Guest Post: Heart To Heart

After far too long, TOD is re-visited by the Calinky Cousin's Cuisine, and once again, it does not disappoint. The years and pandemic have softened the rougher edges leaving the language only slightly spicier than the meal. As is the case with almost all non-manufactured food, finding out where food really comes from can trigger folks. But you know what? It turns out that experts all over the interweb now agree with TOD that if you find yourself triggered, that's your problem. So buck up buttercup. Plus, if you're easily triggered, what the hell are you doing here?

So once again, here we go... 

I really have to thank ya for turning me on to that dawg meat store over in Athens. Man, they got the best bacon outside of gramps' back yard, and I don't have to slop their hogs. I know I told ya, and I'm pretty sure ya forgot, but I had planned on stopping in on the way here. Maybe get some ribs or steaks or maybe even one of them "picanha" which sounds like a South American fish, but ain't. I got there 'bout time they opened, and lo and behold they had lamb. Not just chops and racks and legs, but they had off cuts. Heart and liver. Fine eatin'. Now come to find out they only had one heart cuz they had given, like fer free, the rest to some school so they could cut it up, which is what we're about to do. Only difference is, we're gonna eat ours and I bet they threw theirs away. 

Now a lot of folks take a lamb heart and stuff it. Usually with a sausage stuffing like Aunt Norma used to make for her Thanksgiving bird. It's like they think a lamb heart is some meaty bell pepper. We ain't gonna do that. We're gonna clean it up, break it down, marinate it, grill it and slice it. Just like we did that beef heart last time ya stopped by. Ya know...ya really could show up for something other than a funeral. We are running low on relatives. And maybe even dress like someone other than Johnny Cash. 

So first off we gotta trim some fat. Not all of it, but we really wanna get the big chunks at the top and maybe trim some of the thicker bits on the sides. Ya gotta leave some for flavor but since we're gonna grill this, if ya leave too much ya might end up with a grease fire. That ain't no way to smoke yer meat. 

Now ya mighta noticed, if ya put yer damn phone down, that this heart came with some of the plumbing still hooked up.  We're gonna cut that out. 

And while we're at it let's open this up so we can get to some of the lining on the inside, cuz we wanna make that disappear too. If ya got a pet, a real pet, like a cat or a dog, ya can take all those trimmings and make a friend for life. Ya might wanna feed yer dog a sweet tater first. Just sayin'. 

There ya go. Two fine looking pieces of Little Dead Quadruped ready for a marinade. And we're gonna keep that simple, and only make a little bit of it. We don't need this swimming in a pool, just enough to coat the meat. A bit of oil, some cumin, black pepper and make a garlic paste with one clove and a little salt. Ya let that stew in the fridge for a few hours, overnight if ya can, but we ain't, and we're ready to grill. 

Ya do remember the first rule, maybe the only rule, about cooking meat, dontcha? That's right. Don't overcook it. And before ya start grilling put on a pot of rice to go with them hearts, and we can throw in some olives and capers like ya do with that fancy sauce ya make. What's that ya called it again? Hmmm. Yeah. Italian whore sauce*. But we'll just use the olives and capers.  Ya can get those out. Now. 

Off the grill ya gotta let it rest, but not as much as ya might with a chop or a steak. Heart is pure muscle, real lean, so it is easy to ruin by overcooking but it don't need much of a rest. So then we're gonna slice it, not too thick, not too thin, and plate up with rice and artichokes. Ya did remember to grill the artichokes didn't ya?

Look at that. Ya didn't overcook it. 

Now what happened to that liver?

* Puttanesca. Look up "puttan" in your favorite online Italian-English dictionary.