How To Cook Venison Heart Recipes

HOW TO COOK VENISON HEART

Steps:

• Wash the heart and remove any blood clots. One way that works extremely well to is to hold the heart under running water while squeezing it. The squeezes will perform the heart's original function, but this time to remove any blood and gunk that may be in it.
• Slice the meat into 1" slices. From there you can cook the slices whole, or cut them into smaller chunks or dices. If you still aren't sure about eating heart, it may help to dice it so it looks less like heart, and more like normal, yummy venison.
• Trim off any bits of fat. You want the meat to look as nice as you can get it. If you find any rough fibers near the larger end of the heart, cut those out.
• Saute the chopped onion, a few tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Add the salt and pepper, and any other seasonings, into the mass of yummy saute.
• Add the meat into the saucepan, searing each side to a nice brown shade.
• Cook the meat on medium-low until it's almost done, then add 1/4 cup of water to the pan. The water will not only make the hand-dish much easier, but also extract the flavor out of the pan and back into the meat.
• Fully cook the venison heart. There shouldn't be any blood, and there shouldn't be very much reddish shade, either. Some tint of pink will remain even when fully cooked.
• Serve! Serve by itself or with a side of mashed potatoes or potato fries. For extra fanciness, garnish with freshly chopped chives.

SEARED VENISON HEART WITH WHISKEY BUTTER

Steps:

• Coffee Rub
• Mix ingredients for the rub in advance. This yields about 2 tablespoons worth of spices, you might only use about half for this recipe, depending on how big the heart is.
• Heart
• Wash the heart out with water and pump out any coagulated blood. Use a sharp knife to trim the valves and fat around the top. Make a slice down the main coronary artery that runs along the outside of the heart to open one side out flat. Cut this small piece off. You will be left with a cone shaped piece of muscle. Make another cut down the middle to open and lay flat. Trim any fibrous tendons on the meat. You should end up with two flat pieces that look like steaks. One will be thick, the other thin.
• Sprinkle both sides of the venison heart with the coffee rub. Reserve a couple of pinches for the whiskey-butter sauce.
• You can cook on a camp stove or build a small fire and burn the wood down to coals. Place a cast iron over the medium-high burner or on top of a grate over the fire. Once hot, add a tablespoon of oil and sear the heart on both sides until cooked through. You should treat it as you would a steak and serve with it still pink in the middle. The thin flap will only take about a minute or two per side, while the thicker steak could take up to 3-4 per side.
• Remove the heart to a cutting board and let it rest.
• Deglaze the pan with the whiskey, scraping up fond (the cracklings and brown bits) at the bottom of the pan with your tongs. Let the alcohol boil off for a few seconds, then add the butter and a couple pinches of coffee rub to season. Swirl the pan around until it melts and emulsifies. If you over-heat the butter, it will start to brown and separate; remove it from heat if you see that start to happen. Pour the whiskey-butter pan sauce over the heart and serve. The ideal presentation is served around a campfire and eaten with fingers.

STUFFED HEART

Steps:

• Wash heart and trim fat, sprinkle inside with salt and pepper.
• Fry bacon until almost crispy, add bread crumbs, celery, onion, egg, 1/2 tsp salt, thyms, sage and 1/2 tsp pepper.
• Stuff heart and tie with cooking string or secure with skewers.
• Place in small roasting pan, cover with broth and add bay leaf.
• Cover and bake at 325 for 2 1/2 hours.
• Can be done in a crock pot for 9 hours on low.