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I found this great deal on pastured meat from a local farm near Nashville, TN, $30 for a 25# bag of misc. I was hoping it would have some meat scraps, but it was nearly a third goat heart, half pork neck bones and a smattering of other offal from pigs, lambs and goats. the neck bones are going toward homemade stocks. I have looked at the popular sites for offal recipes and have been surprised how few there are. I know there are plenty here with the same problem. So, Where can one find great recipes for organ meats?

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Oh, man, just seeing this! I'm in Nashville. Who had that special? – Frugal Jen Feb 26 2012 at 13:52
Peaceful Pastures. They deliver to the Franklin or West Nashville Farmers Markets. The url is below. peacefulpastures.com/store/… – eakthekat Feb 27 2012 at 21:07

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When I went to Whole Foods and told them I was curious to taste beef liver, I asked them what's the best way to cook it. They said to pan-fry it with onions. So that's what I did. Coconut oil, then added red onions (and now I add shiitake mushrooms as well), then add the liver since I find it cooks fairly quickly. But yeah I think that's about as simple as it can get. I don't even add seasoning to it because I actually like the taste of liver. Kidneys not so much. It smelled like the men's restroom in my kitchen.

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Have to try that. I eat my liver in a pate, which is also delicious. – Wisper Feb 18 2012 at 15:27
I found a recipe that used sliced apples, bacon and onions. It was really good. I love liver just never had the rest. – eakthekat Feb 18 2012 at 21:11
I the bacon fat to fry the onions until they carmelize and then add the liver - fantastic. – Paleo Doll Feb 19 2012 at 13:07
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Kidney curry. I absolutely love it!

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Braised chicken hearts. I've made chicken hearts before but they didn't come out too well. Braised them last week in some bone stock and red wine, and they were so good I would have eaten another 300g if I could. It's like candy, no kidding.

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so true. +1. yum. – Caleb the Hobbit Feb 19 2012 at 12:44
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I love sliced beef heart fried in butter. Use the beefy juice left in the pan to make a sauce either with stock or red wine. Delicious with mashed potatoes and greens.

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Heart I would chop up finely and add to stews and chilis, but I only say that because I once, unexpectedly, got a large chunk of heart in some beef stew and the texture freaked me out. If you have a food grinder and a lot of other miscellaneous organs, the easiest thing to do would just be to make bulk sausage and freeze it in patties.

My favorite way to eat offal is to split a jalapeno in half, fit it with a small piece of beef liver, wrap in bacon, grill and eat. Forget onions, liver loves chiles! My second favorite offal recipe is just plain ol' stock, nothing exciting, but it makes stews and sauces super awesome.

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Here's a link that comes up fairly often when I google a newly found nasty bit of critter: http://www.seriouseats.com/cgi-bin/mte/mt-search.cgi?__mode=gsearch&blog_id=34&site=Recipes&IncludeBlogs=34&limit=20&search=The+nasty+bits

And here's the author's blog:

http://www.theoffalcook.com/

Added: 2/26:

I just clicked the link above and didn't get what I thought I was going to get.
This works, but isn't direct:

Go to http://www.seriouseats.com/

In search Serious Eats box type either the particular part you want recipes for or type "nasty bits" to get a list of all her recipes.

(I'm red cooking some pig ears while I type this. I've never had them and I'm looking forward to it.)

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Thanks for the links! :) – eakthekat Feb 18 2012 at 20:47
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I cook the following in an iron skillet, and very much enjoy them:

Beef bacon and liver with chives or green onions and white pepper Veal brains scrambled in pastured butter w/ chives and white pepper

It's nice to read what kind of offal others eat. Thanks for the thread. :)

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Liverwurst from wellness meats.....I just slice it and eat it cold, no prep no fuss.

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Chicken liver pate - no real recipe since I'm usually only cooking one liver from the chicken I'm roasting. Just the poached liver with some sauteed onion, with butter or bacon fat, salt, pepper and whatever spices I think it needs at the time. Usually a snack while I'm cooking with whatever raw veggies I have around.

Definitely trying that liver and jalapeño recipe next week! Just came back from the weekly gather at the farmer's market so budget is blown :D

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Beef Liver with Onions and Pecans

Regardless of the recipe title, the star is the cloves. I'm not a huge fan of the liver taste, but the cloves were really tasty and masked the smell enough that my pregnant wife wasn't upset that I made it.

Heart makes great jerky.

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Liver + cinnamon!

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I'll have to try that! – eakthekat Feb 20 2012 at 18:44
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Check out The Nourishing Cook site. All the recipes from Nourishing Traditions, including my fave chicken liver paté recipe!

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Tripe soup with chicken and pork. I call it "pseudo menudo".

I also use tripe in clam chowder and the broth in apple cider, and I ought to get busy and discover a lot more uses for it. Very versatile, like zero-carb pasta.

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I second the liverwurst suggestion from US Wellness. Their head cheese and braunschweiger are also excellent.

My favorite way to eat liverwurst, braun, head cheese, bloodwurst, etc. is to slice it into patties and fry it up with some Kerrygold and a side of eggs. Delish.

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CM, thanks for the suggestions. Frying in pastured butter with eggs sounds great. Mmmm. – PaleoGran Feb 19 2012 at 12:13
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Ox liver fried in onions, cocoa powder and chilli.

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Another great suggestion. Would that work with heart or kidneys too? – eakthekat Feb 20 2012 at 18:45
Chilli and cocoa work with lots of other foods like kidneys or even coffee. For heart I would probably turn it into a sauce of somesort. – Scotty Von Porkchop Feb 23 2012 at 18:34
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See http://blogs.food24.com/potjie/2012/12/03/offal-to-curry-or-not-to-curry/ for a curry offal recipe.

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Thanks! Always looking for good recipes. – eakthekat Dec 12 at 19:34

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