Cooking with offal

ajax041813

Yup, you read that right. Offal refers to all organ meats. Earlier this year I read a lot about how nutrient dense offal is compared to the cuts of meat we usually eat so I started making recipes that snuck it in. I love doing this!!! My go to recipe is a burger recipe from paleomom.com I think she uses beef liver, I have used chicken hearts and tonight I used beef heart. Here is my version of the recipe

1lb bacon, no sugar added
1lb ground beef
1lb chicken or beef hearts
garlic, powder or real
onion, powder or real
2 eggs
spices, blackening, Badia complete seasoning, I sometimes just through a bunch of stuff in there!

I blend it up in my food processor in two batches so it can handle processing all the meat. I start with half the hearts and bacon, process until it looks like ground meat. Then I put in half the ground beef, 1 egg and half the spices. I process this until it's well combined, pour it into a bowl and process the remainder. I start cooking on my George foreman grill as soon as the first half is ready. The last couple times I have cooked half one night and half the next. Just because I can only cook so many on my grill and don't wanna stand in the kitchen forever.

I have tried liver, both beef and chicken and found the texture off putting, even when blended. It can be grainy. The hearts are muscle so at worst it can get chewy, like fat. It's not so bad. I did think tonight about possibly making some meatballs with the remainder that is in the fridge. I may have to add a binder of some kind.

I just wanted to share in case anyone out there was wanting to up the nutrient density of their food. Here is what I found on livestrong about beef heart:" Beef heart is a muscle like other cuts of steak, but it is more dense with a higher nutrient content and additional protein. Beef heart contains all essential amino acids, zinc, selenium and phosphorus. It has more than double the elastin and collagen than other cuts of meat and a highly concentrated source of coenzyme Q10, also known as CoQ10. "

Happy Almost Weekend!!!

Alluminati

The thought of sneaking organs into regular meat makes me queasy...kinda like eating a chicken omelette. If I'm gonna torture myself eating organs then I would rather have it simple and cooked in a tried and true method.

Good for you on making the effort, you're a better man/woman than I am :laugh: :flowerforyou:

Sweepypie

Lambs liver is best! Spray frying pan with 1cal spray and fry liver with sliced onions. Lovely!

OldHobo

Congratulations ajax. You invented sausage. On your way to inventing meatloaf. Mostly you buy the stuff you're making stuffed into pig intestines. I don't see hearts in the stores I shop in. Beef liver but, for some reason, I've never cooked it myself. You've inspired me to correct that omission. I use chicken livers. Fried breaded gizzards are good.
There are lots of body parts that aren't organs that are very good and good for you too. Stuff like feet, tails, ears noses and snouts. I've cooked with all that minus the ears. I draw the line at the very tail end of the digestive track but there are recipes for that too.
Folks have been eating this stuff forever and there are long traditions and wisdom about how to go about it.

AmazonMayan

I love baked chicken livers seasoned with salt, pepper, and sage. When I first started logging on MFP, I was happy to learn the calories are not bad for the protein and iron you get. I literally just throw them in a pan, season and bake.

I also love having them with a lightly poached or fried egg on top for breakfast.

We eat pate and braunschweiger a lot too.