Different ways to eat heart?

[Dorothy]

I got my husband some lamb's heart. I plan on thinly slicing some for him to try, but it's really important he eats it. Any seasonings or ideas for it would be appreciated. He's also not fully raw so if there are ways to dehydrate or cook it that will make sure he eats it, that would also be useful. It came in a large frozen package and I'm not sure I will be able to get any more so I'm going to have some I'll have to figure out what to do with. I was thinking dehydrating so he can have a little bit every day. Has anyone dehydrated heart before?

[CitrusHigh]

Yeah I dehydrated heart for my trip to the Hawaiian jungle. Aside from some coconut oil honey I brought, and fruit I picked, that was all I at while in the bush.

It is pretty tasty, and as cheesy as it sounds, heartier! More of a robust flavor than regular jerky I think.

A good sauce is tomato, butter garlic, cream parsley, a little cayenne.

Or a dab of honey, some quality mayo, a little nama shoyu or tamari, pepper, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, more or less mayo to the consistency you want it, all items to taste, some raw onion diced in to there is good too for texture and flavor.

[Dorothy]

I have all those ingredients.

I'll put them all out on the counter and ask the hubbie to make a good sauce from those after tasting it plain. He's pretty good with that especially when given some hints and directions. That's really useful! Thank you.

When you dehydrated the heart how thin did you slice it, did you add any seasonings and did you dehydrate it until every last bit of the water was out?

Alone in the Hawaiin jungle with heart jerky. 

[CitrusHigh]

I wasn't alone, there were lots of mosquitoes keeping me company.

Sliced it to probably, it was a long time ago, 1/8 inch thin, no seasoning, pretty well dry dry.

Yeah, it was a crazy trip, very perspective giving, at the time. Just one more paradigm shift!

[eveheart]

Heart doesn't have a strong taste or challenging texture, so it can be thinly sliced like a luncheon meat and rolled up by itself or in a lettuce leaf or seaweed sheet with your choice of seasoning. Lamb heart is nice because it comes in a conveniently small size.

[cherimoya_kid]

Yeah I dehydrated heart for my trip to the Hawaiian jungle.

Which island?  I've foraged my way around the Big Island.

[Dorothy]

We just had our first heart meal. I sliced it paper thin - it was easy like you said Eve - and put the whole cutting board in front of us to take pieces and dip in sauce. It was only half a lamb heart for our first. Before-hand hubbie sat down and read Thoth's ingredients and after tasting one piece made a delicious sauce of nama shoyu, mayo, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon/lime juice. He wanted me to thank you Thoth for your suggestions. He found it interesting that those ingredients were what he usually uses for fish just adding mustard. I would have to say that it was a real success. It's not like he's gong to be begging me to make that for him - but he wasn't upset and kept on going until he felt it was time to stop.

I'm hoping that the dehydrated heart might be enticing - it's started on the lowest temperature I could set it. We'll see what it's like tomorrow morning. At least this way he will be able to get a little bit of heart every day. I've never dehydrated any kind of meat before.

Btw, this was one of the only late day meals that he hasn't skipped beats after!

Thank you!

If anyone has any more suggestions I would still love to hear them. This is going to hopefully become a staple food for us so any info is greatly appreciated.

[CitrusHigh]

So happy you and your Hubby found that to be useful Dorothy, they're kind of my go to sauces since they're so easy to make and usually have the ingredients on hand, they go extra good with tongue IMHO and wouldn't hurt to have some fresh ginger shavings in there. MMmm flavors, so many different ones out there, and so many different combinations!

Cheri, cool what did you find on the big island? I think I flew in to honolulu but then hopped over to Kaua'i for the remainder. I bussed and walked up to the north side of the island, hopped on the kalalau trail (basically a goat trail winding along sheer cliffs in to the ocean!) 11 miles back in to Kalalau valley which is basically paradise on earth! A little community of squatters and vietnam vets that couldn't cope (imho). Lots of fruit, a true permaculture that the hawaiians were constructing for hundreds or thousands of years. And so much more to explore than one lifetime could afford! There were naked girls everywhere. The first people I saw when I got back to the ginger pools was a young mom bathing nude with her child. Then some college girls from the midwest came up to me on the beach and invited me up to the 'village' for mystic pizza which is apparently a variation of wood fire pizza they cook up there in the caves somehow. Never made it up there as I was actually on the trip kind of on the lamb since I was awaiting some charges that had the potential to put me away for a couple years, which I was not having. I'll get back there someday, what a great place for a raw paleo gathering! Ample goats and pig to hunt(easily taken by spear, arrow or club if you're patient and sneaky, fish to fished, fruits to be gathered, coconuts, giant freshwater prawns in every pool, damn what a pardise! The only way to get to the valley is on foot, by boat or by helicopter. The squatters have a monthly cat and mouse game with the park rangers who fly in with the choppers, nab as many delinquents as they can lock them up for a few days, then come back next month and do it over again. The residents have the advantage though since  you can hear the heli's coming and they know the valley so much better than the storm troopers lol!

