Liver & Onions

[sassy]

Does anyone have a good recipe for liver and onions?

 

[kitchenelf]

I make sure I caramelize my sliced onions, not with vinegar/sugar mixture but just on their own. What you have to do is not salt them and keep the temperature high enough to evaporate the liquid they produce. Keep stirring and be patient, they will eventually brown.

I just flour, salt, pepper, and saute my liver in a pan. If it's an extremely thick piece I will finish it in the oven. I know, not very creative.

Someone I'm sure will come along with a more creative recipe.

 

[YT2095]

are you talking Beef liver here as it`s in the beef section or the more common Pigs or Lambs liver ?

all I rem is that you`re not suposed to Over cook them, and the onions are best fried first in the pan, and then add the liver to it when the onions are nearly done.
the other was layers of onion and liver in a casserole dish, with a stock added and then let to cook slowly in the oven.

I can`t give anymore detail as I can`t stand liver or kidneys in anyway at all.

 

[attie]

Does anyone have a good recipe for liver and onions?

Only to add bacon to it.
Half the bacon rashers and grill with diced onion in a shallow pan. Remove and drain
Coat the liver with flour and grill lightly in the bacon/onion residue. Remove and drain.
We then make a gravy in the pan, place all of the engredients back in the pan and cover with the gravy and simmer for a few minutes.
Serve with mashed potatoes and greens.
I hope that helps you

 

[suzyQ3]

are you talking Beef liver here as it`s in the beef section or the more common Pigs or Lambs liver ?

all I rem is that you`re not suposed to Over cook them, and the onions are best fried first in the pan, and then add the liver to it when the onions are nearly done.
the other was layers of onion and liver in a casserole dish, with a stock added and then let to cook slowly in the oven.

I can`t give anymore detail as I can`t stand liver or kidneys in anyway at all.

I don't eat liver anymore myself, but my mother used to make a mean liver and onions. She insisted on using calves' liver instead of beef liver, saying that it was milder and more tender. I'd not thought about pork or lamb liver.

Here's a good description of the differences. I don't recommend clicking on it, however, if a picture of raw liver might turn your stomach.

 

[boufa06]

I do agree with YT. I prepare liver in the frying pan essentially the way he mentioned. I saute the onions first, bring them to the desired agree of doneness without burning them, add the liver, seasoning (light soya sauce and pepper for me), a bit of water and stirfry briefly.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I have to admit that beef &/or calves liver is one of the very few foods I've always hated. I do, however, like pigs liver & chicken livers.

But one time, my mom made a terrific dish with calves liver that I really enjoyed & completely cleaned up - definitely the 1st time in my young life - lol!! She sauteed the liver with sliced onions & mushrooms & served it in a sour cream sauce - sort of like a Liver Stroganoff.

 

[kitchenelf]

or the more common Pigs or Lambs liver ?

I think that statement would depend on where you live. I have never seen pig's liver or lamb's liver in a store here - strictly beef/calf.

 

[YT2095]

that`s interesting then, if I wanted calf/beef then I would have to ask my butcher to get it in for me, but pigs or lambs I can get all day long, IIRC Chicken Livers for Pate are also easy to get hold of.

the only reason I can`t eat it is because I have Gout, I love the smell of it cooking though

 

[lulu]

lambs liver is lovely, and much, much cheaper than calves liver in the UK, but calves liver is supreme. I don't do much different to kitchenelf. Occasionally I use bacon, and I often deglaze the pan with what ever is around and make a gravy with that. I love calves liver, but cannot often afford it. I've never tried pigs liver, how does it compare in taste to the others?

 

[lulu]

that`s interesting then, if I wanted calf/beef then I would have to ask my butcher to get it in for me,.....

not in the south, calves liver is easy to get hold of....beef liver seems to be sold as ox liver in supermarkets...I asked the supermarket butcher what ox liver was from (sounds obvious huh) and it was beef

 

[YT2095]

I guess it`s because we`re not primarily a Cattle country here unlike the US (or parts of), when I lived in Canada (alberta) the steaks you could get there were fantastic! you`de have to re-mortgage your house to get the same thing here
Beef Heart was nice there too, never tried it here.

 

[lulu]

YT, I'm talking about south of england!!! Lots of beef in the south west....and dairy too.

I haven't bought liver in Italy yet, but I'll look in the supermarket tomorrow to check out what variety there is and prices.

