Friends,

Karen must want something. She's been cooking chicken gizzards in the crock-pot all day and this evening we will feast on them. A little basmati rice and thickened gravy ...yum.

And tomorrow evening, she's planning elk heart with dressing, cooked slowly in the crock-pot. That, with Pace HOT Picante Sauce and I'm in Heaven.

Heck, I remember in my guiding days that my clients NEVER wanted their elk tongues and I'd carve out each and every one of them. Oh crap, throw them in a big pot with water and a few bay leaves and leave the mess to slowly cook for three days or so. Man, elk tongue is about as good as it gets.

Actually, that's wrong; moose tongue is better, mostly because it's bigger. And eland tongue is the best of all (I ate so much I thought I was gonna puke).

My question is ... Do y'all eat strange stuff like gizzards (wild goose is best), elk/moose/deer heart and tongues?

Blessings,

Steve

Never tried the tongue but heart from nearly any big game is my absolute favorite.

I also take the heart and gizzard from game birds. It has an odd texture, but the flavor is good.

Forgot to mention...the liver gets thrown as far away from me as possible. No joke...It's kind of become a personal tradition.

I'm the same, liver is not my on my top 100 list.

Although, I love any kind of hog liver. Warthog liver is unreal-good.

Steve

Last time I filled on elk, I came back with 3 hearts. No one wanted theirs.I haven't tried stuffed heart. I just took the last 3 hearts that I had in the freezer, treated the thick pieces like I was making pastrami, and pickled the thin pieces. I've had beef tongue, but I've never remembered to cut it from a deer or elk. I like gizzards, but I don't think to keep them on pheasants.

Hell ya I do!

clean heart well and cut into about 1" to 1 1/2" pieces.
Lightly dredge in flour
Pan fry in butter with sliced onions and a bit of extra virgin olive oil
Season to taste while cooking with salt,pepper,garlic powder,a dash of Thyme and Beau Monde(optional)
When almost cooked deglaze with sherry

No offense to the lovely Karen but "BARF" DZapper!

Bob you ate hog testicals in Tenn and never even knew it!

I did not. And you best save the rest, mister.

I would lie right down next to a liver and pass away due to starvation.

I'll die right next to you.

I must be hungry. The heart looks real good.

Actually, I almost made her puke once. We had a few deer down on a Montana hillside and we were butchering. I was getting a fresh deer liver out a buck's gutpile and I remembered a fellow guide-friend of mine who always claimed that raw deer liver was GOOD.

So, I had to try a hunk. Actually, it was a much cooler temperature than I thought it would be and it tasted clover-ish. Yeah, I went back for seconds and thirds.

Of course, Karen is shoulder-deep in the guts of a doe she'd headshot and she opined that that raw liver-eating was as gross as it comes.

And, yeah, I know that there are all sorts of parasites and bad-nasties in raw liver. Still, it was decent.

Blessings,

Steve

Officially the day of weird posts. First some dude wants a new peter and now y'all are eating peter parts and all.

was hiking with wife and saw turkey nest, my wife wanted the eggs to eat, I told her we can not and besides there are baby turkeys inside and she said I no I like. She is from Thailand we eat a lot of weird stuff.

NO KIDDING, that looks absolutely delicious. Thanks to DVDGeorge, we will try another new way of cooking heart.

Steve

Pickled heart and tongues are great on saltines with a cold beer.

Once had a dog that would do the same!

That said, I hate offal in general and liver in particular with the exception of when its in pate..

I cooked some deer heart like that once and I might as well have cut up my belt and tried to eat it.

I can tell you for an absolute fact that scarfing down gobs of pickled quail eggs and lots of Canadian beer gave me a case of terminal farts.

Steve

Liver, heart, lengua, I love it all.

And if you can find a rancher that doesn't use bands these days, nuts are one of my favorites.



Travis

I have no idea how old you are. Is she of childbearing age?

I read alot about the mountain men, trappers(same thing) and Native Americans(Injuns). They all virtually lived on buffalo out on the buffalo plains. A total meat diet, I have read and been told, won't really work without the organs and intestines included in the diet. Throw in some roots and herbs.

Friend Travis,

I totally forgot the nuts. YES, deer and elk nits are fanastic.

I've had elk brains and eggs for many breakfasts in camp. Sometimes it's pretty good and sometimes not so much.

Nuts are always good.

Blessings,

Steve

I cook heart similar to dvdegeroge, but I fry up some bacon and use the grease instead of butter.

Onions, shrooms and floured heart pieces then all get cooked along with the bacon. Not exactly health food, but my goodness is it tasty.

