Sautéed Or Grilled, Tender Beef Heart
From elgourmand 13 years ago
- 2hrs to make
- Serves 4
A while back I posted a method for tenderizing tough beef, using salt. Most, if not all, of you seem to have an endless supply of good quality beef, at a reasonable price, so that didn’t generate much interest. Read more I am not so fortunate. But skip that; one responds to his, or her, needs. This is an offshoot to that experiment. One of my favourite hunks of organ meet is Beef Heart. As far as I know, that is a tough hunk of meat, wherever you get it. Delightful taste though. The method I learned, and have used for years was clean it, trim it and boil it to death in a suitable broth. A bit of wine, some spices, maybe some veggies & an hour, or so, and you got cooked beef heart. In spite of all that abuse, the flavour is still delicate and, very much, there. The night after the “tenderizing tough steak” experiment I decided to have beef heart. As I was trimming the heart I thought, would that salt trick work with heart? What would tender sautéed, or grilled, beef heart be like? Lovely. Nothing to lose, except a hunk of beef heart that was going to get cooked to death anyway. It worked. Judging by size, this was not a calf heart. Free range, full grown beef. It still worked. If you get stingy with the salt in the opening movement of this dance, the heart will stay tough. See less
Ingredients
- • 1 beef heart, say about 2 lbs. shopping list
- • A mess of salt. shopping list
- • 1 Tbs raw sugar, optional. shopping list
- • ¼ - 1/2 cup decent red wine, optional. shopping list
- • A pinch, or 3, of basil. shopping list
- • A good grind of black pepper. shopping list
- • 2 decent sized onions, sliced, optional but nice. shopping list
How to make it
- 1. Clean & trim the beef heart. Get rid of all the fat, veins, membranes, and such.
- 2. Slice the heart into strips about 1” (2.5cm) thick & 2” (5cm) wide.
- 3. Find a plate large enough to hold the hart strips one layer thick and sprinkle salt on it.
- 4. Lay the strips of heart on the plate and sprinkle, liberally, with more salt.
- 5. Sprinkle the Tbs of raw sugar over the top. This is just a light dusting.
- 6. Cover lightly and let set for an hour.
- 7. When the heart is finished its salt soak rinse thoroughly.
- 8. Let set a few minutes and rinse again.
- 9. Place in a bowl with the red wine, if using, and marinate for at least 30 minutes, stirring often.
- 10. I did this after work one evening so took the easy way and used a 10” (25cm) cast iron skillet. I also cut the strips into 1 ½ x 1 ½ inch chunks.
- 11. Get the skillet pretty hot.
- 12. Add a Tbs of olive oil and a bit of butter.
- 13. While the heart is having its wine soak, chop the onions and sauté them in butter until about half cooked.
- 14. Drain, pat dry and add the beef heart chunks to the onions.
- 15. Saute, stirring frequently, until just cooked through.
- 16. Do the fresh ground pepper thing.
- 17. Serve & enjoy.
- I know I sound like a snake oil salesman here but the way this heart turned out was just super. Note that I didn’t pound it to death, etc. It really was tender and had heaps of flavour.
- I served this with a fresh green salad and some buttered pasta but next time I do this I’ll leave it in strips & do it on the outside grill, with baked potatoes.
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