Have a heart! For dinner that is.

I was walking through our local Ray's grocery store and noticed a cheep package of meat.  I picked it up and realized it was beef heart.  Already cleaned up and sliced and for less then $2.  I'm not sure if I've ever eaten beef heart before, but I've eaten plenty of venison heart and always loved it, and in fact have been craving it.  I couldn't resist, I grabbed the package of beef heart.  I've never cooked heart.  I would have called Mom if she were still with us, but not an option, so I went to the god of offal, Chris Cosentino and searched his blog for a beef heart recipe.  I didn't have the 3 hours needed to let the marinade set and let the heart actually sit in the marinade, but I went for it anyway.  I mashed together garlic and fresh thyme and added orange juice and white wine and olive oil and marinaded the heart for as long as I could.

 

I did every other chore I needed to get done for the evening to let the heart marinate for as long as possible.  When I ran out of other chores and my stomach was growling too loudly to ignore I pulled the heart out of the marinade, salt and peppered it and fired it in a hot cast iron skilled with a couple tablespoons of oil.  

 

Chris recommended a high heat to caramelize the heart.  About 3 minutes per side to end up with medium cooked.  It came out perfect.  I expected the heart to be a bit tough and chewy.  It was neither.  It definitely had a different texture from a steak, or even from the venison heart I remember eating, but it was more like a lean steak then you would think.  Which makes sense.  A heart is a muscle.  It's not like other organ meats, it's much more similar to the steak we're use to eating, minus the fat.  The marinade definitely tenderized it, even in the short time I had.  The heart was tender and lean, and had no hint of gaminess.  The leftovers made a delicious heart sandwich the next day.  I will be buying more heart ( at a couple bucks for a pound of meat it's worth it) and I can't wait to do Chris's marinade for the full 3 hours.  It was delicious with the short time I had, I can only imagine how good it will be when done properly.  

So here's dinner.  Beef heart and a salad.  Topped with horseradish.  Yum!  And so healthy. Full of B vitamins, CoQ10, Folic Acid, Selenium, Phosphorus, Zinc, and Amino Acids. A much needed energy and immune system boost.  And so tasty!