Deer Heart Tacos

    If tacos are the way to your heart...If tacos pull at your heartstrings...If tacos get your heart to beating, I have the recipe for you.
 For this issue’s Outdoor Gal recipe, I am making deer heart tacos!  The deer heart gets a bad wrap sometimes, but I normally like to wrap my deer heart in a tortilla!  YUMMY! Excuse the punny pun; some days I crack myself up, and some days I am absolutely ridiculous. Tacos are one of those things that are made in so many different ways and each individual family has their favorite way of doing things! I love learning about everyone’s taco perspective whether it’s authentically Mexican, Tex-Mex, BBQ,  Asian inspired or anywhere in between.  There is no wrong way to do a taco in my opinion! You can simplify or dress it up, and a good taco is just that. A GOOD TACO! 
    Y’all know I enjoy some deer season, so what better way to celebrate self love than making some comfort food brought to you by yours truly. The heart is something that we prize as a family because we hunt together, we clean our deer together and we enjoy the entire process from getting ready for deer season to sitting around the table together and enjoying a good meal that we prepared for together, harvested together, cleaned together and are now eating together! Yes, I am fully aware that was a run-on sentence, but I like them, and if you don’t then I am sorry, but we will have to agree to disagree at this moment. I’m lying. I’m not sorry about it! This is me being ridiculous. Moving on. (*Note:  the editor fought the urge to change these run-on sentences)
    It starts when we are cleaning, or gutting the deer. The heart must be cleaned immediately! The ventricles must be irrigated, otherwise clots will form inside the minute the heart stops beating. This can be done using the water hose or the kitchen sink. If I do it in the sink, I normally just put one opening right up to the faucet and pump the heart. It will allow the water to run through all of the ventricles and come out the last one. Sometimes you can see a clot that the water pressure will not get out, and I just run my finger down in there and give it a wiggle. almost like you’re picking a booger out of a giant nose! I know it sounds gross, but it is the only analogy I found both strategically correct and humorous! You can’t tell me you didn’t at least giggle a little! 
    After the heart is free of blood clots and you are ready to start preparation, all you need is a good knife and a cutting board. Start by trimming the fat on the top of the heart off, I always feed that part to the dog. Then, slice the heart in half and you will see ‘the heart strings’ or threads inside each chamber. Trim all of that out, and discard it with the fat. 
    Once all of the muscle is cleaned up, I slice it into thin fajita cut strips. Season with your preferred taco seasoning blend just like any other taco or fajita meat. I like to use Sazon Goya, fajita seasoning and a little lemon pepper. Mix all of the seasonings into the meat and throw it into a good, big, hot skillet. I like to cook it high, hot, and fast! 
    When it is cooked all the way through, taco it up! Use any of the veggies or dressings that you like! I am simple and prefer a more traditional taco with onion and cilantro with a squeeze of lime on a toasty corn tortilla, but everyone else in my house likes a flour tortilla with sour cream, cheese, meat, pico de gallo and lettuce.
    Any which way you taco is the RIGHT way as far as I’m concerned! I hope you all give the heart taco a try! It is absolutely one of my family’s favorites. We only get to enjoy them a few times a year because every deer only has one heart! So, they are in high demand in these parts! From the bottom of my heart, I truly hope you give them a chance! Always remember to get outside and earn your wild!

-TaMara Skipworth