# Elk Sweetbreads



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

The Recipe of the Month for November will be Elk sweetbreads; you know, the thymus gland:










Stay tuned.


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

*Re: Recipe of the month - November 2011*

Where in the elk is the thymus located?


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

*Re: Recipe of the month - November 2011*

I don't know where the thymus is located either, but beef sweet breads are excellent table fare!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*Re: Recipe of the month - November 2011*



10yearquest said:


> Where in the elk is the thymus located?


There's one on each side of the windpipe where the chest meets the neck.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*Re: Recipe of the month - November 2011*

Finally found time to cook some elk sweetbreads.

'Sweetbread' is a term for a variety of organs. Sweetbreads can be the tongue, the thymus, the heart, the pancreas, even the testicles. Typically they are the thymus glands or pancreas taken from a beef calf. I think they are called 'sweetbread' because no one would eat them if they were known as 'thymus' or 'pancreas'. 

My recipe of the month of November is for elk neck sweetbreads, the thymus gland that can be found on either side of the windpipe where the chest meets the neck:










Elk Sweetbread Recipe:

Ingredients:
2 - elk thymus glands
1 cup - milk
1 - egg
3 tbsp - flour or coating mix
1 cup - fresh mixed vegetables
3 tbsp - butter
1 tbsp - white wine
Salt and pepper to taste










Meat Preparation:
Trim any fat, tubes and fibers from the sweetbreads.
Soak in lightly salted cold water for an hour.
Parboil a few minutes; drain and cool.
Remove membranes and break sweetbreads up into bite-size pieces.

Prep options: Tenderize whole or cut sweetbreads into bite-sized pieces.

Cooking Instructions:
Beat egg into milk and set in fridge to cool.
Rinse sweetbreads and then soak in milk and egg mixture for an hour.
Dredge with flour or favorite fry coating.
In a small fry pan over medium heat, cook vegetables in butter for 5 minutes or less.
Add wine to vegetables and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Fry the sweetbreads until golden brown (medium-well) in the pan used for the vegetables.










Comments:
Rich flavored, somewhat like chicken hearts.
Serve with toast.
Great with peas, lima or butter beans. 
Good dipped in Ranch dressing.

I enjoy restaurant sweetbreads as an appetizer, but few eating etablisment around here offer them on the menu. But I have never had elk sweetbreads before. These came out of a spike elk and are very tender and rich. The only offal flavor, though not objectionable, came from a small part of the sweetbread that was a little medium-rare.

I will save them from now on; dig them out of my friends elk; be the first on my block to have a Thymus Party. 










Next month: Majas Hurka, (elk lung sausage)


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

*Re: Recipe of the month - November 2011*

they look ok. So do many things when breaded and fried! the close up shot looks kind of gross but I would try them.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

*Re: Recipe of the month - November 2011*

Simply stated, you are one messed up dude. You are not right. Not right at all. My suggestion is you change your name from WyoGoob to GutEater. Yea, you are pretty messed up all right.

But messed up as you are, we still love you. You are that crazy uncle everyone has. The one that will be the subject of campfire stories for generations to come. And those campfire stories will be followed with statements like "Nooooo waaaaaayyyy." and "I'm calling bullcrap on that one." and "There is no way someone would eat that." And those telling the stories will just smile and shake their heads saying "Yea, that was Goob." and "Best guy in the world - even though he ate guts."

The only request I make to all my UWN friends - if for whatever reason I end up kicking the bucket before Goob, don't let him in the funeral until the box is closed up for good. I don't want any of me ending up as a recipe of the month. Sure I'm an organ donor. But that is to save a life, not to be a main course at GoobFeast!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*Re: Recipe of the month - November 2011*



GaryFish said:


> ................................You are not right. .................
> 
> But messed up as you are, we still love you...............................................quote]
> 
> ...


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*Re: Recipe of the month - November 2011*

Sweetbreads have been extolled as mind-sharpeners and aphrodisiacs.

Uh...well...duh...nevermind.


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

*Re: Recipe of the month - November 2011*

I really like beef sweetbreads but they are such a pain to take care of and I never get big chunks like you show in these pictures. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.
I boil them in lemon water for about 20 minutes and then take the time to pull the membrane off that surrounds them. That is the only way I can enjoy them. If I leave the membrane on I think they taste like crap.
So I end up with itty bitty pieces, but they taste really good. Breaded and fried just like yours.
They are also a favorite at the deer camp on a lazy afternoon. Everyone standing around with a toothpick munching away! Good Stuff!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*Re: Recipe of the month - November 2011*



Bears Butt said:


> I really like beef sweetbreads but they are such a pain to take care of and I never get big chunks like you show in these pictures. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.
> I boil them in lemon water for about 20 minutes and then take the time to pull the membrane off that surrounds them. That is the only way I can enjoy them. If I leave the membrane on I think they taste like crap.
> So I end up with itty bitty pieces, but they taste really good. Breaded and fried just like yours.
> They are also a favorite at the deer camp on a lazy afternoon. Everyone standing around with a toothpick munching away! Good Stuff!


Cool stuff Mr Z.

If you look at the pics you can see the segments you are talking about. They are about the size of a bing cherry in an elk before cooking. I separated them as I ate them, picking much of the membrane out. I didn't parboil these first and they were fine, rich-flavored.

.


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## waspocrew (Nov 26, 2011)

*Re: Recipe of the month - November 2011*

That's something I wouldn't mind trying if someone offered! Not too sure of eating guts though haha


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## adam1228 (Mar 3, 2011)

*Re: Recipe of the month - November 2011*

As a child, my Great-Grandmother Bubba - which simply means "old Woman" in Croatian, cooked sweetbreads on a regular basis. When you raise your own livestock and live off of the land, you eat things that we sensible, modern people wouldn't think of as food. Kind of weird, but I've eaten my share of liver, tongue, pancreas, thymus, brain, tripe, pig's feet, skin...all kinds of nasty sounding stuff.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

As a precautionary measure to guard against Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) contamination some state agencies warn against eating certain organs from deer, elk and moose. They claim the thymus, pancreas, brains, eye balls, even the liver, should be handled with gloves and not eaten until "further testing is performed and analyzed."

The last I checked there is no scientific proof that CWD has been transmitted to a human, but you can never be too safe and I am not recommending anyone eat elk thymus glands.

.


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