Beef calf's liver is fantastic when fried fast & hot until still barely pinkish inside (do not overcook!) while sprinkled with onion powder, salt, and most importantly being doused (flooded) with Worcestershire Sauce! You will think you are almost boiling the liver in it, but never fear, it evaporates quickly in a really hot pan. Oh so good!

I just cooked my first beef heart. I got 100 % grass fed beef heart from the farmer's market. I kept it frozen in my freezer for a long time because I was scared to cook it.

I checked out this thread and decided to cook it in my crock pot with water, onion, celery, carrots, salt and added a little of the tallow that I had rendered from the fat previously.

It smells awesome, like beef stew. When I ate it, it tasted just like beef. Well, you know, not gross but good. :) After all, heart is just another muscle and we are accustomed to eating muscle meat.

So, the moral of my story is, don't be afraid of beef heart. It's good!

Beth

My personal preference for calves liver is a German dish called Leber Berliner Art. I simply don't dredge the liver in flour, and add some bacon because it goes well with the other components (apples and onions). I've got the recipe on my fledgling recipe blog, below.

http://modernprimative.blogspot.com/2012/06/leber-berliner-art-liver-berlin-style.html

Honestly I would suggest making a beef haggis. (ie. trading out the sheep parts for beef) Recipe pulled from www.rampantscotland.com

Traditional Scottish Recipes - Haggis

Haggis, neeps and tatties It is a shame that the "Great chieftain o' the puddin' race" should be regarded (by some) with such a mixture of horror and humour. The vision of sheep's stomachs and other intestines seems to put some people off, but it has long been a traditional way of using up parts of the animal which otherwise might go to waste. Made properly, it is a tasty, wholesome dish, with every chef creating his or her own recipe to get the flavour and texture (dry or moist) that suits them. Personally, I like a haggis which is spicy from pepper and herbs, with a lingering flavour on the palate after it has been consumed.

One cookery book I came across suggested that the best way to get haggis was to buy it in the butcher's shop! Certainly, these days haggis can even be ordered online (see the Rampant Scotland Food Links). Finding a butcher who can supply sheep's heart, lungs and liver may not be easy although nowadays beef bung (intestine) is used instead of sheep's stomach. Since this is used also to make European sausage, they are out there for other nationalities as well.

Ingredients:
Set of sheep's heart, lungs and liver (cleaned by a butcher)
One beef bung
3 cups finely chopped suet
One cup medium ground oatmeal
Two medium onions, finely chopped
One cup beef stock
One teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
One teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon mace

Method:
Piping of the Haggis at a Burns Supper Trim off any excess fat and sinew from the sheep's intestine and, if present, discard the windpipe. Place in a large pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for an hour or possibly longer to ensure that they are all tender. Drain and cool.

Some chefs toast the oatmeal in an oven until it is thoroughly dried out (but not browned or burnt!)

Finely chop the meat and combine in a large bowl with the suet, oatmeal, finely chopped onions, beef stock, salt, pepper, nutmeg and mace. Make sure the ingredients are mixed well. Stuff the meat and spices mixture into the beef bung which should be over half full. Then press out the air and tie the open ends tightly with string. Make sure that you leave room for the mixture to expand or else it may burst while cooking. If it looks as though it may do that, prick with a sharp needle to reduce the pressure.

Place in a pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and immediately reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for three hours. Avoid boiling vigorously to avoid bursting the skin. 

Best way I know is to make a BBQ! Just chop the liver into long slices, heart and kidney into pieces, add salt and black pepper, put them on spits-each kind on separated spits-and grill them on-more likely- molten coal or butane BBQ! You must test it while grilling in order not to let it burn or get over dehydrated! When done serve it with bread and herbs, specially parsley!

I enjoy beef liver without any marnade or seasoning of any kind. Just rinse & cook. The only trick is, you have to undercooked, so it's still bloody inside. Just seared on the outside. Otherwise, it gets chalky and dry.

