Roasted Heart Food

STUFFED ROAST HEART

Steps:

• Start with the heart. Open it up and trim away any blood vessels or connective tissue and any large lumps of fat. Rinse the whole thing out, washing away any clotted blood. Fill a large bowl with salted water and leave the heart in that for about half an hour.
• Stuffing: Make bread crumbs from a decent sized chunk of quality bread that is a bit stale. Crumble it by hand or in a blender or with a knife. Cut up the portobello mushrooms and the 2 shallots fairly small. Fry them in butter over a medium-low heat for a few minutes, then throw in the parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme (Simon & Garfunkel herbs). Once the shallots are softened, dump in the breadcrumbs. Stir everything well to get all the flavours mixed up in the bread and fry for another 3-4 minutes.
• Transfer the stuffing mixture into a bowl and allow it to cool for a few minutes. Take the sausages and slice down their length with a knife and remove the insides and discard the casings. Add the sausage meat to the warm stuffing and mix it together with a fork.
• Heart: Take the heart out of the salt water and rinse it once more. Pat the whole thing dry and grind salt and pepper over it. Rub it in with olive oil, getting both the inside and outside of the heart. Pack in the stuffing filling all cavities of the heart. When it is full, force it closed and tie it up with butcher's string. Use plenty and make sure it's good and tight to prevent stuffing erupting out of any available opening.
• Preheat the oven to 300º F. Get a frying pan nice and hot and then put the heart into it. Turn the heart every minute or so, browning each side as well as the top and bottom.
• While the heart is cooking, chunk up some vegetables (whatever you like, but onion, carrot, and celery are good) and scatter them in a baking tray. Lift the heart out of the pan and onto the vegetables. While the pan is still hot, add a little red wine to deglaze. Pour that over the heart, and add some more wine to the base of the tray to keep the vegetables from getting too dry.
• Put the tray into the oven and cook for 30 minutes per half kilo of heart (most hearts are about a kilo, so about an hour cook time). Every 20-30 minutes, scoop the juices from the bottom of the tray and pour them back over the meat to keep it from drying. When it is done cooking, take it all out and pour the juices into a saucepan. Cover the meat in foil and leave it somewhere warm for at least 10 minutes. Simmer the juices and add whatever is left of your glass of wine. Reduce until it thickens, giving you a fittingly rich sauce to serve with the heart.
• To serve, you can cut the heart into slices and top with the sauce.

BRAISED BEEF HEART

Steps:

• Trim any fat off the heart. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut off any large pieces of the connective tissue around the top of the meat.
• Roll into a roast form and tie with string.
• Brown in the oil on all sides.
• Put in a dutch oven and add the onion, cut into about 8 pieces, and all the other ingredients, except the bread crumbs.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 4 hours, turning every hour.
• After 2 hours, add the bread crumbs.
• When done, remove heart and use an immersion blender or regular blender to smooth the gravy. If desired, you can thicken the gravy some more with a water and flour mixture, bringing it to the boil.
• Slice the heart lengthwise into 1/4" slices.

ROASTED HEART

Steps:

• Mix together the tomato paste, crushed garlic, 1 teaspoons Italian spices, and brown sugar in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
• While the tomato sauce is cooking, fill a large pot with enough water to easily cover the chicken breasts by a few inches, but don't add the chicken yet. Add the onion, garlic, 1 tablespoons Italian spices, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil.
• Toss the chicken breasts into the pot, cover, and turn off the heat. Leave on the burner, but let sit for about 20 minutes. Do not peek. Remove the thickest piece of chicken, and check to make sure that it is thoroughly cooked. If not replace to the pot, recover, and let sit for a few minutes more.
• When the chicken is cooked, drain thoroughly, and discard the vegetables and spices along with the water.
• While the chicken breasts are cooking, melt the butter in a medium saucepan, but don't brown.
• Add the flour and whisk to form a roux. Cook until lightly browned, then slowly add the heavy cream. Whisk briskly. Continue to cook the sauce over medium heat until thickened.
• Add the tomato paste mixture and mix well. Lower the heat to keep warm while you assemble the dish.
• Place a pool of the tomato sauce on an individual serving dish. Top with a chicken breast, and thoroughly cover with more of the tomato sauce. Top with half of a roasted pepper. Serve hot.