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Recipe for Beef Heart

June 21, 2006 on 10:51 pm | In Offal, Recipes | Comments

beef heartBy taking this forgoten muscle and giving it a little love you can have a great range of dishes, here is just one of the many I serve at Incanto.The combination of beets and horseradish is a classic. It is the balance of sweet and spicy that works so well. When combined with the grilled heart, this classic pairing is elevated by the richness and intensity of the meat.

Grilled Beef Heart with roasted golden beets & Horseradish
Serves 4 as entr�e
Serves 8 as appetizer

Marinade
3 cloves garlic, skin on
12 sprigs of fresh thyme
1.5 cups white wine
1 cup orange juice
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 beef heart, trimmed of sinew and gristle and cut into 3 x 3-inch pieces
Kosher Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Roasted Golden Beets
Horseradish Vinaigrette
1 cup fresh chives cut into 1-inch batons
1 cup fresh parsley leaves
Fresh horseradish, for garnish

1. In a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic and thyme.
2. In a bowl, mix them with the wine, juice, and a splash of oil; let the flavors blend for 1 hour at room temperature before use.
3. Pour marinade over pieces of beef heart and marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Remove hearts and discard the marinade.
4. Preheat the grill or grill pan. Cooking over high heat is the key to proper carmelization which adds flavor and ensures proper grill marks.
5. Season the hearts with salt and pepper. Grill the hearts to medium-rare, about 3 minutes on each side depending on thickness.
6. For the salad, cut the beets into different shapes, such as rounds and quarters and place in a mixing bowl. Season the beets with salt and pepper and the horseradish vinaigrette. At the last minute add the chives and parsley and gently toss.
7. To serve, divide the salad among 8 warm salad plates or place on a large serving platter. Thinly slice the beef heart pieces against the grain and serve them warm over the salad. Garnish with grated horseradish and a drizzle of olive oil.

ROASTED GOLDEN BEETS
3 bunches baby golden beets, trimmed and washed
1 bunch thyme
1 bunch young and tender flat-leaf Italian parsley, leaves picked and washed
1 bunch chives
Splash extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup water
2 heads garlic, split in half lengthwise
1 cup orange juice

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Place beets, thyme, split garlic heads and parsley stems in a non-reactive roasting pan. Then add orange juice, water, and a splash of olive oil, stirring to coat the beets evenly. Season the beets with fennel, salt, and pepper.
3. Cover the pan with aluminum and roast until the beets are tender, about 45 minutes. As if testing a cake, insert a knife into a beet. If it slides in and out easily, they�re done. Uncover and allow the beets to cool to room temperature. To remove the skins, take an old dish towel and rub the skins off gently, to keep the shape of the beets.

4. After they are peeled, store them in a airtight container in the refrigerator. They should last about a week. Don�t slice the beets until right before you need them; that will help keep them fresh, by not allowing them to be overexposed to oxygen.

Horseradish Vinaigrette
Makes about 2 cups
1/4 cup Champagne vinegar
1/4 cup finely grated fresh horseradish
2 tablespoons orange juice
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cups pure olive oil
1/4  cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, horseradish, orange juice salt.
2. Pour in pure olive oil while whisking to emulsify the vinaigrette.
3. Finish by adding the extra-virgin olive oil to the dressing. This will add a bit more fruit to the dressing and round out the heat from the horseradish. Adjust seasoning to taste.
4. Making a little extra is OK. Store the vinaigrette in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and it will last about a week, but it will definitely lose some of its punch.
grilled beef heart with beets and horseradish

13 Comments

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  1. Looks absolutely awesome.

    Comment by Chris — November 11, 2006 #

  2. Should one use a full-grown beef heart for this, or stick with calf heart? Larousse claims calf heart’s best, but I doubt just one could serve four people.

    Comment by ben wolfson — December 28, 2006 #

  3. Yuck!!!!

    Comment by fart blaster — February 16, 2007 #

  4. In general offal from younger animals is better than offal from older animals. Hence calf’s liver is more delicate than beef liver, lamb intestines make awesome kokoretsi but mutton intestines make a rather pungent “iskembe” soup, and so on.

    I suspect we don’t see much veal in the U.S. nowadays partially because so few people still consume organ meats…

    Comment by klinger — February 19, 2007 #

  5. Just made this tonight and it was fantastic. Thanks because my boyfriend was teasing me about buying two frozen beef hearts and I was wondering myself what to do with them! It was the first time I had prepared beef heart and I was pretty keen on the texture. I like my meats pretty rare as a general rule and the heart doesn’t have some of the chewyness some rare meats can have. My cat went pretty nuts for it too…he almost never gorges himself but he did tonight (he got it raw though). Anyways thanks again and I would love to see more recipes on the site.

    Comment by Inga — March 15, 2007 #

  6. eeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

    Comment by joe — March 22, 2007 #

  7. I don’t want anyone jumping down my throat on this, but I’m not a cook by any stretch and my girlfriend doesn’t have the kitchen space or resources to make the beef heart recipe as described above. Is there a scaled-down and somewhat simpler recipe with a method of preparation that’s more suited to my tiny kitchen?

    Comment by Craig Leslie — April 25, 2007 #

  8. We often enjoyed Beef Heart for Sunday dinner when I was a girl. My mom simply boiled it with a bay leaf, or two. Then made a yummy gravy. It was always tender and delicious.

    Comment by gma t — June 30, 2007 #

  9. this recipe has become a regular favorite for us… with some occasional variations….

    If anyone’s gonna make this recipe though, I recommend a *really* sharp knife… (of course you should always use a sharp knife but it especially makes a difference cleaning the heart meat of its sinews and other encasings)

    Comment by inga — July 24, 2007 #

  10. Looks like a wonderful recipe, can’t wait to try it! My butcher just started carrying local, organic grass fed beef - he gets a whole one each week and I’m going nuts asking for all the stuff I’ve wanted to try and couldn’t find. This week, beef heart and a ton of bones for stock. For next week, I’ve ordered tongue. It looks like I’ll be hanging out on this website a lot!
    Thanks!

    Comment by Hayden — August 23, 2007 #

  11. Thanks im a student chef ebtering a competition, and i wanted a recipe for offal as we have to use beef and i wanted to be differant.

    Comment by Suzanne Telford — September 15, 2007 #

  12. I slaughter and butcher my own meats when ever possible but can not limit myself nor my household to the ” country cooking ” methods which many times are associated with that . I’m constantly looking for different recipies and methods for cooking and preparing foods . This one was very appealing in the photograph and no disappointment on the table either . I did use calf heart though . I do have a couple other comments :
    To ” fart blaster ” on febuary 16 , 2007 ? Your name alone was enouph to put your opinion to rest .
    To ” joe ” on march 22 , 2007 ? What ? Do you actually cook ?
    Seriously , I don’t believe in ignorance speaking out . There are many recipies which I have simply not been able to master . Some which I had not the sophistication for . None which I had the knowledge or ignorance to challange .

    Comment by Karen — October 19, 2007 #

  13. Yay!

    I made this last night for some friends, and everyone at least tried some!

    I especially loved the vinagrette, which amusingly reminded me of a mimosa and was absolutely delicious. The beets wound up with about the same texture as the heart, which was cool and the whole thing was tasty and fun to eat.

    Several of my friends finished everything, and everyone tried it! Nice when hit with a little fleur de sel.

    Thanks, Chef Cosentino!!

    Comment by Jesse — January 2, 2008 #

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