Yakitori Hatsu

This post is the final installment of the three-part, Yakitori-themed Kebab-apalooza. The prior two installments focused upon Yakitori Negima (chicken thigh kebabs) and Yakitori Sunagimo (chicken gizzard kebabs). Now, I take an additional step into the world of chicken offal with Yakitori Hatsu. Skewers of chicken hearts.

I am no stranger to preparing heart. To date, I have prepared Grilled Beef Heart with a Herbed Vinaigrette, Cuore di Agnello al Chianti (Lamb Heart Braised in Chianti), and Khalyat Alkadba Wal Galoob (Fried Heart and Liver). (That last one was the Around the World in 80 Dishes challenge to prepare a main course from Libya.)

Some say that the Yakitori Hatsu is as popular as Yakitori Negima. And, as with the latter type of skewers, Yakitori Hatsu is prepared with, as well as served with, a tare. That is a sauce made with soy sauce, mirin and sake. The tare provides a slightly sweet, yet salty complement to the earthy, mineral flavors of the chicken hearts. 

One practical note: I purchased a two pound package of chicken hearts from a local Korean grocery store. (It was the smallest package I could find.) Given the number of hearts that came in the package, I decided to thread the hearts horizontally onto the skewers, which increased the number of hearts that I could have on each kebab. I think the more traditional way of doing it would be to thread the hearts vertically. 

In the end, this recipe represents a strong finish for this three-part series, which was the first to focus upon the kebabs of one particular cuisine (as opposed to three separate kebabs from three different cuisines). This little journey has gotten me thinking about what other cuisines. Perhaps that will be the subject of the next Kebab-apalooza. 

YAKITORI HATSU

Recipe from Ang Sarap

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 20 chicken hearts
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons sake
• 3 tablespoons mirin
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon corn starch

Directions:

1. Prepare the sauce. In a sauce pan mix together sugar, sake, mirin, soy sauce, ginger paste and corn starch. Mix well until free of lumps and then place on the stove top, using high heat boil the mixture and simmer for a minute. 

2. Grill the chicken hearts. Season the chicken hearts with salt and pepper, then place on skewers. Grill the chicken heart while brushing with the soy sauce mixture occasionally.  Remove from the grill and then serve immediately. 

ENJOY!

Grilled Beef Heart with Herbed Viniagrette

As I continue my culinary journeys, there are a few people who I follow.  One of those individuals is Michael Ruhlman. Michael is an author, food writer and blogger.  He is one of the writers behind Thomas Keller's cookbooks.  However, Michael has several cookbooks of his own, including Ruhlman's Twenty.  The fact that Ruhlman is from and promotes Cleveland, where I grew up, is just another reason to listen to what he has to say.

One (of many) Ruhlman's recipes that I have wanted to make is his Grilled Beef Heart with Herbed Vinaigrette.  As I continue to expand my cooking knowledge and skills, I have become particularly interested in cooking with ingredients that are a little out of the ordinary. Offal constitutes a category of such ingredients.  Brains, hearts, kidneys, livers and more.  I recently discovered that a local grocery store carried beef hearts, so I bought a two and one-half pound heart, pulled up Ruhlman's recipe and began to cook with this ingredient for the first time.

Beef heart is a relatively healthy choice for someone looking to cook beef.  It has less fat than most other cuts of beef, and it is packed with protein.  Beef heart contains several B vitamins, lycopene, iron, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, selenium and zinc.  Beef heart also has Coenzyme Q10, which is said to boost energy levels, help improve the immune system and act as an antioxidant.  Coenzyme Q10 is also believed to prevent blood clots, lower blood pressure and help prevent heart disease.  That's right, eating beef heart may help improve your heart ... or so they say.  It is important to note that beef heart, like other organ meat, does have a lot amount of cholesterol.  (I tried to figure out the levels of good and bad cholesterol in beef heart; however, I was not successful in that endeavor.)

Overall, this is a great recipe.  The grilled beef heart was delicious, but the vinaigrette really put the dish over the top. 

GRILLED BEEF HEART WITH HERBED VINIAGRETTE

Recipe adapted from one by Michael Ruhlman

Serves 6

Ingredients (for the beef heart):

1 beef heart, trimmed and cut into slices or chunks

1/2 large shallot, chopped or diced

Salt, as needed

Black pepper, as needed

Olive oil, as needed

Arugula or Spinach, one handful per serving

Ingredients (for the herbed vinaigrette):

3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

1/2 large shallot, minced

1 tablespoon of oregano, parsley, chives or 

     1 tablespoon of basil, parsley and rosemary

1/4 teaspoon of salt

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1.  Marinate the beef heart.  Liberally salt and pepper the beef heart, add the shallot and oil.  Toss the ingredients to combine.  Refrigerate the beef for at least one hour and up to overnight.

2.  Prepare the vinaigrette. Combine the vinegar, shallot and salt.  Let sit for five to ten minutes.  Stir in the herbs.

