Dear Heritage Foods USA Supporter,

These days, it’s not surprising to walk into a restaurant and encounter what many call “the lesser cuts.”  Everything from liver to trotter is popping up on the menus of some of the country’s finest restaurants.  Heritage Foods USA has been at the forefront of this gastronomic trend, selling heads, tongues, tails, and the like from both pig and cow to our wholesale customers for years.

Deliciously flavorful and relatively inexpensive, it’s no surprise these cuts, sometimes requiring just a little more work than the rest, have grown in popularity so much in the past few years.  In the spirit of sustainability and of eating the whole animal, we are excited to expand our selection of offal for you our mail order customers!  For the first time ever, two of the most exquisite (and sometimes forgotten) beef cuts, tongue and cheek, are available!

From our popular Piedmontese breed, these two cuts are among the most flavorful and intense of the whole animal.  Grassy, robust, and hearty, these tongues and cheeks are delicious and versatile.  Not only tasty, their consumption also encourages a more responsible form of eating.

To help you get started with these cuts, we’ve enlisted the help of some of our favorite tongue ‘n cheek chefs. Chef Matthew Lang from Brooklyn’s Fette Sau, Chef Peter Erikson from San Francisco’s 1515 Hyde and Damian Sansonetti of New York’s Bar Boulud.   With their recipes, we’re positive you can create one of the most delicious (and obscure!) meals you’ve ever made.

We are offering these two cuts both together and separate; so all of your wildest culinary fantasies can be finally satisfied!

Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Piedmontese Beef Tongue & Cheek (about 6 lbs—1 tongue & 2.5 lbs of cheek) – Overnight Shipping Included – $80
Piedmontese Beef Tongue (about 7 lbs—two 3.5 lb pieces individually wrapped) – Overnight Shipping Included – $78
Piedmontese Cheek (about 5 lbs—two 2.5 lb bags) – Overnight Shipping Included – $75

Beef Tongue Pastrami
from Chef Matthew Lang of Fette Sau

Recipe is for 2 tongues, approx. 5-6# of meat.

For the brine:

1.75 gallons water
1.75 cups kosher salt
1.75 cups pickling spice
1 gallon of any rye beer (recommended: Sixpoint Righteous Rye)
1.25 onions, sliced thin
1.5 heads garlic, halved

Bring solution to a simmer. Set aside to cool off. Once cool, add the beef tongues. Brine in refrigerator for 1 1/2 weeks (10-12 days). Brining time depends on size of tongues.

For the rub:
2 cups coriander seed
2 cups whole black peppercorn

Use spice grinder to coarsely grind the peppercorns and coriander seed. Combine the two and blend thoroughly.

When tongues are finished brining take out of solution and wash thoroughly. Leave tongues on racks in refrigerator for 24 hours. This gives the salt time to distribute evenly. After 24 hours rub the tongues with the peppercorn and coriander seed rub. Smoke for approx. 6 hours or until an internal temperature of 175 degrees is reached.

Chef Long prefers to eat this cold, sliced paper thin, but says that warm is good too.
He recommends making a “killer pastrami sandwich” with it.

Braised Beef Cheeks
from Chef Peter Erikson of 1515 Hyde

4  8-10 oz beef cheeks, trimmed of any excess fat and liberally season with salt and pepper
1 large onion, sliced
1 large carrot, sliced
1 large leek, washed and diced
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of rosemary, rough chopped
2 cups red wine
2 large, very ripe tomatoes
zest of 1/2 an orange

Preparation:

Trim and season beef cheeks.  Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes or overnight.  Heat oil in a heavy pot and brown the cheeks on all sides.  Remove cheeks and add onion, carrot and leek to the pan.  Lightly brown vegetables and add garlic and herbs.  Sautee for ten minutes and turn heat to high.  Add the wine and reduce by half.  Add the tomatoes and zest and 1/2 cup of water and return cheeks to the pan.  Cover and simmer at 250 degrees until very tender, about 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Red wine braised Peidmontese Beef Cheeks with Celery Root Puree
from Damian Sansonetti of Bar Boulud

8 pcs beef cheeks,  serves 4

.5 liter dry red wine (syrah)
Mirepoix

1. 1 white onion
2. 3 ribs celery
3. 2 medium sized carrots. Roughly chop all three vegetables

3 cloves garlic, tie up on cheese cloth (sachet)
Few sprigs of thyme
10 whole black peppercorns
10 whole coriander seeds
1 small price star anise
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Wondra flour
Grapeseed oil- for cooking

For celery root purée:
2 medium or 1 large celery root
2 shallots
2 spoons unsalted butter
1 garlic clove
.5 liter of milk (maybe more)

Clean beef cheeks of all fat and silverskin (connective tissue) reserving the " meaty" scraps

Season with salt and pepper on both sides
Lightly dust with the Wondra flour on both sides as well
Place about 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil in a heavy sauce-pot
Braise(like a me cruset) and seat on both sides until golden, then remove and let rest on plate
Toss in vegetables and lightly roast, add in tomato paste, stir and cook
Lower flame to med/low and continue cooking until tomato paste gets a rich dark brick red color
Deglaze with the red wine and stir
Place the beef cheeks back into pot with any juices and pour in beef stock/broth but do not completely cover and add sachet
Bring to simmer on stove then cover and place in preheated oven 375F
Cook for 1.5-2 hours until tender
Remove from liquid , strain, toss out vegetables and sachet and reduce liquid adding in a roux if necessary to get a light thickness to the sauce

Warm milk with garlic and thyme and butter-reserve
Peel a large Duce celery root
Boil the celery root until tender in lightly salted water
When tender remove and place in food mill or blender the add in milk and butter until desired creaminess is achieved
Push through a chinoise (or fine mesh) for extra smoothness

Serve with cheeks on top of purée Garnish with celery leaves and the jus

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