Monday, July 26

Solar Beef Heart Scotched Egg on Quinoa Bed -GYO #42

Solar Beef Heart Scotched Egg on Quinoa Bed
[UPDATE: This dish has been entered in Andrea Meyer's July Grow Your Own #42 cooking event because it has so many items fresh from the garden. It's being hosted by Kitchen Gadget Girls, so check them out for some neat stuff and this month's entries.]


I love dishes that give the diner a little tasty surprise; but, I still want the flavors to carry over throughout the meal so that everything harmonizes. This is what happens with my Beef Heart Scotched Egg recipe.  Beef heart is high in protein and four ounces goes a long way but doesn't 'feel' like you've had enough, so I decided to hide a boiled egg inside the loaf mixture to balance it -- just like Scottish Eggs.  The quinoa shares a lesser amount of the same herbs and spices as the beef heart mixture along with some extras that give it its own identity on the plate -- and, another surprise! -- there's a layer of garden-fresh yellow squash under the quinoa bed that adds a subtle nuttiness. This is a meal that will feed alot of people based on how many eggs used because they are encased in just under one-quarter inch of the beef heart mix.

Herbs and spices brought in from the container and lasagna gardens: Fresh basil, tarragon, chives, German thyme, Greek oregano, yellow onions, and cherry tomatoes from my neighbor.  

Remember that one squash we saw? Decided to use it for a bottom layer. I love the way vegetables can be used to line a pan. Removal is so easy. Decide how many eggs you're going to need and boil them so that whites are cooked and yellow is firm but a little runny (just a little over medium, or 8 mins.). I cover the eggs with water, bring to boil, then set aside off the heat for about 8 mins. Immediately plunge in cold water;
remove the shells, right away, so that they will come off without tearing up the egg.  This is all from one little summer squash!

To the above finely-chopped fresh herbs, add salt and pepper to taste, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ground fennel, 1/8 tsp. mace, 1/2 cup finely chopped onion, 1/4 cup finely chopped celery, 1/3 cup green pepper, 1/4 cup banana pepper, 2 T. cranberry sauce, 1 T. sunflower seeds. Reserve 2 T. for quinoa.

In two cups of water, add 1 cup quinoa plus the 2 Tablespoons of reserved herb mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, and let sit while preparing beef heart mixture. Quinoa will have absorbed most of the water in about 10 minutes.

Grind beef heart in food processor or run through meat grinder, add 1 T. olive oil and balance of herb mixture; blend thoroughly. Mixture should hold its shape. Slice just enough off rounded part of egg to make it stand without falling over.  I used a mini-pie pan to work in and decided I didn't want the mixture soaking up the liquid from the quinoa, so I made four tin foil squares to support the protein. A spatula will help you press the mixture against the sides of the egg in an even layer. Shouldn't be more than 1/2 inch thick and you don't need to cover the bottoms.

Spread the quinoa over the sliced squash and place the jacketed eggs on top.

Remove the stem end of cherry tomatoes and cut in quarters or halves; place over top of scotched eggs and quinoa.

Place in oven bag, onto SolarWear(tm) for easy transport, then in 300F solar oven for approximately 1-1/2 hours.  Conventional oven = 7500 BTUs;  solar energy = FREE!

Serve and enjoy. Beef heart gets a little darker when cooked than standard ground beef would, but it's still delicious!

Grow Your Own Roundup #42 Cooking Event
Don't forget to see all the recipes entered in Andrea Meyer's July Roundup. I just barely made it, because the closing date is July 30th. Again, it's being hosted by Kitchen Gadget Girls.

24 comments:

  1. I'm glad to see that my egg and chicken posts have inspired you! LOL

    Looks great! Come by again...

    www.frugaltractormom.blogspot.com

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  2. Lining a pan with squash? Brilliant! Thank you! I'm going to do a little detective work around your site, but in case I can't find it, how much does a solar oven run?

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  3. It sounds as if it tastes delicious, but I have to admit that I don´t think it looks that way :-) :-) I´ll have to try it.
    Have a great day now!
    Christer.

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  4. I dont know if I'm brave enough to try it! It looks pretty though!

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  5. I'd eat 4 of these, but I love offal.

