Funnily enough, liver is gluten free. I don't know about you, but having celiac disease has messed with how my body absorbs iron and I am anemic. I think that is why I love liver. I liked it even when I was a child but after I had my first baby, I craved it, and the one vegetable I couldn't stand, growing up, became my favorite. (Squash! still love it!)
My husband didn't care for liver much, and for a time there I was hesitant to cook it so I would order it occasionally when we went out. Some of those smaller, family style restaurants can do a decent job on liver.
I cooked it for my family occassionally and once I started to cook it a bit more often, it became easier. I found something out too. It's better if it's still pink in the middle. Yes it is. If your liver is cooked all the way through, it is going to be like the soles of your best dress shoes!
I was over talking with some friends last evening and mentioned it's liver for dinner tonight in my house, and I let her in on that little secret. She likes liver, but her husband doesn't. It doesn't need gravy either if it's properly handled.
Another thing you must know about liver is where and when to buy it. Ask your butcher or the fellow working in the meat department at your grocery store if they get young liver and what day it comes in. If you're not sure those veins will let you know. I choose the pieces of liver that have the smallest holes from where the veins went. Our butcher here pulls them out. It isn't something to complain about, it is what it is. It is good for you. I go on Thursday afternoon to pick it up because they get it sometime in the morning and it's out by around three o'clock.
It has taken me probably twelve years to get over being squeamish of things like raw oysters and liver but my body needs the nourishment that comes from them. My family benefits too. It's one of those things one of my grannies would have said "buck up and do it, it's good for you!" . Those old ladies KNEW what they were talking about. We should listen.
Liver, my way
6 potatos, mashed
3 sweet or yellow onions, sliced in rings, cooked in the bacon grease
1 pound of bacon, cooked
Have the above cooked and keeping hot in the oven when you are ready to do the liver. Make sure you have lots of bacon fat in the pan.
1 pound (two packages) of fresh liver
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup potato starch
pinch of salt
pinch of paprika
big pinch pepper
Mix the dry ingredients together in a shallow plate or pie pan. Dredge the liver in this and place in hot frying pan, in bacon drippings. Fry only until the edges crisp, look carefully, you'll see the color of the meat change about halfway, thats when you flip them. WHen one piece is done, put on a plate in the oven with the rest of the meal until all the liver is cooked. Serve immediately with butter on your mashed, and season with salt and pepper. Remember, liver is meant to be slightly pink in the center, it cooks fast!
Enjoy!
(I'll share a picture when I've cooked ours this evening. I can hardly wait!)
No comments:
Post a Comment