How to best prepare deer heart & liver....

[linguafood]

deer liver paté? slice the heart and stir-fry? never had the luck of preparing venison offal, so any pointers would be mucho appreciado!

[cleobeach]

My husband (who learned from his grandfather) would pickle the heart. He would boil it (I think) and then put it in a jar with pickling liquid. I have no idea about the liquid ratios or spices but it was rather tasty. Oh, he would slice it very thin after cooking.

[mamachef]

My MIL used to pound the living hell out of sliced venison heart, dip it in crackermeal, and chicken-fry it, and she'd whomp up a big batch of onion gravy to go with it and the biscuits and mashed and scalloped tomatoes and usually slaw. ; )

[fifer]

Raised on deer heart in Wisconsin. Mom would make a roast in the crockpot, I prefer it thinly sliced and saute in a little bacon and lots of onions. The key is to slow cook with some kind of fat/oil or it becomes very tough.
Venison Liver - I follow a recipe similar to a liver stroganoff. Venison liver can taste very gamey and dry so you need to season well.
I don't like using any kind of wine on venison organs. IMO, if they are gamey tasting, the wine doesn't work to cut that flavor. Adding a seasoned oil or pork fat seems to work the best.

[kaleokahu]

Heart... Coarsely grind, pate, cold spread.

Liver... Skin, soak in milk overnight, slice thick, flour, fry hot and short.

Watch out for raw venison liver, else their flukes become yours.

[Passadumkeg]

If you have the intestine, make a boudin from the liver. Marinate slices, skewer and grill (BBQ) the heart of the hart.

[linguafood]

Ha! I knew that you, Passa, would chime in on this.

I really 'only' have (or rather, will get from a friend) the frozen heart and liver. I like the idea of slicing the heart and sautéeing. But if the consensus is to braise, I'd do that, too. Do you braise it whole? My man gets a bit icky around organ meats, so sliced might be the preferred form....
and braise in what? red wine?

[deet13]

Braise it in beef stock or red wine... My cousin braised a heart in a slurry of noodle ramen packets.

Make a Venison Burgundy with it. Actually I'll try that myself. IMO, the "problem" most people have with cooking the heart is that it's extremely lean meat, so it'll dry out quickly if baked.

The other issue's that unlike most cuts of steaks or chops, the grain of the heart's meat is multidirectional. Thus it's impossible to cut across the grain of the meat, like with a flank steak; so no matter how you slice it, you'll always run across some very tough strips of heart meat. This means your sauteed heart will probably be rather, ahem, chewy...

That's why I always suggest braising the meat for four hours or so. It's one of the few ways you'll come out with a reasonably tender meal.

[Passadumkeg]

Braise or the quick hot heat of charcoal for a shishkabob. cut the heart in half, have the open side down and braise away as deet suggests. In Bolivia/Peru, antichchos are a "hearty" (I couldn't resist.) staple.
http://www.elgranchef.com/2008/11/27/...

[deet13]

Hearty, heh...

That antichcho recipe looks good. I'll have to break out the hibachi, pick up a beef heart, and give making some a shot.

[toodie jane]

delicious when marinated in oil & vinegar heavy on roasted cumin and cilantro. Cubed and en brochette, 'swonderful.

[pb n foie]

Cook the liver like you would any liver. Med-rare. For the heart, I would braise in a flavorful liquid or you could confit it in duck or pork fat. Slow and low until tender as all hell.

[deet13]

IMO the best way to prep a deer heart is to soak the heart in brine, and then braise it for a few hours. It cooks up just like a beef heart.

I use a recipe very similar to this one, except that I replace the bread crumbs with cornbread and venison sausage stuffing.
http://www.food.com/recipe/braised-be...

You could also grind it all together with cornmeal, flour, beef bullion, butter, salt, and onions, and make scrapple. Or you can saute the liver with onions...

[Passadumkeg]

Agreed, deet on the heart. I've eaten the liver raw w/ Native American buddies, but just flour and fry w/ onions is fine for me.

[deet13]

IMO, the liver's like buttah when raw...

[scunge]

I would get them firmed up in the freezer just so you can slice them ,saute with onion cracked pepper in butter and olive oil a little parsley ,a little salt .I'd have rye toast Keeping it simple Oh yea mushroom preferably something exotic like hen o the woods or shitaki etc, enjoy