I've been easing myself into offal since my cowpool came in, and I've got all these organs in the freezer. My take on the organs has been that heart is actually quite good - basically like a very lean steak, and you can prepare it in any of the ways that you might prepare a very, lean steak. The best is to use some sort of marinade and then grill it. Also, heart makes great jerky, if you have either a dehydrator or 6 hours to spend doing jerky in the oven. Liver, on the other hand, is much more distinctive in flavor and a little bit less accessible; that is, more of an acquired taste. Currently, I find the easiest way to really enjoy liver is to substitute it in for a portion of other cuts in stews and heavily spiced dishes. For instance, I have a chili recipe that calls for 3 lbs ground beef, but making it with 2 lbs ground and 1 lb liver, the liver is pretty much undetectable.

Absolutely my favorite way to prepare (pasture fed- thanks Pacific Village!) beef liver:

Couple pounds beef liver

Pound (pasture fed) burger

8 slices bacon, cut into pieces

1 onion, chopped up

2 teaspoon (or more) cumin

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

big pinch oregano

1 serrano pepper, seeds too if you like, chopped

I cook it in the oven for 4-5 hours on 250 or so, maybe turn it down at hour 3 to 225. Don't have a crock pot, but this way of cooking works.

VERY rich and tasty!

Has anyone tried beef liver sashimi? I've heard it's on the menus of really good Japanese restaurants.

I think it could make the liver taste more appetizing than when it's cooked. Next time I buy grassfed beef liver I'm going to try it raw first to see how it tastes.

Search around on google; these 3 demand very different preparations and cooking styles.

Heart - Good ground and mixed with regular ground beef for all kinds of things, or cubed and made into stew via slow cooking. You can also marinate and grill.

Liver - Pretty much quick cooking only. As others have said bacon and onions are great accompaniments.

Kidney - Can be acquired taste. Best prep is to parboil first to get gunk out, then take out white membrane which is completely indigestible. Cut rest of meat into small pieces. If veal kidneys can cook quickly, otherwise slow cooking like a British steak and kidney pie kind of thing.

Personally I have heart often, liver sometimes, kidneys rarely.

Heart--- http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/beef-heart-en-mole/Detail.aspx except i think Lebovitz's mole recipe is best--- http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2005/11/a-frugal-gourme/ Its messy but I like to eat mine on a lettuce wrap with guac and sour cream

Liver --fried in bacon fat with onions, hot pepers, green peppers. Pate. or mashed with plantains and fried

Kidneys--theres plenty of stuffed kidney recipes on line, basically stuffed with aromatics and wrapped in bacon then braised in a tomatoe/wine sauce and reduced.

I have recently been blogging about my experiences with offal. Hope it helps!

http://myopinionofthings.blogspot.com/

I cube beef/ox heart and treat as beef cubes. I usually saute what ever two or three vegies I feel like at the time plus what ever spice or herb I feel like at the time. Just remember to cook it quick like squid, or to cook it really slow otherwise heart can be a bit tough.

I treat lambs heart the same, but I usually cut into strips not cubes as they are smaller and thinner.

I have started grinding my own beef using on sale cuts from the "natural" beef section of my local market. I take a bit of heart and cooked liver (I use chicken liver though because I just can't get beef liver down yet) and include them in the food processor when grinding. I also throw in some garlic and spices while grinding to make it easier and presto! Meatloaf, meatballs, burgers. (My family has no idea they are eating offal when I do this!)

My grandma used to cook up a dish all the time when I was a kid...

assorted beef organs and roast, sauted with onions and garlic, pepper, salt, a little bit of vinegar and simmered until tender. She'd also add potatoes or garbanzoes, but it's tasty with just the meat.

You could easily substitute or add other seasonings and spices to your liking - give it an indian flare with curry/cumin/turmeric or a mexican flare with chilies or go italian with italian herbs. :-) Get giggity in the kitchen! ;-)