[Petronius]

Yep, I was thinking of a road trip to look for the lamb's brain sandwiches. It has be a long time. My parents would make scrambled eggs and calf brains about once a year, usually in late winter or early spring.

My grandmother liked scrambled chicken brains with sauteed green pepper and stir fried lambs tongue.

 

[REG]

My grandmother liked scrambled chicken brains with sauteed green pepper and stir fried lambs tongue.

Had to take a ____load of chickens to make a meal.:lol::lol:

 

[Petronius]

Had to take a ____load of chickens to make a meal.:lol::lol:

Believe it or not, she bought the chicken brains from the grocery store. They came in a pint container next to the chicken livers. They were kind of small.

 

[JimP]

Believe it or not, she bought the chicken brains from the grocery store. They came in a pint container next to the chicken livers. They were kind of small.

"Variety" meats are getting practically impossible to find in the supermarkets of today...Brains, Kidneys, Tongues, Mountain Oysters, Pig ears or snouts, Mutton...are things of the past.
They're only available at Specialty butcher and ethnic shops like Eastern Market.
Good 'ol ethnic and "Peasant" food...who makes head cheese at home any more?
For that matter, how many have even heard of it? :lol:

 

[alex-v]

"Variety" meats are getting practically impossible to find in the supermarkets of today...Brains, Kidneys, Tongues, Mountain Oysters, Pig ears or snouts, Mutton...are things of the past.

I can find kidneys, liver, tongue, ears and snouts at a couple of supermarkets near here. Doubt I would find them at Meijer but I should look just for the reference.

I have not seen mutton in years, just lamb. My mother would do a mutton roast for a Sunday dinner and with some slow cooking it was good eating.

My father-in-law and I would make head cheese occasionally. We would buy some snouts and ears and then some cuts of lean pork. It was not worth it to get a head from the market since we did not have a pot big enough to boil it in.

 

[Michihunter]

One of you guys that know how to make head cheese needs to post a recipe. You'd make me an instant hero to my wife who grew up on her mothers version which has long been forgotten.
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[alex-v]

One of you guys that know how to make head cheese needs to post a recipe. You'd make me an instant hero to my wife who grew up on her mothers version which has long been forgotten.

Get all the meats together. Put in pot and add water. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Add salt, pepper, and other spices that you might think goes into the recipe. Simmer till the meats are cooked. Drain all the meats out and put the liquid back. Should not be a lot of water. Remove bones and cut up the pieces that do not pull apart. Put back in pot. Cut up any veggies that you want to put in like celery and carrots. Add to pot and simmer till they are as tender as you want.

Take the meat mixture and drain again. Have your forms ready. We used bread loaf pans most of the time. Put the drained meat mixture into a cheesecloth sack and squeeze more of the liquid out. The mixture should still be very hot, almost to hot to handle. Put the squeezed out mixture into the pans and fill until the meat mounds up over the sides. Put a flat cover over the pans and add weight and let that squeeze more water out. Let cool and put in fridge for a couple of days.

The remaining liquid will set up and you can pop the loafs of meat out and slice. I am pretty sure that there are more detailed recipes available on the internet. Everything is on the net these days.

 

[Michihunter]

Looks like it would take a hero to make that stuff! Lol might as do as I've always done and head over to Bozeks for some of theirs. Thanks though Alex.
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[JimP]

Looks like it would take a hero to make that stuff! Lol might as do as I've always done and head over to Bozeks for some of theirs. Thanks though Alex.
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Yes, it was a lot of work...but a lot of love went into the process.
Moms and Grammas had time to do it back in the day.
Home made bread (not out of a machine), home canning, jellies and jam, perogies, carving up bars of Fels Naptha soap for the laundry...Bull Dog bluing.
Knuckle busting washboards.
Water sprinkler tops for a pop bottle when ironing.
Darning eggs! (Who knows what those are?)
Some of that still goes on and equipment can still be found at the market... but with modern methods and products available they're becoming lost arts.

 

[Michihunter]

I was familiar with everything yhou mentioned except Bulldog bluing. In fact we still have some darning eggs somewhere and keep Felsnaptha in the medicine closet. I was raised by Pollocks which might explain that knowledge.
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[Petronius]

Looks like it would take a hero to make that stuff! Lol might as do as I've always done and head over to Bozeks for some of theirs. Thanks though Alex.
Posted via Mobile Device

It doesn't take much work. While the meat is cooking, you can spend time here on M-S. Besides, you don't make one pan of the stuff, you make a few and freeze it after it sets and is sliced. I make a lot things myself and freeze it.

 

[Michihunter]

After re-reading the directions I would have to agree that its more time consuming than difficult. In fact it sounds as easy as most of the soups I make. I may end up giving it a shot in the future once I get a few of the detailed ingredients worked out.
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[JimP]

A bit of bluing was added to laundry/water to brighten white stuff like shirts and sheets.

 

[BIGCHRIS]

R Hirt closed a few months ago. One of Hirt's descendents will re-open the space as the 1887 Cheese Shop so it won't be a total loss.

They couldnt have closed. A guy i know drives for them. I see him on the route every week.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC

 

[Petronius]

They couldnt have closed. A guy i know drives for them. I see him on the route every week.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC

It seems that the wholesale business still uses the R. Hirt Jr. name

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/articl...-change-family-ownership-name-after-118-years

 

[alex-v]

I may end up giving it a shot in the future once I get a few of the detailed ingredients worked out.

Do a google search for "head cheese" and all sorts of recipes and techniques will pop up. I was surprised at how comprehensive the results were on the first search I tried on the topic.

A bit of bluing was added to laundry/water to brighten white stuff like shirts and sheets.

I have a bottle of bluing in the laundry area and use it for whites and when washing blue jeans. I have been told that the laundry soap companies use the bluing crystals when they make the "color safe bleach". It will brighten the whites without damaging the cloth or causing the colored dyes to release like the chlorine bleach does.

 

[JimP]

Do a google search for "head cheese" and all sorts of recipes and techniques will pop up. I was surprised at how comprehensive the results were on the first search I tried on the topic.


I have a bottle of bluing in the laundry area and use it for whites and when washing blue jeans. I have been told that the laundry soap companies use the bluing crystals when they make the "color safe bleach". It will brighten the whites without damaging the cloth or causing the colored dyes to release like the chlorine bleach does.

:lol: Everything old is new again.
Never throw away neck ties, wide or skinny, they always come back around...