sliced beef heart

2016-04-30 a.o.

Beef heart is pure lean muscle and—like no other in the body—it never rests. On the other hand, the connective tissue that holds the heart together is quite tough.

It is possible to request a whole heart to stuff and bake, but I have not tried that so far. My store sells it pre-sliced, in packages of up to 2 lbs. The slices are long and narrow, usually no more than 3/8" thick. That is a thin steak, and I treat it as such for preparing it.

Always trim away the tough tendon sheet inside and out. Unless you stew them for a long time, they remain chewy. That is not what I want to do with the steak. I use a hot pan to sear the outside dark brown, but for fairly short time to keep the inside rare to medium-rare. Overcooked heart quickly gets chewy.

INGREDIENTS

This is what you need for 2 servings:

4-8 slices of beef heart, trimmed, ½ lb.
olive oil
S&P

Pic1: pan-fried beef heart
2019-07-18

Directions

Pic2: outside of beef heart
Pic3: inside of beef heart
Pic4: sliced and trimmed

Pic5: 1st side
Pic6: turn over
Pic7: keep going until dark brown - 2016-04-30

Heat some olive oil in a very hot pan.
Add the slices. They should sizzle and brown as soon as they touch the pan.
Add S&P to taste.
If you want the inside cooked well done:
- Flip the slices quickly to sear the other side briefly.
- Reduce heat and simmer over lowest heat for 20-30 minutes to cook the inside without turning it into shoe leather.
- If the slices are more than ½ inch, you will need to do this anyway, or the inside will remain raw while the outside is already burning.
If you prefer the inside of thin slices rare to medium-rare
- Leave the slices on the same side until they turn dark brown.
  You may have to push down with a spatula to prevent the slices from curling up.
- Turn once, do the same on the other side.
Remove from the heat when done.
Serve immediately

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more and avemariasongs.org

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more
and avemariasongs.org