Beef heart offers a wonderfully savory spark to these burgers. And a small amount of liver sneaks some nourishing organ meat into the mix. You don’t want the burgers to be too lean. The fat not only improves the flavor but also helps hold the patties together. You don’t need a meat grinder; a food processor will do the job. Buy a whole heart from the butcher and cut it up into 2-inch chunks. Put the pieces in a storage container and freeze until you need them. I like to serve these burgers on top of a simple bed of chopped lettuces, dressed with a bit of olive oil and fresh lemon juice or balsamic vinegar and a grinding of salt and pepper. The juices from the burger add their own dressing to the salad.
2 tablespoons organic beef tallow, preferably Fatworks
2 tablespoons minced red or yellow onion
2 ounces maitake or oyster mushrooms, minced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon Himalayan or Celtic sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 ounces organic grass-fed beef heart, cut into chunks and partially frozen
2 ounces organic grass-fed beef liver, cut into chunks and partially frozen
6 ounces organic grass-fed ground beef, preferably 80% lean or fattier
1. Melt 1 tablespoon of the tallow in a small skillet set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms, garlic, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking, stirring often, for 1 minute more, or until softened. Scrape into a medium bowl and cool for 10 minutes.
2. Gently pulse the heart and liver pieces in a food processor until finely ground but not pureed. Add this mixture to the bowl along with the ground beef. Stir until well combined. Or use your clean, dry hands to mix the ingredients together. Form the mixture into 4 patties.
3. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon tallow in a large grill pan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat, or prepare a grill for high, direct-heat cooking. Set the burgers in the pan or on the grate. Cook for 8 minutes, turning once, until cooked to medium doneness. The longer you cook the burgers, the more pronounced the liver flavor will be.
Drizzle a small amount of aged balsamic vinegar over the top of each patty as a sweet, tangy condiment, or use a sugar-free, whole grain mustard. If you want an even heartier meal, use 2 extra-large portobello mushroom caps as buns. Lightly brush the gill side of the caps with olive oil; add some minced garlic and sea salt. Set them in the grill pan or on the grill gill side down and cook for 3 minutes without turning. Set them gill side up on plates and set a patty on each.