A Brief, And Bloody, Break

Still a lot of stuff to post about Russia, but I have been been slow to adjust to the time difference. I think I am okay now though because for the first time since returning I took my morning dump in the morning after my wake-up cup of coffee. I am a pretty regular guy and there was that incident on the bus in Moscow one afternoon. Well, an eight-hour time difference will do that to you.

But, before getting back to Russia, I thought I would share these pictures of part of a kind of aborted barbecue on Sunday. For those of you who live on the East Coast, you know what kind of a Sunday we had. It was a torrential downpour. I did manage to smoke some ribs, a boneless leg of lamb and a couple of chickens, but it wasn't fun. And until my brother-in-law Jim showed up there were only four of us. Other plans and street flooding in Manhattan depleted our ranks.

Speaking of street flooding, every time I hear anyone talk about a hurricane evacuation plan for New York City I laugh so hard my belly hurts. Maybe if we had a month's notice we could get people out, but it doesn't take much rain to shut this city down.

Anyway, by the time my brother-in-law showed up the smoker was smoked out and I had promised to fix a yak heart for him. My experience with deer hearts provided me with a backup plan, though.

I Felt Like An Aztec Priest


While, the heart of rock and roll might still be beating, but this yak heart had had it.

Be Still, My Beating Heart


Heart is really quite easy to prepare in a rustic, camping-out kind of way. You just slice it cross-ways in slices about half an inch thick, and season generously with salt and pepper.

Ready For The Pan


I prefer a cast-iron frying pan, of course. I have a whole set of them that I got for an engagement present and I use them all of the time. Best of all, one day I found a set of pyrex covers that fit most of them perfectly. They were just sitting on the street where someone had thrown them out. Buut I digress. I heated up oil in the pan I had available to me and popped them the sliced and seasoned heart right in, a small batch at a time.

Yummy, Smelled Delicious


Note, when frying or browning meat, only put small batches into the pan at a time or you will cool down the oil and end up with gray-looking meat.

The heart was quite tender and tasted like most heart tastes but with just a hint of a liver taste to it. It was really very good.

And It Goes Well With Cake


And there you have it. If I had some fish I could say I served a meal that I put my heart and sole into.