Tongue in Tomato Pickle Sauce

Here's something you'll never hear in the US:

"Honey, guess what? I found some nice looking pork tongues for only $2 a pair today at the market!! Isn't that such a good deal?"

But alas, those are the exact (translated) words that came out of my mouth the other day when I found a fabulous pair of pork tongues for only 1.80 Euros. I love cow tongue.. it is tender and delicious, but also quite pricy. Pork tongue is smaller, but I discovered, just as tasty and way cheaper! Seriously, I'm from the US, so I know what you're thinking, (gross, right?) but you are so wrong! It is really good, and if you slice it length-wise, it loses all its tongue-ish aspect, and just becomes a delicious slice of meat for the people you serve it to. The recipe I made is the one you could typically find in a restaurant, and I was really proud of how it came out. It takes a long time, but worth it!

Serves 4
Ingredients:

2 pork tongues or 1 beef tongue

2 quarts beef stock

2 celery stalks

4 mini pickles, sliced (or a small handful of sliced pickle)

1 1/2 tbsp butter or margarine

1 tbsp flour

2 tbsp vinegar

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup tomato puree*

red pepper flakes

fresh ground pepper

Directions:

1. In a large pot, place your 2 tongues, celery stalks, and beef stock and simmer covered for 1 hour.

2. Take out the tongues, and peel off the skin. This is the only strange part.. you gotta take the rough taste buds off, man.

3. Put the tongues back in, and simmer for another hour or so. Or throw them in the crock pot with the broth and leave on all day.
4. In a sauce pan, melt the margarine and whisk in the flour.

5. Take off the heat, and whisk in the wine, 1/2 cup of the broth from your tongue pot, tomato puree, vinegar, and pickles, and then heat for 5 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and fresh ground pepper to the sauce.

6. Slice the tongues length wise like you would a roast beef and spoon on the sauce.

Serve with pasta (cooked in the broth) or home fries. I saved the broth for soup later on.

FYI the hub gives this one 2 tongues up! haha!

* To make your own tomato puree (like I did) boil 3 medium tomatoes whole in water. When the skin starts to split, take them out of the water, and peel off the skin. The pulp is now crushable with a fork.. that's tomato puree!!