Yield ½ gallon of brine, enough for 2-3 hearts. Put it in hash. Put in in a reuben. Slice it thin and warm it up with stock and butter, then put it on whatever you want.
½ounce(14 g) or roughly 2.5 teaspoons pink curing saltsodium nitrite
4Tablespoonspickling spice
3-4fresh or frozen venison hearts
For the final cooking
1eachroughly chopped: medium sized carrot, 2 celery stalks, one small yellow onion
2tablespoonschopped fresh garlic
2tablespoonschopped fresh ginger
Instructions
Toast the spices over low-medium heat until aromatic then wrap in cheesecloth for easy removal (optional). Bring the spice bouquet and the brine ingredients to a simmer, then chill until cooled completely to room temperature.
Add the halved venison heart(s) to the brine and store in a container so that the heart is completely submerged, using weights like plates to hold it underneath the brine if needed to ensure proper infusion. Refrigerate the hearts in brine. Allow the heart to cure in the brine for at least 5 days, making sure to turn the pieces of heart around here and ther to promote penetration.
To cook, remove the hearts from the brine, discard the brine. Combine the carrot, onion, celery, garlic and ginger and the heart and cover with water.
Bring the mixture to a simmer, then turn the heat down low and cook gently for 1.5 hours, or until the heart is tender.
Afterwords, cool the heart in it's cooking liquid, then transfer to a labeled, dated container and reserve until needed. If you don't want or have space to store the heart in it's liquid, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then place in a larger, seal-able bag or vacuum pack. I like to use within a week, but it also freezes really well due to the curing process, just like conventional ham.
Notes
You can scale this for cooking larger or smaller amounts of hearts, and you can also throw the venison tongues in with them too, they're also great like this.