Ox tongue with mushroom sauce is a delightful treat. Its creaminess and soft texture makes it more delicious. It is a personal favorite. In fact, we cooked it for Christmas dinner paired with paella; although, it is best served with mashed potatoes. Preparing this dish may take a while, around 2 to 4 hours, but it is definitely worth it.

Ingredients :

1 ox tongue (about 1.1 kilos)

2 tbsp. of vinegar

1 whole garlic

2 onions, one sliced and the other chopped

6 peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1/2 carrot

4 leek stalks

1 can condensed mushroom soup

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. of butter

1 onion, chopped

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon of finely chopped fresh parsley

1 can button mushrooms, chopped

Clean the ox tongue by scraping it with a knife. Rinse well in running water. Next, place it in a glass bowl. Pour water and add vinegar. Continue to wash the tongue with this mixture. Once it is clean, rinse it with water.

In a pot with water, place the ox tongue. Add garlic, onion, carrot, leeks, peppercorns and bay leafs. Bring it to a boil and cook for 4 hours or until it is tender. You can also use a pressure cooker to cut the cooking time in half.

Once the tongue is tender, strain the broth and set it aside. Transfer the meat to a plate and let it rest for 10 minutes or until it is cool. Peel off the skin and slice crosswise into ¼ inch thick slices. Set aside.

In a pan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the chopped onions and cook for 5 minutes or until they are brown, then transfer to a plate with paper towels to drain the oil. Set aside.

Using the same pan, melt the remaining butter. Fry the sliced ox tongue for 3-5 minutes or until they are slightly browned, add more butter if needed. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Saute the sliced onion and mushrooms in the pan used to fry the ox tongue. Mix in the mushroom soup and add 1 cup of meat broth. Adjust the amount of water depending on the thickness you would like. Let the mixture boil and stir occasionally. Add the ox tongue slices. Cook for 5-7 minutes.

Garnish with browned onions and serve while hot.

Photo Courtesy Of: jlastras