The Heart of the Beast (was pretty tasty)

Last week Deanna dropped by with some elk treats, courtesy relatives with a farm and little liking for the nosy, destructive creatures. The steaks and ribs were certainly appreciated, but I was apprehensive about the bag of unidentified bits. I accepted them without hesitation though, figuring if all else failed, Daisy's new all-raw diet would get some good variety.

After thawing, the bits were easily identifiable as a heart and a tongue. Yikes! Obviously too valuable to turn into dog food. I did some quick research and called a friend with a copy of Mrs Beeton's cookbook.

I boiled the tongue with aromatics (onion and herbs) and peeled it (fun!) and sliced it up. It was a tad bland - I should have added more salt to the water - but mixed with some of my homemade duck fat mayo, it was delicious on salad greens.

Then I used the reduced, leftover broth from the tongue (which was SO tasty) and a bottle of beer and I stuffed the heart with fried up bacon, mushrooms and onions and threw it all in the pressure cooker. It was very tasty, especially the sauce that resulted, but terribly rich. And unfortunately rather too high in iron for my little Rowan - it left her a bit bunged up. Poor kid. But she did really, really like it.

So, thanks Deanna! I am thoroughly sick and tired of elk now, but that's what freezers are for. And I have conquered any remaining qualms about cooking with "the nasty bits".