[Smashy the Hammer] [An Aspiring Luddite]
I carry no phone
An aspiring Luddite
In a wired world.
Mastodon Verification Link
[Jeff Berry]
Jeff Berry is an early adopter of the Internet and the Web, a late adopter of Twitter, and declines to adopt Facebook. With the death of Google+, he migrated to the Fediverse. He admins a medievalist Mastodon instance. He hates cell-phones.

Stuffed Lamb Hearts
16 May 2014
[Stuffed Lamb Hearts]

Apparently I have the cooking instincts of a Welsh grandmother. I was talking with a colleague the other day who is working with medieval cookbooks, and conversation drifted into more generally foodie matters. We got onto the topic of offal, as one does, and she stated she was a fan. I averred that I was as well, and that I had picked up some lamb hearts the other day. I went on to say that I had been thinking of making a stuffing with oats, onions, and herbs and then braising them. She said that's how her grandmother did them. With such a ringing endorsement, could I do aught else?

The trick, of course, is to braise the hearts for a very long time, so that they become mouth-meltingly tender. Stuffing them seems almost de rigueur, since they come with such inviting cavities. As with all stuffed critters, though, that extends the cooking time even more. This recipe calls for three hours in the oven, but it's worth every minute of the wait. [Lots of pictures]

Stuffed Lamb Hearts

Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Mix them with the oats, salt and pepper, and a good amount of thyme and rosemary. Mince or chop the suet and mix it into the farce; a bit of fat in the mix will help keep the heart lubricated as it cooks.

Wash the hearts, then stuff as much of the farce into the cavities as they will hold. Arrange them in a roasting dish and put the rest of the stuffing on top. Pour your liquid around the edges, so as not to wash the farce off. Cover tightly and place in a 160C/325F oven. It should take about three hours. Check on it every hour so, just to make sure that you've still got liquid in the dish - if your dish is sufficiently covered it should be fine, but if it boils away somehow, you will not be happy with the results.

When it's done, the sauce will have thickened up nicely. Taste the sauce, and adjust the seasoning, if needed. The hearts themselves will be tender, and the sauce and stuffing will be rich and hearty. This is, quite simply, the best dish I've had with heart in a very long time.


© 2014 Jeff Berry
The Aspiring Luddite