Masha's Chicken Heart Stew

First of all, I know what you're thinking. Chicken hearts?

And I don't blame you.  In America, we don't eat chicken hearts.  Let me tell you a little story; the night of the flood Masha and I slept in the church, which has apartments.  The next morning, Masha whipped up this dish, because those were the ingredients on hand (yes, in Russia, you just have a pack of chicken hearts on hand).  As if it hadn't been a rough enough night, here I saw the next morning in front of a steaming bowl of chicken hearts.  But you know what?  It was delicious.  I liked it so much that I asked Masha to show me how to make it, and I had hearts (and livers, it was a variety pack) for dinner last night.

A word about this recipe: if hearts freaks you out, and I know they do, there's no shame in substituting cubed chicken.  Also, add whatever spices you think would be tasty; American cooking is really precise and scientific, Russian cooking is not.  Without further ado, here's the recipe.

The head chef, Masha

Mmmm...hearts...

Masha’s Chicken Heart Stew

The night our house flooded Masha and I slept in the church.  The next morning, Masha happened to find all the right ingredients to whip up this heart stew.  Yes, heart stew.  Like, made of hearts.  Anyway, she made this thing and I was as skeptical as all get out but I tried it, and you know what?  It was delicious, so good that I requested that she make it.  Here’s the recipe.

You will need:

-                    1lb chicken hearts.  Liver will work too.  Today, a liver-and-heart mixture is what we had on hand. 

-                    2-3 C chopped white or yellow onion

-                    2 C carrots, sliced thin

-                    1 C tomato paste

-                    3-4 C water

-                    4 cloves garlic, minced

-                    2-3 TBSP flour

-                    Tomato juice (if it’s on hand)

-                    Oil (for frying)

-                    Salt and pepper

-                    A bay leaf

-                    Macaroni

Here’s what you do:

Clean the hearts (and livers if you have them) of any fat and rinse them in water.  Add to a pan with oil and fry.  Add a little water so they cook but don’t brown.  Careful, there will be splattering.  Let them simmer until they are red (they will turn gray, then back to red).

When your hearts are red again, add onion.  When the onion begins to brown, add carrots.

Mix 1 C tomato paste with 2 C water.  Once the carrots are “done” (brown? Soft? I’m not sure) add the water-tomato paste mixture.  I’m not certain that you couldn’t use tomato sauce for this instead of mixing water and paste, but I could be wrong. 

If the sauce is too thick, add some water or tomato juice to thin it.  The idea is that everything will stew together, so if the sauce starts off too thick you’ll run into trouble.  Once you get the right consistency, add 2-3 TBSP flour to give it some substance.  Add your minced garlic and your bay leaf.

Let the whole thing simmer and thicken up, 7-10 minutes in Masha’s book, but really, until you think it’s ready.  You may have noticed that this recipe isn’t exactly precise, because Russian cooking usually isn’t.

Serve the whole thing over boiled potatoes, rice, or macaroni, whichever you prefer.

Bon appétit!

Emily, taking care of some leftover hearts and livers

Пока ребята, Russian Jane