Comments on: Steak and Kidney Pie

By: Roger

Roger — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 20:21:32 +0000

My mother (K) recommended pork kidneys.

By: Elisabeth Price

Elisabeth Price — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:04:11 +0000

Dear emh,
I have two good sources for kidneys. One is Whole Foods. My local store gets its meat on Wednesday, and if you get there on Wednesday morning, you can get fresh kidneys – veal and lamb. A much cheaper source is the local ethnic markets, Chinese, Korean, Thai, or Vietnamese. They nearly always have something in the way of kidneys: often beef kidneys, which are huge and coarse but do very well in pie (as opposed to a mixed grill or a French ragout), almost always pig’s kidneys, and sometimes lamb’s kidneys. These markets are not as glossy as the usual supermarkets, but getting better all the time – and you can always use your nose to confirm freshness. I get very good service and excellent meat from my usual haunts!

By: emh

emh — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:55:16 +0000

So I live in a large city, and yet I cannot find kidneys in any of the grocery stores. I’ve gone to the more upscale grocery stores like Byerlys and, nada. I hesitate to buy them on the Internet because I don’t entirely trust that they will be good by the time they get to me. So, where is one supposed to buy kidneys in America? It’s not like we have butcher shops on the corner anymore.

By: Al

Al — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 23:57:58 +0000

Usually we put kidneys (best are veal’s) in halfs sumbmerged in water and vinegar for a bout an hour, at least. That will take the strong smell away.
Also beef can be softened in a numbers of ways without having to add beer or other thing unnecesarily, in order to preserve the original flavour.
And J taylor —> of course has a difference when u use olive oil, always does.
Maybe some people need a more sensitive sense of taste to discern this… all you do in the cooking make a difference in the end.

By: Brett Warner

Brett Warner — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 03:10:39 +0000

Thanks for the Recipes! I’m just learning how to cook and really enjoy trying new things.

By: Elisabeth Price

Elisabeth Price — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:35:22 +0000

I’ve been making steak and kidney pie and pudding all my life, and I do appreciate the idea of putting in oysters. Meanwhile, I ‘v e been using the oyster sauce, or one could use Vietnemese or Thai fish sauce. If you hate kidneys or your American friends just hate the idea, you can substitute mushrooms. I recommend the Chinese King mushrooms because they are good and solid and will take braising for a couple of hours without breaking up any further than you slice them. Your recipe here is good and doesn’t require anything you have to look hard for in the US. Incidentally, I’ve found that soaking kidneys in water for half an hour is just about as good as milk, but the people I knew in England just stuck them right in there! Awesome blog. Bravo!

By: J Taylor

J Taylor — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:12:46 +0000

Mr Emery, whilst lard or beef dripping is more traditional, in a rich pie such as this it would make no difference to the finished product to use olive oil and for those that are health conscious it is healthier. It is also a similar price (providing you don’t use extra virgin oil). The important thing is to use an oil that will get to a high enough temperature to properly caramelize the meat and produce the Maillard reaction. The mushrooms, I agree about. Again it doesn’t really matter, but portobellos tend to get leathery when stewed and the delicate black gills flake off anyway. The other two points I disagree on. There is a very long tradition of using ales in English fare as it “beefs” up the flavour and the alcohol will help to tenderise the meat. There is an even longer tradition of using oysters in pies. At one time most pubs in England sold Guinness and oysters together as a post work staple for the working man. The salty meaty oyster adds the all important umami flavour to the pie that makes all the difference. Oysters used to be cheap ubiquitous fare and I would recommend ditching the oyster sauce and using whole fresh oyster instead

By: PERRY R. EMERY

PERRY R. EMERY — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:15:13 +0000

DEAR BERYL
HI. HAVING LIVED IN ENGLAND FOR TWELVE YEARS I LOVE PUB OR WORKING MANS FOOD. PIES AND PASTIES WHERE ORIGINALLY MADE TO BE PACKED FOR LUNCH. LAMBAS KIDNEYS ARE MILDER IN FLAVOR BUT IN A PIE IT SHOULDN’T MAKE THAT MUCH DIFFERENCE. I’M THINKING IT MIGHT OF BEEN THE WAY THE KIDNEYS WERE PREPARED THAT GAVE THEM A BAD FLAVOR. BUT THE REAL REASON I WRIGHT IS THE WAY “FOODIES”MESS UP SO MANY GREAT BUT SIMPLE RECEIPES. THEREFORE I TAKRE EXCEPTION TO OLIVE OIL, NO LARD, PORTOBELLOMUSHROOMS NO BUTTON, OYSTER SAUCE COME OFF IT, AND WHAT A WASTE OF STOUT. DRINK THE STOUT AND USE STOCK , VEGATABLE STOCK IS PREFERRED OR BEAF.
MANY TAAS
RANDY

By: Beef Tongue

Beef Tongue — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:22:30 +0000

[...] you haven’t gotten enough offal from the sweetbreads and the kidney posts, we have one more for you here. If you have had enough, then I promise this is the last one [...]

By: Talley

Talley — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:47:23 +0000

Awesome! Glad to hear it. The tongue sliders were actually vaguely inspired by a fantastic spam slider that you can get at one of the mobile food trucks here in seattle.

What did you end up doing with your sweetbreads?