Tender-Hearted
With the tongue triumphed, I moved further south to the dense, dark red heart.
Recipes for the heart were much harder to find, even in my old cookbooks. It seems people have all but forgotten about this integral part of the cow's anatomy, though it remains a good source of protein and iron. From the scant recipes I found on the internet, I was inspired by one that called for marinating and grilling the heart.
I tweaked the recipe, added some stuff, took out a few things and came up with a garlicky and delicious product. The important lessons I learned from my initial cooking is that you must remove all the veins from the heart as they are way too chewy to eat. And, over-cooked heart is hard to shallow, so it is best to serve it medium rare.
More Organ Meat Challenges
I am still stuck on the liver. I have yet to find a way of preparing this unpopular cut that can both neutralize the high iron flavor and soothe the somewhat unpleasant texture. But my quest continues.
There is no end in sight to the hearts and livers and skirt steaks and London broils, just an unending stream of beef to challenge my creativity and my customers' curiosity.
Garlicky Grilled Beef Heart
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