i see that Andrew Zimmern is talking about beef heart. heart is pretty different in the pig and the cow. I like to cook pork hearts like the tongues -- boil first, cool, cut into small bits, and then braise for a little while with vegetables. in the Philippines this is a dish called bopis. it’s a good introduction to organ meats as it doesn’t have the strong, bloody, minerally flavor found in a lot of beef offal. but i have worked out a method of cooking beef heart that produces such a nice finished product, i’ve served it successfully to people who would have never in their lives have volunteered to eat it. I just say it’s “beef” and leave it at that.
Beef heart isn’t as cheap as it used to be (what is?), but when cooked properly, it’s still an economical way to serve lean beef.
and it’s simple! take a whole or half beef heart. season with salt, black and red pepper, garlic powder and paprika. put in a slow cooker with ¼ cup of water and ¼ cup of soy sauce or shoyu. cover and cook on low for a long, long time - at least 8 hours. it should be very, very tender.
Now comes the really important part . . . let the heart cool to room temperature. using your hands and a paring knife, cut and pull away every bit that isn’t heart muscle. that includes the fat, the connective tissue, the valves and the blood vessels. you will have to pull the heart into pieces to get at all of the bits that get discarded. while you’re doing this, separate the muscle fibers into strands -- like shredding roast pork. you can save the extra bits to add to a stockpot or you can give them to the dogs. that leaves you with a pile of tender lean beef. sprinkle it with a little shoyu or fish sauce and eat with rice, or heat it in a skillet with a few peppers and onions and then put into a tortilla or sandwich. yum!
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