Liver?

[Catrin]

Ok, for the first time since I won the battle as a stubborn 8-year old, I am willing to try liver again. I bought a beef liver from a grass-fed farmer I know - and I KNOW it is healthy and good for me. Right now it is in my freezer as I try to decide with to do with it/work up the nerve to thaw and cook it.

Do YOU have a favorite liver recipe? I've been told it might be good to look for good ethnic recipes, after all, humans have been eating liver as long as we've been eating other types of meat. Someone told me that the flavor isn't as strong if it is medium rare....I love me a good rare steak, don't know about rare organ meat...

[Irulan]

I used to love liver, but I quit eating it years ago when someone told me that you should not eat it as, as an organ "filter" ( that's it's job in the body) that had a lot of toxins as residue. Anyone know if there's any substance to this?

[shootingstar]

I used to occasionally eat liver as a child/teen. (Chicken which to me was best in terms of taste. I'm trying to remember beef and pork liver but now have problems remembering the taste.)

Then I stopped eating it for ages when I started to cook my own meals after I moved away from home. I know how to prepare it....Asian style which is sauteeing it with abit of soy sauce, oil, onions...or steaming it with same.

I only want to have abit of liver pate on crackers, etc.. which is once a year or so. Perhaps that is 1 alternative, Catrin except some pates might have other stuff.

Otherwise I don't like the smell of blood/raw liver anymore.

[Catrin]

I used to love liver, but I quit eating it years ago when someone told me that you should not eat it as, as an organ "filter" ( that's it's job in the body) that had a lot of toxins as residue. Anyone know if there's any substance to this?

Here is an interesting post on this very thing from Mark's Daily Apple. He considers it more of a processing plant than a physical filter, though that is how some view it. I wouldn't even consider liver from a non-grassfed source myself.

Thanks Shootingstar, a pate might be a good way to start acclimating my taste buds. Someone at MDA suggested shaving small bits from the frozen liver to add to a stir-fry.

[GLC1968]

I used to like liver as a child, so I tried it again when I started the whole paleo thing. I had to wait until my husband was out of town before making it because he hates it.

I sauteed it in a cast iron skillet with tons of onions and it turned out great. You do not want to over cook it, but I did not go with 'rare' even though I love steak that way. I cooked it a nice tender medium. I had a half pound portion and that meant multiple pieces. Clearly it was from different animals (all grass fed from a local guy I know) because the color (darkness) was quite different from piece to piece. I want to say that the thicker, lighter colored pieces were the best tasting to me. Oh, it's also VERY rich, so I was full very, very quickly.

I gave the extra to my dogs and even while I was cooking it, they were going crazy. My dogs don't beg much but they were literally circling me and the grill as I cooked it!

(I had to cook it on the grill because as I went to make it, my stove broke. I put the cast iron pan on the grill to saute it!)

[OakLeaf]

I prefer chicken livers to beef - the most popular recipe is breaded and fried, but I like them just sautéed, too.

I wouldn't ever eat liver from an animal that was given antibiotics, hormones or other drugs, for just the reason Irulan stated. Whether the animal was finished with corn or pasture isn't a deal-breaker for me in terms of whether I'll eat it when someone else serves it to me - that mainly goes to environmental, resource, nutritional and animal welfare issues. I don't think it's unsafe to have an occasional serving or two of corn-finished flesh, and I guess I'd feel the same way about organ meats.

[Catrin]

Thankfully I've developed a relationship with several grass-fed farmers and while I don't get/can't afford the "expensive cuts", I am able to stick solely with grass fed/pastured meat without doubling my grocery budget. I am also really expanding my cooking "toolbox" I've not yet tried chicken livers, and eventually I will try the other organ meats as well. They are quite rich nutritionally, though not something I would eat on a daily basis.

GLC1968, your dogs know a good thing when they smell it! I am thinking some good bacon should also be in that skillet! I don't have a cast iron skillet of any kind, just some good low-temperature stainless steel. At some point I need to get at least one skillet that I can cook on high temps. My cookware works, it just take longer since I can't turn it up past medium. Still gets pretty darn hot though.

[Trek420]

Do YOU have a favorite liver recipe?

Smother that puppy with sauteed onions and bacon.

I make a good chicken livers marsala and mushrooms over whatever starch.

[Catrin]

Smother that puppy with sauteed onions and bacon.

I make a good chicken livers marsala and mushrooms over whatever starch.

I will "woman up" and try it this weekend It is supposed to be nippy outside, so I will have the first fire in my fireplace for the season, experiment with liver/onion/BACON/ and squash, and have a fine craft beer to go along with it.

[carlotta]

I'm not sure how paleo-friendly this is (I think it's ok, but other than no grains I'm paleo-clueless :) but I put chicken liver into tomato-based ragu/Bolognese. I don't use more than ~20% liver relative to ground chuck/veal/sausage/pancetta/meat so it's not the dominant flavor, but it gives the sauce an earthy flavor/richness that I really enjoy. I think it'd be similar/still good with beef liver vs the chicken, I can get good chicken livers more easily than beef, so that's what I use.

Chicken livers also make an amazing addition to stuffing/dressing for turkey, but I know that's not paleo :) That said, the combo of liver plus dried fruit/onions/celery is one that you might be able to use elsewhere minus the bread.

[OakLeaf]

Chicken livers also make an amazing addition to stuffing/dressing for turkey, but I know that's not paleo

Why not? Stuffing doesn't have to be grain based! The only kind I make any more is based on chestnuts.

Still, the turkey's own liver is pretty large, I'm not sure I'd want more poultry livers in the stuffing.

[carlotta]

Why not? Stuffing doesn't have to be grain based! The only kind I make any more is based on chestnuts.

I'm partial to the bready-goodness of stuffing (soaks up more gravy :) but I'd never come across a grain-free stuffing, so I guess that's my enlightenment for the morning.... do you just use chopped roasted chestnuts + usual stuffing ingredients? I'm intrigued

Still, the turkey's own liver is pretty large, I'm not sure I'd want more poultry livers in the stuffing.

My parents/grandparents/Thanksgiving meal preparers had never included the turkey liver/giblets in the stuffing, they were either a) tossed (my dad's mom) or b) used for stock to make the gravy (my parents & mom's mom), so when I added liver to mine it was kind of an epiphany. We've also tended toward making either roast duck or chicken the last few years for Thanksgiving (only two of us) and I always make the stuffing outside the bird since I want more than will fit in the little cavity (plus avoiding cooking/doneness hassles) so my ratio of liver from the bird to total liver in the stuffing is a bit skewed by that as well :)