 

[ironchef]

Try serving it with this. I usually serve this with pan seared foie gras, which is actually the only land animal liver that I'll eat, but it should go well with other types of liver:

Lemon-Onion Jam

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups onions, large dice
1/2 cup Banyuls vinegar
1/2 tsp. caraway seed
1/2 tsp. fennel seed
2 Tbsp. Lemon Zest
2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
Kosher Salt and Fresh Cracked Pepper to taste

Method:

In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat until hot. Stir in sugar, then cook, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until mixture turns a light caramel brown, about 10 minutes. Add onions, salt and pepper, then cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, to brown and cook onions. Add vinegar, lemon juice, fennel, and caraway seed and stir well to mix. Simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes until mixture combines and thickens. Stir in lemon zest. Cool completely. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.

 

[Robo410]

love liver...calf's liver, fresh not frozen, thinly sliced, quickly sauted in the pan drippings from caramalizing the onions and crisping the bacon which go on top.
Thicker older liver I like to saute and then cover in a spicy arribiata sauce. THe acids in tomato smooth out the stronger flavor. Really beautiful with broccoli rabe and poleta crisped in the pan.
chicken livers...wrapped in bacon and grilled or breaded and deep fried and served with HOT sauce.

Kidney, lamb: just grill them gently for me...lovely. calf or beef: a nice stew with sherry or a steak and kidney pie with guiness or sherry...

sweetbreads: just lightly grilled ... but a sauce is ok if it's really good!

 

[buckytom]

bumping an old thread, especially in light of how international the site has become (and always wanted to be, afaik).
i've had calves' liver many times, after pan frying american bacon (aka streaky bacon or rasher's from the pig's belly in keeping with an international theme) and setting the crisped bacon aside to drain on paper towels. after reserving some of the rendered bacon fat aside as well, carmelize a sliced onion over low heat in the healthy (?,) coating of the remaining bacon fat in the pan. set the carmelized onions aside in a bowl. finally, dust room temp (or even warm from a fresh kill) liver in flour and pan friy in the reserved bacon fat until medum rare over medium heat, just a couple of minutes per side.

plate the liver, top with the bacon then the onions, and serve with a heap of mashed spuds alongside to soak up the delicious running juices and fat.

hth.


hmm, is it obvious that i LOVE liver, be it beef, lamb, or pork?

 

[CraigC]

I was tramatized to the point of never wanting to see beef liver again. The first was my father, who thought he was a great cook, delivering his version of liver and onions to the table. You would have thought he was a cobbler by trade, instead of an out of work electrician. Many a mile could have been tread on that liver. Second was at my very first job at age 15 in the butcher dept. of the local grocery. Place was called Boggart's. One of the butchers showed me how to tell if beef liver was good. This was done by taking a 1/2" thick slice, flinging it like pizza dough into the air until it hit the ceiling and firmly stuck there. He then informed me that if it stayed stuck for 10 minutes, it was a good piece of liver. This butcher was very helpful to the store. He would go around collecting items that people had picked up and later decided they didn't want them. These people wouldn't take it back where they got it from, they'd just leave it where ever. He would pick the stuff up and put it back where it belonged. Problem is he would "find" beer in the beer case and it would make its way into the walkin. The humidity must have been really low in that cooler as only empty cans would leave it. I would tell you how he liked to decorate the meat case with "artistic" beef leg bone creations, except this is a "G" rated site.

 

[Addie]

I am a basic onions and liver. The only thing I do different is I dredge it in the seasoned flour, let it sit for about 20 minutes, and then redredge it again. It gives the liver a nice crispy coating on it. It's a great match for the softness of the carmelized onions. I also cook it on low heat.

As a kid I was very anemic. So I had to eat liver at least once a week. That lasted for about four months. Then I revolted. Today, I eat it about every six months. It is sooo high in cholesterol. I would love to eat it more often. I love liver.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I like liver, although I'm kind of fussy about it. I pretty much only eat calf's liver. I don't think anyone here has mentioned soaking it in milk, but I consider it the most important step, as it helps remove some of the bitter, metallic flavor. Then I dredge it lightly in seasoned flour. You must not overcook liver. It should be done only to the point of being pink, like a medium cooked steak (definitely not rare, though).

As for accompaniments, I can eat it with or without onions. Bacon and mushroom are also good additions, as is a little garlic.

 

[Zhizara]

I always soak liver in milk. It tenderizes it. You don't want to let it sit in the milk for long though, or you'll end up with liver mush.

I normally let it sit in the milk for no more than 15 minutes. I use regular beef liver.