Anticuchos de Corazón

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Disclaimer: This will be my first attempt at uploading photos, so here's hoping it turns out well!

This recipe for Anticuchos de Corazón comes from the cookbook Nourishing Traditions. If you don't think you'll like the marinade that's shown here, then try your own! Maybe a nice chimichurri, or something hot and spicy, or Asian-style... the possibilities are endless. I've included photos of most of the steps of preparation because I think it might help people when they're making the dish themselves. Especially because most of us don't work with organ meats much, they can be a bit intimidating at first. If you haven't ever eaten beef heart, I highly recommend it! (And you might have eaten it unknowingly; it's not technically classified as an organ meat, so it's often ground with other beef scraps.) Because the muscle is constantly working, it's a lovely red color with a lot of flavor. It doesn't taste minerally, and in fact, people have told me that they would have believed it was tenderloin if I hadn't told them before they ate it. The muscle is surrounded by fat (lovely fat that you can render and use for frying), but the meat itself is quite lean. It's usually either cooked quickly, and kept at least medium-rare (as it is here) or braised in a stew for a long time to keep it tender. Another nice thing - heart can be bought quite cheaply (mine was between $1-2 a pound), as most people don't want it. And as always, if you can afford it, try to buy directly from a farmer who raises the meat in a way that makes you feel good about eating it. So let's get on with it!

First - the heart, in all its glory:


Make one cut through the heart:


Cut the heart into pieces of similar thickness, and use a sharp knife to trim the membranes from both sides of the meat. It's not the end of the world if you leave some behind, but it's a bit tough:


The trimmed pieces:


Cut the meat into cubes between 1-2":


Assemble the ingredients for your marinade. I used 1/2 cup each of apple cider vinegar and olive oil, maybe two teaspoons of sea salt, a teaspoon of black pepper, two teaspoons of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and a teaspoon of achiote seeds (you can buy these at any Latin market):


Let the meat marinate for 4-12 hours, and slide it onto some skewers. Cook on the grill if you have one, or under the broiler if not. Cook about four minutes on each side - we're going for medium-rare, remember? And the color of the meat will stay fairly red, even when it's cooked:


Remove the meat when it's cool enough to handle, and serve with your favorite accompaniments! I made some carrots/parsnips with a maple syrup/apple cider vinegar glaze, some blue potatoes, and some onion and poblano pepper:


I hope you like it as much as my friends and family have! I cooked a heart over a bonfire like this, and even some vegetarians tried it and pronounced it delicious! It was all gone in under a half hour, despite the fact that there were hotdogs and hamburgers around too.