Beef Heart
This is the post in my 30 Cuts in 30 Days series where I figured I would lose a lot of you. Beef heart? Seriously? This is one you will have to trust me on and step out of your comfort zone a bit. Most of the objection people probably have to beef heart is the fact that is really is the actual heart of an animal. If I were to call it a Valentine’s Steak, cook it, and serve it to you I almost guarantee you wouldn’t guess it to be a real beef heart.
Where does the beef heart come from?
Well, the name pretty much says it all. The beef heart comes from the heart of the steer. The location of the heart is just above the front legs of the steer. You might think it would be located a bit further back but since the cattle have such large stomachs it is located towards the front.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make with a beef heart is to think it should be lumped in with the other organ meats like liver and kidneys. This would be a grave mis-categorization. The heart is pretty much a muscle making it closer to a regular steak than a gland like the liver or a filter like the kidney.
I would probably compare the flavor of a beef heart to maybe a cross between a flank steak and a round??? Heart will have a strong beefy flavor. There will also be some slight metallic hints in there as well. It is definitely not a repulsive flavor like liver. If you like the overall flavor of beef you will like heart. Trust me on this one.
Because it is a working muscle the heart can be somewhat tough. Not overly chewy or so tough you can’t bite through it but it does need some help in the tenderness department. We will talk about that a bit later though.
The word “heart” will scare some people but don’t be afraid to give this cut of beef a try. Call it a Valentine’s Steak as you are serving it and your guests will probably love it.
How to cook a beef heart
I will start out by telling you how my mom used to cook beef heart and then I will show you some recipes that cook it a few different ways.
First off, however, you will need to trim up your heart. In simple terms, cut away anything that doesn’t look like meat. There might be some external fat on the heart that needs to be trimmed. Inside there will also be valves, veins, and other things that don’t look appetizing. Just trim them off and you will be good to go.
Most likely you will be left with some odd sized pieces which is OK. Most cooking methods will account for that.
How my mom did it
Growing up we didn’t eat heart often but I do remember having it at least once or twice a year. When we did I remember really enjoying it. I wasn’t the pickiest eater but I definitely didn’t always eat everything. If I remember correctly I think I was actually excited when it was beef heart day.
All my mom did was take the pieces of trimmed beef heart, pound them flat with a meat tenderizer (use the pointy side, not the flat side), season them with salt and pepper, dredge them in a bit of flour, and fry them up in a pan with a bit of oil. That’s it. It was vaguely reminiscent of a chicken fried steak without the gravy. There wasn’t a big heavy breading on it but just a light dusting of flour to give some color and texture.
How others do it
I found a few different recipes for beef heart that look pretty solid. Not sure I would necessarily pick any of them over how my mom did it but I wanted to show you that beef heart can be a fairly versatile piece of meat.
Serious Eats – Beef Heart 4 ways – 4 simple recipes for cooking beef heart.
Grilled Beef Heart with Herbed Vinaigrette by Michael Ruhlman – A fairly simple marinated and grilled beef heart with a vinaigrette on it
Braised Beef Heart – Simple recipe that treats the heart almost like a pot roast
Where to buy beef heart
Surprisingly, most grocery stores carry beef heart. I usually see it in the meat case when I am there. Sometimes you might have to ask the butcher if they have any in the back. Costing around $2-5 per pound beef heart is a very economical cut of beef. I saw some at the grocery store this evening for $2.49 per pound.
Another good source is your local farmers market. If there are any meat vendors there most likely they butcher their own cattle. Ask them if they can save the hearts for you.
I wouldn’t advocate throwing all your other steaks away and eating just heart. If you are looking for a bit of a change though don’t be too freaked out by the idea of eating a beef heart. Very lean and with a nice beefy flavor a beef heart is a great, cheap alternative cut of beef.
Like what you read? Be sure to share it with your friends and come back tomorrow to learn about another cut of beef.
