February 14, 2018

Pickled Deer Heart

By Josh Dahlke of THE HUNGER

Deer heart. It's not the first cut of meat, or in this case a muscle, that comes to mind once you think about the different ways to enjoy deer meat and other types of venison. However, the organs can be some of the most nutrient-dense pieces of any wild game animal. Especially, the heart!

Many hunters have their go-to recipes and opinions when it comes the topic of how to cook deer heart, and I certainly have mine. One of my favorite ways to cook deer heart is to pickle it. It is certainly different than most wild game recipes, but it is delicious and simple.

Pickled Deer Heart

What You'll Need:

1 deer heart
3 tbsp. pickling spice (to be divided into 1.5 tbsp. portions)
2 onions
3 cups of vinegar
3/4 cup of sugar
1 mason jar

Cooking Instructions:

Boil heart in 8 Qt. water with 1.5 tbsp. pickling spices and 1 chopped onion for approximately 1 hour.
In a separate pan, combine: 2 cups of water, 3 cups of vinegar, 1.5 tbsp. of pickling spice, 1 chopped onion and 3/4 cup of sugar.
Bring the separate pan to a boil. Then, remove it from the heat source.
Slice the boiled heart into bite-sized pieces.
Add heart pieces to mason jar.
Pour finished brine into mason jar, including onions.
Shake the concoction and refrigerate it for 24 hours.
Enjoy and share this recipe with your friends!

One of My Favorite Youth Hunts

One of my favorite youth hunts I participated in was with an 11-year-old young lady named Isabel, her brother Mitchell, who was 12, and their mom. Dad didn’t hunt. I took them out twice in 2017. The mom’s family had grown up hunting, but the dad’s family didn’t. Mom wanted to pass on to her children her hunting tradition.

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