3.  Cook the beef heart.  Grill the beef over hot coals or over high heat on a gas grill.  Thread the pieces on water-soaked skewers.   Grill the beef heart for two to three minutes on each side for medium rare (maybe one to two minutes if the pieces are smaller).

4.  Plate the dish.  Arrange the arugula or spinach on a plate, top with the beef heart and spoon some of the vinaigrette over the beef heart. 

PAIRING THIS DISH

There is not a lot out there about pairing beef heart with either wine or beer.  And, I have to admit that when I ate this dish, I did not drink a beer or wine with it.  So, it is fairly hard for me to suggest a pairing.  Nevertheless, I think that there are a couple of obvious suggestions. Just as red wine pairs well with beef, a red wine -- such as a Pinot Noir or a Chianti -- could pair well with this dish.

ENJOY!

Cuore di Agnello Brasato al Chianti (Lamb Heart Braised in Chianti)

Every once in a while, a local grocery store stocks lamb hearts. I have made lamb hearts once before, as part of my culinary challenge, Around the World in Eighty Dishes.  The dish was Khalyat Alkadba wal Galoob or Fried Heart and Livers, a main dish from Libya.  It was the first time that I cooked with lamb hearts, and, I told myself that I would work with the ingredient again.  

From a nutritional perspective, lamb hearts have their positive and negative attributes.  Lamb hearts are relatively high in cholesterol, which is a definite negative; however, they are also packed with many essential vitamins and minerals.  A serving of lamb hearts, which is about 4/10 of a pound, has a whopping 357% of the daily value of Vitamin B12, along with 134% of Riboflavin, 95% of Protein, 59% of Iron, 42% of Niacin and 22% of Vitamin C.  

Recently, the store stocked locally raised, lamb hearts.  I bought a couple of hearts with a specific recipe in mind.  I decided to braise the lamb hearts in wine, much like a Brasato al Barolo.  I thought about braising the hearts in Barolo wine, but a bottle of Barolo can be very expensive.  For that reason, a brasato is often done with other red wines, such as Chianti.  A good Chianti Riserva is much cheaper than Barolo and it can still produce a great sauce.  

I found a recipe for beef hearts braised in wine, so I used that as a guide.  However, I made a few changes to the recipe, apart from the use of lamb hearts and Chianti wine.  I substituted beef broth with veal stock.  I also added some ingredients, such as a shallot and crushed red pepper.  In the end, my efforts produced a nicely braised dish of lamb hearts coated in a velvety, rich sauce.  I have to say that this is a great success.

CUORE DI AGNELLO BRASATO AL CHIANTI

(Lamb Heart Braised in Chianti)

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com 

Serves 2 

Ingredients:

1 pound of lamb hearts (about two hearts)

1/8 cup of all purpose flour

2 tablespoons of butter

1 carrot, sliced

2 Vidalia bulbs, diced finely

1 shallot diced finely

1 pinch of crushed red pepper

1 tablespoon of dried thyme

1/4 cup of Chianti Riserva

1/4 cup of veal stock

Salt, to taste

Ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of flat leaf parsley, chopped finely

Directions:

1.  Prepare the hearts.  Wash the hearts and dry them.  Trim the hearts of excess fat and arteries.  Slice the heart in half and then slice the halves in 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices.  

2.  Saute the hearts.  Heat the butter over medium high heat in a deep saute pan.  Coat the heart slices in flour and add to the saute pan.  Cook the heart slices for thirty seconds to one minute.  

3.  Add the vegetables and liquids.  Add the onions, shallots and carrots, along with the crushed red pepper and thyme.  Also add the wine and veal stock.  Cook for fifteen minutes at most. 

4.  Plate the dish.  Spoon the lamb hearts, vegetables and sauce into bowls.  Sprinkle with flat Italian parsley.  You can serve this dish with some mashed potatoes or rice.

PAIRING THIS RECIPE

Given the lamb hearts are braised in Chianti wine, the most obvious choice for a wine pairing is a Chianti wine.  Any Chianti wine -- Chianti Classico, Chianti Riserva, Chianti Ruffina, etc. -- will do.=  Other Sangiovese wines, including blends like Super Tuscans, will also pair well with this dish.  A couple of wines that I have reviewed, which I think would work well with this dish include:

La Mozza -- Aragone

40% Sangiovese, 25% Alicante, 25% Syrah and 10% Carignan

Tuscany, Italy

Flavors of cherries, raspberries and a little plum

Marchesi Frescobaldi -- Nipozzano Riserva

100% Sangiovese

Chianti, Tuscany, Italy

Flavors of dark cherries, with a little spice

ENJOY!

For more about the nutritional value of lamb hearts, check out Self Nutritional Data.

Around the World in 80 Dishes: Libya

As I was perusing the meat section at my local Whole Foods, I came across an ingredient that I had never seen before ... lamb hearts.  I was curious about what dishes I could make with this ingredient, so I searched the Internet for recipes that used lamb hearts.  I came across a couple recipes, but only one truly caught my attention.  It was Khalyat Alkadba wal Galoob, or Fried Liver and Heart.  The recipe originates from Libya and it incorporates two interesting spice mixes, Bzaar and Hararat (also known as Libyan five-spice).  With my interest piqued, I decided that I would cobble together a last minute challenge that would take me around the world to Libya.

