PrintBought a Beef Heart... What do I do?
Feeling adventuresome...
has anyone made beef heart before?
tips? tricks? recipes?
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22 Comments:
I have not a clue, but let the rest of us know what you decide to do, and how it turns out. I'm curious.
beth1 at 1:02AM on 04/02/08
Just today, the local chain grocery store had beef hearts, kidneys and tongue. I've seen tongue there on rare occasions, but this was the first time I've seen kidneys and heart. I wasn't particularly tempted, but I'm curious to see what you think.
dbcurrie at 2:09AM on 04/02/08
When I purchased a veal heart, I grilled it and it was wonderful. I served it with a chimichurri. You need to trim the meat of any sinews and then cut it into pieces that are about 3-4 inches wide before you cook it. Season them with salt and pepper and then they only take about 3 minutes on the grill or broiler. Slice the meat thinly across the grain before serving. My BF and I found that it was incredibly tender and flavorful. It didn't taste like "organ meat" - my BF, who swears he hates organ meats, was surprised how much he enjoyed it, actually.
Heart is also often stuffed and baked. I think you can find a recipe for that in the Joy of Cooking, if you have a copy.
Here's a recipe for Grilled Beef Heart With Roasted Golden Beets And Horseradish that I'm going to be trying at some point in the near future that is from Chris Cosentino's blog.
@dbcurrie - Beef kidneys are great quickly stir fried or sauteed with a mustard sauce. Although lamb, veal and (as I recently discovered) rabbit are even better!
Amandarama at 7:29AM on 04/02/08
Ah... Beef heart. Feeling frisky? LOL. According to Peruvians, beef heart will also bring on labor.
I'm surprised to read about grilling and relatively quick cooking - I thought beef heart would have to be braised... ?
chiff0nade at 7:41AM on 04/02/08
I buy them, cook them with celery, carrots, onion and parsley for a few hours then chop it all up and give it to the dog.
ChelleyD01 at 9:23AM on 04/02/08
Beef heart anticuchos, popular Peruvian street food. Haven't had the chance to try them yet but I've heard they're quite tasty.
Asado at 9:47AM on 04/02/08
@Chelley... OMG... Bwahahahahahaha!!!!!!!
Actually, I was having a similar thought...
When I was a kid, we had many weird and wonderful "pets" (i'm pretty sure my dad's a frustrated zoologist), including two baby crows that had to be hand-fed to adulthood, a baby owl (that sadly didn't make it to fledgling), and a friend's full grown red-tail hawk that lived with us for about a year (not all at the same time). The babies were fed tiny strips of raw beef heart dipped in beaten eggs. When I got older, it was my job to cut up the beef heart. The hawk was fed large strips of heart (and various other cheap offal) that he had fun ripping apart.
I think the grilled version sounds yummier.
LoCo at 10:13AM on 04/02/08
The thing I like best about buying offal at the supermarket is that it is relatively inexpensive. The last time I bought heart it was $1.50/lb.
One tip I would add to my previous comment is, if you go the grilling or broiling route, don't cook the heart beyond medium rare. That will make it tough and affect the flavor negatively. In that respect it is similar to liver or kidneys.
Here's a link to the recipe I did with the veal heart for reference if it helps.
I hope you report back and tell us what you decided to do and how it went!
Amandarama at 10:36AM on 04/02/08
Grilled heart is very nice...as long as you don't mind offal. I would cut the heart in pieces before grilling. I grill chicken hearts whole on skewers...yum.
Sweetie at 11:01AM on 04/02/08
Chelley beat me to it. My answer was gonna be "feed it to the cat."
Kerosena at 11:18AM on 04/02/08
Follow this recipe, and you will forever be a beef heart fan:
- Trim the heart of all sinew, veins and other icky things. Trim off most of the fat from the outside.
- Slice cutlets as wide as you can, but that are about 1/4 inch thick. You will get quite a few with a good beef heart.
- Put the cutlets between two pieces of wax paper and pound them (gently) with a meat mallet, working from the center outward, until the cutlet is very thin, about 1/8 inch.
- Trim the flattened cutlets into an even shape and salt them well.
- Heat a saute pan over high heat until it's hot, add some olive oil and get that almost smoking.
- Dredge the heart cutlets in whole wheat flour (more earthy than regular; it goes better with heart), shake off the excess and fry in the hot oil. Each side should need only about 1 minute. Turn only once.
- Put the cutlets in a warm oven to rest while you make a pan sauce: Deglaze the pan with white wine and a little chicken stock, let it cook down, then add 1 tablespoon of honey (or marmalade), and some salt. Turn off the heat, swirl in a tablespoon of butter and you're done.
Enjoy!HunterAnglerGardenerCook at 5:24PM on 04/03/08
I remember my father boiling venison hearts after a successful hunt. Then he would slice them about 1/4" think and add the slices to a jar of homemade dill pickles that were seasoned with garlic, jalapeno, and fresh dill weed from the garden. They would sit a few day in the the fridge before they were done.
Xtevan at 5:41PM on 04/03/08
Amandarama, that Cosentino recipe looks really cool. I'm going to buy a beef heart!
renzata at 5:53PM on 04/03/08
ok now i feel bad as i was gonna say throw it away:)
http://organicandnaturalmom.blogspot.com/
love2cook at 5:56PM on 04/03/08
@renzata - Cool! You'll have to report back if you do!
Amandarama at 7:01PM on 04/03/08
had an excellent sandwich from fergus henderson's St John restaurant for a grilled beef heart sandwich; sliced very thin and simply salt + pepper, then on the grill for approx 20 seconds. served w/ a walnut olive tapenade or something like that; the recipe should be in one of his books.
avisualperson at 8:17PM on 04/03/08
Anticuchos!!!
I made this recipe a few weeks ago and it turned out great.
http://www.recipe4all.com/recipe/Peruvian-Anticuchos-5798/
SqueezeBottle at 2:40PM on 04/04/08
I've herd of folks taking it to a restaurant and asking the chef to prepare it. That's where the phrase" Eat your heart out "is derived from.
gwcafe at 7:59PM on 04/04/08
@sqeezebottle--gezhunteit!
wookie at 8:14PM on 04/04/08
So, what happened? How did you end up making it?
Amandarama at 1:33PM on 04/14/08
Don't know about the OP but I made that Cosentino recipe (slightly simplified) this weekend and it was pretty great. I will cook beef heart from now on. It has a nice beefy flavor, but it's really tender. I ended up with a heart from the supermarket, which was already trimmed and cut into chunks. Certainly made things easier, but I'd like to get one from the grass-fed beef guy at the farmers market. But i have to pre-order, because apparently he never brings them and, like many of us, has no idea what you'd do with them, otehr than feed the dog.
renzata at 1:37PM on 04/14/08
Cool! Thanks for the update!
Amandarama at 3:21PM on 04/14/08