Devilling, in cooking, goes back to the 18th century and refers to a dish, any dish, that has been seasoned vigorously with a variety of strong condiments, from black pepper (plenty of it) to anything hot and robust such as chillies, paprika, red pepper flakes, mustard, or tabasco in more recent times. The best known devilled dish today is probably devilled eggs, even if they are out of fashion of late. If you picture those, you should have a mind’s-eye image of that sprinkling of paprika on top. That’s the devilling.

But devilled dishes can be more substantial than a hard-boiled egg with some hot seasonings. To devil a meat dish, such as kidneys, involves cooking it in a sauce which contains mustard (Hot English, some argue, while others recommend a thicker wholegrain type) and Worcestershire sauce, with butter as the fat carrier and no skimping on the black pepper and whichever variation of spice you choose to add more heat. Some recipes for devilled kidneys call for bacon to be added. In my version I like to add a splash of sherry to the mix, and a teaspoon of a jelly such as cranberry, quince or apple. (Note that I am referring to the jam jellies bought in jars, not kiddies’ packet jelly.) I also felt it needed a herb, so I used fresh thyme. Parsley is more often used, so you can do so if you prefer.

As a breakfast of the 19th and 20th centuries, devilled kidneys would fall in the company of such dishes as kedgeree and kippers on a breakfast menu. I’m trying to remember quite when it was that kippers fell out of favour on local breakfast menus, but it seems ages since I last encountered them. I also seldom see kippers in local supermarkets. Maybe that habit they have of staying with you all day finally had people losing interest. If I can just organise a smoker I might have a go at smoking them myself; I have in mind to get hold of an old metal cabinet and adapt it (don’t tell The Foodie’s Wife).

Which kidneys to use? Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall uses pig’s kidneys. Lamb kidneys are widely used. Even game kidneys are used at times, and the resulting dish served with venison. The Hairy Bikers use onion and tomato purée in the sauce; Fearnley-Whittingstall doesn’t use onion but does include cider brandy and cider vinegar, and finishes it with cream. Like me, he uses a hint of jelly, in his case redcurrant. Caroline Conran uses lamb’s kidneys and chicken stock, and dry (powdered) mustard. Use of ox/beef kidneys is less common though they are often the choice for a steak and kidney pie, and some commentators argue for calves’ kidneys as they would be expected to be more tender than beef kidneys. Rick Stein has served devilled kidneys with wild mushrooms, a fine idea. One recipe by Marco Pierre White uses mustard powder (like Conran), as well as hot sauce and HP sauce alongside the requisite Worcestershire sauce. MPW also uses a little sugar rather than a jelly. Like my recipe, his uses a splash of sherry. Nigel Slater too, uses redcurrant jelly, and cream. Slater also suggests adding a few capers or green peppercorns.

So, lamb’s kidneys are the greatest tradition for it, but my starting point was the fresh ox kidneys I had been given, so I reckoned I would just have to cook them lower and longer, in more sauce than I might have used for a kidney that would become tender more quickly. I pondered using mushrooms too, as they go very well with kidneys, but decided against it. (It was a cold day, there were no mushrooms in the house, I wasn’t going out.)

Probably the best advice is this: once trimmed and the white cores removed, cook them quickly, only for a few minutes, otherwise (as Slater says) they are likely to toughen. But if like me you’re using ox kidneys, a gentle longer, slower cook should do the trick.

Ingredients

250 g fresh beef or lamb’s kidneys

2 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

3 Tbsp Hot English mustard

1 Tbsp picked fresh thyme leaves

1 scant tsp Cayenne pepper

1 rasher of streaky bacon, diced

3 Tbsp sherry

1 Tbsp cranberry jelly (or quince or apple jelly)

100 ml beef stock

Salt and plenty of black pepper

Method

Prepare the kidneys by snipping away the central white membrane, as it’s called, and slicing the remaining red kidney flesh into chunks, not too small. Wash them and pat them dry.

Melt butter and stir in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Cayenne pepper, thyme leaves, and add the diced bacon. Cook gently for two minutes, then add the kidneys and cook, stirring, for 3 or 4 minutes on a moderate heat.

At this point, if using lamb’s kidneys, you might choose to remove them to a side dish while continuing to cook without them, then add them to heat through at the end. Or keep them in for a longer, gentle cook. I kept the beef kidneys in the sauce for the reasons explained above.

Season to taste with salt and lots of black pepper, then stir in the sherry and cranberry (or apple, redcurrant, quince or other) jelly and simmer gently for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the beef stock and bring it back to a simmer. Cook it gently until the sauce has thickened. If you’ve removed the cooked kidneys earlier, return them to the pan to heat through.

Serve on toast for breakfast. DM/TGIFood 

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