A Delicious Recipe from the Heart
by Chef Jude Hughes – Barrio
Barrio, our Spanish neighbourhood eatery in Byron Bay, brings people together with Middle Eastern-inspired fare and a focus on ethical eating and quality produce.
As such, I’ve been excited about our relationship with Provenir. They are quite the team and work bloody hard, so it’s a pleasure to put their name on our menu at Barrio.
It’s been a wonderful and cohesive relationship of procurement, encompassed in the care and dutiful end chapter of the animal’s life.
Plus, being able to scan the label and trace not only the lineage of the animal, but the farming practices in order to educate our customers is f****ng exciting. I feel customers are paying more attention to provenance, and having informed answers to their questions is priceless.
The Barrio team certainly feel proud to be able to invest in a company like Provenir, that cares for animal welfare, land regeneration and cultivating a better world, starting with what we have access to as chefs and you as consumers.
Provenir Heart Recipe
To celebrate the whole animal, I’ve put together an amazing recipe for those not afraid to try something a little different. Provenir sell beef heart to restaurants like ours and online as an extra to our packs, or for you to mix and match your own Pack. If cooking heart is not your thing, you can also substitute with a more familiar cut such as rump steak for my unique and delicious recipe.
Ingredients
Beef
- Provenir beef heart, or
- Provenir rump steak 600g
Brine
Enough water to cover your heart. Measure 3 percent of the volume of that water in salt. (eg 5lt of water-150g salt.) then add:
- Salt
- Orange peel
- Whole crushed cardamom
- Black peppercorn
- Whole crushed cinnamon stick
- 1/2 a sliced brown onion
- 3 cloves crushed garlic
- Coriander root
- 1 small sliced long red chilli
Baharat dry rub (Lebanese 7 spice)
Toast and blitz spices in a spice grinder, or mortar and pestle.
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
- ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds
- 1½ tablespoons paprika
- 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Method
First, don’t forget to scan the QR code on the Provenir pack to discover the story behind the beef. Who farmed this beautiful bovine, where and how?
To begin, trim off the inner capillaries and the outer sinue. There may be veins at the top of the muscle that need to be lopped off also. I leave a bit of fat on there because I like it.
Once trimmed, submerge the heart into the cold brine and leave in the fridge overnight.
The next day, take your heart from the brine, pat dry and rub in your dry spice mix. Leave it to marinade for a few hours. If time is plentiful, leave overnight again.
At the restaurant we grill the heart over Australian ironbark wood for 2 minutes each side, let rest for 5 minutes and re-grill just before slicing, to reveal a rouge blush.
The heart muscle is dense and if undercooked it may be chewy. But, it is a forgiving cut, so can be over cooked a little without spoiling.
In the global trend of wrapping meat in a starch – at Barrio we like to serve our heart on our house flatbread with cashew cream, piquant Zhug sauce, sumac, onions and too much parsley.
And of course you will need a good beer. Enjoy
Buy Provenir Beef Heart
Barrio
Find out more about Barrio at www.barriobyronbay.com.au