If you have been following this blog at all you know that I am a huge fan of eating heart. The heart of any animal is by far my favorite part of the animal to eat. With some animals like deer, elk and antelope the heart is big enough to make a meal out of by itself. With other hearts its not so simple. Duck and goose heart are delicious but if you only shot one duck it hardly seems worth the effort for one bite. With duck and geese I take a one quart freezer container and If I shoot one or two duck I can pull the hearts out and put them in the plastic container and put just enough water in the container to cover the hearts then freeze them. As I shoot more birds through out the season I can add more hearts and more water until the container is full. It works well with livers and gizzards as well.
I didn't get many ducks this year but I did get a bag of hearts from a buddy of mine who had been saving them for me. I though about doing a Japanese teppanyaki but the day I wanted to did it the outside temp here was -17 degrees and I didn't feel like grilling. So instead I opted for a Cajun fried duck heart with a spicy sriracha dipping sauce. Duck hearts are ridiculously tender and if you cut them in half they are just the right bite size.
Fried Duck Hearts
Duck hearts cut in half
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespooon cajun seaoning
Mix together the buttermilk and the Cajun seasoning and soak in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Then mix the remaining Cajun seasoning with the flour. Take the hearts out of the buttermilk and dredge in the seasoned flour. Fry in 350 degree oil for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with you favorite dipping sauce or try this one.
Smoky Sriracha Dipping sauce
1/2 cup mayo
2 tablespoons Sriracha
1 tsp Worcestershire
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
