Dinner last night

"Bob Terwilliger" <virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

none said:

I've never seen beef heart, but it looks a lot "meatier" than I had
imagined. I had visualized something like a tomato with the seeds
removed - Only made of meat. Thin walls, lots of empty inside...
Now, if it isn't as tough and chewy as I suspect it is, I might
actually try it some day.

If you want to make low-fat chili, beef heart is a very good choice
for the meat. (Venison is another good choice.)

This dish from my files is popular in Peru.

Anticuchos:

N.B. This dish requires a 24-hour start, unless you substitute rump steak
for the beef heart, in which case 6-8 hours is enough.

1½ lbs. beef heart
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbsp. aji panca paste (available in many Latin food stores)
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. fresh oregano, chopped fine
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ cup olive oil

8-10 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for half an hour

Trim heart of any fat and sinew and cut it into 1" cubes.

Combine all the remaining ingredients except the olive oil in a mixing
bowl and stir to blend. Slowly whisk in the olive oil.

Add heart cubes and mix to coat; cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

You can use the broiler or fire up the barbie for the cooking. Thread 3-4
cubes onto each skewer and grill, turning often, until meat is
caramelized and firm, about 5-6 minutes over high heat.

Yum!

Mark.

PeterL said:

none <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I've never seen beef heart, but it looks a lot "meatier" than I had
imagined. I had visualized something like a tomato with the seeds
removed - Only made of meat. Thin walls, lots of empty inside...
Now, if it isn't as tough and chewy as I suspect it is, I might actually
try it some day.

Apparently, over here, it's a hit with some ethnic minorities who stuff
them and bake them. The beef hearts are quite meaty........ which is why my
pooch loves them :-)

I went to second and third grade in Phoenix, AZ and nobody brought their
lunch when the cafeteria was serving stuffed beef heart.

And on any day if you ate your whole boughten' lunch and could prove it
by bringing up your empty tray (and make no mistake, the cafeteria
ladies kept a close eye on the trash cans), you could get seconds. Not
an additional serving of the lunch stuff, different things. Sometimes a
scoop of peanut butter and carrot sticks, sometimes a chunk of cheese,
sometimes (if you were lucky) these peanut butter, dry milk and
chocolate things that everybody loved. Or applesauce or an orange or an
oatmeal and raisin cookie. Creative usages of government-supplied or
discounted items. If you walked away from lunch still hungry it was
pretty much your own fault.

Our school district covered a huge socio-economic range. Kids were
issued lunch cards which were punched by the lunch ladies and how they
were paid for was in no way indicated on the cards.

The district was predominantly white. Significant minority groups
included native americans, latinos and blacks. But *everybody* loved
the beef heart.

kilikini <[email hidden]> wrote:

[of beef heart]

Quoted message said:

If you have the nerve to try organ meat, I would suggest this.

Why this bee in the bonnet about "organs"? Famous old medical exam
question: "What is the largest human organ?". Answer: "Skin". And it
is not just foreskin, either. Is chicken skin out, too? Are only
internal organs out, so to say? If so, muscles are out, too, and one is
effectively condemned to vegetarianism.

Heart, like a lot of steak and other meats, is basically just muscle.
The fact that it is the only striated muscle that happens to be myogenic
is irrelevant to its culinary value, I'd say.

Here is a recipe for grilled, marinated calf's heart by the great Fergus
Henderson, from his _Nose to Tail Eating_.

Victor

Grilled, Marinated Calf's Heart
to serve four

This is a wonderfully simple, delicious dish, the heart not, as you
might imagine, tough as old boots due to all the work it does, but in
fact firm and meaty but giving.

1 calf's heart
a healthy splash of balsamic vinegar
coarse sea salt
pepper
chopped fresh thyme

Trim the heart of anything that looks like sinew (this is easy enough to
spot) and excess fat (which tends to be around the open top of the
heart), and remove any blood clots lurking in the ventricles. Slice the
heart open so you can lay it flat and complete the process. Then cut it
into pieces approximately 2-3 cm square, up to 5 mm thick; if the flesh
suddenly gets thick, simply slice it in half horizontally though the
meat.

Toss the pieces of heart in the balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and
thyme. Leave to marinate for 24 hours.

Now for cooking you need a cast iron griddle or barbecue. Get it very
hot and apply the heart: it will take about 3 minutes each side. Serve
with a spirited salad of your choice, e.g. watercress, shallot and bean,
or raw leek.

Victor Sack said:

kilikini <[email hidden]> wrote:

[of beef heart]

Quoted message said:

If you have the nerve to try organ meat, I would suggest this.

Why this bee in the bonnet about "organs"? Famous old medical exam
question: "What is the largest human organ?". Answer: "Skin". And it
is not just foreskin, either. Is chicken skin out, too? Are only
internal organs out, so to say? If so, muscles are out, too, and one is
effectively condemned to vegetarianism.

<snip>

While I consider the heart (and tongue for that matter) to be simply
another type of muscle, I *do* balk at eating filter organs. No liver
or kidneys for me, thankyouverymuch. That's where the body attempts to
process most of the hormones, antibiotics and other [censored] that's added to
animal food these days.

I miss chicken livers, but confine my consumption to two or three every
once in a great while (my grocery store sells fried livers and gizzards
once a week).

My mom used to fix brains, too. And I actually liked them in spite of
knowing what they were. But those are no longer on my menu, either.

And glands. No thanks, you can have my share of sweetbreads and rocky
mountain oysters.

