Peppercorns (optional)
Salt

Soak the sweetbreads in cold water for at least an hour, or overnight (in the fridge), until they become white. This process acts to cleanse the sweetbreads of the excess blood, so your water will become quite pink. Drain and rinse.

Add sweetbreads to a saucepan with the chicken stock, peppercorns and a little salt, bring gently to a simmer (about 10 minutes). Once firm, remove from heat and allow to cool in the liquid. Once at room temperature, drain sweetbreads (reserve the cooking liquid) and peel off the majority of the outer membrane.

Thinly slice the sweetbreads, season with salt and pepper and lightly pan fry in 1 tbsp butter and set aside.

For the mushroom sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp shallots, finely diced; or onion
1 clove garlic, minced
Splash of Marsala
Approx 200mls Gourmet Direct chicken stock (from cooking the sweetbreads)
Splash of cream. Alternatively use light sour cream.

Sweat the shallot or onion and garlic with butter. Add the mushrooms and begin to soften before adding marsala and chicken stock from the sweetbreads. As the mushrooms are cooked, turn down heat and add cream or light sour cream to taste.

Serve the sweetbreads with mushroom sauce poured over the top, with green salad and crispy Ciabatta.

Inspiration for this recipe kindly supplied by Stephan Baumberger of Stephan’s Restaurant, Manakau, Levin.

Stephan’s Restaurant & Gasthof is located on State Highway 1, between Levin and Otaki. If you are planning a trip that way anytime soon, contact them on 06 362 6520 and book a table to sample one of Stephan’s famous seasonal antipasto platters, his (Gourmet Direct) panfried Veal Zurich style and his signature Engadiner Nusstorte. Just tell him we sent you!