Dom’s Incredibly Tiny Heart of Targ; A.K.A. Simmered, Marinated Chicken Hearts

Since tomorrow is Lapna (a traditional Klingon holiday), my family has been graciously invited as usual to our friends John & Joann’s home for a potluck/barbecue thingy.  Each of us (the lovely & talented Kira included) are bringing an offering to share, I myself am bringing my deviled eggs & getting into the spirit of things with my chicken heart appetizer.  What is most important is a lengthy marinade to flavor & tenderize the hearts, if I went any more acidic it would have been a chicken heart ceviche but I don’t trust my supermarket for that level of freshness. Chicken hearts & hearts in general are one of my favorite organ meats and are very accessible to the novice, it is a very lean, slightly tough, & with a dark meat flavor I love; in any case marinate a minimum of 24 hours in the fridge.

Ingredients:

For Marinade:

1 cup cheap ass red wine,

1 cup Mojo marinade (love that stuff, cheap & delicious)

3 tablespoons soy sauce

juice of 3 lemons or limes

2 tablespoons black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cumin

3 tablespoons yellow mustard

2 teaspoons cumin

½ teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons each garlic & onion powder

one onion grated or diced (grated being better since it releases more juices, but I’d hate to make you cry)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 shot of rum (optional)

The other stuff:

1 ½ pounds chicken hearts (mine came to $1.37 & I felt it was a decent deal)

one more small diced onion

3 tablespoons of saved bacon fat or olive oil for frying

a few tablespoons of bread crumbs for thickening.

First whisk together the marinade ingredients, then toss in the chicken hearts whole & marinade for at least 24 hours. After the hearts have marinated take a large frying pan and melt the fat (or olive oil) and toss in the diced small onion, then dump in the hearts & marinade into the pan and simmer on medium until the hearts are done, usually about an hour on my crappy old electric range,(low/med on a gas range) adding the bread crumbs to thicken if necessary.  Allow for about an hour of slow cooking depending on the vintage of your stove and it is a fun and tasty appetizer fit for a warrior species. 

Extra credit turn this into dinner by tossing in 1/2 a pound of brussel sprouts, 3 steamed carrots, some cooded potatoes and whatever other leftovers you have lying around with a heaping couple of tablespoons of sour cream and you end up with a sort of mutant hunter’s stew.

Kap Lah!!!