Jen and I recently made "anticuchos", a traditional Peruvian dish of marinated and grilled beef hearts. We had the dish a few months ago at a place down the block from us called Mancora.
On a visit to our butcher shop, Staubitz, Jen asked if they had any beef hearts. The butchers - not to mention the other customers - were a little puzzled about why we wanted to cook a veal heart. They said they normally sell them to hospitals and schools. "Gotta practice on something", says the butcher. Nice. They gave us our big (about 3 lbs), bloody veal heart in a plastic bag and asked if we need anything else. "One whole chicken, please". "Well, how pedestrian of you", said the butcher.
So we took the heart home and, without consulting any resources on butchering, I went at the thing with my sharpest boning knife. It took a few minutes of handling before I could touch it without involuntarily cringing my face. I expected to have to cut around a bunch of sinewy, tough cartilage, but it really was no big deal. You can pretty much lop off the top of the heart where all the tubes are and most of the fat collects. Then, you just split open the three valves, cut away some of the weird-looking web-like tissue, and slice the muscle thinly.
If you haven't vomitted yet, read on.
Traditionally, the marinade has water, vinegar, chili, oregano, and cumin. I decided to do a sort of chimichurri using jalepenos, celery leaves, cilantro, garlic, and vinegar. We marinated the slices for a day. Then, I laid them out on a rack set over a sheet pan and put them under the broiler (we can't grill on our property).
They turned out okay. Pretty good, really. It tastes like beef, with the faint taste of something... organy? It's probably all in your head, but then again it really is an organ. At least it's not a piss-filtering kidney.
On the side, I made some sauteed potatoes. Making potatoes this way is my new favorite thing:
Criggly Potatoes
Slice potatoes
Put them in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil
Let them boil for 30-60 seconds, then drain and let air dry
meanwhile...
Heat a pan over high heat and add olive oil
Add diced onions and cook until slighly caramelized
Add diced red bell pepper. Season.
Remove onions and peppers from pan
Saute the potatoes, tossing frequently to brown all over
Add back the onions and peppers, plus some chopped garlic
Season and cook until the potatoes are done
If you're afraid of them burning, add some water. The steam will help them finish cooking
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