Recipe: Pickled Heart

Cal,

I went on a quest recently to find a recipe for picked heart, too, after my mother passed away. My mom always made it without a recipe (I think it might be a German specialty). I found this recipe on the internet recently for pickling venison heart and I think it would work for beef. We always used calves heart. I don't remember where I found the recipe.

Wagner's Pickled Hearts
2 hearts
3 cups water
3 cups cider vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Granulated garlic
3 cloves garlic (more if you're a garlic lover)
Onions, sliced
1 tbsp. pickling spice (cloves removed)
Wash hearts thoroughly to remove all blood. (Hearts that have been damaged in any way should not be used.) In a pot, simmer two cups water, one cup vinegar and add salt, pepper and granulated garlic to taste. Submerge hearts in mixture, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Test hearts at the end as you would potatoes (jab them with a fork, and if the fork penetrates without pushing in the outer skin, the hearts are ready.)
When the hearts are almost done, mix two cups vinegar and one cup water and bring almost to a boil. Shut off heat when mixture begins to "roll", because if mixture actually begins to boil, the "bite" will be taken out of the vinegar.
After hearts are cooked, slice them up while they are still piping hot. Thickness is a personal choice, but hearts will pickle quicker if sliced thinner. (George prefers one-quarter to one-half inch slices.)
In boiling water, sterilize a one-quarter pickling jar, its rubber gasket and lid.
Into the bottom of the jar put one teaspoon salt, then a layer of sliced onions, followed by a layer of sliced hearts. Add a sprinkling of sliced garlic and pickling spice. Continue layering onion, heart, garlic and pickling spice until the jar is packed tightly.
Fill jar to the top with hot vinegar/water mixture, then seal jar. Place filled jar in refrigerator for three days at room temperature. After three days, hearts should be ready for consumption. After you open the jar, it should be kept refrigerated. Makes 1 quart.