A friend of mine is home slaughtering his sheep, DD12 and I helped him this week in return for free offal and cheap meat. Currently there are a stack of blood waffles cooling in the kitchen, and in the fridge we have heart, tongue and liver from one of the lambs. The liver paté we made earlier this week is almost gone, so it will be good to get a second batch done tomorrow.
I don't know how common it is in your part of the world to take offal from wild game? The blood will probably be more work than it is worth, but liver from young roe deer is highly recommended! Smoked heart of reindeer and deer is also a delicacy.
I prefer to do my own butchering, since I like cuts with more bones than most butchers make. It is not difficult if you have a good knife. I usually keep to the cuts on the center and right of this poster. With elk/moose and larger deer you have to make smaller cuts, unless you are feeding a tribe.
Any recommendations on cooking heart, tongue, and liver? I've made beef liverwurst once, but I'd like more options. I still have liver and heart from the quarter cow we got last year, and I'm so lost as to what to do with them.
Heart and tongue needs long and slow cooking to get tender. Do you have any favorite stew recipes?
I've never used liver from cow, only young animals. How old was she? Does the liver have a smooth surface, or is it more uneven? Liver from older animals can have a stronger taste and more "mushy" texture. I would soak it in milk for a day or so before you use it, to get a milder taste.
The kids like fresh, lightly seared lived (cut in cm thick slices and fry for a very short time - it should still be pink inside). But usually we make liver paté in the Danish way. It can be eaten warm or cold on bread, with a bit of bacon, cucumbers and fried mushrooms if you want to be fancy. There are tons of recipes for liver paté, this is what we use:
250 g liver
1 onion
-run these three times through a meat grinder
125 g butter
-melt in a pot
100 g flour
-mix in to the butter
-add 1 dl boiling water and mix well
-Let the flour/butter/water mixture cool
1.5 dl cream
some salt and pepper
-add to the liver mixture
-mix everything carefully together
-grease a small pan
-Add mixture, and put a layer of bacon on top
-bake for 40-50 minutes at 200C