When I learned how important organ meats are to our health, I immediately added them to my husband David’s meal plan. In addition to retinol and zinc, organ meat is an excellent source of B vitamins, including vitamin B12 and folate. All were nutrients that I wanted David to have more of in his diet for brain health, along with the work we were doing to cure his neuropathy. Fortunately for me he loves liver so this was easy to add. Some of you may struggle with this, but try this recipe and start with small bites. If it’s really hard slice it up and make tacos or a salad with it. Liver is so healthy, so do what you can to get this in your diet.
This recipe actually came from my son Ryan. He’s an expert at cooking liver and he shared his tricks to make it taste better. The big thing is don’t overcook it. Liver becomes tough as soon as it gets past medium. The trick he taught me is to get calf liver individually wrapped whenever I can. Pull it out the of freezer just before you’re going to cook it. Take the plastic off and add it frozen to the hot pan with bacon grease. Cook until you see the blood first come to the top and then flip it. Once you see the blood appear on top again then take it out of the pan. That’s perfectly cooked medium-rare, and my dad and husband think it’s the best liver they’ve ever had.
Ingredients
4 4-oz pieces of frozen calf liver (remove from freezer just before cooking)
4 strips of thick bacon
1 onion, sliced in long strips
1 TBSP minced garlic
8 large mushrooms, sliced (I like Bella for this recipe but any of them work)
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions
Cook bacon on medium-high heat until done to your liking. Set aside. Add onions, minced garlic, mushrooms, salt, and pepper to the bacon grease. Sauté until soft. Set aside. Take plastic off frozen liver and set in pan. Salt and pepper each piece of liver. Watch carefully until blood just comes to the top. Turn to other side. Cook until blood comes to the top and then remove from pan. Divide the liver onto two plates and top with a strip of bacon on each. Then divide the onions and mushrooms on top of the liver and serve.
You can also cut into strips and make tacos or add to greens for a salad.
