A lot has been said about the benefits of the liver. This product is rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, and is also well absorbed by the body. Nevertheless, many people do not like the liver because of its specific taste or because it turns out to be stiff and dry. Tips Layfhaker help eliminate all these shortcomings and make any fanfire fanfare.
The secrets of choosing, handling and cooking
How to choose the right liver
To make the dish tasty and useful, you need to choose a quality and fresh liver. It is quite easy to do this.
- Pay attention to the appearance of the product. The liver should be elastic, soft, moist and shiny, without scratches and damages. The presence of spots and blood clots is unacceptable. They can indicate the rupture of the gallbladder animal, which automatically gives the liver a bitter taste.
- The color of the liver should not be too light, nor too dark. Remember: a good beef liver has a shade of ripe cherries, the pork is reddish-brown, the color of the chicken liver varies from light brown to brownish-red, and the turkey liver is dark red.
- The fresh liver has a sweetish metallic flavor. Sour smell indicates that the product is spoiled.
- On the surface of the frozen liver there should be no excess of ice, and it should not have an orange shade. All this indicates that the product was either frozen several times or frozen.
How to cook a soft liver
- First you need to remove all the vessels, veins and films. In the case of beef liver it is quite simple. But, to facilitate the procedure, you can hold it for several minutes in warm water. The film of the liver is thinner and more difficult to separate. Try to leave the byproduct in boiling water for 20 seconds, and then remove the film, picking it by the edge with a knife.
- An additional softness of the liver is given by an acidic marinade. For its preparation, lemon or lime juice or a couple of tablespoons of vinegar will do. Mix one of these ingredients with water and soak the liver in it for several hours before cooking.
- Baking soda can also soften the liver. It is enough to sprinkle every piece of it and wait about an hour.
- The last way – for fans to use physical strength. To make the product softer, it can simply be hit with a hammer. Just do not forget to put the liver in cellophane, otherwise it will crawl.
How to cook a delicious liver
- To the liver, especially pork, not bitter, you can soak it in milk, pre-cut into parts. Recommended soak time is from 30 minutes to several hours. By the way, milk will not only eliminate bitterness, but also make the liver very soft.
- Instead of soaking, you can quickly boil the liver in lightly salted water. This trick also must rid the dish of bitterness.
- But to mask the specific liver taste will help products with strong, pronounced aromas. A good choice will be onions, garlic, chili and fragrant herbs, for example thyme or sage.
How to Make Juicy Liver
- The main thing – do not overcook. To the liver remained juicy, enough to fry each side in a well-heated frying pan for 5 minutes (or less).
- If before frying dipped pieces of liver in flour or dairy, the juice will stay exactly inside.
- Sour cream or cream are the faithful friends of succulent and soft liver. It is recommended not to extinguish it in them for more than 20 minutes.
- The last item on the list and during cooking will be salt. It takes away moisture, so add it better at the end.
Dishes from the liver
Liver fried with onions
Ingredients:
- 900 grams of sliced beef liver;
- 1 ½ cup of milk;
- 60 g of butter, divided into pieces;
- 2 large sweet onions;
- 2 cups of flour;
- salt;
- pepper.
Preparation
Gently wash the liver under cold water, place in a bowl and pour in milk. It must completely cover the by-product: if the amount of milk specified in the prescription is not enough, increase the dosage.
The liver can be soaked only during the preparation of onions, but it is better to perform this step in advance and let it stand for 1-2 hours.
Put half of the butter in a large frying pan and melt on medium heat. Add the chopped onions, bring it to softness and set aside on a plate.
Put the leftover butter on the same frying pan. Remove the liver from the milk, dry with paper towels and roll in a mixture of flour, salt and pepper. When the oil has melted, increase the heat and put the pieces of liver into a frying pan.
Fry the liver from two sides to a ruddy crust. Return the onion to a frying pan, lower the temperature to an average temperature and then hold the dish for a while on the fire.
The remaining cooking time depends on your preferences, but still it is not necessary to roast the liver very much. It is enough that it is well browned from the outside, and inside it remains a bit pink.
Chicken liver pate from Jamie Oliver
Ingredients:
- 400 g of chicken liver;
- 300 g of softened butter;
- olive oil;
- 2 shallots;
- 2 cloves garlic;
- a few leaves of sage;
- 1 pinch of ground matsis (muscat color);
- 1 small brandy glass;
- sea salt;
- freshly ground black pepper.
Preparation
Put half the butter in a heat-resistant saucepan and put it on a slow fire. Wait for the oil to melt: it should take about 10 minutes. Then strain the melted butter in a separate bowl and clean it. For pate only cleaned yellow oil is required, light residues can be discarded.
Peel and finely chop onion and garlic. Preheat a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan. Fry the onions and garlic on low heat until soft (about 10 minutes) and move to the plate.
Wipe the surface of the frying pan with paper towels, increase the heat and put the liver with most of the sage leaves. Fry the liver on each side for two minutes, so that it browned outside and remained pink inside. If it is fried, it will lose its delicate texture and the pate will turn out to be grainy.
Add brandy. Be careful: alcohol can break out. Salt and pepper the liver and cook it for about a minute.
Remove the liver from the fire and, along with onions and garlic, move to a food processor. Grind the ingredients to mash, then add the matsis and most of the melted butter. Continue to grind until uniform.
Paste the pate in a pre-prepared container, sprinkle the top with sage leaves and cover with a spoonful of remaining melted butter. Put the dish in the refrigerator for an hour. After this period, the pate can be eaten. Although, if the integrity of the upper layer of the oil is not disturbed, the hepatic delicacy can be stored for up to two weeks.
Pork liver with creamy mushroom stew
Ingredients:
- 500-600 g of pork liver;
- 3 tablespoons of pork fat;
- 1 shallots;
- 500 g of fresh forest mushrooms;
- 3 tablespoons olive oil or butter;
- 1 large onion;
- 1 clove of garlic;
- 1 sprig of thyme;
- 2 leaves of sage;
- 2 tablespoons dry sherry;
- 50 ml of dry white wine;
- 250 ml of chicken broth;
- 100 ml of creamy cream.
Preparation
Heat the large frying pan over high heat, put the pork fat and, when it melts, add the liver. Fry it from all sides until brown.
Stir the liver, along with the chopped shallots in the saucepan, and simmer 20-25 minutes. When the liver becomes firm (or when the culinary thermometer shows that the temperature in its thickest part has reached 55 ° C), remove it from the heat and leave it in a warm place, covering it with a lid.
While the liver cools, start cooking the mushroom stew. Put a large saucepan on medium heat, heat oil in it and add mushrooms. When they become a little more brown and the excess liquid evaporates, add the chopped onion and garlic to the pan. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are softened. Then add thyme and sliced sage leaves. Stir well and pour into the pan sherry and white wine.
Increase the heat to maximum and wait for half of the liquid to evaporate from the pan. Add the broth and repeat the previous paragraph. When the ragout thickens, pour the cream into a saucepan and mix. Try the dish, salt and add more seasoning if necessary.
After resting and slightly cooling the liver, cut into thin pieces. Move them to a warm plate and put a mushroom stew on top.
Bon Appetit!
