The heart is one of the most underrated parts of a deer when it comes to table fare. It’s nutritious—full of folate, iron, zinc, B vitamins and more—and when properly prepared, it’s delicious. And while it’s a little on-the-nose to serve it for a Valentine’s Day dinner, heart definitely does make a great meal. We’re thinking of trying one of these five recipes this year for our romantic dinner for two.
How to Prep It
If you’re new to cooking venison heart, it can be a little intimidating. Start here with Hank Shaw’s tutorial about cutting up a heart and preparing it for cooking. He recommends you discard the “jiggly-veiny” top part and the fat ring, then gives instructions on locating the chambers of the heart and slicing the heart into large chunks that are ready for cooking. This is a simple set of instructions with plenty of photos to guide you through the process.
Quick and Easy Venison Heart
This recipe from castironrecipes.com starts with a brine—a simple trick to enhance just about any cut of meat. From there, the recipe treats a heart much like you would a beef steak, frying it in butter with garlic and herbs. A bacon press or a smaller skillet is used to press the filets down and get a nice sear, then you’ll flip the meat and baste the other side. As with a good steak, the meat is then rested for a few minutes before serving. This is a simple recipe that comes together in minutes (after the brining) and really lets the flavor of the heart shine through. (Photo courtesy castironrecipes.com)
Country-Fried Venison Heart
Looking for something a little more down-homey? You can’t go wrong country-frying anything, as far as I’m concerned, and this recipe from rabbithillfarmmaine.com walks you through the steps to make country-fried venison heart. It comes together just as you’d expect, with thin slices of heart dredged in flour, then dipped in an egg wash and back in flour to build up that coating. The slices are then fried to develop that beautiful crust, and a few simple steps using a roux and some milk give you a nice white gravy to ladle over the top. It’s just begging to be served with mashed potatoes. (Photo courtesy rabbithillfarmmaine.com)
Low and slow is the name of the game with this recipe from Petersens Hunting. It uses a smoker to build layers of flavor, and it uses only four simple ingredients—heart, salt, pepper and maple syrup. It’s not totally a set-it-and-forget it recipe, as you’ll have to glaze and flip the heart during the smoking process, but if you have a smoker or a pellet grill you enjoy cooking on, this is a great one to try. Use the smoking time to make your side dishes. (Photo courtesy of petersenshunting.com)
Guava-Glazed Venison Heart Skewers
If an appetizer or a main-course finger food is more your style, this unusual MeatEater recipe might be just the ticket. It uses heart sliced into thin strips and threaded onto skewers, then utilizes a glaze made of sugar, vinegar and guava preserves—although the recipe does offer peach preserves or apple butter as an alternative if guava is hard to come by. The skewers are glazed and grilled for only four to six minutes, so be prepared with everything in place, as this recipe will come together really quickly once the grill is hot. (Photo courtesy themeateater.com)
Stuffed Slow-Cooked Venison Heart
Larry White at thewildgamegourmet.com shares this recipe for stuffed, braised heart. It can be done in the oven or in a slow cooker, leaving you plenty of time to prepare the rest of your meal. While Larry puts “easy” in the title, this is the most involved recipe on our list. You’ll start by making the stuffing using shitake mushrooms, onions, herbs, red wine and cubed stale bread, then you’ll stuff the heart, cover it with bacon for moisture, tie it up and braise the whole thing slowly until tender. This recipe is for six hearts, but just one or two at the most should suffice for you and your sweetheart, so feel free to trim the recipe in half or thirds. Try reducing the braising liquid into a sauce and serving over rice or potatoes. (Photo courtesy Larry White/thewildgamegourmet.com)
