cooking organ meat in the back country

[apphunter]

I'm sure eating the liver and heart are pretty normal celebration meals. I have never eaten either but plan to change that this fall. I'm thinking pack in a an onion butter and salt and pepper to eat the liver while we are still in the field. What about the heart? Any one have a good field recipe for heart.

 

[JFKinYK]

This recipe looks pretty good, though I've never tried it.

http://uphere.ca/articles/heartn-soul-food

ETA: I bring my hearts home, trim them up, wet brine and then hot smoke them.

 

[Poser]

Hearts are good just roasted over flame with some salt and pepper if you have it. Don't cook them past medium rare though, or they get rubbery. At home, I sautee the thin slices of heart in butter.

Liver and Onions in butter are hard to beat, but same as the heart, don't overcook them.

 

[apphunter]

My cousin and I are going on a week long muzzle loader hunt in pisgah national forest for whitetails. If we get one early we have a creek to stash it in and I thought eating the organs would be a nice break from the mountain house meals for supper.

 

[rayporter]

i carry some gravy packets just for the liver.

for anyone on the fence about liver-fresh liver is not like anything you get in a store that has set there for a week.

 

[Cantharellus]

Every time I watch Steven Rinella cook up these deer heart tacos it makes me really hungry.

http://themeateater.com/videos/deer-heart-tacos/

 

[id450]

i carry some gravy packets just for the liver.

for anyone on the fence about liver-fresh liver is not like anything you get in a store that has set there for a week.

I have always let it soak in some milk at home . Do u carry a package of dry milk with unit do u have another way to tone the liver down before cooking? Liver is my favorite also.

 

[hobbes]

I let the bears eat heart and liver. I just cannot stomach internal organs.

I have, however, packed them out for a neighbor.

 

[rayporter]

fresh liver -throw in skillet, no need to soak. old liver throw over hill.

i steal the butter packets out of Orville Redenbachers popcorn for short trips. just enough butter in a pack to cook.

i never liked liver until elk liver was cooked for me. now it is the first thing i go for. a little butter or oil is all you need.

 

[huntin'monkey]

I eat the heart and kidneys first, and especially the balls if it's a buck/bull. Dredge 'em in flour with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Fry, in bacon grease if possible. Delicious. I'm planning to pack a little container off the flour mixture in this year and some oil so I can do this in the field. I love liver when other people cook it, haven't managed to get it right myself.

 

[Poser]

and, if you want to get creative, kidney can be ok, but it takes some work to get it there. I went through a phase one season where I was trying to figure out how to better use the Kidney. I brought one to a chef at a neighborhood pub and he cooked up some tacos with it that were pretty good, but it took a lot of preparation.

All things considered, seared or sauteed heart at medium rare might be the single tastiest cut of meat on an animal. I like liver but I have to be in the mood for it. Its also a pretty delicate organ and doesn't store in the freezer super well, especially long term. I have a friend who has some iron deficiencies and eats liver once a week for health reasons. I usually try and give most of livers to her, but I do like to make dirty rice every so often with it, which, if you are unsure about cooking and eating liver, is a really good option to try.

I've made homemade blood sausage before using pig's blood that I can get from a local Asian market. Blood sausage is addictively good, though kind of messy to make. I always say that I'm going bag a doe with a base-of-the-neck headshot and drain the blood into some containers to make venison blood sausage, but, in actual practice, I don't like the idea of taking a headshot. I also don't really hunt anywhere where it would be convenient to actually do this. I'd need a 4 wheeler to get a ungutted deer out and sterile milk jugs that have been prepped and ready for use. Maybe one day.

 

[Grant Gladson]

According to a friend when he downed his sheep in Russia the guide loved the kidneys. He peeled the outer layer off then sliced it thinly raw. My buddy said it tasted like baloney. Want to try it out this year on my elk or deer

 

[LostArra]

Do you slice the elk liver into "steaks"? Thickness?

 

[hobbes]

Huntinmonkey, I have to ask.... how do you eat the balls in the backcountry and comply with evidence of sex requirements?

 

[airlocksniffer]

Huntinmonkey, I have to ask.... how do you eat the balls in the backcountry and comply with evidence of sex requirements?

Eat the balls, leave the pecker.

 

[huntin'monkey]

I haven't eaten oysters in the back country yet. But what airlock said should work. Even just the pecker/ball skin on the hide is proof of sex, right?

Also, at least for me, fried kidney wasn't hard to get used to at all, doesn't take any more preparation than fried heart, and is about as good. Raw kidney takes a bit of getting used to. I've had raw buffalo kidney three or four years in a row now. The meat tastes very sweet, but I wouldn't say it tastes like baloney. The texture is what takes getting used to. It's soft and a bit rubbery and weird. And kidney fresh from a kill is warm, but not stove hot, so that also makes it a little weird. But it's better than raw heart, which was pretty bland the one time I tried it.

 

[boom]

bring some seasoning..i like plain season salt. my brother likes the cajon stuff..uncle chacartery..or something.

cut organ meats into chunks and do skewers! they grill a lot of organs in Japan, and i ate them all. skewers..so good. i was eating things outside my comfort zone. good!!

the heart is the BEST. this year, i am commited to grilling the nuts, and saving the tongue as well. go big..all thanks to some tokyo guy that grilled me things and got drunk with me..we couldnt communicate all all except laugh at each other..and pour each other Sake

 

[hobbes]

Eat the balls, leave the pecker.

HaHa! I guess there is that.

My question was more in jest, but that was the second thing that crossed my mind. The first was "No way in heck am I eating the balls". I was also picturing the expression on a GW's face when you said "no officer, I ate those, but I left the rest".

I saw a recipe in RMEF magazine a while back and afterwards cut a set open just to see if it looked like something I could eat. I think I'd have to be starving.

Myself and my brother used to watch when the slaughter truck showed up at my grandfather's to slaughter a beef cow he had picked out of his herd for himself (and us). My grandfather kept the tongue on occasion. After watching the fresh tongue swim in a bucket of water there was no way we were going to try it. Any of you eat elk tongue?

 

[huntin'monkey]

Hobbes, you are really missing out. I used to give the oysters off my kills to my uncle. Then, last year, I tried a piece from a buffalo we slaughtered on a ranch. It was amazingly good. Poor old guy hasn't got any since from me... don't think he ever will again.

As for tongue, it's truly delicious. I haven't tried elk tongue, but I eat buffalo and cow tongue every chance I get. I tried a deer tongue from my buck last year, but it only made enough meat for one taco. Not really worth it.

 

[Bearlodge10]

I know I am late to this party, but truly love heart and liver! I have never packed in an onion just for that, I would just do that at home. However, I carry in the small Olive oil packets from Subway for cooking the heart. I just slice thin and cook in pan or cook over open fire and then drizzle the oil over while its cooking. It is very good with apple slices and cheese.