From The Cookbook: Braised Venison Heart

For most people home is where the heart is, and for some the stomach is where the heart is. If you're looking to try venison heart for the first time, or have already given it a shot and are looking for a new recipe, then this one from the NRA Member's Wild Game Cookbook, Second Edition is something you should try.

Braised Venison Heart
The following recipe is taken directly from the NRA Members' Wild Game Cookbook, Second Edition. to buy your very own copy of the cookbook, visit the NRA Program Materials Center.

Ingredients
1 deer heart (1 pound), 1 antelope heart, or 1/2 elk heart
1/8 pound bacon
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 onion
4 peeled tomatoes, diced
3 tablespoons white wine1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
dash of basil leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Wash, trim veins and fat from one venison heart. Dice into large cubes (1 x 2 inches). Dice bacon and sauté in butter. Add cubes of heart, brown slightly, then add one half cup water. Add peeled and diced tomatoes together with white wine. Braise slowly for an hour and a half, or until heart cubes are tender, then remove cover and simmer slowly 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and egg yolk, which have been mixed thoroughly together. Season with basil, salt and pepper, and serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

A marvelous way to do heart, which I purloined from the kitchen of a hunting colleague in Germany's Fichtel Mountains. His wife's mother claimed that this was the way they had always done the deer and elk hearts, and even used it for wild boar hearts.

Originally Submitted By:
Gary Lease
Santa Cruz, CA

Photo courtesy of Georgia Pellegrini, visit GeorgiaPellegrini.com to see her venison heart recipe.