Better make that three!

I love heart and tongue. markschubert's lovely wife, Joy, fixes a great tongue sandwich!

Sweet/hot pickled heart or tongue made with lots of onions is great food!

Heart is one of those meats that needs to be fried just right or it gets too tough. Kinda like calamari.

Ed

Elk gizzards are the best!

Steve,
Growing up on a farm in Central Texas to a Czech born family i can honestly say it all sounds good. Funny, my children, both teens, fight over my chicken gizzards. Everyone should try turkey necks prepared the same way as you do the gizzards once before you die. Unbelievable.
TexasBBQ

We're both 21 years of age and HOT To TROT!!! (Just kidding )

Naw, we're old farts. I'll be 70 on June 18th. K-Lady will be 70 on February 23rd next.

She probably wants something small, like a new Tahoe. And if she does, I will buy it for my wife of 49 years. No problem.

Blessings,

Steve

In one simple word: NO!

Sorry, not NO but HECK NO!!

Remember killing the hogs, rolling them in a hot ash bath and scraping the hairs with the metal cup thingie. Then, butchering.

The sausage, we'd grind and fry out the patties and put them in a crock-jar with fat all around and over the top. The sausage was sealed so well, it would keep forever. So, so, so good.

Blessings,

Steve

Just about as rare as turkey teeth.

Venison liver. Thinly sliced, rolled in flour, salt & pepper and fried. Umm, Umm, good.

They are somewhat hard to come by.

I am fond of heart...just about any, sliced thin coated in flour and fried quick.
Gizzards and hearts chicken fried are to die for, as well as made italian style spezzi( cooked slow in red sauce with some hot pepper)
Liver from a young of the year whitetail is great pan fried.
Chicken liver pate can be delicious too.

No animal guts or tongue for me, you can have mine!

Oh man, and our priest, Father Arthur would always be there and he'd always eat the pig ears out of the wash pot BEFORE they could be put into breakfast sausage BUT no one would stop him!!!

Serious memories, thanks.

I always eat the heart, liver, gizzard from fowl, and the heart and liver from deer.
Wife cooks the ones from fowl, but not the ones from deer, she calls them "the guts'

Pickled deer tongue is terrific and don't forget a good old pickled pig's foot makes an awfully good snack too.

About the only offal that I have not developed a taste for is kidneys. They do not taste good to me no matter how they are fixed. Heart, liver, tongue, gizzards, and nuts I eat and relish them all. Now if you want to think you have died and gone to heaven get ahold of some turkey nuts. Lord are they gooooooooooooood.

I enjoy heart, liver, tongue and assorted other inner bits. A friend has eaten the heart of his deer for breakfast the morning after tagging the animal for the last 30 years. Cleaned, sliced thin and fried in butter. Served with eggs, hashbrowns, toast and coffee. Good stuff. I'd like to try moose liver some time, and was sorely tempted with mine, but the F&G specifically advises they are left due to high levels of contaminants/toxins that build up in them.

Does a still-beating heart of a giant bluefin tuna count?

Did you start at the tail and work your way up?

Oh, that's what turning Japanese means.

Unfortunately not. The next day the rest of him was loaded into a 747 bound for Tokyo.

My kid whacked a cow elk, called my wife for directions on cooking it. She told him "I don't know, we don't eat organ meat. Only one organ goes in my mouth."

That's just plain weird. One of these, I take it?

When I worked at Wilson Foods, such items were termed "Meat Specialties".

You will never know how good something is until you try it. I have found very little that I do not like, and there have been very few things offered to me that I didn't at least try. Heart, liver, gizzards, etc. all good. The best liver I ever had was kudu, very good flavor. When I shot my caribou in the NWT, my guide cut up pieces of the liver and dipped them in the stomach contents mixed with blood. I had seconds, it's just food.

It's not THAT big.

Deer heart is dang good eatin'... I'm not fond of liver though.

Rocky Mountain Oysters are always good too..

I'm not into offal, but I gotta say cape buffalo tongue and oysters are awesome.

I am really fond of pork liver with young deer coming in second, then chicken livers. I do not care for beef and older deer livers but will eat them if I am where they are served. Tongue is good when prepared properly along with pig tails but they are rare now since most cut the tails off when the pig is very small. miles

Having thought about it more, I guess I eat lots of inner goodies. Foie gras, pate, fish roe, lobster roe, pig intestines fried, stewed and boiled (menudo, pho, etc)... Don't have any pics, but haggis and kidney pie also fit the bill...

