Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I Still Don't Like Liver

I am still attempting to find a way to fix liver that could be remotely deemed as edible. So far I've attempted frying it and smothering it with tomato sauce. That didn't go over well. Yesterday I tried fixing it using Sally Fallon's recipe in Nourishing Traditions. I only made enough for myself because I knew that any additional servings would be wasted by the other members of my family. Here's what I did:

Mid-morning I took the sliced liver (from some great grass-fed beef we bought) and placed it in a bowl with the juice from two lemons. I set it aside and let it soak for about 2-1/2 hours. Here's what it looked like after soaking.



Then I removed the liver slices from the bowl and patted them dry. I put some leftover freshly ground wheat flour, Celtic sea salt, and pepper in a pan and battered the slices of liver. Then I placed them in a skillet with some lard. They only cooked for a short period of time. It really didn't take very long because the slices were pretty thin.

While those were cooking, I put some olive oil and grassfed butter in another skillet and began heating. I thinly sliced an onion and added it to the pan. I sauteed this for about 10 minutes. I know Nourishing Traditions says to cook for about 30 minutes, but my onions were starting to look burned, so I took them out early.

Then I placed the liver on a plate and covered them with onions. It looked really tasty I thought. I love onions, so I was looking forward to this meal.



I couldn't eat it. I took a couple bites and then ended up eating chili with Shawn and the kids. There was a strong lemon juice taste and, of course, the liver taste and texture were still there. I've read that you sometimes have to try a food numerous times before you start to like it. I can attest that it takes more than two times to enjoy liver. Maybe the third time's the charm...

This post has been linked to Real Food Wednesday at
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/02/real-food-wednesday-21010.html

8 comments:

  1. Ooh..Janice, I say I have to agree. I actually made mine last week. Although, it's kind of ironic, the kids LOVED them and Brad well, he just said they were ok. Here was the recipe I used: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/Calfs-Liver-with-Bacon-and-Onions-108726

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  2. Could you chop it up and mix it in with meatloaf? Or grind it and mix it up for hamburgers? Or stick in the chili?

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  3. I HATE liver. Always have. My parents fed it to me regularly as a kid so I can guarantee the trying it several times thing is not going to work. Actually I don't think it is the taste so much as the texture. It's just wrong.

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  4. SF's recipes are just nasty, stay away, far away!!! I think it is quite yummy in a pate myself, then you don't really have the texture issue. It is nice and creamy that way, then top w/ some farm fresh chopped hardboiled eggs. We don't do gluten as you know, but I think it would be devine on a nice dark rye bread. I like it well enough dipped with celery and carrots. I never have soaked livers although have read of others soaking it in milk to make it more mild.

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  5. LOL. Try Mom's flash fried liver:
    http://www.rebuild-from-depression.com/blog/2007/07/moms_liver_recipe.html

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  6. We finely chop (or grind while partially frozen, liver and add it to all our sausage and grind meats.
    2-3 tbls per pound of meat or so.
    That way we are eating it all the time, but we never have to taste or feel it.
    We also add the heart in this way too.
    Paula

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  7. Thank you so much for the ideas. I am a stubborn person, so I haven't given up on liver yet. I'm also not wasteful so I HAVE TO find some way of using up the liver that we have in the freezer. I also have the beef heart too, so thanks, Paula, for mentioning it as well! I hadn't even started thinking about what to do with it!

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  8. I've heard it takes 10 tastes to like a new food. It took 4 or 5 for me to enjoy elk liver. Deer liver is still a bit strong tasting. Heart I always grind up for chili or meat loaf. I hated liver when I was a kid. I think mostly because my big sister (that I looked up to) was very vocal about not liking liver. I'm gonna have to try pate.

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