[Dorothy]

Thoth, you description of Hawaii was such a fun read.

For lunch hubbie made another sauce for the dehydrated heart this time using lots of garlic.

[cherimoya_kid]

Cheri, cool what did you find on the big island? I think I flew in to honolulu but then hopped over to Kaua'i for the remainder. I bussed and walked up to the north side of the island, hopped on the kalalau trail (basically a goat trail winding along sheer cliffs in to the ocean!) 11 miles back in to Kalalau valley which is basically paradise on earth! A little community of squatters and vietnam vets that couldn't cope (imho). Lots of fruit, a true permaculture that the hawaiians were constructing for hundreds or thousands of years. And so much more to explore than one lifetime could afford! There were naked girls everywhere. The first people I saw when I got back to the ginger pools was a young mom bathing nude with her child. Then some college girls from the midwest came up to me on the beach and invited me up to the 'village' for mystic pizza which is apparently a variation of wood fire pizza they cook up there in the caves somehow. Never made it up there as I was actually on the trip kind of on the lamb since I was awaiting some charges that had the potential to put me away for a couple years, which I was not having. I'll get back there someday, what a great place for a raw paleo gathering! Ample goats and pig to hunt(easily taken by spear, arrow or club if you're patient and sneaky, fish to fished, fruits to be gathered, coconuts, giant freshwater prawns in every pool, damn what a pardise! The only way to get to the valley is on foot, by boat or by helicopter. The squatters have a monthly cat and mouse game with the park rangers who fly in with the choppers, nab as many delinquents as they can lock them up for a few days, then come back next month and do it over again. The residents have the advantage though since  you can hear the heli's coming and they know the valley so much better than the storm troopers lol!

I have heard there are a lot of "homeless" folks in various places there.  I did see one homeless guy on the Big Island,  I think he might have been a holy man, he had very interesting, pure energy.

I just foraged fruit for a few days, and just kind of hiked around in a raw vegan daze.  I was in kind of a weird head space then.

[Adora]

Thoth that is an adventure. Count me in for raw paleo gathering in Hawaii.

[CitrusHigh]

Sounds good Adora! Yeah, you pretty much can't help but have an adventure on those islands, so many fascinating people and such a strong energy, magical even!

[Dorothy]

You are making me want to pick up and live there .. again. I never visited because I knew if I went I'd never want to leave. For a raw paleo gathering I might take the chance.

[Dorothy]

Hubbie REALLY hate the dried heart. He was fine with the fresh, but now I have all this dried that he won't eat. I'm going to take some and put it in the dehdyrator longer. Does it ever get to the crunchy stage or will it just get more rubbery?

[CitrusHigh]

Fraid I don't know Dorothy, I'd imagine it would at somepoint, it has to. I guess I could see why he wouldn't like it, though I still think it's delicious, I was pretty sad/wet/lonely/hungry on that trip so I was just so grateful to have anything meaty to eat (though that didn't stop me from tossing my black rubber liver jerky I made too, talk about pungent! lol).

Maybe spicing it would help?

Also I'm guessing he took like what, one bite?

New foods need time for adjustment if one doesn't like them immediately. If was still afraid of new flavors I'd be eating nothing but spaghetti with butter on it, hot pockets and frozen pizza, ick!

Have him take a few bites of eat each day over a period, it probably won't kill him, lol! He might even find he likes it.

[Dorothy]

Fraid I don't know Dorothy, I'd imagine it would at somepoint, it has to. I guess I could see why he wouldn't like it, though I still think it's delicious, I was pretty sad/wet/lonely/hungry on that trip so I was just so grateful to have anything meaty to eat (though that didn't stop me from tossing my black rubber liver jerky I made too, talk about pungent! lol).

Maybe spicing it would help?

Also I'm guessing he took like what, one bite?

New foods need time for adjustment if one doesn't like them immediately. If was still afraid of new flavors I'd be eating nothing but spaghetti with butter on it, hot pockets and frozen pizza, ick!

Have him take a few bites of eat each day over a period, it probably won't kill him, lol! He might even find he likes it.

He did spice it Thoth - but it didn't seem to help even though the spices were good. He ate about a quarter of a heart raw thinly sliced and only stopped to make sure it sat ok being a totally new food. With cooked eggs the next day he had about 5 pieces of the jerky and he didn't mind it because of mixing it with the eggs, but trying it alone the next day when he had 5 pieces alone he was  basically telling me that he was doing it for me but it was disgusting.

I wish I had the fresh stuff available every day! The drying would have made it available but the fresh I was lucky to get once.

I'm thinking maybe the next time I can grind it and mix it with vegetables and spices before drying to help the taste? Any ideas for this anyone?

The problem is that they always freeze these things with larger portions than we could eat in a day.

