Cooking Heart????

thriftlady_2

maltesers wrote: »

I discovered heart when I worked in a school kitchen. We used to use ox heart in cottage pie mixed in with beef mince and it gave a wonderful flavour.

That's a great idea. I shall ask my butcher if he can mince some heart for me to add to my mince. What a fantastic way to get the goodness of offal into the kids, a pity they don't do that now.

Magpye

In a moment of weakness at the local supermarket, I bought a tray of chopped pig's heart - it was cheap, looked tasty, and I desperately need the iron (a bit deficient due to lack of meat in recent months.) But I don't have a clue how to prepare it. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

elaine241

Hello, I've been lurking on this board for ages! Now i have a problem that all you Old Stylers can help me with. I have been given a huge fresh ox heart and need some recipe suggestions. I have a slow cooker so any recipes using this would be great! Thanks in advance!

Stephen_Leak

Stuff it (with stuffing) and braise it.

freezspirit

Ok done a quick research came up with some ideas:

spiced ox heart http://www.cookitsimply.com/recipe-0010-011o49.html

herb stuff heart http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-herb-stuffed-beef-heart

grilled heart http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/603675

roast ox heart http://uktv.co.uk/food/thread/threadid/29946

Stew http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-meat-potato-stew or http://www.justslowcooking.com/slo-0015501.html

I'm guessing you could use it in a pie mix or casserole?

yahoo answer http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061024060111AAICKbL

selection of recipes http://hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m061703.htm#3

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Proper Sage n onion stuffing (or add chopped real ingredients to box of Paxo), beef stock in cooker, potatoes, beans...yum yum. Think I might get some next week.

Suddenly, being newly single has its advantages - OH has gone the way of the others (sigh) - tried to persuade him to try something different when shopping out in the sticks one morning.

'How about we try this, hun?'

'No. Don't like it.'

'Have you ever tried rabbit?'

'Nah. They're like....' (kicks his feet, head hanging down, hands in pockets)

'Cute and fluffy?'

'Yeh. Not dinner.'

'They're yummy - especially in a pot with carrots and peas. And anyway, they're ready prepared - it's not as if I've got to skin it and gut it or chop off the head'

'Errrgggh! That's sick!'

Sigh. 'How about this?'

(Wrinkles nose and pokes at it) 'What's that?'

'Beef skirt'

'Yuk! Sounds nasty!'

'It's just the...(goes to demonstrate where it come from, then realises the rhyming phrase that has sprung to his mind)...oh, never mind'

'How about something you will recognise - nice bit of -'

'LIVER?! NO! Nasty.'

'The cats love it'

'Give it to them then. But not when I'm in or I'll see it in their bowls and throw up'

'Well, You won't eat kidney because it smells. You won't eat liver. You chucked away a pound of mince last week because it was dark red. You certainly won't eat heart, so what -'

'HEART?! You're disgusting. Normal people don't eat that stuff. You wanna see a shrink, that's what psychos eat......'

(Trying desperately not to allow fantasies of turning psycho on him with a butcher's cleaver to take over) 'OK. I'll think of something'

Elderly lady tiptoes over and say to him 'She's right, young man, they're all lovely things to try'

'No. Don't want to. Want sausages.'

He was a fully grown man in his forties.
Not missing him nearly as much as I thought I would at the time. Wonder why?

elaine241

Thankyou freezspirit I will certainly investigate the recipes. Thankfully my other half is from a farming country background so no problems unlike Jojo the Tightfisted!

thriftlady_2

Jojo your reply made me laugh. Oddly my OH will happily eat anything like that but give him a bit of broccoli and he thinks you're trying to poison him:rolleyes:

Elaine, I haven't tried heart yet but one of the things I thought would make it more acceptable to the kids was to mince or finely chop it and add it to ordinary mince. Then make burgers or little patties with onions and herbs added.

If the heart is fresh you could freeze it after mincing in smaller portions.

absolutebounder

Chop it up into small pieces and mix with some kidney and make home made steak and kidney pies fro your old man.All real me like a steak and kidney pie and he will never notice the difference especially since he has only ever had the crap from the chippy to compare with or the ones his school used to make.

Lemon_Verbena

I didn't realise you could still get heart! My mum used to do stuffed heart (think it was lambs though as they were small) and we loved them as kids. But I haven't eaten 'offal' since the BSE scare years ago, same with liver, but I adored it as a child. I think my main problem is not knowing how to cook them or where to get them we don't have a local butcher, live out in the sticks the closest butcher is Asda.

I recall one type of liver is very bitter and one is sweet but which is it? I'm actually fancying liver & onions now with some creamy mash and peas, anyone got a recipe or can point me in the direction of one?

I really could do with finding out more about the cheaper cuts of meat, how you cook them etc. Mum used to do breast of lamb, oxtail, belly pork and a host of other things, but never see them in the shops and I have no idea how to cook them if I found them. Mum is sadly no longer alive to ask, can anyone recommend a book or website where I can find out more? Sorry for hijacking your thread Elaine, enjoy your ox heart!

LV x