Long live the organ eaters: they've got GUTS! Ba dum DUM!

I used to eat hearts and livers,until I saw one with round worms.
that ruined it for me.

I have eaten fried chicken gizzards and tried fried chicken hearts. If I never eat either again no big loss.

But the stuff ya'll eat, I gotta be REAL hungry.

turkey fries, calf balls, hog nuts, and liver of any kind are good.

+1. I'll take a ribeye please.

Then there's the heaven on rye in a Katz's tongue sandwich, though I seem to recall it was a corned beef I opted for that day...

Steve,

How does Karen cook the gizzards in the crock pot? I always parboil them and then fry them. In the crockpot with gravy sounds tasty. People who don't eat offal are missing some good eating.

Absolutely love gizzards, any kind. Hint: never bite into a gizzard that hasn't been cleaned. I did that once, I had cut it open and scooped out the rocks and organic matter but didn't remove the membrane. I doubt [bleep] would taste any worse than that.

Love heart. When I was 19, living with a couple of roomies and doing the college thingy, I brought home my first Alaskan moose and boiled up the heart for us. It had become flyblown on the trip home and was actually crawling with maggots.

I scraped off all the unhatched eggs and washed off all the squirmy things and boiled it up. There are many nooks and crannies in a heart and maggots were in the various chambers and valves. They came out (mostly) during the boiling process and were discarded. I found a few more while slicing it up for sandwiches. The roomies never knew about the maggots and we all thought the heart was fantastic.

Hope none of 'em are reading this.

1flier

Wow. I don't think I want to eat at your place.

BIL and I were going steelhead fishing years ago. Stopped for a snack on the way and got a bag of deep fried chicken gizzards. I was snacking along and bit into one that was soft and slimy inside. I almost spit it through the windshield but remembered just in time the gizzards were on the shelf next to the deep fried mushrooms.

Tongue, Rocky Mountain oysters, brains & eggs, and burranates are high on my list of "Good Eatin' "

Mark

One elk heart:



Pickling mixture:



Boiled, trimmed and sliced heart:



Try to wait 2 weeks:



Eat on crackers or in Elk Heart Chef Salad---Delicious

I love you guys that don't eat innards. More for me! Venison liver and onions at 8000ft has got to be about the best brakfast, lunch, dinner, or supper you can have. Lengua or tripas tacos? How can you go wrong. Never had the nuts though, but I'm no askeert of um if I get the chance.

The Mrs and I love eacn other's tongues

Love me some lingua, pumpers too.

Liver is meant for dirty rice and kidneys are just flat fuggin' gross.

Only thing from the sea I won't ever partake of again...Sea cukes.

I'd rather toss my own salad.

Catfish bait.

gizzards

When I was a teen I cut chicken for the Colonel. Sometimes we would get the giblet pack. Would bread and pressure cook the gizzards, good stuff.

It was amazing how fast 10-15 lbs of gizzards would disappear.

Can't imagine why anyone named "Timm" would start a thread like this....

I like deer liver better than beef liver, and as far as hearts go, I like turkey the best.

I love fowl liver more so than a quadraped's; same for hearts.

If KFC's around here had buckets o' hearts like they used to, I'd look like that fat [bleep] NJ governor....

I spent most of my youth around "Depression" people, and no matter what people think, I believe they had it the best with the least.

My grandpa's fav dish was fried hog brains. My Dad always said, "we ate what Dad wanted".

If I was told to eat it, I did. I ain't picky at all, for some reason

My kids would starve.....if their Momma wasn't as picky as they are!

I love filters, grinders and pumps.


Nothing like some venison heart floured/fried and served with eggs and a biscuit for breakfast.

That sounds good.

I think was ten or eleven, Dad and Neal made me eat one boiled in Old Mil......

Nice 11 point Dad arrowed.

I think those two azzwholes even made me drag it.....

Chicken livers are what make good Cajun rice dressing.

Moose tongue is good, but it's just food compared to caribou tongue. And things can't be much simpler than how we do it. After removing the tongue with two simple cuts right beneath the lower jaw, the tongue is washed well and then sliced perpendicular to its length. It helps if it has been cooled a bit so that the fat has firmed (and it is wonderfully fat, which is probably why it's so yummy!) The 1/4 inch slices are then fried in their own fat in an iron skillet. A sprinkle of salt, seasoned or plain, is all that gets added. Unlike bigger tongues, caribou tongue has rather light skin and doesn't need to be removed.

What, no one's going to bat this one out of the park? JFC, this place is deteriorating!

