Hunt Camp Deer Heart and Mushroom Sandwiches
The heart cooked the same night it came out, sliced thin and buried in onions, mushrooms, and gravy.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 65
- protein
- 45 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Deer heart | 1 whole | trimmed and sliced thin, see step one |
|---|---|---|
| Mushrooms | 8 oz | whatever the store had; sliced |
| Onions | 2 medium | sliced |
| Brown gravy mix | 1 packet | |
| Beef or venison stock | 2 cups | boxed stock keeps in the cooler once opened |
| Sliced cheese | 4 to 6 slices | provolone or swiss |
| Sandwich buns | 4 to 6 | |
| Cooking oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt, pepper, garlic powder | 1 tsp each |
Method
- Trim the fat and the tough collar off the top of the heart. Split it down one side and open it flat. Cut out the pale fibers running through the middle. Skipping this is why people call heart chewy.
- Slice the trimmed meat into thin strips and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Get the skillet hot over the fire or the grate. Oil, then the heart strips in one layer. Brown the outsides and pull them out. They finish later, so undercooking here is correct.
- Same pan, more oil, onions and mushrooms. Cook them down until the onions go soft and the mushroom liquid has boiled off.
- Stir in the gravy mix, then pour in the stock. Simmer until it thickens enough to coat a spoon.
- Return the meat and any juice to the pan. Two or three minutes, no longer.
- Pile it onto buns and lay cheese over the hot meat so it melts on the way to your hands.
Heart is muscle, not organ meat in the liver sense, and it tastes close to a steak off the same animal. The two things that ruin it are leaving the internal fibers in and cooking it past medium. Trim carefully, sear fast, and finish it in the gravy off direct heat.
This is a first-night camp meal because the heart should be cooked fresh and the whole thing needs a cooler. Everything else in the pan is forgiving: onions and mushrooms travel fine unrefrigerated for a couple of days, gravy mix is a dry packet, and boxed stock does the work of a sauce you would otherwise have to build. One skillet, one fire, four sandwiches.
Packing
The heart goes in a zip bag in the bottom of the cooler and gets cooked the first night. Gravy mix, seasonings, and buns ride dry in a bin. Boxed stock is shelf-stable until it is opened.
Variations
- No heart in the cooler? Sliced backstrap, cheap sirloin, or a can of roast beef all work the same way.
- Skip the buns and spoon it over instant mashed potatoes for a one-bowl version.
- A splash of Worcestershire in the gravy sharpens it up.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/deer-heart-and-mushroom-steak-sandwiches