Cow Tongue in Sour Cream Sauce (Limba de vita cu sos de smantana)

 Cow tongue is actually quite a delicacy. Properly prepared, cow tongue is super tender and all muscle, no fat. There are several sauces to go with it, and this is one of them. It goes really well with mamaliga (cornmeal mush). Enjoy!

Ingredients:

-1 lb fresh cow tongue

-onion, carrots, garlic, salt to make a broth

For the sour cream sauce:

-1 Tbs vegetable oil

-2 Tbs butter

-1 small onion, finely chopped

-salt and pepper

-1/4 cup flour

-2 cups beef broth

-3/4 cup sour cream

-Italian parsley, finely chopped, for garnish, optional

Directions:

Preparing the tongue takes a few hours, but it's well worth the effort to get it nice and tender.

Place the fresh tongue in cold, salted water over night in the fridge. You can change the water a few times during that time.

Prepare a pot of cold salted water, then place the overnight soaked tongue in it. Place on the stove and bring to a boil. Remove the foam, using a slotted spoon.

Roughly chop the onion and peeled carrots for the broth. Peel and crush a few garlic cloves. Add the onion and carrot chunks, along with the crushed garlic to the pot. Simmer for 3 hours.

Remove the tongue from the broth and let it cool a little, but not completely. Reserve the broth. Carefully, remove the outer layer of the tongue and discard it.

Slice the tongue and get it ready for the sauce.

In a large skillet, heat the oil and butter. Once the butter is melted, add the chopped onion. Season with some salt and pepper. Whisk in the flour until nice and smooth. Pour the broth and continue whisking until smooth. Whisk in the sour cream. Make sure to not have any lumps. Finally, add the tongue slices and lower the heat.

Simmer for about 8 minutes. Adjust the seasoning, if necessary.

Serve warm on top of fresh mamaliga. Optionally, garnish with some Italian parsley. Yum! Enjoy!