Mountian Oyster Recipe

[Randy Cornelius]

My lodge, AF&AM is having a Testicle Festival aka Mountian Oyster feed. I have agreed to do the cooking, only one problem, I have ate them in the past but never cooked them, have a good supply from the local vet. What I need is a good recipe that will make people talk about this and hopefully be a sucess and something we will want to do again next year. So I am sure that there is someone out there with a special recipe for the prep, and breading for the little morsels.

Thanks for any and all replies.

Randy

[terrahyd]

Randy;

if you are near Oberlin, kan' stop by the feed lot restr' they make the best in area....Doc...

[Randy Cornelius]

[westtxcowboy1979]

The way I have fixed them in the past was to boil them for a few mins. to loosen the mimbrain (sp?). Then you peel them Cut them in to chuncks. I use buttermilk to dip them into then batter them in flour with salt and pepper to taste. Have your oil hot and they will cook fast. You can ude the same oil for some french fries. Hope this helps.

[Timd]

Take your pick, Randy: mountain oyster recipes I've never had the opportunity to try that particular piece of beef, but most of these recipes sound tasty.

[Art]

1 pound of bull testicles will usually feed 3 or 4 people

1 pan or tub of all-purpose flour

1 pan or tub of bread crumb and Parmesan cheese mix (half and half)

1 pan or tub of eggs, whipped with some milk or half and half mixed in

Seasonings mix in a shaker (seasoning mixture made of equal amounts of salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and cayenne)

Louisiana Hot Sauce for serving

Cooking oil* Peanut oil, lard, or vegetable oil as a last resort

1. If you can't find them already cut and processed (they are available processed), split the tough skin-like muscle that surrounds each oyster lengthwise. Peel off and discard the skin. Slice lengthwise 1/4 thick. Either run through tenderizer once or pound with meat tenderizer.

2. Soak oysters in a pan with enough salt water to cover them for at least one hour (this takes out some of the blood). Drain. Rinse.

3. Soak oysters in a pan with enough milk to cover them for at least one hour (this takes out more of the blood and some of the saltiness). Drain. Rinse.

4. Lightly sprinkle seasoning mix on both sides of sliced oyster to taste.

5. Dredge each oyster into flour, then dip into egg mixture, and then dip into bread crumb/cheese mixture.

6. Place into hot cooking oil (375 or 400) and cook until golden brown or tender 160 internal (the longer they cook, the tougher they get).

7. Hot Sauce and Salt & Pepper on the tables.

8. Sell beer and sodas.

Notes:

* Most people won't eat them again (if you can get them to try them in the first place) if they had a bad first experience with over- or under-cooked mountain oysters. Practice will help eliminate bad experiences if you're doing it for a first time. You have to cook these to at least 160, because of all the handling and tenderizing, there is always a bacteria problem.

* At these kind of functions, it is best to also cook off a couple of top rounds at 225 till they get to 130 (salt them well and put them in hotel pans to cook so that you collect the juice), then pull them and let them sit for 30 minutes. Then slice them on a slicer and put them on Kaiser rolls with Au Jus available and horseradish and mustard. I also make up "Tiger Sauce" as a lot of folks like that better than straight horseradish.

* Advertise the above as a bull roast, you'll get better attendance.

This is from dad's cookbook and notes from Shrine events. Also some of my comment from working with dad at the events. So blame dad not me.

Art

[bruce johnson]

Randy,

I really don't have a particular like for mountain oysters but here goes. You have a better product to start with if you are getting calf fries locally. dip in milk, sprinkle with seasoning mix (Art's secret mix looks good), flour up and fry. Never take an odd number off the tray, they came in pairs and need to travel together.

Because our local Testicle Festival is a public event and serves several hundred, we have to use testicles from a USDA inspected facility - that means butcher bulls, old rank butcher bulls. They are boxed and frozen. They are allowed to thaw to the point of being firm. That way you can halve them and just peel each half out of the membrane. They tried skipping the skinning one year - not good. They are diced into about 1" slices/cubes and run through a tenderizer. They are marinated overnight in red wine and fresh garlic. Next day they are breaded and fried that morning in batches and then transferred to steam trays. That is when they seem to be the best. At the big event they are reheated in the steam trays covered with foil and ladled out.

[Art]

Randy,

When dad and I did the "bull roasts" the Rocky Mountain Oysters were something we got from a guy I went to school with's father, who was a meat packer. I know they were less than .25 a pound back in the late 60s. I just checked some prices, and it seems they have become quite a delicacy, running north of $5 a pound at the plant, run them up to about $7 after they get to a butcher; that is by the 20 lb box. Anything less than 20 lb and you are going to buy very expensive oysters, so you might want to do real oysters and beef sandwiches, you can always sell the leftover beef after the event for 7-10 a pound, but if you have leftover balls, you'll just have dog food.

Good luck with it.

Art