What's some of your deer heart and liver recipes and techniques? I've never really been one for the internal organs of animals but willing to try them to see if I have a taste for them. 
Deer heart and liver recipes and/or techniques?
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Throw the liver away. Trim the heart and cut into strips and sauté in garlic butter or bacon grease. Keep it simple.What's some of your deer heart and liver recipes and techniques? I've never really been one for the internal organs of animals but willing to try them to see if I have a taste for them.
Carlos
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- Dec 5, 2014
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Yes, trimming the heart is important, because there's quite a bit of connectives in there.
Also, don't over cook it, medium to med rare is best IMO.
Smoking hot cast iron skillet….
Butter, salt pepper
3/8" thick
45 seconds per side
Caramelize some onions first.
Fantastic
iowavf
Well-Known Member
Give them away?
Heart - sliced thin and pan seared in Kerrygold butter with garlic powder. Keep as rare as possible
Liver: punt like a football into the woods.
Heart:
Heart:
Spot on!!!!
The liver is one of my favorite meals we usually eat the night we kill our deer. we will slice it thin, soak it in milk, dip in flour and fry with some onion. Hard to beat liver and onions
What's some of your deer heart and liver recipes and techniques? I've never really been one for the internal organs of animals but willing to try them to see if I have a taste for them.
Heart is a muscle. Treat it like a steak. I like to butterfly mine out. First step is to cut off the top arteries & veins, usually about midway through the white fatcap at the top. Rinse out the coagulated blood a bit, then run your knife in the outermost chamber, unlaying it from the septum dividing wall. Just unravel each chamber a bit. There's not much to it, but there comes a point where you'll probably split that septum out. Either way, your goal is to unroll it so that it becomes a flat~ish "steak".
Next, you'll want to trim it a bit flatter if you can, and remove out the "heartstrings". There are a couple areas inside the heart wall that are the network of nerves that control the hearbeat. Remove them (similar to how you'd remove silverskin), along with the lighter colored flesh immediately surrounding.
After that, it's a steak. I like to season mine very well in Mexican / citrus flavors. It makes a great fajita. Grill it hot and fast, maybe 2-3 minutes on each side, then let it finish cooking on indirect heat for another 3-4 minutes. The goal is medium-rare, tops. Slice thinly against the grain.
Texture is a little different, but it's a great piece of meat. Over-cooking will make the texture and taste go to crap.
Heart and backstraps are my two favorites. Can grill, sautee or fry it. Be sure to trim/clean it up well as others have previously mentioned. It's very similar to perfectly cooked chicken gizzards.
Omega
Well-Known Member
I used to always treat it as a regular piece of venison, but I read and article with a recipe, which I can't remember who what where of it, but one take-away was that it isn't just a muscle, that it is a special muscle and should be cooked no more than medium to medium rare using your favorite spices. I use a mix I get called Coach Jones which is from a family member of my wife's coworker. It contains a bunch of ingredients which I would use anyway but in a mix that is very consistent from batch to batch.
I cut it into fajita strips making it much easier to trim away the connective tissue, fry it in a skillet with either butter or olive oil depending on my mood over medium heat and cooked for just a few minutes leaving the inside still pink. If making a side dish, like tatters, I fry that first because the heart cooks much faster and the potatoes will still be hot. If I desire a spicier dish, I'll throw in some slap ya mama cajun spice in there, mmmm good.
I cut it into fajita strips making it much easier to trim away the connective tissue, fry it in a skillet with either butter or olive oil depending on my mood over medium heat and cooked for just a few minutes leaving the inside still pink. If making a side dish, like tatters, I fry that first because the heart cooks much faster and the potatoes will still be hot. If I desire a spicier dish, I'll throw in some slap ya mama cajun spice in there, mmmm good.
I save livers and use them for scrapple...my favorite breakfast item
The Classic Pennsylvania Dutch treat made with liver, spices, cornmeal and buckwheat.
Author: Alan Bergo
Traditional Pennsylvania Dutch Scrapple Recipe
The Classic Pennsylvania Dutch treat made with liver, spices, cornmeal and buckwheat.
Author: Alan Bergo
Equipment
- Loaf pan
Ingredients
- 14 oz liver or a blend of organs like liver, kidney, and heart cut into medium-sized chunks
- 1 10 oz chunk of bone with meat attached, preferably a shank such as a lamb or deer shank, or soup bones. Or substitute 4 ounces of cooked meat.
- 2 cups fine cornmeal
- ¼ cup buckwheat flour
- ½ cup yellow onion diced small
- 18 grams (1 level tablespoon) kosher salt This may seem like a lot of salt, but remember this is a breakfast "meat" like bacon or sausage. If you're sensitive to salt, use 2.5 teaspoons.
- 6 cups water
- Maple syrup small amounts for serving (optional)
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1.5 teaspoons spice mix follows
Spice Mix
- ¾ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground allspice
Instructions
- Cover soup bones or shank and onion with the 6 cups of water, add the bay leaves, cover with a lid, then simmer on medium heat or bake at 300 for 2 hours or until very tender.
- Chill the shank until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. Strain the broth and reserve. There should be exactly 4 cups of liquid, if there isn't add enough water or stock to make up the difference.
- Cut the liver, heart or other organs into roughly 1 oz pieces.
- Remove the meat from the shank bone, then put the shank meat, cooked onion and organs in a meat grinder, or process n a food processor until fine. Sweat the meat mixture to evaporate the water in a saute pan for 2-3 minutes, then reserve, and allow to cool, covered.
- Meanwhile, Whisk the cornmeal and buckwheat flour with the salt and spices, and combine with the 4 cups of cooking liquid in a saucepot big enough to hold it. Heat the mixture, whisking constantly until it thickens, then turn the heat down to low and cook for 15 minutes.
- Add the cooked meat to the cornmeal mixture, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking on the bottom for another 30 minutes. You can also bake the mixture at 300 for 30 minutes, or until very thick, as long as it's covered.
- When the mixture is very solid and the cornmeal is well cooked, pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan, there may be a small amount of excess. Chill the scrapple, uncovered on a counter until room temperature, then refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap until completely set before slicing.
- To serve the scrapple, cut ½ inch slices and fry until crisp on medium-high heat on both sides. Serve for breakfast or lunch, with maple syrup on the side, if you like.
I think they overcooked the heart just a skosh in the video.
Loukiii
Well-Known Member
Try using a baseball bat
like the heart sauteed, but like it better pickled
Moonman
Well-Known Member
I've done this one. It turned out good. https://honest-food.net/grilled-deer-heart-recipe/
Hank Shaw's preparation method is the way I've always done it, up until the part where he cuts it into smaller "steaks".
honest-food.net
How to Prepare Deer Heart for Cooking - Cleaning Deer Hearts
How to prepare deer heart for cooking. Trimming, cleaning and prepping deer hearts, or elk, moose, pronghorn or beef hearts.
honest-food.net
