Deer Heart

[rickevans]

LD...why the pressure cooker? I remember when I first moved to Georgia, a neighbor had shot his very first deer ever (with a TC Renegade) and called me to help him track, clean and drag it out.

He was a bit shocked when I tossed the liver and heart into a baggie. Even more so when I told him that was my fee for instructing him on how to find a deer bleeding from two big holes in his side.

When we got home, I sliced and fried it with some mushrooms and onions. Uhm-Uhm Good! He always take a baggie with him now, and never asks me to clean his deer.

Rick

[Loyalist Dave]

Well the pressure cooker is one way to keep the calories down, while frying in olive oil or peanut oil (or any other oil) isn't.  Plus I like to keep up my practise with the thing, as it's also a most excellent way of taking a  tough piece of meat (this wasn't a tough piece) and quickly getting it tender.  Slow cookers also work for making tough meat tender..., but in the word of Inigo Montoya  "I hate waiting", [Princess Bride 1987].

Came out wonderful btw!  

2 oz.  of water, 1 tsp of Adobo seasoning, 1/2 onion, and 2 oz. of red wine, 1 large deer heart with fat and arterial structures removed.  Cook for 6 minutes.

LD

[rickevans]

Well that does make health sense. Thanks for the new lesson Dave!

[Longhunter]

I love deer heart, been eatin it for many many years. Sliced, floured and fried along with the liver it's hard to beat. I like to save one or two hearts to dice up and add to the turkey dressing on Thanksgiving.

I too soak it and the liver overnight in salt water...must be an old time method. I split the heart down the middle and cut out the membranes before soaking.

It really upsets me when I accidentally hit the heart with my big .62 rifle...doesn't leave much to eat...    

[snake eyes]

I have had the heart from Friday's doe sitting in the fridge, and today I will be pressure cooking it.  btw I was astounded that the pressure cooker was known, not widely, but known in the 18th century?  Cool!  
LD

LD,
    Boy,I don't know about the 18th century,but I do know my
mother used one when I was growing up.They are much more
reliable and sofisticated today.As a youngster I can remember
not being allowed in the kitchen when the preassure cooker was
being used on the stove.
   As to soaking game in salt water,when young,I was told it would
make wild game less gamey tasting.Whatever,I have always done it.....

[Longhunter]

LD,
Boy,I don't know about the 18th century,but I do know my
mother used one when I was growing up.They are much more
reliable and sophisticated today.As a youngster I can remember
not being allowed in the kitchen when the pressure cooker was
being used on the stove.
As to soaking game in salt water,when young,I was told it would
make wild game less gamey tasting.Whatever,I have always done it...

Cooking with a pressure cooker has been around a long time. We've used one for many years. They're great for canning, in fact I just bought a new one on line, an "All American" 21.5 quart. Last weekend I canned the last doe that I got and got 20 pints and 10 quarts of meat. Of coarse I took out the back straps first, those are best fried in a cast iron skillet...

[Loyalist Dave]

Actually folks, the pressure cooker goes back to the beginning of the 1700, and were usually refered to as a "bone digester".  They were bronze, and although they had a steam vent, they didn't have a safety valve nor a pressure gauge,..., so they could "blow".  The biggest problem seems to have been either a poorly cast piece of bronze with an air pocket, or the steam valve was so small it got clogged, and the pressure built up, or it was too small and not enough pressure was released.  

It would be pretty easy to make with modern machining tools, and would work to cook food, but probably sorta heavy.  Might make for a good demonstration at a historic site.

LD

[Longhunter]

I shopped around and got the best price on my cooker from Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/All-American-921- ... B00004S88Z

[sse]

Ron - Why would you need a pressure cooker that large?  I used to have one that would fit a head of cauliflower with ample room to spare.  Pretty handy item for the kitchen, except I don't know what I did with it.

[Loyalist Dave]

Well mine is a Hawkins "classic" 1.5 liter..., good for just me..., but that one is big enough to can meat...., as well as cook for the whole brigade, or so it appears!!

 

LD

[Three Hawks]

Every once in a while I get a gift of organ meat from friends who connect while hunting.  Liver, of course, is always braised with onions and some bacon as a side dish.

My favorite way of  preparing heart is to soak it overnight in a salt/sugar brine then stuff it with sage dressing and bake it.  Hearts from game animals mostly seem to be much larger than domestic critters, but taste the same. When I was a kid, we were given a buffalo heart, the thing weighed nearly six pounds.  My mom  stuffed and baked it.  All nine of us had it for Sunday Dinner, with enough left for sandwiches  for school on Monday.  YUMMM!!

I've never been able to develop a taste for kidney, so that gets braised with a little sage to keep the urine smell down in the kitchen, then chopped fine to make it easier to divvy up for the cats.   Cats love kidney as much as a dog does cheeseburgers.

Three Hawks

[rickevans]

Hhhuuuummmm....baked stuffed deer heart. I am adding that one to the list.

[sse]

I would be interested in hearing the details/procedure of anyone here who cans venison...never done it.

[Riley/MN]

I have a friend that cans some. I can check with him on the procedure. I might see him in a couple weeks at the Mille Lacs vous....

[snake eyes]

I would be interested in hearing the details/procedure of anyone here who cans venison...never done it.

Jim,
      Check this out: Home Canning and Preserving, Meat, Vegetables, Fruits, Jam or Jelly.  Click on how to can and it will take you
to meat, both domestic and wild.

snake-eyes