No shyt? Hmm. Interesting. Never heard of or thought about bird jewels. I've had duck and chicken feet (Chinese style), and they weren't bad. I haven't had chicken or duck tongues, however, which are served in some places in Chinatown, I believe. Next time.

I thought you were Japanese?




Travis

I have a "meat specialty", if some Bostonian would wax the upper lip and moisturize.....

I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so.....

Whatever, them bastards all look alike anyway. But 100% American, actually. Which all of a sudden makes me feel ashamed and a little dirty at the moment, considering that that makes you a fellow countryman. Damn it all.

P.S. Demoted to 3 40s of St. Ides (the malt liquor that gets your woman in the mood quicker, according to Billy Dee)

Gawd I love me some Colt 45......

(Johnny Walker Red or Blue, to Travis)

Oh, OK. Let's try this again. Better?

Bah. The Green Death is where it's at, and is what every other ML hopes to, but won't ever be. All hail!

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24964/669

I can't even read about this crap much less eat it!

There is an abundance of fine meat on a deer, elk, etc. so why eat this stuff?

There is a reason God created buzzards!

I love venison hearts pretty much any way you can cook them.

The rest I just leave in the gut pile!

Niiiiiice!

Word for word the exact quote attributed to Torgok, ~40000 B.C. Suspected to be the oldest confirmed homo, and they didn't mean just the erectus part.

Some people apparently will eat any thing. I'm now saving my deer hearts, livers, brains, eye balls, nuts, & a pecker or two for shipment to some lucky guy. I will stay with steak, chicken, & fish.

Ayaup! meat's meat ain't it?

I can understand folks not relishing things to eat. There are some things that I don't care for at all. Same with everybody. What I can't understand is not being willing to just try it once. Might not like it but never going to know if you don't try. You can always spit. Too many folks let their mind over rule their stomach. Just because it don't look like what you are used to eating is no sign that it is not good.

I'll say this without fear of contradiction about those who say they absolutely will not eat this that or the other. Friend, you ain't never been really hungry in your life. You get hungry enough you will eat or at least try to eat anything.

As to turkey nuts I don't know where you can get them anymore. I used to have an in with a guy who worked for a big Smoked turkey place in central Texas. They did their own slaughter because they picked the type and size turkeys they wanted. He used to get me five pound boxes of turkey nuts from their slaughter line. They are better than any calf fries that ever came down the pike.

Taste more like sweetbreads (which have't been mentioned as far as I can see but are really good too eat) than they do any type of four legged animals gonads.

Anybody else relish sweet breads?

If you ever get the chance to sit down to a platter of Grand Ma Katie's fried chicken gizzards and livers and cathead biscuits, you will be rooting for your share just like the rest of us.

I cook the heart and eat it cold with horse radish.

Liver - as often as possible, my hunting buddies save liver for me when they kill a deer.

Yep, but haven't had any in a long time. I used to work for a custom butcher when I first got out of High School and we ate all kind of things. All good too. I would not have any idea where to find sweet breads now. miles

The best Gizzards were from Sal's Birdland,breaded and deepfried smothered in Sal's sassy sauce

Done all that but

I have a couple of Tongues I need to cook

How?

Snake

When I was in Junior High in Burnsville Minnesota in the mid 70's, the local KFC had what we called "the gut box", for a dollar they had hearts, livers, necks, and gizzards fresh from the pressure cooker in the box that would have held a three piece meal. My Dad would slip by there on the way home some nights from work and pick up 3 of them. Our family of five could barely eat it all.

Something magical about chicken gizzards and pressure cooking, makes them as soft as the livers, makes me hungry just thinking about it.

When it comes to testicals, the calf, sheep, turkey, and hog, ones I have eaten fried over the years are very tasty, if you like fried foods.

Head cheese or Souse as my Grandmother called it along with beef tongue and heart was a staple for sandwiches on their farm, something we only got when visiting.

I've never ate the organs from deer or wild hogs, but would give it a try if I was around someone cooking it. Can't get my wife to buy anything of the sort of the innards variety for me other than the occasional chicken liver meal when she feels generous. I guess I need to be a big boy and cook for myself more.

Mike

actually i think most of you are savages in your dietary habits. Having said that long time ago we were at a party and the wife was really munching down on these little fried up things. She was okay until she asked the host what they were, and he said turkey nuts. Pretty good actually. As to the mountain oysters, i was telling a guy about a common practice of castrating the young bulls, and throwing the nuts in a gallon can of batter, later to be fried on a piece of steel on the branding fire. Pretty good. I never did get use to the THEN steers over in the corner watching us have lunch with their private parts.

