Well... we cooked the beef heart...

[Aerosmith]

...and it. Was. GOOD.

Jason cleaned it (lots of membranes and veins to remove, as well as a hefty external layer of fat), cubed it, coated it in almond flour, browned it, and threw it in the crockpot with onions, garlic, a dash of hot sauce and lots of red wine and Worcestershire sauce. It cooked 8 hours on low (ran the crockpot overnight and the smell actually woke me up a couple times--it was SO rich and savory). The texture was a little strange, like a very fine-grained, slightly chewy roast, but not bad--just different. The flavor was like ULTRABEEF. So, so hearty (heh) and rich.

If you're not completely wigged out by the idea of eating heart, it's worth a try. This was half of a grass-fed heart from a local farm, about 3.6 lbs (after trimming Jason guessed it was closer to 3 1/4 lb) and I think it cost about $7. Really cheap. And LEAN--the only fat was on the outside, and it was easy to trim off. Not a bit of marbling within the muscle itself (which is why it needed the slow-cooker). I'm already looking forward to more.

[Mary Ann]

We got some assorted guts with our longhorn heifer, and we ended up donating them to Heather's shelter. I'm the only one who likes heart, and I really don't like liver. So I sent about 30# of beef, pork, and veal stuff for them to use to tempt their really hard to feed or sick dogs and cats. It was sad to see the difference between the beef tongue and the calf tongue. The latter looked like a toothbrush.

I gave my farrier a hard time about which beast to ship for me, and wowza, he picked me a good one!!! Every last bit of the beef we've tried so far has been fantastic. It's so nice to be able to eat beef that actually is heart healthy, and so delicious too. I am soooo stoked about having really good things to eat this winter.

[snaffle]

We LOVE Beef heart. I always stuff it like a turkey.

Mary Ann I am really surprised that you dont like liver.

when I was a kid, my mom would make pickled tongue. it was pretty darn good!

[Mary Ann]

It's a texture thang, Snaffle. I like braunschweiger, but not plain ol' liver. Been that way all my life, and it sort of bothers me because it's one of the biggest nutrition bargains out there. But I can't gag it down.

[res]

As a kid, we used to take sliced tongue sandwiches to school. Not sure I could send my kiddos to school with it now, I bet they'd get teased so bad. But I remember liking the sandwiches.

I can't remember if I saved the tongue on our butcher heifer, but I know I saved the heart. And I got tons of soup bones - they make the best broth! Yummy!