I've recently been watching a lot of cooking shows. It started with Master Chef, Hell's Kitchen, and other reality based cooking shows, but at the suggestion of D, I started watching Good Eats with Alton Brown.
Besides his terrifying resemblance to a friend of mine, Alton Brown has managed to not only give me many of the tools and techniques I previously lacked, but has also helped me understand WHY many of those techniques are used, and when they should be used. He delves into the science of cooking and in a few short weeks I have been able to substantially improve the quality of what I make, as well as reduce the amount of time, effort and money that goes into my cooking.
As a direct result of his influence I've been searching for ingredients, meats in particular, that I can cook with that do not cost an arm and a leg. I've been fishing for mackerel which in Halifax is completely free. No license required and no limit on how many you can catch. The fish is delicious, if bony, and one of the best fish you can eat nutritionally speaking. Similarly, squid is another amazing food to be able to catch and I had no idea previously how readily available it is not a ston's throw from my house. Okay, I've not successfully caught a squid yet, but I did get to watch a few old timers haul in a couple dozen of the things in the span of a couple of hours and they were generous enough to let me take a few home. It's a joy to cook with.
However, as much as I might like I cannot fish every day. So I still have to hit the grocery store from time to time and in my house, meat is definitely on the menu. D and I typically shop for our vegetables at the 50% off rack, and if you have one at your store this is a great way to save money but can also force you to be inventive with your cooking. Many of our weekly meal plans are informed by what we find on sale here. But meat at 50% off is both difficult to find and likely well past its prime.
However, every time we shop for meat I get suckered in by deals on steak, or roast, or chicken thighs or the like -all the traditional stuff- but it still costs a huge amount of money. Every week I pass by the things most people will never touch, the off cuts, the bits full of connective tissue or the tough hard working muscles that are easily cooked too dry or too tough to be palatable.
And then this week I saw beef heart.
A pound of meat for a dollar fifty? How could that possibly be a bad idea? Sure, I could readily imagine that as a hard working muscle it could cooked improperly be tough and nasty, or with a texture that makes the mouth go "ngyah!" But I've learned enough that I can make it work, haven't I? The short answer proved to be yes.
I picked up three packages, and then I went looking for recipes. Beef heart can be cooked in one of two ways, either short and hot, cooked no more than medium rare, or long and slow, stewed or braised. I opted for stew, since I've never really made a successfully delicious stew before. They've always turned out somewhat mediocre. I aimed to change that.
To successfully make my variation on beef heart stew, there are some basic principles you need to grasp. The first is the (mostly) French term "Mirepoix". I learned it from Alton Brown so credit where it's due. Mirepoix is often otherwise referred to as "the trinity" and is basically a collection of aromatic vegetables that when prepared properly inform the basic flavours of your recipe. Traditional mirepoix is celery, carrots and onion.
The second concept your have to understand is Sweating.
Sweating is a process by which the flavours if your mirepoix are released slowly, by cooking them over very low temperature with butter or oil and salt until the vegetables turn translucent and appear to be, well, sweating. Too high a temperature and they will caramelized or change colour, and this is an undesirable result. As Alton brown puts it, if you hear too much sizzling you're sauteeing, not sweating, and if you see brown, turn it down. I like to put my electric stove's element at 2 or 3 when sweating, as this seems to produce the desired result, but the pan you use and the oven you use can also have an effect on what temperature you select, so watch it carefully the first couple of times you do it.
Thirdly, deglazing. This is simple. After you've cooked something in your pan, you remove the food and deglaze it by adding liquid like stock or wine and scrub the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula to get all the good flavours that have stuck to the pan off, and then add this to your recipe.
Also, a note on salt: I have recently switched to kosher salt. I could go into the reasons but honestly, try it yourself and you will be amazed by the difference.
On to the recipe:
Things you will need:
An electric crock pot. I haven't tried this recipe with any other cooking vessel but there may be alternates.
A deep sided frying or sautée pan. I have one approx 15" in diameter and about 3 inches deep that works great. Should have steep sides.
Measuring cups and spoons, as much as I hate measuring a lot of people prefer to do so.
A wooden spoon or two.
Ingredients:
For the Mirepoix:
3 stalks of celery, trimmed and sliced into thin crescents
3 or 4 carrots, cut in half and then into thin crescents
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 large or 4 small potatoes, cut into small cubes
1-2 tbsp butter
1-2 tsp of kosher salt
1/2 cup of red wine for deglazing
Meat (initial prep):
1 lb of beef heart. Hopefully your grocery store does the cleaning for you and removes the majority of the veins and other connective tissues, otherwise you need to do this yourself. Cut the heart into strips and then into fine cubes
3/4 cups of flour
1 tsp of turmeric
1 tsp of kosher salt
2 tap of cumin
A dash of cayenne if you like
1 cup of red wine for deglazing
For the rest:
3 or 4 heads of baby bok choy, or possibly kale as a substitute if you prefer, chopped roughly
2 cups of stock, chicken or beef (I used chicken)
1-2 tbsp of Dijon mustard
A few splashes of Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco or Chipotle Tabasco sauce
1 1/2 tsp of instant coffee
1-2 tsp Black pepper
1-2 tsp Kosher salt
To make the recipe, add all the mirepoix ingredients into the deep sautée pan, set the temperature to low-ish, around 2 or 3 on an electric range, keeping your ear out for too much sizzle and if you hear it reduce the temperature. Sweat the veggies for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to move the vegetables into better contact with the heat.
While you are sweating the veggies, get a ziploc bag (I've referenced this product in other posts) and add the flour and spices to the bag listed under "for the meat" and then add the beef heart cubes to the bag. Seal the bag and toss the meat around to thoroughly coat the meat.
When the veggies are nice and glossy, celery and onions translucent and the carrot cores showing some translucency, bump the heat up to about 6 for maybe 2 minutes then immediately transfer the contents of the pan to the crock pot. Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of wine and add this to the crock pot as well.
Now to theme at. Add a tbsp of olive oil to the pan and let it heat for 1-2 minues, still on 6, then add the meat a handful at a time, tossing occasionally to brown the meat for 4-5 minutes. Add the meat to the crock pot, again deglazing with a cup of wine this time and again dump this in the crock pot. Add the rest of the ingredients listed to the crockpot and then set it for eight hours on low temp, stirring occasionally to keep the stew sticking to the sides and burning. Bob's yer uncle, you have now made a fantastic stew.
