Sautéed Or Grilled, Tender Beef Heart Recipe

Ingredients

• • 1 Beef heart, say about 2 lbs.
• • A mess of salt.
• • 1 Tbs raw sugar, optional.
• • ¼ - 1/2 cup decent red wine, optional.
• • A pinch, or 3, of basil.
• • A good grind of black pepper.
• • 2 decent sized onions, sliced, optional but nice.

Instructions

1. 1.Clean & trim the beef heart. Get rid of all the fat, veins, membranes, and such.
2. 2.Slice the heart into strips about 1” (2.5cm) thick & 2” (5cm) wide.
3. 3.Find a plate large enough to hold the hart strips one layer thick and sprinkle salt on it.
4. 4.Lay the strips of heart on the plate and sprinkle, liberally, with more salt.
5. 5.Sprinkle the Tbs of raw sugar over the top. This is just a light dusting.
6. 6.Cover lightly and let set for an hour.
7. 7.When the heart is finished its salt soak rinse thoroughly.
8. 8.Let set a few minutes and rinse again.
9. 9.Place in a bowl with the red wine, if using, and marinate for at least 30 minutes, stirring often.
10. 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. 11.Get the skillet pretty hot.
12. 12.Add a Tbs of olive oil and a bit of butter.
13. 13.While the heart is having its wine soak, chop the onions and sauté them in butter until about half cooked.
14. 14.Drain, pat dry and add the beef heart chunks to the onions.
15. 15.Saute, stirring frequently, until just cooked through.
16. 16.Do the fresh ground pepper thing.
17. 17.Serve & enjoy.
18. 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.
19. 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.