Why eat organ meats? According to Sally Fallon,
Almost all traditional cultures prize organ meats for their ability to build reserves of strength and vitality. Organ meats are extremely rich in fat-soluble vitamins A and D, as well as essential fatty acids, important very-long-chain superunsaturated fatty acids and the whole gamut of macro and trace minerals. Wild animals eat the organs of their kill first, thus showing a wisdom superior to our own.
If you’re thinking that the cholesterol content of liver is something to be worried about, then you haven’t read Chris Masterjohn’s excellent Cholesterol & Health site, and you really should, because you could be depriving yourself of a nutrient that is vital to your nervous system, immune system, and many other aspects of your health.
If instead you are worried about saturated fat from liver, bacon, or butter, then you should do yourself a big favour and look into the lack of scientific evidence for the medical/cultural myth that dietary saturated fat leads to heart disease. This 2.5 minute video explains, in part, how we came to our current misunderstanding about saturated fat.
OK, enough of that, now on to my favorite way of preparing liver!
Flourless Liver & Onions
Ingredients you’ll need:
- bison broth, or beef or chicken stock (in order of preference)
- red wine (optional)
- sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
- a few cloves of fresh garlic
- yellow onion, sliced into thin rings
- bacon from grass-fed hogs
- liver of grass-fed beef
- a lemon or two
- kale or other green vegetable
- cultured organic butter
- salt & pepper
Rinse the liver, and place it in a bowl for marinading. Squeeze the lemon(s) over the liver, and let it sit in the juice for at least an hour. In her book, Sally Fallon recommends soaking liver in lemon juice for “several hours”, which supposedly draws out toxins and improves the texture.
When it’s nearly time to begin cooking the liver, pour a glass of red wine, and begin sipping. Start frying a bunch of bacon to taste (I like mine a bit crispy) in a large frying pan. For two people, I use about 6 slices. When it’s cooked, remove the bacon and leave the rendered fat/oil in the pan.
Rinse the liver to remove the lemon juice, and pat dry. Lightly salt & pepper the liver. Have another sip of wine. Add the liver to the pan of bacon fat, and fry on medium-low heat. When blood surfaces on top of the liver, it’s time to flip it. When it happens again on the other side, remove the liver from the pan and set it aside. Put it in the oven on low to keep warm.
Sip some more wine (but save some for the next step), and add the sliced onion to the pan. If there isn’t sufficient bacon fat remaining, add some cultured butter. When the onions are soft and are turning translucent or browning, add the liver back into the pan with the onions. Crumple the cooked bacon into the pan with the liver & onions.
Add the red wine (optional) and bison broth to the pan with the liver, onions, and bacon. I use about a 1:4 ratio of wine to broth, for a total of about a cup of liquid. The amount will of course depend on factors such as how much liver you have and the size of your pan. Simmer until the liquid thickens into a gravy-like sauce, 15-25 minutes.
While the broth is reducing, boil the sweet potato cubes in a pot of water. Add whole garlic cloves to the water, to infuse the potatoes with flavour. After a few minutes, when the cubes begin to soften, begin steaming the kale.
When the potatoes are soft enough for mashing, strain the sweet potatoes and garlic from the water, and discard the garlic. Remove the (cooked) kale from heat, but keep it warm. Transfer sweet potatoes to a bowl, and mash with a generous portion of cultured butter. Salt & pepper to taste. Same for the kale.
Serve the liver on top of the mashed potatoes with onions, bacon, and wine/broth reduction sauce on top, and green vegetables to the side. Pour another glass of wine, and bon appétit!
