A few days ago my boyfriend brought home a whole beef heart. He is extremely excited about it. I'm willing to try it, but I can't exactly say I'm chomping at the bit to get at it. I do like beef and would eat it twice a day if I could, and I've heard that heart is like really, super-beefy beef. I just don't know how to prepare it. Any ideas?

My MIL just boiled it in a big pot with water covering it and lots of veggies. I don't have her recipe but I'm sure you can find one online. I liked it (and I'm picky).

Not in my diet. Sorry and good luck. It'll probably taste like chicken. lol.

I just boil it for a long time with a little salt. Depending on the size it will probably take at least 2 hours on a slow boil. I grew up on a farm and we cooked beef and pork hearts, tongue and liver. Loved them all !! Still do !!! My husband however, doesn't share my excitement when I cook a heart !!

My Mom made bread stuffing, put it around (wraped) the heart with it and baked it. :D

Sorry, I'd make him cook it and eat it himself. Yuck. Tell him to bring you Filet Minon next time:>

I think my bf slices it really thin, flours it, salt, pepper and garlic salts it and then frys it in a pan.

We boil it with about a 1/2 of Dales seasoning in the water. Add veggies you know taters,carrots onions, make it like a roast.

Do you have a pressure cooker? I used to put them in the pressure cooker.

I would change the question to 'why in the world...'

this sounds better than boiling it. Think of it as a muscle, just like other meat.

I like chicken hearts, could eat them all day.

I'm with you on this one!

We just bake it as you would a roast. I fill the pan with water about half way and bake at 350 degrees for 3 to 5 hrs depending on the size. I just treat it like a roast.

I like to use 2 cans of mushroom soup and 1 jar of premade beef gravy in my roasts and a jar of water and then I add onions potatoes and carrots. You can do that with the heart also.

You can slice it and fry it like you would liver.

We do it because it is delicous!!

My MIL was a real good cook and she would boil it until it was tender, slice it and put it on top of a bread dressing and cook it until the dressing was done. Sometimes she would layer it between layers of bread dressing and put gravy over the top of all. It was yummy.

My mom baked it.

Growing up on a farm, I remember having to eat beef liver and onions sometimes. Smothered it all in ketchup to make it more palatable. Can't say it's my favorite.

Try foodtv.com .

My son is a hunter and he cooks it in a crock pot with water.

ROFL....want my advice...well, you asked for it. DONT DO IT...YUCK.

My mother-in-law used to boil it-cut it in half and boil til done-then slice it very thin for sandwiches. Never could bring myself to eat it but my DH loves it. PS my dmil used to make scrapple-head cheese and liverworst at home also. Ugh to all of that but my DH loved it.Oh yeah and she also boiled tongue,when it was done she would skin the outer layer and slice it for sandwiches again-the husband and sons couldn't get enough of it.

When I lived on a farm we butchered a beefer a year and used every bit of it. I used to stew the heart. Cut it into cubes and brown it with chopped onion in a little cooking oil in the stew pot. Add water and your favorite herbs and spices and bring to a boil. Let it simmer while you prepare potatoes and carrots and whatever else you want to throw in there. add your veggies and cook until done. Thicken the broth and enjoy over fresh-made biscuits. Makes a "hearty" cool weather dish!

stuff with bread stuffing and bake like a chicken. In the days of the Great depression, it was called a "Hoover Turkey".

I knew I should have skipped this thread but I just had to check it out. Yuk, maybe even double yuk. You enjoy.

Slice it across the grain for tenderness cutting off the stringy things inside and trim off the fat. Season to your liking. Brown in a small amount of oil - just brown it putting the pieces aside on a plate as you go. Turn the heat down and put all the pieces back in the pan. Mix a can of cream of mushroom soup with a can of water and pour over it. Put the lid on and simmer for about an hour. Don't keep lifting the lid, let the steam do it's work but make sure to keep enough liquid in there. This will come out very tender and delicious. You can also dredge it in flour and fry it but it will be tougher or stuff it whole and bake it -covered of course- with water in the pan. I grew up on this and it's delicious.

