My husband brought me home a pad of chicken hearts… I am fortunate in that I love heart. I'm not keen on liver, or tongue (gag) but I do love heart. Beef heart, chicken heart, yes, I love it.
But when he brought me home two pounds worth of chicken hearts, I was a little intimated on what to do with THAT much heart, after all it weighed two pounds! I decided to run an experiment, using a recipe from my old La Leche League cookbook, and here's what I came up with:
- 2 pounds heart
- 6 ounces nitrate-free bacon
- 4 mushrooms
- 1/2 teaspoon basil
- 2 teaspoons sea salt [affiliate link]
- 3/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder [affiliate link]
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
I ground the heart using my Kitchenaid and its grinder attachment. I also ground the bacon. I pushed two mushrooms through to clear the grinder of the meat. I mixed the meat up, and reground again. I pushed the last two mushrooms last to push out the rest of the meat.
Add all the ingredients listed. Place in a bowl with a lid, let this set in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Form the mixture into small meatloaf shaped logs and bake at 250°F for four hours. Allow to cool for an hour or so and then place in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled. Slice with a sharp knife and serve as you would salami.
This recipe was included at Divine Health's Offal & Odd Bits Challenge.
- 2 pounds heart
- 6 ounces nitrate-free bacon
- 4 mushrooms
- ½ teaspoon basil
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
- Grind the heart using a Kitchenaid and grinder attachment - you may also use a food processor. Grind the bacon, use two mushrooms to push through and clear the grinder. Mix together and regrind for a second time using last two mushrooms to clear the grinder.
- Add the remaining ingredients, mix.
- Place in a bowl with a lid, allow to set in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Form the mixture into small meatloaf shaped logs.
- Bake at 250°F for four hours.
- Allow to cool for an hour or so and then place in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled.
- Slice with a sharp knife and serve as you would salami.
Hmmm…interesting. We have hearts and I can’t really see myself eating them. We tried liver for the first time last night and it was actually pretty good! So maybe if I do this recipe the hearts won’t be noticable 🙂
@Susannah, hi there! It’s funny, of all the organ meats, I have always loved heart! I’m glad you liked your liver, you’ll have to post your recipe so I can try it. I am not a fan of liver, never have been, unfortunately but I know it is so healthy for us so I am trying. I am hoping I will have some grass fed liver soon as my coop is getting its beef delivery and organ meats are free to anyone, even if you weren’t able to purchase beef (that’s me!). So I hope to have some good liver soon and to be able to start getting myself to eat it regularly. Thank you for visiting and commenting. I just LOVE your blog!
When you leave the mixture in the bowl before you cook it do you keep it in the fridge?
@Katie P, yes, I do put the bowl into the fridge for the 24 hours. Thanks for asking and thanks for visiting!
Hi, Starlene! Thanks for sharing your journey and your recipes. I just discovered your blog and am enjoying going through it. I have a beef heart in the freezer. Will any heart work? Thanks!
Hi Sarah, I have not tried beef heart, but I am sure it will work. Beef heart is delicious! It is one of the organ meats I have always loved. Thanks for visiting and commenting! ~Starlene
I did something similar to make a pork salami but I love this idea because I could get Nito to eat more heart, he loves salami snacks. The ingredients are pretty simple. I have used mostly Organic Prairie Bacon and Hempler’s, both are GAPS Legal.
Charlotte, if you try it, be sure to let me know how you and Nito like it. I do like heart quite a bit. I am lucky to at least like one organ meat. 🙂
I intend to try this soon. I have a part to replace on my food processor and so I have to cook stuff that does not require one for now. I will probably make your meatloaf or spaghetti tomorrow if I can get my hubby to move these tough frozen bags of pork from covering my ground beef packages, haha.
Thanks for this recipe! I made my loaves too small as I didn’t allow for shrinkage. Even our two boys with Down syndrome (ages 9 and 11) will eat this salami. Just bought some more hearts today so I can make it again. Thanks!
Ruth, so glad to hear your boys are loving the chicken heart salami! 🙂