Liver, Not Leather

[Zhizara]

I love beef liver, fried, this way:

Marinate liver slices in milk for about 15 minutes. No more or you end up with mush.

While liver is marinating, cook some bacon. Remove bacon and saute sliced onions in bacon fat.

While onions are cooking, dredge liver in flour, s&p, or ½ flour and ½ Panko.

Remove onions and fry liver in remaining bacon fat. Add some regular cooking oil or EVOO if necessary.

I fry about 2 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the other side at a medium high temperature.

It’s best to only have one batch of liver as the oil gets black bits on a second batch.

How do you cook your liver?

 

[pacanis]

Dredge in flour, fry in bacon grease.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Bacon, then onions & mushrooms in the bacon fat. I triple dredge the liver, no marinating. My dredge is flour, salt and pepper. I allow the liver to soak up the first dredge and then re-dredge, a second soak up and then a third dredge, it gives a nice crunchy texture. I use two pans with the onion and mushroom scented bacon fat, we tend to cook and eat at least a pound of liver in one sitting. I usually make a cream gravy for mashed potatoes to go with it. I need to go buy some liver now.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Bacon, then onions & mushrooms in the bacon fat. I triple dredge the liver, no marinating. My dredge is flour, salt and pepper. I allow the liver to soak up the first dredge and then re-dredge, a second soak up and then a third dredge, it gives a nice crunchy texture. I use two pans with the onion and mushroom scented bacon fat, we tend to cook and eat at least a pound of liver in one sitting. I usually make a cream gravy for mashed potatoes to go with it. I need to go buy some liver now.

That cream gravy was the clincher! I gotta pick up some liver!

 

[FrankZ]

Hey.. I just did liver tonight, though it was calves liver.

I did a mess of red onion in EVOO and butter.

Lightly floured the liver (with S&P) and let it cook. They were nice thick piece so I reduced the heat and let them cook a little longer. De glazed with white wine, reduced, a bit of sherry vinegar (usually I use balsamic but we are out ) Liver and onions back in the pan to keep warm until Kathleen got home (she was supposed to be home earlier than she was).

 

[taxlady]

Now you guys have me wanting liver too. I will have to find a good butcher. Every time I buy liver at the super market (any of the ones where I trust the meat department), I get unevenly sliced liver. I hate that. It's so hard to cook it right when one end of a slice needs a total of 2 minutes and the other end needs 5.

 

[Robo410]

yes needs to be evenly sliced, and fresh not frozen. I cook it much as you do Zhizara. I also like it in a tomato sauce. The acids in the tomato make the "livery" flavor vanish.

 

[Aunt Bea]

yes needs to be evenly sliced, and fresh not frozen. I cook it much as you do Zhizara. I also like it in a tomato sauce. The acids in the tomato make the "livery" flavor vanish.

Years ago we had an Italian restaurant in town that made chicken livers in tomato sauce. People used to go crazy for it. I have never seen it on a menu since.

 

[Addie]

A simple dredge of flour, sea salt. no pepper. (Not in my diet.) Saute' LOTS of Vidalia onions (when in season) until soft. Saute' liver in lite olive oil with butter or vegetable oil on low heat. EVOO is too expensive and saved for table use. No bacon or any other additives. Trying to keep cholesterol count in the safe range.

NOTE: I prefer Greek olive oil, then Spanish olive oil. I find olive oils from Italy to be on the bitter side. Have not experiemented with California brands. When reading labels, most of them are mixed with imported Italian oils. I'd like to be able to find a label that is completely U.S. native.

 

[Timothy]

After the way my Mom abused liver, it took me many years to even try it again. My Mom's method was to fry the breaded liver for 30 minutes on the first side and then up to an hour on the second side. Rare meat was not allowed in my house when I was growing up. The liver was so tough and dry that it was like torture trying to eat it. Truly nasty.

Now, I only eat calf's liver and cook it just like Zhizara, a total cooking time of perhaps 5 minutes. Still rare in the middle and so tender you can cut it with a fork. Piled high with sauteed onions with a side of mashed with cream gravy.

It's been a long, long time since I had this. I do try to watch my cholesterol, and sadly, liver is one of the foods I've almost given up.

 

[Addie]

I want my liver cooked through, but still just barely. By cooking it on low and slow, I get the best results for me.

 

[Kayelle]

Now you guys have me wanting liver too. I will have to find a good butcher. Every time I buy liver at the super market (any of the ones where I trust the meat department), I get unevenly sliced liver. I hate that. It's so hard to cook it right when one end of a slice needs a total of 2 minutes and the other end needs 5.