Khalyat Alkadba wal Galoob is prepared using both lamb hearts and lamb livers.  Lamb is the principal form of meat used in Libyan cooking.  The cuisine of Libya reflects a mixture of North African and Mediterranean cuisines and ingredients.  Part of the North African influence is Moroccan couscous, which is a common dish in Libya.  These two  ingredients, lamb and couscous, are the base of the dish that will be my challenge. 

THE MAIN COURSE

Khalyat Alkadba wal Galoob represents a first for me ... cooking with offal.  The term offal is used to describe the innards of an animal, such as the liver, heart and brains.  I don't know why I have not cooked with offal before, especially given that these ingredients are packed with vitamins.  For example, liver contians Vitamin A, B Vitamins, Vitamin C and Vitamin D, along with the good fatty acids.  Heart contains iron, niacin, riboflavin and zinc.  (For more on the nutritional benefits of offal, check out this website.)  In addition, I am a big fan of Andrew Zimmern and his show, Bizarre Foods. I have spent many hours watching Andrew eat all sorts of animal innards made in many different ways.  Yet, I've never used these ingredients in my cooking.  Still, I am open to trying new ingredients; and with this challenge, it was my chance to be like Andrew.

One last note.  I was proceeding with the proverbial blindfolds.  I could not find any pictures of Khalyat Alkadba wal Galoob and I am not sure what exactly the dish should look like when it is finished.  I was also someone hindered by the fact that the recipes for the spice mixes use whole spices and, while I thought I had all of the whole spices in my kitchen, I was missing a couple of them.  So, I tried to modify the recipes to use ground spices.  This may have thrown off the measurements a little.  But still, I was ready to proceed with the challenge and I have set forth all of the recipes below.

KHALYAT ALKADBA WAL GALOOB (Fried Liver and Heart)

Recipe adapted from Celtnet Recipes

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
2/3 pound of lamb liver
2 lamb hearts
3 tablespoons of butter
8 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
1 teapsoon of bzaar (recipe below)
1/2 teaspoon of hararat (recipe below)
1/4 teaspoon of hot chili powder 

Directions:

1.  Prepare the offal.  Slice the liver into thin strips.  Open the hearts and remove the valves.  Cut the heart into thin strips.

2.  Saute the offal.  Add the liver and the heart to a pan on medium to low heat, with no oil.  Cook the liver and heart gently, on medium to low heat until the meat almost is dry.  This may take fifteen minutes or more.

3.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Add the butter, oil, tomato puree and spices. (I actually added more than what was called for in the recipe, because I love spices.)  Bring the ingredients to a simmer, stirring occasionally.  Cook at medium to medium low heat for about twenty minutes, until the meat is tender and cooked through.

4.  Plate the dish.  Serve over rice or couscous.

SPICE MIX #1

The main dish requires two spice mixes.  The first spice mix is bzaar, which is a spice blend used in Libya and throughout North Africa.  The cinnamon and cloves are very predominant in this spice mix, although the chiles are also present.  The original recipe called for the use of whole spices but, as I mentioned above, I used ground spices.  As a result, my measurements may be a little off, particularly because I was trying to make half of the original recipe.  If you want to use whole spices, you can check the original recipe using the link provided below.

BZAAR (North African Spice Mix)

Adapted from Celtnet Recipes

Ingredients:
3 teaspoons of cinnamon powder
3 teaspoons of chile powder (I used Aleppo peppers)
1 teaspoon of cloves
1/2 teaspoon of tumeric
1 teaspoon of dried ginger
1 teaspoon of black pepper
2 teaspoons of cumin powder

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients together.

SPICE MIX #2

The second spice mix is hararat, also referred to as Libyan five spice. Hararat is a traditional spice blend that is primarily used in soups, but, in the case of Khalyat Alkadba wal Galoob, the spices find their way into the sauce in which the liver and heart simmers for about twenty minutes. This is also a very fragrant spice mix, primarily because of the allspice, cinnmon and cumin. As with the bzaar recipe, I used ground spices instead of whole spices. Thus, the measurements might be a little off. If you want to use whole spices (which I will probably do the next time I make this mix), check out the original recipe using the link provided below.

HARARAT (Libyan Five Spice)

Adapted from Celtnet Recipes

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons of cinnamon powder
2 tablespoons of cumin powder
2 teaspoons of coriander powder
1 teaspoon of chili powder (I used Aleppo peppers)
1/2 teaspoon of allspice

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients together.

*     *     *

While I cannot truly say whether this challenge was a "success," I have to say that I find lamb liver and lamb heart to be very delicious, especially with the use of the bzaar and hararat.  When I added the spice mixes, the kitchen fills with really nice aromas that can make someone forget that he or she is cooking with animal organs.  The only thing keeping me from having this dish again is whether or not I will ever come across lamb hearts or lamb livers again.  Regardless, I will definitely experiment with these spice mixes with other meats.  Until next time ...

ENJOY!