Deer Heart and Liver Recipes

I just started keeping the heart a couple years ago but haven’t kept a liver back yet. My favorite is searing them in plenty of butter. Cut them into 2 steaks by following the seam on the heart. Trim away all the valves and connective tissue. Add whatever seasonings you would like. Sear 2-4 minutes on each side depending on thickness for medium rare.

Also look at Realtrees timber to table website. They have quite a few recipes for heart and I presume liver on there. I like getting ideas from them and then tinkering with them.
 
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I soak the heart in salt water a day or 2 for the blood. Then before freezing or eating I run it under the tap and pump it to get any blood globs out of the valves. I keep it simple, crock pot with some water and a pack of lipton onion soup mix, chopped potatoes, onions, and carrots. Normal low temp for 6 hours give or take (maybe longer depending on how much you are cooking). Always comes out tender, slice it up, trim away any valves or connective tissue like mentioned above, some salt and devour.

I cut one in half and tried grilling it once like a normal steak. Came out tough. I personally wouldn't grill it again.
 
Clean the heart by removing valves and outer tough skin, like pealing an apple. Then dice the meat and cook with salt and butter in a skillet, the last minute or two add brown sugar or honey to caramelize and then eat with a side of eggs and a cup of coffee.

I just did my first liver last week, I sliced it thin, I soaked I salt water 1 day and milk overnight, I dried it off but not enough, then I browned onions and lots of butter and added the liver last, cooked to medium and it was decent except the liver has too much moisture still in it.
 
Hank Shaw; Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. Second, heart fajitas. split and trim the heart, lay it flat pound it a little just to lay it flat, sear on a hot grill to medium rare/medium, Slice it thin add to onions and peppers that you sliced and threw in a skillet on the grill next to the heart.
 
Liver is super easy....

Slice the liver into 1/2" thick slices.
Slice you up or dice you up some onions.
Put you some olive oil in a pan and get it up to temperature.
Roll liver in flour.
Drop in hot oil.
Salt Pepper.
Cover with lid.
Cook until blood stops coming out.

EAT.
 
Biggest problem most people have is over cooking it. It is best rare to medium rare. I have even eaten it raw and no I didn't cut it from the deer, hold it up in the air while doing a war cry while blood is running down my arm and take a big bite out of it.
I soak the heart overnight in cold water.
Remove valves and any fat.
Cut into small pieces.
Sprinkle with coarse salt.
Add cilantro
Diced fresh tomato
Diced fresh onion
Half a fresh lime squeezed
One fresh pepper 🌶 Diced
Put it over some of the cut up heart and let set in the fridge for an hour or more.
Take it out and scoop it on your favorite corn chips.... Yes it is raw but it is very good. If it is a big heart I don't use the whole thing. The rest I brown in a skillet medium rare with your favorite taco seasoning and make heart tacos.
 
Keep it simple. Soak in salt water or milk overnight. Remove the outer layer of the heart (pericardium) like peeling an apple. Cut in 1/4 inch slices, then remove valves and connective tissue. Fry in butter or grill to rare-medium rare (we prefer rare).

For liver, same soak. Slice 1/4 inch slices, fry in butter/grill rare. Over-cooked tastes like "liver".

Serve with sautéed onions (lots of celery salt). Cold beer in camp, a nice red if at home.

Share details of shot with friends over dinner; 700 yards, sun in your eyes, etc. ;)
 
Heart is our celebration/campfire food. Core/Cut out valves, soak overnite in lightly salted water, pat dry, marinate for an hour or two in Italian dressing, salt, pepper, garlic and throw on the coals/grill. Slice thin and serve. It’s gone in minutes in our camp.
 
Best Liver recipe ever!:

I learned this from a roommate in college, but it is essential that you handle it well and quickly while in the field.

1) As soon as you kill your deer, field dress it immediately
2) remove the liver immediately, and set it aside in a cool, clean place for later prep
3) finish dressing the deer
4) drag or pack your deer back to camp or the truck
5) hang and skin (if dragged out whole) your deer
6) Have a beer or two and thank the hunting Gods (Diana and Artemis)
7) Cook some tenderloins to a tight rare w/ S&P and enjoy with a clean glass of red wine.
8) Take a shower if able.
9) Go to bed, sleep well.
10) Forget that the liver ever existed and live a better life.
 
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Got to admit I’m a bit of the above…never did develop a taste for liver- beef, game, or otherwise. I do save it though and make liver treats for the dogs🤷🏻‍♂️
 
My son wanted to try the heart and liver from the buck he shot in Oct. I had never eaten heart before and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Much better than I was expecting, not chewy and no bloody taste. Just sliced it thin, dusted in a spicy flour mix and pan fried in butter, medium rare.
The liver....well it's still liver. Not my favorite but we ate it because he wanted to eat it.
 
butterfly the heart, remove the valves and connective tissue things, rinse off any bloody globules.

it's tender ass piece of steak is all the heart is. just has a slightly different texture due to it's muscle type that some MD could explain.

seared rare for tacos - awesome
seasoned and smoked for 30 minutes, then seared rare as a steak - awesome

to me it's a nice piece of steak type meat, let it shine. do with it what you would do with steak cuts. i.e. don't slow cook it till it falls apart.

great appetizer meat too if you want a bunch of people to try it - put it in on little fancy toasty breads with like olive oil and vinegar, or seared rare cut up and put on tooth picks to dip in some delicious sauce.

but please don't grub it up and do something you'd do with like a roast cut.

to each their own though.
 
Have Dave shoot an elk. Clean elk heart and trim into thirds. Grill elk heart and tenderloin to medium rare. Slice and eat with potatoes and onions fried in way too much butter.

Ensconce yourself in the warm embrace of the impending food coma. 🤗0D092F9F-48EA-482B-81AD-42D90E9B27F4.jpegF8DAFA90-387E-4ED6-A545-54917FEEF946.jpeg730ECA5B-31C3-4F02-9050-1FE420122B1A.jpeg21674279-79B7-418F-B020-AFA204FAAB76.jpeg28637799-4E05-46BF-98BB-ADD0B590DEAE.jpeg
 
For the heart I open it up and wash it out real good. Then I cut off everything that doesn't look like meat. Those strings inside are too weird for me. Then I cut it into strips, roll it in flour, and fry it to medium rare. I like it, but my wife doesn't like the texture.

As I said elsewhere, I give the livers to my friend who slow cooks them, chops them up, adds rice, and feeds it to his dog.
 

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