Saw organ meat in the store what to do with it page

[jmosery]

Honestly I'm a bit scared to try it

I mean beef heart, liver

Just the thought but hey might be good right?

So if I buy it, what to I do with it? How do I cook it

Jaime

[Tercio]

Try the search box in the right side of the green bar at the top of the page. You'll find lot's of ideas.

Tercio

[Neckhammer]

Cook the heart like a roast. Pan fry the liver to like you would for a rare steak (bout a minute each side should do).

[Paleobird]

Beef heart makes great slow cooked stews and also jerky.

Liver you can ease into gradually by trying calf or lamb liver first. Not such a strong flavor as beef liver.
I make liver pate that keeps getting better the more simple I make the recipe:

2lbs liver sliced
saute in lotsa butter (like a whole stick)
season to taste while cooking. (I like herbs de Provence, garlic, s&p)
put whole panful into the blender
add heavy cream and blend the living daylights out of it
pour into tupperware cups, put in fridge to set up (handy for protein on the go)

Pate is a good way to ease into liver. For me the eewwick factor about liver was more about the texture than the taste. Pate solves that.

When you get really adventurous we can start talking about brains for dinner. Yummm.

[Betorq]

Freeze liver for 14 days before using. Then consider eating it twice a week, maybe 2oz or so per portion RAW IN A SMOOTHIE to cover up the flavor. Beef liver is strong tasting. Many people can't hack it. Chicken liver is mildest. Heart, I say pate' I say, just include small portion of diced apple & some raisins to sweeten up yer heart. I carmelize onions & blend them into my heart pate'. I had brains once in South America, scrambled w/ breakfast eggs, yes I know ...my brains were scrambled. Had menudo too, let's just say that once was enough.

[Mlobanoff]

Freeze liver for 14 days before using. Then consider eating it twice a week, maybe 2oz or so per portion RAW IN A SMOOTHIE to cover up the flavor. Beef liver is strong tasting. Many people can't hack it. Chicken liver is mildest. Heart, I say pate' I say, just include small portion of diced apple & some raisins to sweeten up yer heart. I carmelize onions & blend them into my heart pate'. I had brains once in South America, scrambled w/ breakfast eggs, yes I know ...my brains were scrambled. Had menudo too, let's just say that once was enough.

Any worries about prion diseases when eating neural tissue? Heart and liver are fine, but I worry about prion based diseases with brain/spinal cord tissue. What do you guys think?

[Betorq]

if its a major worry, prions, avoid brain & neck. I do generally avoid brains, though I do decimate chicken necks when I cook whole org birds.

Or get to know your sources of meat, like I got to know my organic farmers I was buying from regularly @ the Farmers Mkts: a couple of them I visited them @ their farms, roadtrip. It was fun, got to meet their families & we became a lot friendlier after that. And I felt MUCH more confident in the food I was buying from them.

BRAINS, sounds like zombie food, ha. I ate whole roasted frogs in Thailand, & deep fried whole bugs. Spiders in Cambodia. There were brains in there, small ones

In my opinion, brain & spine are not needed. I'm not trying to reenact a cave man's diet or lifestyle, which would be impossible to determine accurately, & impractical as I live in a city. Other offal is enough in my opinion. What about kidneys, y/n?

[Hilary]

Yes, please, to kidneys - just not pig's kidney. I had that once... never again. It smelled like something died in the public urinal - and so did my hands, after preparing it, despite washing them again and again. Ye gods.

Lamb's kidney is lovely. Soak it in water + lemon juice for a while if you want a milder flavour, but I think it's fine as is.

In general, offal goes beautifully in stews, or minced into meat loaf or burgers.

[Betorq]

Am baking a whole chicken now in the oven. Chicken livers mixed w/ veggies in the broth. I'll sneak some into the next meat loaf I make. Thanks.

[sbhikes]

Heart makes really good jerky. There's a recipe in the forum section.

I really like to just cook a slab of liver in a pan with some cut up onions and maybe mushrooms too. Once the liver gets firm enough, I cut it into smaller chunks and then I add a couple eggs and have this for breakfast. Good with some chard or spinach, too. I like the texture and the flavor of liver. I also really can't tell much difference among the various animal's livers. They all taste the same to me. There must be something in liver that some people can taste (unpleasantly) and others can't taste at all.