[CitrusHigh]

My heart lasts at least a week in the fridge and probably two if a bit high. Or if you can get it fresh, then cut half, put that in the freezer and use half. Heart is one of my staples, along with liver, kidney and tongue, they're pretty much always in my fridge to some degree of ripeness. You can always throw something back in the freezer too, if you're not able to finish it and it starts to get slimy. Or ask your butcher/farmer to cut it in to quarters for freezing smaller portions. Refreezing isn't great, but better than dehydrating nutritionally speaking.

As for the jerky, still a very new food, and though I'm impressed he ate that much of it, probably take a few days/weeks to get used. Or at least don't decide after just 1 or 2 sittings. I miss the stuff, haven't had it in years, it is a different flavor to be sure.

[Dorothy]

My heart lasts at least a week in the fridge and probably two if a bit high. Or if you can get it fresh, then cut half, put that in the freezer and use half. Heart is one of my staples, along with liver, kidney and tongue, they're pretty much always in my fridge to some degree of ripeness. You can always throw something back in the freezer too, if you're not able to finish it and it starts to get slimy. Or ask your butcher/farmer to cut it in to quarters for freezing smaller portions. Refreezing isn't great, but better than dehydrating nutritionally speaking.

As for the jerky, still a very new food, and though I'm impressed he ate that much of it, probably take a few days/weeks to get used. Or at least don't decide after just 1 or 2 sittings. I miss the stuff, haven't had it in years, it is a different flavor to be sure.

Thoth - hubbie hates any meat that is even the tiniest bit high. What's the earliest it will start to turn? He won't eat ground meat past the second day and even then he wants to cook it more.

I could defrost and re-freeze. Is there a particular reason why that wouldn't be good? I don't have a farmer or butcher - it's hit or miss at the farmer's market.

[Ioanna]

dorothy, i'd probably thaw on a day i wanted to eat some, but cut the rest into portions and put back into the freezer.  i don't think refreezing is ideal, but i don't do it more than once.   i do this sometimes when it's something i cannot eat entirely in one or two meals.

[Dorothy]

dorothy, i'd probably thaw on a day i wanted to eat some, but cut the rest into portions and put back into the freezer.  i don't think refreezing is ideal, but i don't do it more than once.   i do this sometimes when it's something i cannot eat entirely in one or two meals.

That's really good to know. Thank you Ionna.

[CitrusHigh]

Yea, Also, it will thaw from outside to inside, so if you want to let it thaw a bit, you can shave off all the outside layer (thickness depends on how long you let it thaw) and toss the core back in the freezer without the meat getting soggy from repeated freezings. Like Ioanna Said, not the hugest deal, just not ideal.

[Dorothy]

That's a great idea too letting it defrost just enough to get some thin slices off of the edges. I'd have to use a bigger heart than lamb I'm thinking to do that with and ask them to keep it whole. The lamb I got was cut in halves. These are great suggestions - very useful.

I have the heart in the dehydrator again since yesterday hoping that it will get dry enough to powder so that Brian can put a little bit of the powder into foods until I get more heart. Fingers crossed that it works!

The heart seems like a pretty fatty organ. When we were eating it raw I couldn't help but steal some cuts alone of that beautiful fat.

Does fat dehydrate?

[Adora]

Hi Dorothy
   I think your husband's doing great. I love all heart, but the one I had this week was just off. It was sitting in the cooler for about 5 days but that normally doesn't put me off. Then reading your posts, I decided to compost it. I think he should only eat what tastes good. Season it however, but if he really doesn't want it after really making the effort often required with "strange new foods" let him have something else, and trust that his body is making the best decision.  Have it often in 3-5 bite size portions. This is easy to defrost it warm water. We are trying to get off plastic, and little snack bags were perfect  for that:(
   Hopefully, he will enjoy, or tollerate eating raw or gently cooked foods as much as possible, but especially with organs and glands sometimes my stomach is completely against it. Then, later I crave it. I've been paying attention to this for months and I still don't understand, but the exact same food will taste good another day.
     Re frozen food. I hate it, but I thaw on counter just enough to cut it with my strongest knife. Then, referee small pieces. If your over the plastic snack bags maybe you could wrap it in I bleached parchment. Then put all of the portions into a plastic to seal it then freeze. The key is to catch it when it is just soft enough to cut. I can't really tell a difference in taste or texture from 1-2 frozen that way.

[Dorothy]

You know Adora, you made me think about what I do with the primal blend from Slankers. I cut THAT up into small pieces using a hack saw even when frozen - why can't I do that with the heart?

You are SO right about the plastic. I hate it too - but as of yet don't have enough little glass containers for all my needs with storage. Glass has to be a certain kind in order to be used in the freezer. 

[Dorothy]

Well, I left the lambs heart slices in the dehydrator for as long as I possibly can and have determined beyond any shadow of a doubt that fat does not dehydrate.

Most of the heart is going to the dogs and a little of it that I was able to break away from the fat I powdered for Brian to put on other meat in tiny amounts to get his heart quotient. Not such a terrible outcome I guess.

It wouldn't have been too hard for me to cut that fat off and eat it all fresh. I loved that stuff and was feeling like I was being greedy wanting to cut it all off and eat it on the spot. Next time I'll be greedy.