We used to get heart from the butcher shop across the street from us. My mother would boil it - whole. Then she would cut it up into squares and make it like beef stew. It had a nice creamy gravy on it too. It was pretty good. It does, however; make alot of it.

My MIL would soak it in salted water, then rinse well. She cut it into small pieces (about 3/4") and fried it with onions, salt, pepper and garlic. Made a gravy from the drippings and served it over rice. Was great! I have to say that she could clean out the leftovers from the fridge and come up with a fabulous meal. Much better cook than I could ever be.

That is a favorite of mine. I just slice it thin (about 1/4 in. thick). Salt, pepper and garlic salt it and fry quickly in hot Olive oil. Bet you will like it.

Thanks for all the great suggestions! It's in the freezer, and I think we'll wait for cooler weather to cook it. It sounds like it'll be a pretty hearty dish, maybe too heavy for summer.

Jellybeans, I don't think we'll have a problem getting through it, even though it's just the two of us. My boyfriend runs 60-70 miles a week and eats like a horse. I have a heck of a time keeping him fed. :roll:

Since my DH used to be a hunter, he would always bring home the heart and liver. I had no idea how to do them but his mom told me to make pickled heart. I soaked it in salt water over night and then rinsed and cut in half. Put in a pan and covered with water, salt and pepper and boiled for about an hour. When it was done, I cut it up into bite size pieces and put it in a mixture of vinegar, water and s & p and let it sit in this mixture for about 2 weeks in frig. Then it was ready to eat. I could never bring myself to eat it but DH and kids loved it!

I had fresh, really fresh beef heart some years ago, we cooked it in a cast iron skillet over our campfire, with sliced onions and a can of beer-----it was SO good!

You can stuff and roast a heart very nicely, with mixed breadcrumb stuffing. First, take out some of the tough sinews from the heart cavity. I save the crusts from all bread, grate and store in a jar in the freezer not to pick up freezer odours. Then for a stuffing add butter, savoury salt and pepper to taste, pack in as much stuffing as you can get in, keep closed with a skewer or sew it shut (no fancy stitches needed here!) and roast at a slightly slower temp than a regular roast of beef. Heart is 'close' meat as my grandfather used to say and can get tough if roasted at too high a heat. A little broth or water in the roasting pan helps too
Another thing you can do with heart is use it as ground meat - again take out the tough bits then grind in a food processor or old fashioned meat grinder (don't know if you can get them any more, maybe in a thrift shop! Adele Davis a health food author of the last century used to call this recipe half-hearted hamburgers. My kids liked them as much as any other meat patties.
All the boiling, simmering and stewing recipes listed here would be great. Pot roast with lots of onion carrots, turnip and potatoes is great.
Heart is a great source of protein, delicious and relatively inexpensive, valued in many cultures. Congrats to you and your boyfriend for being open to new foods, I'm usre you will find this one a real taste treat.

I never had it but my mom said my grandmother would stuff it with a dressing or stuffing & bake in oven. That is all I remember.

While living the farm life, we always butchered and the way i always made it...my favorite...was ro make stuffing as for a chicken etc, and stuff the heart....bake it at 325 for 3-4 hours covered..I use a blue roaster...you can either add a bit of water or dry cook, your preference...now am hungary for one!!! May have to go to butcher shop this week! :D

SLICE IT UP AND CUBE IT ROLL IT IN FLOUR AND FRY IT

IT IS GOOD THAT WAY TASTED LIKE STAKE

Used to pickle it for my ex...just boiled it til done, then sliced it into a regular pickle brine...(you can get a recipe anywhere for that)

I usually boil w/vegies like most have already posted. Very tasty IMO

Put it in a pot with water, seasoning, and horseradish, cook until done. Or, I have made dressing and put it down in the dressing and baked it.

My kids claimed they didn't like heart so I use to grind it up. Remove the tough parts , grind it and put it in homemade pasta sauce. Gives it a very strong beefy flavor.

I remember my mom stuffing it with a bread stuffing and roasting it. It actually tasted pretty good and us kids all knew what we were eating and still enjoyed it. We lived on a farm, so none of us were picky eaters. Give it a try and good luck, you may enjoy it.