I’ll be the first to admit that I have been just as guilty as the next guy. You shoot the deer, you gut the deer, you drag the deer. For me it was a lack of knowledge. I didn’t grow up with your typical hunting mentor-ship from a young age. I got into it later in life, and naturally I had to learn a lot on my own. Depending on which video you click after searching “how to gut a deer”, YouTube doesn’t always tell you to grab this delicious little life giving muscle from the gut pile! But every fall hundreds, probably thousands of hunters leave hearts in the gut pile. Even if you aren’t the adventurous kind, I urge you this season, take the heart, send me a message and i’ll give you my address. You can ship it to me. I’ll eat it. And i’d be willing to bet you have a friend or acquaintance that feels the same way!
Like a lot of things, the key to making heart taste good is in the preparation. As you split it open you will notice that there are connective tissues and fibers that run throughout the muscle. Start by splitting the heart open along the seam. As you begin to cut down that seam it will open up and flatten out. At this point the goal becomes simple. Trim away anything that doesn’t look like something you would eat! Meat Eater has a very detailed article on how to clean a heart that you can read here. What you should be left with is beautiful dark red strips of delicious meat. All that is left to do with that meat is season it, fry it and eat it! This is a simple recipe that you’ve probably had in some form before. Enjoy!
Fried Venison Heart with Spicy Garlic Ranch
Ingredients
Venison Heart
- 1 Venison Heart substitute any equally sized game heart
- 2 Large Brown Eggs
- 1 cup Flour
- 2 cup Italian Breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Garlic Salt
- 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 2 cups Vegetable Oil
Spicy Garlic Ranch
- 1/2 cup Ranch Dressing
- 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
Instructions
Preparing The Heart
- Trim the heart removing all fibrous tissue, fat and arteries
- Cut the heart into quarter inch thin strips
- Season the heart with Black Pepper and Garlic Salt
Fryin' It Up
- In a pan, heat your Vegetable Oil to 350 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
- Separate your flour, breadcrumbs and whipped brown egg into three bowls
- Dredge the seasoned heart through the flour shaking off any excess.
- Next add the flour covered heart strips to the eggwash
- Lastly drop them into the breadcrumb mixture. Ensure that the entire strip is coated evenly with the breadcrumbs.
- Drop the breaded heart strips into the oil. Fry for 5-10 minutes flipping once, until the breading is golden brown. Remove the fried heart strips and place on a paper towel covered plate to cool.
Spicy Garlic Ranch!
- In a bowl, combine Ranch dressing, minced garlic, Cayenne Pepper and Old Bay seasoning
- Mix the seasoning and the ranch thoroughly. Enjoy!
