RECIPE: Bacon and spinach stuffed beef hearts

I'm always on the lookout for new high protein food, and when I was wandering around Newcastle's Grainger Market on the weekend looking to stock up on multipack chicken breasts, I saw this fantastic bargain - two beef hearts for only £1! They weigh about 800g each (the ones I got are actually on the small side), and one heart is probably enough for 2 servings. That's approximately 70g protein per serving says MyFitnessPal. I've actually had heart before a while ago, but it was lamb heart (also tasty!), so this is the first time I've done beef heart. I thought stuffing it would be the easiest thing to do, and give it a bit of extra flavour. Lamb hearts are quite strong tasting, but it turns out the beef heart is much milder. Still, the stuffing worked well. The addition of bacon makes everything better.

I started by opening the heart to get a flat bit of meat. If you are in any way squeamish you may find this bit off putting, though I reckon everyone should have a good idea of where their food comes from and what exactly it is you are eating. You'll find the inside of the heart has some stringy bits, and probably some blood clots. Cut the stringy bits out (sharp knife or scissors), and give it a quick rinse to get rid of the blood.

Stuffing is really simple. Cut 6 slices of streaky bacon into small pieces and fry until crispy, add some finely chopped shallots (onions would do), then when they are done add some finely chopped garlic and 200g spinach. The spinach will wilt pretty quickly. Once it has cooled down a bit, then stuff your heart! Ideally you'd tie it up using butcher's twine, but as I never have any of that in the house, I sort of rolled it up and squashed it into a bread tin so it didn't unfold itself. I added a bit of oxo stock to the tin as organs are a bit tougher than muscle and I didn't want it to dry out (this also means you have a nice gravy to go with it). Cooking time I estimated at 20 ins, which turned out perfect, on the well done side of medium rare. I've written up the recipe for a meal to serve 2, if you're really hungry just double everything and have a whole heart per person!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 beef heart
• 6 slices streaky bacon (other bacon fine too, streaky just goes crispy quickly)
• 200g spinach
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped (or grated)
• 1 oxo cube
• 1/2 tbsp coconut oil (or whatever oil you prefer)

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 260°C
• Cut heart down the side so that you can lay it flat, remove any stringy bits and give it a good rinse to get rid of any clots etc
• Cut bacon into small pieces
• Melt the oil in a frying pan, add bacon and shallow fry on high temaperture until crispy
• Add shallots, turn temperature to medium and fry until transparent
• Add garlic and spinach, stir until all the spinach is wilted
• Turn off heat and let it cool down a bit
• When cool, add stuffing to flat side of heart and roll up
• Tie it up with butcher's twine, or improvise and pack it in a small dish to stop it unrolling!
• Transfer to small oven proof dish (I used a bread tin), fill the bottom with beef stock
• Cook in oven for approx. 20 minutes
• Slice and serve! The stock in the bottom of the tin thickens in the oven and makes a fab gravy

Big Fun Run!

Well I've been pretty rubbish at Palaeo blogging! I thought it would be easier, as I update my work blog a couple of times a month no problem. It's a combination of time (the work blog I feel more comfortable updating at work), and also knowing what to say. There has been a lot going on in the gym, lots of progress, I just don't know how to translate it into an interesting blog post. I'll get used to it eventually I hope! For now, a bit about a recent event. A couple of weeks ago I signed up for a 5K charity run. Before I started weightlifting I'd been running for over a year, at least 3 times a week. I was living in Edinburgh at the time and had an amazing lunchtime route that went up and around Arthur's Seat. Then when I moved back to Newcastle I got out of the routine, and didn't find a new route that I liked. So I gradually stopped running. The moral of the story is, you need to make the effort to keep an activity in your routine! I still enjoy running, but weightlifting has taken over much of my 'fitness time' so I haven't made time to get running back into the picture. I still get uncomfortable running outdoors (but I hate the treadmill!) so I really need to find a route that I know and feel comfortable running. So when I saw the Big Fun Run in Exhibition park, I signed up hoping it would push me to start running again.

I decided to raise money for Asthma UK - the major reason I didn't do much physical activity when I was younger was due to an asthma diagnosis as a child, and thinking that I couldn't do sports. It really had an impact. I wish someone had told me for example that Paula Radcliffe, marathon record holder, has asthma! The things we believe as children really do impact us, but we really can change things if we just get over that initial discomfort. When I started running I couldn't manage 10 minutes without getting that horrible tightness in my chest. But after 4 weeks, my breathing actually improved, and I could do things like run for the bus without struggling. But after stopping for almost a year, I went back to being worried about whether I could do it. In the end I was rubbish and didn't practice AT ALL, so I was very nervous on the day. I am happy to say that I completed the run in 29 minutes exactly. Not an outstanding time, but not at all bad, considering it was my first run in over a year! I know I didn't push myself either, as I could feel the tightness in my chest. However, it didn't happen until 3k into the run, and it was nowhere near as bad as it was when I first started running back in Edinburgh. I reckon that if I start running regularly again, I may even be faster than I was because of all the leg training I've been doing in the gym! I'm also happy that I managed to raise £120 for Asthma UK!