As I mentioned here, heart is an organ with a lot of connective tissue that benefits from slow and low cooking. Braised Beef Heart with bone marrow is a simple dish that serves well.
And besides, as a busy mom, there is nothing that I like more than a slow and low braise. Dinner started late morning. Ready by mid-afternoon. And requiring very little work. Our home filled with the divine smell and anticipation of tender meat in a nourishing stock.
But I didn’t really know how to do it. The easiest meal ever.
No, seriously.
“If you can read, you can cook”
I mean, my mom grew up in an immigrant household and my grandparents always had some kind of braise or stew going. My mom also cooked from scratch, and kept a huge garden and mini orchard out back. (Yes, you can do that sort of thing in California.) But somehow, I didn’t really learn how to cook many of those things myself, while growing up.
Yet, one of my college roommates, Jenn, used to quip, “if you can read, you can cook!” And that stuck with me. And so after I stopped leaning on Jenn for homemade favorites, that’s exactly what I did. I started to read. I learned that you can read cookbooks cover to cover, just like regular books. And you can learn a lot that way.
I’ve learned many techniques from many practical cookbooks. But accidentally, this recipe, as with every braise in our home, is adapted from the description I read many years ago in Natasha Campbell-McBride’s Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS).
GAPS Italian casserole
In the whole of Campbell-McBride’s book, perhaps one single paragraph justifies my continued ownership. Don’t get me wrong, I love the concept of a whole foods, broth-intensive application of the healing ketogenic diet. It’s brilliant.
But the paragraph I’m referring to is a simple recipe titled “An Italian meat casserole.”
This is an alternative way of making an excellent meat stock, as well as preparing a meal for the whole family… You need a large casserole with a lid for this dish. Put your meat joint or a whole bird(s) into the casserole, add water to fill 2/3 of the casserole, add some salt, peppercorns, dried herbs to taste, bay leaves, and a sprig of rosemary. Cover with the lid and put into the oven for 5-6 hours on low heat… Add various vegetables 40-50 minutes before your dinner time… When ready, take the meat and vegetables out and serve to your family. Put the meat stock through a sieve and serve it in bouillon cups with the dinner…
We’ve made this many, many times and it’s really a fantastic meal that feels just like my grandparent’s home cooking. (Assuming you’ve added some paprika in there.)
Feeling verklempt
But allow me to digress… Does anyone here remember Coffee Talk with Linda Richmond?
Just thinking about not knowing how to braise meat really can make me feel a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves… I’ll give you a topic. My husband and I often joke that any braise we make is neither “gaps” nor “Italian” nor a “casserole.”
But we love it just the same!
And this version is just like any other…
Braised beef heart with bone marrow
Braised beef heart: I substituted a boneless cut of meat and shortened the cook time. But added marrow bones to enrich the broth. Skipped the vegetables 50 minutes out, so prepped a quick salad instead. I served the broth right in the bowl. Right over the (absolutely forbidden on the GAPS diet) mashed potatoes. Casserole to me means a pyrex with a mash of foods including peas or fried onions from a can or both.
…neither gaps, nor Italian, nor a casserole. Discuss.
Braised beef heart with bone marrow
Ingredients
- 2lb beef heart, trimmed
- salt
- 1-4 marrow bones
- 8 sprigs thyme
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Trim beef heart of any connective tissue and season well with salt a day in advance.
- Add heart to dutch oven, along with marrow bones and thyme, rosemary and bay leaves. Add water to cover.
- Cook at 290F for four hours. Optionally add fruit or vegetables of choice and check meat stock for seasoning 50 minutes before dinner.
- Slice heart lengthwise, spoon marrow over the top, and serve with stock.
Hi Janine,
I want to try this and just have a couple of questions.
Is it necessary to salt the heart a day ahead or would a few hours ahead be okay?
Do you ever sear it first before moving to the oven? I know most stews and braises do call for searing first and wondering if there’s a reason you wouldn’t want to do that with heart.
Have you ever done this in a crockpot and if so how to many hours would you cook it on low?
Thanks!
Hey again,
I just went ahead and trusted my instincts and seared both the marrow bones and the pieces of heart. Then braised them in the oven all day. Towards the end I added chunks of onions, beets, turnips, sweet potatoes, and carrots.
My kids loved the meat. Loved it. Didn’t think it was anything weird. They had more trouble eating the “weird” veggies.
Next time I plan to layer in some more flavor, more like a traditional beef stew. Some tomato paste, red wine, fresh thyme and parsley, bay leaves……yum! Thanks for this framework and making me brave enough to try heart!
@Kassia Success! Thanks for sharing!
I would love to know what beef stew recipe you’re going to use. I would love to be able to use red wine and the rest of the tomato paste sitting in my fridge!