Ox glands fried in herbed breadcrumbs with Viennese potato salad

Formerly traditional raw materials are now on the fringe and rarely encountered. But introduced by Czech cuisine expert, Martin Jiskrů of Zájezdní inn U Jiskrů, this ingredient might tempt you. If ox balls are well made, he says, they are more tender than fowl liver.

preparation process

1. It is important to remove the bull’s glands from the thin film, then cut them and rinse them several times under running water. Cut the well-washed glands into 1½ cm thick slices and soak them in milk for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, mix the bread crumbs with the parsley and a sprinkle of thyme in a blender on high speed. Prepare mixed bread crumbs regularly.

3. After half an hour of soaking in milk, dip the glands into boiling salted water for a few seconds. After removing them, dry them, as the liquid is most harmful to the resulting fragility, damage to the glands. Proceed as for the classic triple pack. Roll the slices in flour, eggs and herbs breadcrumbs. Fry in lard for a maximum of two minutes on each side. Strain and feet.

4. Prepare the saladCut the onions into slices or slices. Onions prepared in this way are boiled in highly acidic water (the ratio of water to vinegar is about 4:1) with bay leaves – boil briefly. Then drain.

5. Boil potatoes for a salad in their skins, then peel them. It is ideal to always work with warm ingredients. Cut the potatoes into slices. Finely chop the green onions and shallots. Now mix the lukewarm diced potatoes with the drained lukewarm onions, season with coarse mustard and salt, add the olive oil and finish with a pinch of pepper. Pour a generous amount of fatty broth into the salad (ideally from turkey bones). Finally, add the green onions and shallots.

Best advice from Martin Jaskra: Bull glands are a storehouse of proteins. They also hold a reputation as a powerful aphrodisiac. This explains the name we used to cook out in Colorado, Denver in my case. For us, it was Rocky Mountain oysters – they were close enough. When shopping, buy only peeled glands. It probably wouldn’t be possible any other way today, but it would peel hard.