    Heh, I'd probably make them just to see the look on everyone's faces when I told them what it was AFTER they'd eaten! >:)

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  6. I love Scottish Eggs, but I'll admit, I've never had Beef Heart. Does it taste similar to other meat from the cow?

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  7. Sharlene, I just love your inventiveness, this recipe sounds truly amazing. I am not much of a meat eater though so I might try this with something besides ground up beef heart. I'm following your lead in creating my own recipes, with what I like and what I have on hand. Your garden herbs and vegetables are amazing.

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  8. I guess I should have mentioned that this can be done with any ground beef, as well, but I'm lower than pond scum and deserve to be beaten... so sorry...

    TractorMom - Thanks for the inspiration... will definitely stop by, again...

    GraceA - Thank you... just a trick I learned years ago to make it easier to clean up... you'll find many of my cookbook recipes have you line the pan with Chard leaves or other veggies, too... a good solar oven (one that matches conventional oven temps) will go between $200 and $300... you can check it out here http://preview.tinyurl.com/25yw56l or go online...

    Christer - If you use regular ground beef, the meat will cook much lighter... it's the density of the beef heart that makes it cook so dark -- but, you gotta love the contrasts! Bottom line, it is delicious.

    Christina - Of course, you're brave enough... if you like Sirloin steak, you'll love beef heart...

    Ofthesea - Hello, and welcome to my blog! So glad to see you enjoy offal, too! Don't know how we ventured away from these great foods, but we did... and, most of the folks who have prepared beef heart for the first time will wait for the end of the totally eaten meal before sharing... it's like steak fish, most folks won't buy it if it says "shark" on the label... go figure

    Rhea - Beef heart is between Sirloin steak and tenderloin... it's a denser meat and very high in protein and most folks are stunned by how delicious it is...

    Terria - Thank you... I would imagine this would work very well with a very dense bean mixture or bean/rice mixture... try it, and let me know... I don't think the quinoa would hold together, as well... what do you think?

    TGWFH - You won't know until you try it, but I would suggest finding a butcher who makes the attractive packages to start with, rather than a whole beef heart on a platter... and, thank you...

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  9. I have never heard of Scottish Eggs but it sure looks good. But I must tell you what I had at lunch today. They took hard-boiled eggs and deep fried them using a batter. When I first saw them I didn't know what they were. I only ate one because of it being fried but it was very tasty. What will come up next? Have a great day girl !!

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  10. Scottish eggs sound wonderful! I've just been introduced to quinoa in the last year but I have yet to cook with it on my own ;)

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  11. How very interesting! Never thought of using ground beef heart as hamburger. How is the flavor compared to standard chuck?

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  12. Molly - Okay, you got me on that one... I don't think I've ever heard of deep frying an egg before... imagine that could be tasty...

    Sarah - Quinoa is so easy, you'll love it... great taste and ready in a snap.

    Nate - I usually mix the beef heart with chuck but this time, just used it straight... as I said above, if you like sirloin steak and tenderloin, you'll love beef heart... it's very rich, has no grain, and very tender... BTW, love the new site and ease of getting around...

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  13. Hi Sharlene! Thanks for stopping by my blog. What a neat site you have! My husband is always talking about "going solar" and "getting off the grid!" :)

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  14. I've been wanting to try quinoa:)

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  15. Wow what a beautiful dish...That would be a definite show stopper at a dinner party:)

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  16. Oooo How interesting! What a creative idea for cooking!

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  17. Cecelia: You're more than welcome! Have you gotten off the grid, yet?

    Waisting Time: Have you cooked quinoa,yet? Give it a whirl. You'll love it.

    Magic of Spice: It certainly would make a great dinner party dish.

    CK: Welcome! One of the best things about this dish is that it's very economical and you can really feed a lot of folks! Look forward to hearing from you, again!

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  18. حيث يعتقد أن بعض تلك المستعمرات لا تستطيع الاكتفاء ذاتياً من دون هؤلاء العبيد حيث أن الاستعباد هي الكيفية الوحيدة التي يعرفونها لسد حاجتهم.
    شركة رش مبيدات
    شركة مكافحة النمل الابيض بحائل
    شركة مكافحة حشرات بحائل\
    شركة رش مبيدات بحائل

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