FEED YOUR FACE: Venison Heart

In our family, when we filled our deer tags, we would field dress our deer, and we would save the heart and the liver. Sometimes, there was not much left of the heart. But when there was, we would have liver or heart that night for dinner.

Some people throw the heart out with all of the innards. But, heart is really pretty good eating. It's loaded with B vitamins, lots of protein, and little fat. If cooked right, it can be as tender as a piece of loin. So, let's get going. This is for:

SAUTEED HEART WITH BACON, TOMATOES, ONION, AND WINE

• 1 venison heart, cleaned, and cut in 1-inch squares 
• 4 strips of bacon
• 4 tablespoons of butter or margarine
• 1 1/2 cups peeled, diced tomatoes
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

Saute the pieces of heart in hot butter melted in a skillet, along with the onion and bacon.
Add the water, diced tomatoes, and wine.
Cover and simmer for 90 minutes or so.
Add and stir in the sour cream, and season with pepper and salt.

Serve over egg noodles or rice.

I always enjoyed this when my Dad would cook it up. It made for a hearty meal after hunting and cleaning our deer, then bringing it back to camp to be hung up. My Dad always left a couple of strips of heart out of our dinner from the night before. He would then make some heart sandwiches for lunch the next day.

You can use this with elk, moose, antelope, buffalo, and even cow. Give it a try. Don't be squeamish. You can also grind it up, and put in your venison sausage.

So, cook some up and FEED YOUR FACE!