the stock and remaining liquor. Reduce to 1/2 cup over medium heat. When reduced, turn the heat all the way down and pull the pan off the heat.

Off the heat, add the mustards and mix well with the pan juices.

Return the pan to the heat. Turn the heat up until it just barely starts to simmer. Do not bring back to a boil. Turn the heat down to low again.

Return the kidneys to the pan and, while shaking tha pan back and forth over the heat, fluff in the butter tablespoon by tablespoon.

Correct seasoning and serve. As you can see, this is served with kale. I cook my kale by just sauteeing it and stirring until it is limp. I only add a touch of water if I need to. Tonight, I put some of the extra sauce over the kale and it was really good.