Kathleen said:

While I consider the heart (and tongue for that matter) to be simply
another type of muscle, I *do* balk at eating filter organs. No liver
or kidneys for me, thankyouverymuch. That's where the body attempts to
process most of the hormones, antibiotics and other [censored] that's added to
animal food these days.

The fact that these organs filter something does not necessarily mean
that they retain it. Healthy liver does not store toxins; it breaks
them down for elimination. Kidneys filter some of the waste, not
toxins, and, if healthy, they do not retain any of it, either. Do you
also refuse to eat sausages in natural casings, i.e. intestines? How
about tripe, i.e. stomach(s)?

[snip]

Quoted message said:

My mom used to fix brains, too. And I actually liked them in spite of
knowing what they were. But those are no longer on my menu, either.

This, at least, is somewhat logical, if you eschew brains for the
reasons you stated above. Brains may retain some substances used in the
feed or medical treatment (for example, certain anaesthetics) for a long
time, but so do any other fatty tissues, so it would be just as logical
to forgo eating any animal fat at all, including steaks with marbling.

Quoted message said:

And glands. No thanks, you can have my share of sweetbreads and rocky
mountain oysters.

Why? What is wrong with glands, except for their usually high fat
content?

Victor

Victor Sack said:

Kathleen said:

While I consider the heart (and tongue for that matter) to be simply
another type of muscle, I *do* balk at eating filter organs. No liver
or kidneys for me, thankyouverymuch. That's where the body attempts to
process most of the hormones, antibiotics and other [censored] that's added to
animal food these days.

The fact that these organs filter something does not necessarily mean
that they retain it. Healthy liver does not store toxins; it breaks
them down for elimination. Kidneys filter some of the waste, not
toxins, and, if healthy, they do not retain any of it, either.

Healthy liver? Normal kidneys? From animals raised on steroids and
antibiotics?

Do you

Quoted message said:

also refuse to eat sausages in natural casings, i.e. intestines? How
about tripe, i.e. stomach(s)?

I'm not wild about sausages, period. Although I'm sure there are
exceptions, sausages tend to be salty and fatty. I won't go so far as
to pick them off of pizza but they're not on my normal list of foods.
And no, I don't eat tripe. Or chittlins.

Quoted message said:

[snip]

Quoted message said:

My mom used to fix brains, too. And I actually liked them in spite of
knowing what they were. But those are no longer on my menu, either.

This, at least, is somewhat logical, if you eschew brains for the
reasons you stated above. Brains may retain some substances used in the
feed or medical treatment (for example, certain anaesthetics) for a long
time, but so do any other fatty tissues, so it would be just as logical
to forgo eating any animal fat at all, including steaks with marbling.

Prions are what concern me. Eating brains no longer seems like a good
idea at all. And in fact I do generally avoid red meat with heavy
marbling. Sure it tastes really good but it's too fatty to be a normal
daily part of my family's diet. I also avoid farm-raised salmon and
pretty much any fish taken from US rivers.

Except for the "no eating brains" thing I'm not religious about any of
this. I wouldn't throw my plate on the floor and run away screaming if
I were served farm-raised salmon at a wedding reception. I'll eat a
burger or a brat at a picnic. And I'm not above enjoying a lovely rare
tri-tip roast once in a while. All things in moderation.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

And glands. No thanks, you can have my share of sweetbreads and rocky
mountain oysters.

Why? What is wrong with glands, except for their usually high fat
content?

Squick factor, plain and simple. There are so many things to eat that
don't gross me out that I feel no major motivation to overcome an
aversion to eating certain parts of an animal.

Kathleen said:

Victor Sack said:

The fact that these organs filter something does not necessarily mean
that they retain it. Healthy liver does not store toxins; it breaks
them down for elimination. Kidneys filter some of the waste, not
toxins, and, if healthy, they do not retain any of it, either.

Healthy liver? Normal kidneys? From animals raised on steroids and
antibiotics?

Please... if you think they are diseased animals, why do you care to eat
any part of them at all?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Do you
also refuse to eat sausages in natural casings, i.e. intestines? How
about tripe, i.e. stomach(s)?

I'm not wild about sausages, period. Although I'm sure there are
exceptions, sausages tend to be salty and fatty.

Sausages are fairly easily made at home, too, avoiding, if you wish, too
much fat and salt, but still using those same intestines. It is the
intestines that matter, in the context.

Quoted message said:

I won't go so far as
to pick them off of pizza but they're not on my normal list of foods.
And no, I don't eat tripe. Or chittlins.

Okay, even if your reasons are different, this time.

Quoted message said:

Prions are what concern me. Eating brains no longer seems like a good
idea at all.

Kuru sufferer?

Consider also staying in a Faraday cage... there are lightnings out
there, you know... :-)

Quoted message said:

And in fact I do generally avoid red meat with heavy
marbling. Sure it tastes really good but it's too fatty to be a normal
daily part of my family's diet.

Hm, there is very little extra total fat in a marbled steak, compared to
a non-marbled one. It is more than enough to make a difference to its
taste, but hardly anything adding to your diet as a whole, unless you
eat multiple such steaks every day. More depends on how you cook it and
with what you serve it.

Quoted message said:

I also avoid farm-raised salmon and
pretty much any fish taken from US rivers.

Okay. Indian, Chinese and Mexican rivers are so much better. :-)

Quoted message said:

Except for the "no eating brains" thing I'm not religious about any of
this. I wouldn't throw my plate on the floor and run away screaming if
I were served farm-raised salmon at a wedding reception. I'll eat a
burger or a brat at a picnic. And I'm not above enjoying a lovely rare
tri-tip roast once in a while. All things in moderation.

Good, you are a reasonable enough person, then. :-)

Victor