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The Same--Baked
Prepare the hearts as in the preceding recipe, and lard them with strip of salt pork or bacon, or lay thin slices of bacon over the top and skewer them into place with wooden toothpicks. Put them in a baking-pan with a cupful of hot water; cover closely, and bake from one to two hours, basting often. If there is more of the stuffing than will go in the cavities, spread it over them. When done, add to the liquor in the pan a tablespoonful each of butter and flour rubbed smoothly together, add 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of tomato catsup, or half a cupful of strained tomato pulp. Stir all smoothly together, let it boil up, and pour over the hearts. A good stuffing for calf's or beef heart is made by taking a link of nice sausage, mixing it with an equal quantity of bread crumbs, adding a scant half cupful of strained tomato pulp, and, if necessary, a little hot water, to moisten.
A stuffed and braised heart, given here as a variation on the boiled version that precedes it in the book. The method is sound; what the original leaves out is an oven temperature and any indication that heart needs long, moist, low heat to become tender.
- Preparing the heart firstThe preceding recipe is not reproduced here, but the usual preparation is to split the heart, cut out the interior valves, tendons and any clotted blood from the chambers, and rinse or soak it well in cold salted water. Beef hearts commonly run about 3-4 lb, enough for six to eight; a calf's or veal heart is much smaller, roughly a pound, serving two.
- Oven temperatureNone is given. Treat this as a braise: 325F, covered tightly, is right for the one-to-two-hour range stated. Beef heart will want the full two hours or a little more; a small calf's heart is done nearer one.
- The hinge: keep it covered and moistHeart is almost pure lean muscle and turns to leather in dry heat. The cupful of water and a close-fitting lid or double layer of foil matter more than the basting. If the pan runs dry, add more hot water.
- LardingLarding means threading strips of fat pork through the meat with a larding needle. The recipe's alternative, thin bacon laid over the top and pinned with wooden toothpicks, is strictly barding: it protects and bastes the surface rather than running fat through the interior, but it is far less trouble.
- The sausage stuffing"a link of nice sausage" is an elastic measure; depending on the size of link, reckon on a few ounces of bulk pork sausage meat. Mixed with an equal quantity of crumbs and moistened with tomato, it will be enclosed inside the heart, so let the stuffing itself reach 160F rather than judging by the outside of the meat.
- Tomato catsup versus tomato pulpPeriod catsup was thinner, sharper and less sweet than modern bottled ketchup. If you use ketchup, start with two tablespoons and taste; the strained tomato pulp option is closer to the original balance.
- The finishing sauceButter and flour rubbed together is a beurre mani e; whisk it into the hot pan liquor off the heat, then bring to a boil for a minute or two to cook out the raw flour. Strain the pan juices first if they have caught.
- CarvingLet it rest ten minutes, then slice across the grain, fairly thin. Slices cut with the grain are noticeably tougher.