I know what you mean about unevenly sliced liver TL. My daddy owned a meat market when I was a kid. When a butcher would apply for work my dad would have him slice liver to test his talent as a butcher. Dad always said that was the hardest thing to do properly, and he could slice perfect slices with either hand. They sell liver in "tubs" here so you can't even see what you have. Most times it's "chunks" of liver.

 

[taxlady]

After the way my Mom abused liver, it took me many years to even try it again.
...

Same here. But, I found out why she abused it. I read a recipe for liver in a Danish cookbook from the 1960s. It said to turn the heat to high and quickly sear the liver on both sides. Then add stock, turn the heat down, and simmer for an hour.

I don't usually bother to put flour on liver and I really like pork liver.

 

[CWS4322]

This is how we made liver when I lived in Germany: dredge in flour, put in a hot CI skillet to which some fat was added. Plump a handful of raisins in beer. Saute onions and chopped apple in another pan. Drain the raisins, add the onions, raisins and apple to the liver, add 1 bottle of beer. Simmer. The gravy should thicken, but if it doesn't, add some flour mixed with water.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

"Them Songs" by Mason Williams

"How about them hog liver likers, ain't they funny guys?
Eatin' hog liver soup, eatin hog liver pies.
Eatin' them cooked, eatin them raw
Eatin' them hog livers suits they craw.
Look at them hog liver likers, ain't they a disgrace?
Hog liver juice, all over they face.
Them pig lickin, high falutin', big hunk o' French-fried hog liver likers,
aint they a sight?
Servin' up a hog liver, gonna get liked.
How to be a hog liver liker, Don't try to Psych-it,
Eat yourself a hog liver and see if you like it. "

You just need to hear the group of goofy poems by Mason Williams. I heard four of them back in 1975 and for whatever reason, they imprinted themselves into my memory forever. When I recite them, they get me odd looks, laughter, and convince people that I am really strange (so who doesn't already think that? It's ok. raise your hands.). The titles I know are; Them Sticker Getters; Them Duck Pluckers; Them Hog Liver Likers; and Them Moose Goosers. There are many more, and they're all a hoot. But I thought that this one fit the thread.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Timothy]

...they get me odd looks

Ya get an odd look from me too!

 

[CharlieD]

If you cook liver using beefstrogonoff recipe it comes out really good.

 

[Claire]

"Them Songs" by Mason Williams

"How about them hog liver likers, ain't they funny guys?
Eatin' hog liver soup, eatin hog liver pies.
Eatin' them cooked, eatin them raw
Eatin' them hog livers suits they craw.
Look at them hog liver likers, ain't they a disgrace?
Hog liver juice, all over they face.
Them pig lickin, high falutin', big hunk o' French-fried hog liver likers,
aint they a sight?
Servin' up a hog liver, gonna get liked.
How to be a hog liver liker, Don't try to Psych-it,
Eat yourself a hog liver and see if you like it. "

You just need to hear the group of goofy poems by Mason Williams. I heard four of them back in 1975 and for whatever reason, they imprinted themselves into my memory forever. When I recite them, they get me odd looks, laughter, and convince people that I am really strange (so who doesn't already think that? It's ok. raise your hands.). The titles I know are; Them Sticker Getters; Them Duck Pluckers; Them Hog Liver Likers; and Them Moose Goosers. There are many more, and they're all a hoot. But I thought that this one fit the thread.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

How about Them Hors D'Oeuvres,
Ain't they sweet?
Little piece a cheese,
Little piece a meat.


Don't forget Them Tummy Gummers and Them Toad Suckers.

Try looking for The Mason Williams Reading Matter on Amazon or some other used book site. He is the favorite of my husband and his best friend, who can quote this endlessly. Never saw the liver one, though, and all three of us like liver (though can't say I've had pork!).

 

[Caslon]

I got interested in why people soak liver in milk. Here's a quick link with ppl explaining why they soak liver in milk.

Why do some people soak liver in milk before cooking? - Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers

They mention everything from milk mellowing the flavor to absorbing the blood, to soaking up toxins.

 

[Addie]

I got interested in why people soak liver in milk. Here's a quick link with ppl explaining why they soak liver in milk.

Why do some people soak liver in milk before cooking? - Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers

They mention everything from milk mellowing the flavor to absorbing the blood, to soaking up toxins.

There are enzymes in milk that tenderize meat. Any meat. Have you ever seen a recipe that calls for bread soaked in milk, then squeezed before adding to ground meat? Most will say they do it because their mother did it that way. I myself will add about ¼ cup of milk to the ground meat for the burgers going on the grill. Makes them very tender and keeps them juicy. Even if you use the worst of ground meat.