Beef Tongue Flautas

As my family enjoys our vacation this week, I’m inviting some of my favorite bloggers to guest post here and bring you their best recipes and nutrition insights. The first blogger to take me up on my offer was a fellow Austinite, Lindsey, the Homemade Mommy. Thank you, Lindsey, for sharing here today!

Last Spring I purchased my first half share of a veal cow from a local raw milk dairy farm. Before I go on, please understand this wasn’t the proverbial veal of the 1980’s – this was responsibly raised veal from a farmer I know and trust. This bulk meat purchase has taught me true ‘nose to tail’ cooking and eating, and has been a delicious experience to say the least. My most recent adventure was with tongue. I figured the best way to get my family to enjoy tongue was to roll it up and fry it! Enter beef tongue flautas, or as you might know them, taquitos. I promise this will be a hit with your family!

First I needed to prepare the tongue and that meant poaching the tongue until it was tender enough to remove the tough outer skin. I poached the tongue with ingredients that would also create a beautiful broth for later use.

Poached Tongue

The Players

• 1 beef tongue
• 1 small onion, halved
• 2 cloves
• 1 carrot, sliced into chunks
• 1 celery stalk, sliced into a few chunks
• 4 black peppercorns
• 2-3 stems parsley
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 1 bay leaf

The How-To
Insert the cloves into the onion halves then add them to the pan with the other vegetables and the tongue. Add enough cold water to cover the tongue. Slowly bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Skim any scum from the broth that floats to the top. Once simmering, add the spices, herbs, and garlic. Lower the heat and cover, simmer until the tongue is tender. This took about 2 hours using a regular stock pot on the stove.

When the tongue is tender, remove it to a plate and peel the tough outer skin. It might help to wear rubber gloves as the tongue will be quite hot, but it is easier to peel it now as the skin is easier to remove when hot. Discard the skin, or feed it to your pets like I did. When peeled and cool, chop into small pieces for the flautas. Save the cooking liquid to make flavorful nourishing rice or soup.

Beef Tongue Flautas

The Players

• 1 beef tongue, peeled and chopped
• 1 Tbsp homemade taco seasoning
• ¼ cup homemade ketchup
• 12-15 corn or sprouted wheat tortillas (where to buy sprouted flour)
• Beef tallow for frying
• Guacamole and crème fraiche or sour cream for dipping

The How-To
Bring a medium saucepan to medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add a tablespoon of beef tallow, the beef tongue, and taco seasoning. Sauté the tongue until browned, then add the ketchup and cook a few minutes longer. Remove from heat.

Bring another pan to medium high heat and add another tablespoon of beef tallow to the hot pan. Heat the tortillas in the hot oil to make them pliable, but not crispy. Spoon a small amount of the beef tongue into one of the tortillas and roll it up like a cigar. Pierce through the center of the rolled up tortilla with a toothpick to hold it together. Roll up a second tortilla with the beef tongue and then add it to the same toothpick. Repeat the process with further pairs until you have used up your beef tongue and tortillas, creating pairs of flautas sharing one toothpick as pictured below.

Heat your pan again to medium high heat. Add ½ cup of the beef tallow to the hot pan. When the oil is hot, add in a couple of the flauta pairs and fry until browned. Turn them over and fry the other side until browned and crispy. If the oil starts to smoke, pour it out and start over. Drain on a kitchen towel or paper towel while you finish frying the rest of the flautas, adding more beef tallow as needed.

Enjoy with guacamole and sour cream for dipping!

Meet Lindsey

Lindsey works in a full time corporate job at a software company and is a wife to an amazingly supportive husband as well as a mother to a 3 year old daughter. She also blogs about food — Real Food — at Homemade Mommy. Frankly, I’m astounded by her! She finds the time and makes a commitment to homemade cooking because eating this way has truly changed her life and her family’s life. Ditching processed food has helped her family heal from a number of ailments including asthma, allergies, recurrent sinus infections and ADHD. She buys organic, from family farms, local and grass-fed. She is passionate about achieving vibrant health and is happy to share her recipes, experiences, and stories with you in the hopes that it will help you create your own path.