To Roast an Ox Heart, or Calf’s Heart
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut off the pipe and any tough parts from the top of the heart.
Soak the heart in cold water for 30 minutes, then wash out any clotted blood.
Place the heart in very hot water or boil it for 15 minutes to clean it further.
Dry the heart thoroughly, including inside the holes.
Stuff and roast
Stuff the holes with veal stuffing and cover the top with greased paper.
Hang the heart point down over a gentle fire, basting it with sweet dripping every 10 to 15 minutes.
Cook for 20 minutes per pound, allowing more time for larger hearts.
Serve
Serve in a hot dish with rich brown gravy.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Ox heart or calf's heart
- Forms the main body of the dish, providing dense, meaty flesh that becomes tender with slow cooking.
- Veal stuffing
- Fills the cavities, adding moisture and flavour to the inside of the heart as it cooks.
- Sweet dripping
- Basting fat that adds richness and promotes browning on the outside of the heart.
The step that matters
Drying the heart before stuffing. Any moisture left inside the cavities turns to steam and can dilute the stuffing and keep the surface from browning, so the heart must be dried thoroughly first.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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