I know you've all been thinking about it; so here you go.

Bert Christensen's Weird and Different Recipes

Re: a previous post, the one on New York City's crackdown of illegal foods being sold; I've been wondering what the heck do you do to serve cow lungs. Well, here you are:

Basic Preparation
Beat the lungs with a mallet or flat side of a cleaver to expel most of the air. Trim out the main bronchi and cartilaginous parts.

Calf Lung Provence Style / France
Cut beaten calf's lungs into thin pieces and poach them for 30 minutes in salted water. Drain and dry them. Dredge with seasoned flour. Add them to a pan containing chopped onions fried in oil until golden and cook together until the lungs begin to brown. Add chopped tomatoes, chopped parsley, crushed garlic, salt, pepper, and a generous amount of white wine. Simmer for a half hour.

Calf's Lung and Heart in Paprika Sauce / Hungary
Boil the heart and lungs of a calf in salted water until tender and cut them into thin strips. Sauté some chopped onions in lard until golden, and 1 teaspoon or so of paprika, a little tomato puree, a generous amount of crushed garlic, and a bit of marjoram. Stir a few minutes, then add the meat, salt, and a little of the stock. Cover the pan and allow it to simmer about 15 minutes. Add some chopped tomatoes and chopped celery leaves. Thicken with a few bits of flour blended with lard and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.

Calf Lung Stew / France
Salt and pepper pieces of lungs and fry them in butter until well browned. Sprinkle with flour, stir well, and cook for a few minutes more (or thicken with blood). Cover with dry red wine or a mixture of wine and stock. Add a bouquet garni and some crushed garlic. Cover and bake in a moderate oven for 1 1/2 hours. Transfer the pieces of lung to a shallow baking dish and add some chopped and fried bacon, diced or whole mushrooms, and a number of small onions (and/or carrots) fried in butter or with the lean bacon. Cover with the strained cooking liquid and return to the oven for an additional 30 minutes. Garnish with croutons.

Calf's Head Casserole (Germany)
Simmer a boned-out calf's head, a calf lung and heart, an onion stuck with cloves, and a bay leaf in water to cover until the meats are tender. Cut the meat into pieces. Fry chopped onions in butter until golden, stir in some flour, and then enough of the strained stock to make a smooth sauce. Add some white wine and a little sugar. Reheat the meat in butter, pour the sauce over it, and serve with mustard and black bread.

Calf's Lungs and Beans (Italy)
Brown a sliced onion, some diced salt pork, some crushed garlic, chopped parsley, and chopped celery in a mixture of olive oil and lard. Add cubed calf's lungs and brown them thoroughly. Add a wineglass or so of white wine, some peeled tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cook about a half hour. Add a generous quantity of previously cooked kidney beans and a little water, cover, and simmer for about an hour. Add some chopped sweet basil the last few minutes of cooking.

I bet this would be a huge hit at the MN State Fair. I think I'll see what it would take to start a booth. Of course you all know what that would mean:

Calf lung on a stick

I'm all over this one. This is the money maker I've been looking for. We'll also work in that the best way to eat them is to wear wrist sweaters, and sell those on the side.