Beef Heart

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

pmeheran

Senior Cook
Joined
May 21, 2011
Messages
108
Location
Kingsville texas, south of c.c.
I have noticed that people make the mistake of trusting their grocer, butcher. When it comes to beef heart how it is raised and handled after it is butchered is reflected in its taste. I have tasted beef heart that had a flavor like liver, I mean gamey liver. But also, I have had beef heart that was so delicate in flavor that no one would turn their nose up at it. If you get a good one, blanch in water just a little and then grill with Hmm, maybe olive oil. Donot under any circumstances over cook it! Another way would be to wash it thoroughly and slice and wash again and then I simply saute and maybe leave it a little pink in the center. Oh, yeah, horrors! It is an intense protein high, love it when it is good. Also, by the way, you can do something similar to octopus. We joke that it has michelin stamped on the side.
 
How true. Mom bought one for Dad, then he got sick, and I wound up cooking the heart. It is so damned tough. Long, slow, and low would be my advice and mom's would probably be pressure cooking it.
 
Mom used to buy beef heart because it was cheap. She would stuff it, braise it, then roast it. Served it sliced relatively thin. It was OK.
 
It can work well if you want to add another flavour dimension to home-made sausages. Cheap bulk as well.
 
I used beef heart in a good beef stew. I simply cubed it, browned it until it was just lightly browned. Seasoned simply with salt and garlic. I ate a chunk and found the meat to be rich in flavor, more so than most other beef cuts, and tender. I then put the meat together with potatoes, carrots, and green beans in the slow cooker overnight. I made a roux the next morning and used the pan juices from the slow cooker to make a really nice gravy (again, the heart was very rich in flavor. I seasoned the gravy with a bit more garlic, not to give it a garlic flavor mind you, but just enough to accentuate the beef flavor. The gravy went back into the slow cooker to cover everything, and I had a great beef stew for the Sunday pot luck after church. Everyone who tried it were asking how I got such a great flavor into the stew. I didn't tell anyone that they were eating beef heart until they'd finished their plates. Most of the crowd said they never would have purchased a beef heart, but that the stew was great. They loved it.

Beef heart is a stronger flavored meat, as it is a very well exercised muscle, with lots of blood feeding it. If cooked improperly, just like a bottom round, a shank, or even a tougher chunk of shoulder meat, it can get pretty chewy. But treat it right, and it will reward you with great flavor, and can be as tender as butter.:yum:

Now I just have to get up the nerve to buy some beef tongue. I hear its very good as well.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Now I just have to get up the nerve to buy some beef tongue. I hear its very good as well.

If it will help you, AFAIK the outer surface (the part that interfaces with the hay) is lost in the cooking process, and all that is left is the muscle.

I haven't have beef tongue in years. I'd love some more, please.

I'd go for the beef heart too. I often cook chicken liver, heart and gizzard while I'm cooking a whole chicken, and "sample" them as the chef's benefit. :)

Gotta have something to go with your wine while your cooking and tasting...
 
I had a funny story with hart. I made a stew ones, we were just married, no kids. My wife and I ate for three days. She loved it. Kept asking me what meat was it, I kept saying beef. On a third day I admitted that it was hart, she almost killed me. After that she always checks what I am making, 20 years, and she still doesn't trust me.
 
CharlieD said:
I had a funny story with hart. I made a stew ones, we were just married, no kids. My wife and I ate for three days. She loved it. Kept asking me what meat was it, I kept saying beef. On a third day I admitted that it was hart, she almost killed me. After that she always checks what I am making, 20 years, and she still doesn't trust me.

:ROFLMAO: I don't blame her!
 
I had a funny story with hart. I made a stew ones, we were just married, no kids. My wife and I ate for three days. She loved it. Kept asking me what meat was it, I kept saying beef. On a third day I admitted that it was hart, she almost killed me. After that she always checks what I am making, 20 years, and she still doesn't trust me.

I wish we had a "Like" button here!
 
I have a sib who was an extremely fussy eater when she was a child. But one thing she loved was beef tongue with horseradish gravy. Mom would slow cook it in water, take it out and let it cool, then peel the outer skin and slice. When she was through, unless you knew enough about organ meats, you probably wouldn't recognize it. Meanwhile she'd use the cooking water to make a horseradish gravy.

One time sis wanted a friend of hers to spend the night (they were, I think, 13-ish). Mom said, I don't think so, we're having tongue or dinner tonight (this is way in the days before parents catered to everyone at the table's whims). OK, Just don't tell her. Her friend just lapped the whole meat up. Then sis, rather meanly, told her what is was. She ran from the room, horrified.
 
I love tongue. I grew up eating it. Loved it as a kid, but I wouldn't eat ox tail. I had seen what got onto ungulates' tails.
 
Back
Top Bottom