I wonder what this 2-year old cow heart experienced before getting cut into six pieces, Cryovaced, and thrown into the bottom of my chest freezer.
"Mama, if your head were sawed off by a chainsaw, would you live?"
"Nope."
"Mama. can you live without your feet?"
"What do you think?"
"Um. Um. Yes!"
"This is a fun game, Dash. Can you live without your elbow?"
"Ha! Silly. Of course."
"Okay. What about your heart."
"No, mama. You need your heart to live."
I kicked my husband and kids out of the house so that I could cook cow heart all by myself. I had some crazy fantasy that the heart would taste special. Powerful. Resilient. Vulnerable.
Once seasoned, seared, and sliced, I just wanted to eat this beautiful organ in its purest form. And so did Wylie the dog. We sat down outside and nibbled together, he the fatty bits and I the lean. It was earthy and a bit chewy, but neither of us minded.
I cubed the remaining meat and tossed it with garlic, lemon, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, parsley, salt, and smoky paprika.
And then everyone came home. Bella went straight to her room, eyes covered so as not to catch a glimpse of what was going down in the kitchen. Dash pulled up a stool to talk hearts.
"Dash, what does your heart do?"
"Mama, it loves."
"Yes. But did you know it can also ache?"
"Yes, like a tummy ache. A heart aches if you eat too much candy.You can even have two heart aches at the same time."
"Feel my heart. it's going boom boom boom."
"And it's this big."
I put my hand to his chest to feel his heart doing its thing. It was reassuring to feel the pulse against my palm.
"And now, mama, I'm going to make a double decker cow heart sandwich."
Bella came out of her room and braved the kitchen.
"Bella? I'm eating cow heart. You want some?"
"No thank you. Dash. No. I don't need any."
Bella is trying crazy hard to be nice to Dash because she wants to watch television again before she turns eighteen.
Bella looked Dash in the eye and said, "Just chew up all the cow heart before you come into my room and play. And wash your hands."
COW HEART SALAD
You could make this with flank or strip steak. It's not really a salad. But we've been calling it that for a week now so it stuck.
ingredients:
1 pound or so cow heart
salt
pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
juice/zest from 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon sherry wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
splash Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon fresh horseradish (optional)
smoky paprika
chopped chives
shaved parmesan
directions:
Season heart with salt and pepper. Heat a cast iron pan with canola oil until smoking hot. Sear heart on all sides until nicely browned. I removed mine when it was super rare. Check by slicing it open and taking a peek. It will continue to cook a bit after you take it off the heat. Let it rest for 5 minutes or so. Slice it thinly. Then stack the slices and cut into cubes.
Place cubes of heart in a bowl. Top with salt, pepper, lemon juice/zest, sherry vinegar, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, parsley and optional horseradish. Mix. Taste. Adjust. I like it mighty acidic but you might prefer it a bit less intense. It can sit for an hour or so. Before serving, use a fine tea strainer to top with a light sprinkling of paprika. You can top it with more chopped parsley and shaved parmesan. Serve on crackers or grilled bread.
