Have you ever cooked beef heart? I hadn’t before tonight, but earlier this week, I was able to procure a grass fed beef heart and kidney from a local farmer!

Beef heart is one of the purest cuts of muscle, and there is no definite grain, so it is really dense and tender. The heart itself is surrounded by fat and covered by a thin membrane (both inside and out), which needs to be separated from the darker meat inside.

I began by taking the thawed heart and soaking it in a cold water/sea salt bath for about an hour in order to pull out the blood. See all this blood that needed to come out?

Then I soaked it for another hour in 1 quart of cold water with 1 cup apple cider vinegar.

After that, I tried to carefully cut away the membrane and fat from the meat, getting as close as I could. I cut the heart into filets/strips, and then into 1 inch cubes. (If you need more of a visual, you can check out this video of how to cut up a heart.)

After I had the cubes, I dredged it in the following:

• 1 TBSP COCONUT PALM SUGAR
• 3/4 c. BROWN RICE FLOUR
• 1 tsp BLACK PEPPER
• 1-1/2 tsp GINGER POWDER
• 1-1/2 tsp GARLIC POWDER
• 1/2 tsp CAYENNE (this was mildly spicy to me, but you might want to go lighter)

I threw 2-3 TBSP of GRASS FED BUTTER into the skillet, and then browned the meat on one side and then the other.

Once the meat was browned, I added a cup of BONE BROTH, stirred, covered, and let that simmer for 2 hours on low. This would be great to do in a slow cooker, but I don’t have one.

I added a little rosemary, too.

I served the final “hearty stew” (heehee. get it?) on a bed of creamy organic mashed potatoes (full of more grass fed butter and raw milk. Yum.) with a side of greens.

This gravy was really superb. Super rich and flavorful. Overall, I’d say my first try at cooking beef heart was a great success!!

Have you ever cooked heart before?