Chipotle Cow Tongue in Gravy

Cow tongue, perhaps more accurately called beef tongue, is one of the most flavorful cuts on the animal. I like to make it into a smokey stew that highlights the meatiness of the animal with the sweet fire of chipotle.

While cow tongue may be repulsive to some people, it is coveted by others. Unlike other cuts of meat on the steer, there is only one tongue. If there was more than one tongue, we may have a problem, but that would be glorious for the eater. If you don’t believe how well liked it is, my parents harvest one steer a year. They don’t cook the tongue and there’s still a three year rotation on who gets it.

Cow tongue is easier to find than you probably think. You can always get it from a Latino grocery store or a butcher, but I have also seen it in places like Costco, Walmart, and Kroger. If you don’t see it where you shop, you can ask someone in the meat department. They don’t always have it, but sometimes they are hard to spot despite their signature shape.

Chipotle Cow Tongue in Gravy Ingredients
1 cow tongue
Water
2 Tbl avocado oil
2 Tbl tomato paste
2 ½ c chopped onion
¼ c chopped red bell pepper
1 lb mushrooms
¾ tsp salt
2 Tbl roux
2 Tbl chipotle
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp coriander
1 Tbl garlic

Chipotle Cow Tongue in Gravy Directions
Put 1 cow tongue into a sauce pan with enough water to just cover the tongue. Bring the water to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 2 hours.

Remove the tongue from the water (keep the water) and let the tongue cool enough to handle it with your hands. Some people will say you can make an incision in the skin and peel it. If that works for you, go for it. I find it’s not that easy to do and leaves behind a “second skin” that still has to be removed.

Take a sharp knife and cut across at the “bends” in the tongue with a maximum of 4” in length. This allows you to stand the pieces vertically for easier skin removal. 

Stand a piece of tongue on its cut end and slice the skin off in vertical strips. Take the meat and cut into ⅓” cubes. You can make them bigger if you like but I like small bite-sized pieces. If you go smaller than ⅓” cubes, the meat shrinks too much and you lose the “bite.”

Add the cut meat to a plate or bowl and use a paper towel to dry the meat. It will be very wet so you’ll need to use a few towels. Add 2 Tbl of oil to the meat and mix it thoroughly with your hands. 

Heat a Dutch oven (without oil) to hot. When you think it’s hot enough, sprinkle a little water in the pot. You should hear a sizzle, and the water gives a quick dance then evaporates.

Add a single layer of meat to the pot with about 1” of space between the pieces. You should hear a loud sizzle that continues to sizzle. The meat will cling to the pan, when it releases and the underside is dark brown, flip the meat over. Repeat until all sizes are brown. Remove meat from the pot. Add more meat as space allows.

While the meat cooks, you can chop the onion and bell pepper if it wasn’t already done. Slice 1 lb of the mushrooms then cut into thin strips and cut the strips into small cubes.

When the meat is finished cooking, lower the heat to medium. Add 2 Tbl of tomato paste to the pot. When the paste becomes a red brown color, add 2 ½ c chopped onion, ¼ c red bell pepper, 1 lb of chopped mushrooms, and ¾ tsp salt. Occasionally stir the seasoning mixture.

When the onions are clear, add 2 Tbl roux,  2 Tbl chipotle, 2 tsp oregano, 2 tsp coriander, 1 Tbl minced garlic, cooked meat, and the water you used to boil the tongue to the Dutch oven.

Bring it to a boil then simmer with the pot closed for about 90 minutes. Remove the lid and cook until the liquid thickens to a gravy consistency. Taste and add salt if needed.

Serve over grits or millet.

Notes
This is a bit of a spicy dish. The gravy should be a tad too peppery because the grits or millet will mute the flavor and spice. If you’re really sensitive to it, you can substitute some or all of the chipotle for smoked paprika. You don’t want to just reduce the amount of chipotle used because the chipotle also brings a gloriously smoky and sweet flavor to the dish. Smoked paprika is made from smoked red bell pepper or pimentos which don’t have spice and chipotle is smoked jalapeno. 

If you want to add chicken or beef broth, you can but be careful about the salt. Cow tongue is a super flavorful cut of meat and there’s plenty of other concentrated flavors that I don’t think it’s needed.

You can slice the mushrooms instead of chopping them.