So I was back at my Asian market yesterday, poking around the meat counter, and I’ll be damned if they didn’t have the prettiest looking pig hearts right there on the top shelf, calling my name. Now I’ve never eaten a pig heart before. In fact, to my knowledge, I’ve never eaten the heart of any animal (though who really knows what goes into a ballpark hot dog). And I swear, I’m not trying to turn my Foodbuzz profile into some kind of daredevil diner’s confessional, but I just love trying new things. The same old ribeye and the tired pork loin bore me to tears at this point and, let’s face it, the heart is just another muscle, right? And what do we do with an unfamiliar, tough muscle? That’s right: We braise the bastard, for as long as it takes.
Okay. Whatever. Let’s get to the point.
Quarter the heart. I left all the aortas and ventricles right on there, though some of the recipes I’ve seen suggest you remove that stuff. In a bowl make a mixture of flour, salt, pepper, paprika, cinnamon and cayenne. Rub the heart pieces with olive oil then dredge in the flour mixture and set aside.
Offset slice a large shallot. Do the same to three or four big cloves of garlic. Section an orange and remove all the rind and that white stuff. You’ll need about half the orange. You’ll also need olive oil, port and chicken stock. I used a tawny port, but a ruby should work as well.
Heat your saute pan to medium-high. Put in a fair amount of olive oil, more than you’d use for a standard saute. Put in your heart sections and brown thoroughly on all sides. Pull the heart out of the pan and set aside. Toss the garlic, shallot and orange into the pan and saute until the onions are getting translucent, then remove and line the base of your braiser with them.
Deglaze the pan with the port and cook out the alcohol. Add in the chicken stock and reduce by about half.
Now, in a smallish braiser (you could even use a small sauce pan if you want) place the heart sections over the shallot, garlic and orange. Pour in the sauce till it goes about halfway up the sides of the heart sections, then cover the pan. Place in a 325 degree oven and cook for about two and a half hours.
I served it with toast points a little mache salad with the braising liquid for a sauce.
It tasted good. The flavor was like some game meats I’ve had, like elk or venison, and there was really no flavor of pork at all. The texture was dense. Very dense. I was hungry, so I just went ahead and ate. Maybe if I braised it for a few more hours it would have tenderized more, though I kind of doubt it. The heart is one of a body’s hardest working muscles, and that shows when you eat one.
Findings? Well, here’s what I think. Next time I’m going to slice the meat of the heart real thin, season it and tub it with oil, then just sear it off. Let it cool and serve over some greens.
My other conclusion is that the flavor is there, for sure. It’s got scads of umami going on, leading me to believe there will be many more pig heart ideas flowing from my kitchen in the months to come.
I have frequently eaten ox heart that has been finely minced up with equal quantities of steak mince ( get the butcher to do it) It still tastes the same as pure steak mince, but it is lot cheaper.
I am sure the dog would like it too.
What's the dog's name ... and does he/she/it have an upcoming birthday??
Maybe we could have a collection on the forum to provide a SPECIAL birthday meal!!
We often had cow hearts when I was a young lass, my mum would gently simmer them for a long time before roasting, they were extremely tender that way. Look out for lambs hearts, they are delicious stuffed and slowly braised.
Heart is muscle - so, except for the tubes, it's just meat. Very tasty meat and far too good to give to dogs.
Caveat. I am not a vet, nor a dog-lover.