Heartless turkey

[wasabe]

Any idea if Bell & Evans turkeys sometimes come without the heart? I was able to retrieve the gizzard and neck, plus the liver, but no heart. Could it still be in there? I reached into the cavity to see if I could pry anything loose, but I came up with nothing.

[greygarious]

It's extremely unlikely that your turkey came with its own giblets. When poultry is butchered, the accompanying packets are made up from big containers of heart, liver, giblets, and necks. I've had chickens come with 2 hearts and no gizzard, and pint containers of chicken livers that contain several hearts. The workers doing the sorting and packing aren't always on top of their game.

[wasabe]

That's, um, disheartening.

[Cherylptw]

I was going to say the same as greygarious; I've gotten chickens with missing giblets before as well....you probably are not going to find the missing heart.

[visciole]

How do you think the poor female turkey feels?

[kattyeyes]

True enough! It's enough to make her want to trade the heartless turkey in for his friend the jive turkey. ;) Or perhaps the turkey should go see the wizard to ask for a heart! I'm sorry, I couldn't resist chiming in on your thread since I saw the title. It sounds so very "Silence of the Lambs."

What, specifically, do you do with the heart, wasabe? We use the livers for stuffing.

Edit: "No heart?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oq15Z...

[RGC1982]

I would just be concerned that it was still in there. I think it's really only good for making gravy.

[c oliver]

I've fixed chicken hearts whole, roasted in the oven, sometimes with a little mustard on them. I'd probably cut the turkey hearts in pieces and do the same. Or on skewers. In Peru they do beef hearts cut in chunks and grilled on skewers. One of our faves.