Ox heart steaks with anticucho marinade
Ox heart is an underrated cut of meat and one of my favourites which I request every time I order from my local farmer. I like to use it in burgers or as part of my beef mince which I mix with various cuts. You'll find it's a very lean cut of meat too, if you are watching the calories.
It also makes a fantastic steak, quickly seared on the barbecue for a wonderful earthy sweet flavour. The steaks are best cooked rare as the meat will become tough if cooked for too long.
Heart is not commonly sold in the butchers, so you will have to request it specially. Bear in mind it is not a small cut, it can weigh over 2 kilos if you order a whole one. It requires a small amount of preparation as you need to first clean away any blood, then remove the fat from the top and any hard ventricles. Next step is removing the sinews, before you can slice into steaks. If you don't fancy doing all that ask your butcher to prepare it for you. I also like to render the fat down over a low heat to use in cooking (great for Yorkshire puddings), just place it in an airtight container in the fridge, it will keep for several months.
Anticucho is a South American dish typically prepared with heart marinated in vinegar, herbs and spices and cooked on skewers over a hot grill. I decided to keep the heart as whole steaks for this dish, marinating it first in the herbs and spices overnight and then a quick marinade in the vinegar before cooking. If you marinate too long with the vinegar it tends to make the meat too tough, so 30 minutes is plenty to give it enough flavour.
1 ox heart, sinews and fat removed sliced into 2cm thick steaks
50ml sherry vinegar5g cumin seeds toasted and ground
4 cloves garlic grated
5g oregano
1 red chili finely chopped
10ml rapeseed oil
2g sea salt
2g freshly ground black pepper
Mix together the cumin, garlic, oregano, chili, salt, pepper and oil
Smear all over the steaks and allow to marinate for 3-4 hours in the fridge
Set your barbecue up for direct cooking at 220c
I like to use a cast iron griddle for more flavour on the steaks
About 30 minutes before cooking remove the steaks from the fridge and pour over the vinegar
After 15 minutes turn the steaks to ensure both sides benefit from the vinegar marinade
Cook on the barbecue for 1 minute each side
I like to serve this with roasted corn on the cob
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