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Kidney Stew
2 BIG ONIONS, MINCED I BIG CAN TOMATOES I 11/2 TEASPOONS PAPRIKA I TEASPOON SALT 1/8 TEASPOON PEPPER 1/2 TEASPOON GRATED NUTMEG 2 TABLESPOONS FLOUR I CUP WATER 4 CUPS COOKED RICE Cut away fat and membranes and slice kidneys 1/4-inch thick. Boil 10 minutes in salted water, drain, rinse, and drain again. Chop bacon and lightly color onion in it, add kidneys and a little water, cover and simmer 1/2 hour. Add tomatoes and seasonings. Cook 20-25 minutes. Make thin paste with flour and water and stir it into pan to thicken contents smoothly. Keep pan covered when not stirring. Serve on boiled rice.
I LARGE CABBAGE
A camp or range-top stew built on an offal cut that rewards two things: aggressive trimming and gentle heat. Everything else here is straightforward.
- The hinge: heat controlKidney turns rubbery and grainy the moment it boils hard. The 10-minute parboil should be a bare simmer, and the half hour after that no more than a lazy bubble under a lid.
- Which kidneyThe recipe does not say which kidney or how much; the ingredient line is missing. Beef or veal kidney was commonly sold whole; lamb kidneys are smaller, milder and now easier to find. Something in the region of 1 1/2 to 2 lb trimmed would suit the 4 cups of cooked rice.
- TrimmingCut out the white core, hard fat and any tubing entirely, not just the surface membrane. Anything left behind is what gives kidney its reputation.
- The parboilBoiling, draining, rinsing and draining again is not busywork. It carries off ammonia compounds and gray scum; skipping it leaves a metallic edge no amount of paprika will cover.
- BaconNo quantity is given; the ingredient line is missing. A few ounces of fatty slab bacon, chopped small and rendered slowly, gives enough fat to sweat the onions. Modern thin-sliced bacon renders less fat.
- "1 big can tomatoes"Most likely a No. 2 1/2 can, about 28 oz, which is a standard large can today. Whole peeled tomatoes crushed by hand suit this better than diced, which hold their cubes through the cooking.
- Nutmeg and paprikaHalf a teaspoon of grated nutmeg reads as a lot, but nutmeg is often used with offal and seems to soften the iron note. Grate it fresh. Sweet paprika is the likely intention here, not hot or smoked.
- ThickeningSlake the 2 tablespoons flour in cold water until there are no lumps, then dribble it into the simmering pan while stirring. Give it three or four minutes of cooking afterward or the sauce will taste pasty.
Kidney was cheap, kept its shape in a stew, and cooked in one pan, which is why it stayed in plain economical cookery. The parboil-and-rinse step in this recipe is the older technique for taming the ammonia notes in beef kidney. Serving the stew over boiled rice rather than potatoes is practical enough: rice keeps dry and cooks over the same heat as the stew.