[shel]

Maybe I've never had well prepared liver - except chicken liver. This morning I received an email message with a liver recipe, and started to think about trying it again.

What's your favorite type of liver and how do you like to prepare it? Is calves liver much different from veal liver?

shel

[sheffy]

I like liver, bacon and onions done with lambs liver and I also like faggots done with pigs liver.

[Ishbel]

I like liver, but it has to be calves liver - pig and lamb liver are a little too 'wild' in flavour for my taste - and I do not eat veal.

I like to dust thin slices with a little flour and quickly pan fry. I like to serve it with creamed, mashed potatoes and a carrot and onion gravy.

[Miraz]

Another vote for calves liver, although lots of good things can be done with most kinds of liver - duck, goose (even without force feeding), pigeon, chicken, venison are all fabulous in their own way.

Thin sheets of calves liver seared on both sides, served with a veal jus, mashed potato and thick slices of dry cured, unsmoked bacon (cured with juniper berries, star anise and bay leaves) is pretty special to me.

Most Australians won't eat any form of offal, so the butchers pretty much give it away...

[Ishbel]

Wouldn't do to try to persuade them to eat haggis, then?

[Mapiva]

I only really like to eat chicken liver. I cut it into small pieces, dredge it in flour, salt, heavy pepper, and fry it in olive oil. Then we drizzle with lemon and eat it as an appetizer.

[allie]

I love fried chicken livers. I cook it like Mapiva but in canola oil instead of olive oil. My kids love this and it's one of our special meals when Les is out of town overnight.

I also love beef liver. I dredge it in flour, salt, and pepper, then brown well on both sides. I put it in the slow cooker with onion slices on top and cook it until it's falling apart. YUM! The kids won't eat this but Les does so I cook it for us and make them something else, or plan leftovers for that night.

I have some pig liver in the freezer. I've never had it but figure I'll prepare it the same as the beef liver.

[shel]

Thanks for the replies so far. What do you look for in order to get a good piece of liver, calf or otherwise? How do you tell the difference between calf liver and regular beef liver? I heard that soaking the liver in milk can be helpful, but I can't recall in what way.

shel

[izbnso]

Chicken livers are such a part of the Southern diet that when I was in high school and worked at a chicken fast food joint (Church’s Fried Chicken) fried chicken livers were on the standing menu. A popular order was fried chicken livers with a side of fried okra.
There is a appetizer served down here (and I’m sure in other parts as well) with some regularity, I forget the name, but it is liver (not sure, but I bet it’s chicken) wrapped in bacon and baked. It is usually served in some sort of brown sugar based sauce.

People always seem to have strong feelings about liver. You either love it or loathe it. I personally detest liver of all sorts. My mother used to force it on us in the name of nutrition, but I have found that most of the physicians I know won’t touch liver with a ten foot pole because the liver is responsible for filtering impurities from the body.

It could be an old wives tale, or true back in the day but not with modern animal husbandry, but my mother’s mother (Big Mama) who was as country as they come (6th grade education, never learned to drive but could make biscuits from scratch with no recipe, no measuring cups and no rolling pin in her sleep and favored collards and such) soaked livers in milk to help get rid of the residual yuck and yuck flavor.
Then again, most of her life she had to kill and pluck the chicken herself.

[elizabethbryce@]

I like chicken liver done the adobo way with lots of garlic and soy sauce. The offals are for my dog as treats, the smellier the better. My x husband taught me how to cook animal liver dredged in flour then fried. I used to sliced some Red Spanish onions with it separately and put it as a toppings for the liver. It rocks!! Now I barely eat animal liver and just make it as a treat to my little puppy...as is but fried, just fried...as onions are toxic to animals.

[bubbamom]

Help me out here please. What's the difference between calf's liver and veal liver?

Really like liver dredged in seasoned flour and fried in bacon drippings served with lightly sauteed onion.

And as unlikely as it sounds, "woked" as in:'

Liver Surprise
1 lb beef liver (skinned with all membtanes removed) sliced 1/4 inch thick and then cut ito 1/2 x 3 inch strips.

Marinade:
1 T sherry
1 green onion, chopped
1/4 tsp 5-spice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp grated fresh ginger

Sauce:
2 T sherry
1 T soy sauce
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil

kettle of boiling water, cornstarch for coating, oil for frying, lettuce and green onion for garnishes

Place strips of liver in bowl. Add boilling water to cover. Stir around. This will draw blood out and liver will turn whitish. Soak 5 minutes and then drain well.

Marinate liver in marinade for 10 minutes. Coat liver with cornstarch.

Mix sauce in small pan and stir. Heat just to dissolve sugar and set aside.

Heat 2 inches oil in wok to 375 degrees. Deep-fry liver briefly about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Mix prepared lilver quickly in pan containing sauce to coat flavors on liver strips.

Arrange on platter of finely shredded lettuce. Garnish with chopped green onions.

[MisNomer]

Originally Posted by bubbamom

Really like liver dredged in seasoned flour and fried in bacon drippings served with lightly sauteed onion.

This is the standard country way of cooking liver. Our country grocery store would take all the membranes out... then cooked it as described above... usually in shorting or lard. After frying the livers... add sliced onions and a bit of stock and cover and cook slowly till the onions are done

I think the only difference would be the size of the livers!

[MaryB]

Orly chicken liver and thats only a few times a year. S&P, dredge in flour, fry in lots of butter until crispy. Any other form of liver is nasty!

[phatch]

I've never liiked liver as liver. Liverwurst is good. I've had a few chicken liver mixtures that were acceptable. Otherwise, just no.

Phil

[bubbamom]

Originally Posted by MisNomer

This is the standard country way of cooking liver. Our country grocery store would take all the membranes out... then cooked it as described above... usually in shorting or lard. After frying the livers... add sliced onions and a bit of stock and cover and cook slowly till the onions are done

I think the only difference would be the size of the livers!

When does a "veal" become a calf?

I've had liver fried and then simmered in stock with onion and sweet green pepper, but it was actually venison liver that was used and it was really good! Also, gotta add that a slice of cold left-over liver with ketchup on rye bread makes a really good sandwich!