Fresh Fried Venison Heart

Three fresh deer hearts.

One of the most often overlooked, and best, pieces of the deer.
The heart is a muscle, and properly cleaned/cooked it is absolutely delicious.
A shame that it is too often tossed with the gut pile.

I always save the heart and liver.

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Carefully trim and clean the heart, remove the upper part consisting of blood vessels and atriums.
Then trim the tops/outsides of fats.
There are a lot of of tough/fiborous inter-connective tissues in the ventricles that need to be carefully trimmed out.
Then slice into portions for frying.

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Money Shot

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I'd say I prefer heart to tenderloin. I've heard of people cooking the lungs too, but haven't got around to it myself.

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Originally Posted by Pierless

I'd say I prefer heart to tenderloin. I've heard of people cooking the lungs too, but haven't got around to it myself.

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I've never had lungs either, but always eat the heart and liver from deer if in good shape.
From various animals I've tried a lot of organ meats.
Heart, liver, tongue, kidney, thymus, pancreas, stomach, brains and eyes.

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Originally Posted by ChileRelleno

Heart, liver, tongue, kidney, thymus, pancreas, stomach, brains and eyes.

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Though foreign to the modern palate, for 99% of human history those would've been more common food items than a box of cereal.

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Originally Posted by Pierless

Though foreign to the modern palate, for 99% of human history those would've been more common food items than a box of cereal.

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Tru'dat, nose to tail cooking.

Maybe venison Haggis might be something to try. Like you, I've eaten nearly every part of the deer. Lungs a no though, but I'd give it a go.

Haggis, the national dish of Scotland a type of pudding composed of the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep (or other animal), minced and mixed with beef or mutton suet and oatmeal and seasoned with onion, cayenne pepper, and other spices. The mixture is packed into a sheep’s stomach and boiled.

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Originally Posted by j. gravy

Maybe venison Haggis might be something to try. Like you, I've eaten nearly every part of the deer. Lungs a no though, but I'd give it a go.

Haggis, the national dish of Scotland a type of pudding composed of the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep (or other animal), minced and mixed with beef or mutton suet and oatmeal and seasoned with onion, cayenne pepper, and other spices. The mixture is packed into a sheep’s stomach and boiled.

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And when you plate it you put a depression in the middle (like in mashed potatoes) and put a wee dram in there. I like neeps and tatties in mine.

One of my favorite things to do with a venison heart is to clean and season/Cook in a crock pot until tender, then slice and beerbatter/fry until the batter is crispy. Amazing.

I hate to spoil dinner but my favorite thing to do with venison heart is put a 100 grain Rocket Hammerhead through it at 300 fps. It tends to make it inedible though. But save my heart when I die. It will surely be tender with all the bacon lodged in it!

"Please Don't Bury Me"
-- John Prine

Woke up this morning
Put on my slippers
Walked in the kitchen and died
And oh what a feeling!
When my soul
Went thru the ceiling
And on up into heaven I did ride
When I got there they did say
John, it happened this way
You slipped upon the floor
And hit your head
And all the angels say
Just before you passed away
These were the very last words
That you said:

Please don't bury me
Down in that cold cold ground
No, I'd druther have "em" cut me up
And pass me all around
Throw my brain in a hurricane
And the blind can have my eyes
And the deaf can take both of my ears
If they don't mind the size
Give my stomach to Milwaukee
If they run out of beer
Put my socks in a cedar box
Just get "em" out of here
Venus de Milo can have my arms
Look out! I've got your nose
Sell my heart to the junkman
And give my love to Rose

Give my feet to the footloose
Careless, fancy free
Give my knees to the needy
Don't pull that stuff on me
Hand me down my walking cane
It's a sin to tell a lie
Send my mouth way down south
And kiss my ass goodbye

I make a stew with venison heart lungs and liver that is delicious.

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Originally Posted by oldfisherman

I make a stew with venison heart lungs and liver that is delicious.

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Sounds good to me, care to share that recipe?

Boil over med heat for one and one half hours after slicing in to lemon size pieces. Use salt and favorite spicy seasonings. I like to throw a couple of dried hot peppers in as well. Keep enough liquid in pot to cover well. Lid is helpful. Even better is what I do with the leftovers. I put them through a meat grinder and put back into the leftover stock. Cook over low heat while stirring in self rising corn meal. Keep adding meal and stirring until mixture is too thick to settle down. Remove from heat. Generously grease some loaf pans to prevent sticking and fill loaf pans with mixture. I call it LIVER PUDDING. Place in refrigerator over night. Slice into slabs 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick, roll in flour and pan fry until brown. About 3 or 4 slabs, couple of fried eggs and toast becomes my breakfast every day until it is gone. My grandfather used to butcher hogs for people and my grandmother used the hog heart liver and lungs for this pudding. This was my favorite cold weather breakfast. We did not butcher in warm weather.