Raven Bower

Marching an army across assorted terrain in pursuit of resources and domination is grueling work. One of the most difficult tasks is keeping the army well fed so that they’re energized for battle. With food often scarce, some armies are given to serving their warriors questionable food, such as ogre hearts. Though, General Col says that almost any non-toxic monster heart will do in a pinch.

Raven’s note: If heart o’ monster is scarce in your region or you’re not quite up on the whole chewy ogre thing, you can substitute beef heart. Or, if you’re faint of heart (no pun intended), try using veal heart.

Ingredients:

•  3-4 lb. ogre heart
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 3 Tbl. butter or oil
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 3 potatoes, cubed
• 4 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 bay leaf, whole
• 1 tsp. dried thyme, finger crushed
• 1 pinch sweet basil, finger crushed
• 1/2 – 1 cup broth, any type
• 3/4 cup dry red wine
• Rice or Pasta to serve

Directions:

First, trim away any chunks of fat, valves or anything else you don’t want in your meal. Rinse well, pat dry and slice into 1/4″ – 1/2″ pieces, whichever you prefer. Blend the salt and pepper into the flour and then coat the heart slices with the flour mix.

Add the butter or oil to a pan and sear the heart slices over medium high heat, turning as they brown. Add all the vegetables, broth, wine and remaining herbs to the pan. Cover and cook at a low simmer for about 1 hour or until heart is cooked through.

Serve over a bed of hot rice or pasta.