Kamo, on an unrelated topic.
Was talking to someone yesterday, 20year old is moving to japan, husband in the military. Comment was made that the Japanese Tolerate us, but in general really don't LIKE us. I thought the statement odd. What say You? I ain't trying to pick a fight with anyone, just curious.
I personally thought the statement was probably overreach.

I got a mess of gizzards in the crockpot at the moment cooking Mrs. Dogzapper style.

I eat the nuts off everything I kill and fried impala liver for breakfast with eggs and potatoes was maybe the best breakfast I've ever had. When I was a kid in Indiana we used to have crispy fried pork brains on rye bread with dark mustard. Dang I miss those fried brain sandwiches!

Never been crazy about tongue myself, but old John would give us a tongue-lashing (pun intended) if we didn't save him our moose tongues. Looks yummy, eh?



Bob

I like the muthaphuckin' 8 Ball.

If you see kamo, tell him the Hawks are moving forward and he should be nervous.


Travis

He should be.....calamari and Schlitz!!!

We'll see, both about who will go to the dance, and more importantly, whose word is good on settling up, whatever the final result. I've got my suspicions. Talk is cheap. It takes money to buy whiskey (or Olde English 800 in your case).

THAT looks fanfriggintastic!

My question is ... Do y'all eat strange stuff like gizzards (wild goose is best), elk/moose/deer heart and tongues?

Steve,

Yes, we eat all bird hearts and gizzards some livers-mostly grouse. Rabbit heart too.

Elk and deer heart is eaten up immediately. The liver and brains If I am where I can get them cooled and rinsed.

Oddly, I have never had tongue by itself [in headcheese yes]. I will have to try some.

Dad liked mountain oysters. I have never tried any.

KFC used to have the gizzards at the store on Powell. Yummy!

Pickled pig ears - now you are talking! Father Arthur would have loved being on the farm with me when my grandparents were still with us.

I went to Cleveland High School (Class of 61) and there was a large drive-in at the place where Foster splits off of Powell. The drive-in was named The Speck and gals on roller-skates used to take your order and bring it to your car. Yep, they set a little table thingie on the side of your car (you had to roll your window up about an inch).

The Speck's specialty was broasted chicken and hamburgers. My favorite on the menu was very popular also. For .99 cents, you got a tub of slow-cooked gizzards & gravy and another tub of mashed potatoes with creamery butter. Man, that was soooo delicious.

The Speck is gone now, but not the memories.

God Bless,

Steve

I was devastated when KFC took fried chicken livers off the menu. My mother fed us beef heart and tongue quite often when my sisters and I were little and to this day, I love me a good lengua burrito - menudo, too.

Never ate brains or sweet-breads but would in a heart beat if offered.

I HEART heart.

Steve,

Love heart and tongue. My wife loves gizzards , me not so much but can eat them. Can do liver occasionally. We like to pressure cook the heart for about 30 minutes then do a low bush cranberry stuffing and cook it in a covered roaster for about 45-60 minutes. That makes some tender and delicious heart.

Mart

I tried a new twist on gizzards last night after watching The Beverly Hillbillies and hearing Jethro talk about gizzards and gravy. Yesterday at lunch I browned off a bunch of chicken gizzards in a skillet and then threw them in a pyrex dish that has a lid. I then made milk gravy from the pan drippings and poured it over the browned gizzards in the dish. Covered the dish and placed it in a 250 degree oven where it sat until I got home after work. Steamed some asparagus. Made a pot of long grain rice, and ladled them gizzards and gravy over a healthy serving.

Heaven. The gizzards were fork tender. Kinda like country style steak but mo' better.

Always save the hearts from deer and especially moose. Mary cooks them up stuffed with onions and wrapped in bacon. We love 'em, and sandwiches the next couple days are very good as well -- some dark rye bread, and some dijon mustard. It's good.



That is a moose heart, cleaned and ready for the fixin's. I think it weighed 8 pounds. Lots of eating on one of those things, and if it is slow roasted at 3oo dwgrees wrapped in bacon, the end result is meat that will melt in your mouth tender.

We used to eat the tongues too, but the girls weren't as fond of them as I was.

I diden't rise to the top of the food chain to eat guts.

Love deer heart.

Never had any other kinda hear cept turkey gizzards that my dad would cook up on Thanksgiving.

Got a hear in the freezer right now, I think I might put that thing in the crockpot for tomorrow!

NICE!

moosehead soup....once u get past the floating nose and ear hair all is well....

Oh man, My favorite part of deer huntin'! rat there!

Explains a LOT!