Have you ever cooked beef heart? I hadn’t before tonight, but earlier this week, I was able to procure a grass fed beef heart and kidney from a local farmer!
Beef heart is one of the purest cuts of muscle, and there is no definite grain, so it is really dense and tender. The heart itself is surrounded by fat and covered by a thin membrane (both inside and out), which needs to be separated from the darker meat inside.
I began by taking the thawed heart and soaking it in a cold water/sea salt bath for about an hour in order to pull out the blood. See all this blood that needed to come out?
Then I soaked it for another hour in 1 quart of cold water with 1 cup apple cider vinegar.
After that, I tried to carefully cut away the membrane and fat from the meat, getting as close as I could. I cut the heart into filets/strips, and then into 1 inch cubes. (If you need more of a visual, you can check out this video of how to cut up a heart.)
After I had the cubes, I dredged it in the following:
- 1 TBSP coconut palm sugar
- 3/4 c. brown rice flour
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1-1/2 tsp ginger powder
- 1-1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne (this was mildly spicy to me, but you might want to go lighter)
I threw 2-3 TBSP of GRASS FED BUTTER into the skillet, and then browned the meat on one side and then the other.
Once the meat was browned, I added a cup of BONE BROTH, stirred, covered, and let that simmer for 2 hours on low. This would be great to do in a slow cooker, but I don’t have one.
I added a little rosemary, too.
I served the final “hearty stew” (heehee. get it?) on a bed of creamy organic mashed potatoes (full of more grass fed butter and raw milk. Yum.) with a side of greens.
This gravy was really superb. Super rich and flavorful. Overall, I’d say my first try at cooking beef heart was a great success!!
Thereis a great Peruvian recipe called “Anticuchos”. Check it out. You won’ t be dissapointed.
I have been eating heart since I was little in the fiftys. we made swiss steak and cooked in the oven sereral hours. served with mashed potatoes. I raised three children on this swiss steak and not one of them ever knew it was heart.
my grassfed rancher was throwing hers away of using them for fish bait! i buy them for $3!
Thank you for posting this recipe. I recently bought a pressure cooker with the help of Cook With Pressure reviews so I think I’ll be trying this recipe out with it. More info here if you want to read pressure cooker reviews.
The meat CSA I buy offers free offal on request, including beef hearts! Based on reading a few recipes for antichuchos, I made up some dry rub (cumin, pepper spices, etc), aged the heart for a few days with this rub. The day of, I added red wine vinegar for a wet marinade for a few hours, then skewered and grilled it. Even my less-adventurous guests thought it was delicious!
I’ve found it’s easier to clean beef heart when you’re using it in a cooked dish is to put it (seasoned with salt and a little vinegar) in the pressure cooker on a rack for about 20 minutes. Then it’s really easy to remove what you don’t want. But please use some of the fat. It has a lot of flavor and will add a nice dimension to the dish. After cleaning the heart, you can still cut it up and brown it (using some of the fat). You’ll also end up with yummy drippings that can go into your dish that, depending on how much water was in your pressure cooker, will provide a nice stock. I’m not afraid of fat and I find when I’m cleaning the heart this way I end up eating some of the tasty fat. Of course if you have a dog, it’ll think all the stuff you remove a grand treat! Well, if you don’t have a pressure cooker, get one or ask for one as a gift. Don’t get the old fashioned stove top one. They have nice electric ones with digital timers and settings. Great for all kinds of stuff and cuts cooking time by a third.
I’ve never tried heart, but I actually just found a farmer in my area who will sell me grassfed beef heart! And this recipe looks delicious. I will definitely try it, and make it GAPS with coconut flour.
The only organ meat I’ve eaten is chicken livers, but I want to get more adventurous! Caroline wants me to try bison adrenals… but I don’t know if I’m there yet :)
Haha. I don’t know if I’ll ever be at the same level of enthusiasm about organs as @facebook-1152841156:disqus! Haha. I’m thinking I want to try tongue next or liver. The beef heart was very rich. I’m wondering if all organs are so rich because of the high iron content.
I hear Caroline is going to eat bison ovaries, soon. After hearing that, heart doesn’t seem so out there! ;P
Im so impressed! You pulled off an amazing looking meal! YEAH organ meats :) I will link this post to my heart “organ meat 101” post. I just might have to try this with my leftover 4 lb heart!
Thanks Caroline! And I love how you have a “leftover” 4 lb heart. Haha.