Liver Me This

If you're reading this, it means you got past the horrible pun in the thread title. And that means that you're my kind of person.

I hate liver. Hate, hate, hate, hate liver. Unless it's the horribly over-processed Braunschweiger, which I can eat in thick slices. I think my serious dislike stems from first grade in dear old Mother Russia. For supper, we would get cabbagey soup followed by rye bread topped with a slab of overly dry liver. It would be sheer torture choking it down. And choke it down we did because the teacher would be watching our every move.

Fast forward to today. This Saturday, assuming I don't get sidetracked by a cookie or a Starbucks latte, will be the start of Week 2 of Primal eating. After realizing that my iron intake isn't where it would ideally be and seeing all these wonderful, happy people enjoying their organ meats, I want to give liver a second shot.

So....we finally come to the purpose of this post: how can I cook liver so that it doesn't taste livery?

[QUOTE=KotikBegemotik;985988]...
So....we finally come to the purpose of this post: how can I cook liver so that it doesn't taste livery?[/QUOTE]

I don't know that it is actually possible, not with all of the copper found in it. I did, however, just recently have beef liver for the first time since the 1960s and found it wasn't THAT bad. I cooked it with onions and lots of bacon, and it was cooked about medium when I took it off the stove. The more cooked it is, the stronger the flavor.

I was surprised to find that I didn't mind it at all, and it is very good for you. It will never be my favorite...and they say that chicken livers have a much milder taste but I've not yet tried those.

Well, not to be stereotypical...but growing up in the south, my mom chicken fried it! I actually kinda liked it.

Not the whole milk, eggs type of chicken frying, but she dredged it in flour seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and pan fried it in bacon grease.

If you have a flour substitute you prefer , such as coconut, or rice, go for it. If you want to try it with regular old flour the first time I think whatever makes it taste good to you may be the ticket.

Just my 2cents!

Other livers don't have such a strong taste as beef. There's chicken, which is much milder and the liver I eat most often. And you may know of canned cod liver, usually from the baltic or Russia. It has a very mild taste. The smoked version is really good.

I saute about a pound of chicken livers and a couple ounces onions in very little fat (~1/2 tblsp butter) and a splash of sweet vermouth or red wine until just about all the liquid is gone. From there I either eat them hot, or chill them, or chill them and then run them through the food processor and dip veggies in. If you save chicken fat, chicken livers taste awesome sauteed in that.

If you do a board search of [I]pate[/I], Paleobird has shared a recipe that a lot of posters love. I haven't tried it yet, but from the recipe, it sounds terrific.

I love liver, so I haven't experimented around with other animals. The chicken is divine. :)

Catrin and Renegade RN, thank you for the bacon-y suggestions. I'm finding that the more bacon something has, the better it tastes.

Tercio, thank you for your suggestion. However, my opinion of fishy, oily, smokey things is even lower than that of liver. :p My family doesn't get my dislike of that category of fishy fare.

JoanieL, that sounds good. Especially the red wine part. And I'm definitely going to look for Paleobird's recipe. My grandma makes some kind of beef pate...but it always tastes...odd. Maybe there's something missing.

Soaking liver overnight in either milk or lemon juice is supposed to make it much more mild, as well. I haven't tried, as I don't mind the taste and usually mix it with other stuff anyway.

Switch to chicken livers for now, much milder, way easier to hide in hamburgers as well.

I also love to combine livers with sweet potatoes (mashed usually) I won't even cook the liver, just dice it up very small and throw it in the mash, I let it sit for 3-4 mins while the sweet potatoes cool down a bit which is enough to 'cook' the liver somewhat. I haven' tried with white potatoes but it probably tastes pretty awesome. Provided you add butter and salt, as you should... throw a little cream in there if you aren't avoiding dairy.

last night i soaked it in

1 egg, 1/8 cup heavy cream
salt
pepper
paprika

Rinsed it off in acidulated water ( wate rand sherry vinager

toned it down a shit ton

next time i will add more paprika and garlic and salt. it was a test run

My girl likes it curried so i may go ahead and add ginger to the mix

I slice mine up and mix it 50 50 with sliced heart of cow. I fry it in butter and then pour salsa onto it and simmer till it seems right then crack 4 eggs on top and cover for 5 min. I love liver however I get it, including raw out of the hole in the deer.