I finally tackled an uncommon meat that’s been waiting for me, buried in my chest freezer, for several months now. (I get brave at the butcher’s but a little less brave once its in my house and I have to research how to clean, cut, and cook it!)
When I thought of Valentine’s meals, my first idea was a butter poached lobster. Classic, right? But what’s more Valentine’s than hearts? And I just happened to have one of those already, without having to take a 45 minute drive to dump a lot of money on crustaceans. Since I have an awesome husband, he was just as excited at the idea of cow heart as he was for lobster and couldn’t wait to try it.
I ran into a hitch almost right away. I looked up MANY videos on how to clean a heart while it was defrosting. Almost all of them agreed that a butcher will open it up and clean most of it out, so they cleaned any leftover vessels, fat chunks, and silver skin. When I opened my heart up, it was whole and intact. Cut from the cow and packaged (similar to how my oxtail was.) So I had to figure out how to cut it open, get ALL the vessels and arteries out, and then start where the videos showed.
I saw someone mention a milk bath. This hadn’t worked well for my adult cow liver before (still tasted of so much iron!) and I heard a chef mention “at least 24 hours” for such organs when he makes them for his restaurant. I did an almost two full day soak. This resulted in no iron taste at all – I was relieved and pleased to find out.
After the two day soak, I dried the meat and let it go to room temp while I sauted onions, mushrooms, bacon, and spinach together for the stuffing. I loaded in as much as I could and rolled the heart, securing it with kitchen twine and giving it a good sear all over. A half hour in the oven, the heart looked a perfect medium-rare.
I plated it on a bed of baby spinach and spooned leftover filling over it, and served it with a glass of Carvinor red wine.
Not only did my husband and I really enjoy the meal, so did my young children. In fact, they said it’s a new favorite and loved that the texture was close to cow tongue – another favorite. We all agreed that it was a meal to definitely have again in the future.
So for Valentine’s Day, don’t think of only expensive seafoods. Show the love in your heart with a cheap meat that is delicious and certainly not an every day type of meal!
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