My husband has recently developed a penchant for offal.
He calls it offal. I call it awful and he's been taunting me with talks of haggis and liver and bacon pie for a while.
The first step was placing his offal purchases strategically in the fridge or freezer. There some chicken livers, here a box of brains.
But it wasn't long before those little lumpy things that allegedly help our thought processes had migrated to another area and, indeed, were thawing quite nicely thank you, on top of a pork chop destined for my dinner plate.
I asked him to move the brains and in so doing, gave him the reaction he had been waiting for.
I ate my lone chop while he did a quick magic act which involved juggling brains, allegedly crumbing them at the same time.
I blame the cooking shows.
He has long lamented the price of the cheaper cut of meat which now match the prices of the superior cuts. He blames those same shows he enjoys so much, shows in which wizards in the kitchen spend time with slow cookers and various marinades, all the better to tenderise and sweeten these once-cheap ingredients.
But not everyone is convinced that a bit of chuck steak is as good to cook with as a filet. It seems to satisfy the budget and the palate you have to resort to liver and bacon. Getting a rise from me seems to simply be the bonus. - Linda Muller
