Who eats liver?

[FloridaJim57]

I am border line anemic and I wok out in the gym a lot so I am the perfect candidate to eat liver. I tried it twice, once in a diner and once I cooked it at home myself. The recipe I used was given to me by a guy in the gym who said it really masks the flavor: dredged in corn meal and fried with bacon and onions. At the diner they threw bacon, onions, and white gravy over it. Both times I had to really force it down. I was told you get used to it and may even start to like it. Does anyone here like liver and if so, how do you prepare it?

 

[braumeister]

We ate beef liver all the time when I was a kid, because it was cheap.
Simply dredged in flour and fried, topped with either fried onions or crumbled bacon. I still like it. But for some reason I've never liked chicken liver.

 

[latexman]

I prefer fried chicken livers. Mix up flour, with a generous amount of white pepper (you can substitute black pepper), and a little salt. Coat the livers with flour mixture, and fry them in hot oil (350 F). I like to use a “fryalator” but pan fried, like my Moms, is just fine. Whatever you fry them in, cover it with Aluminum foil! They are going to pop! So, be careful! When they stop popping they are about done. Cut the biggest open and be sure there’s no, or very little, pink. Let them rest a few minutes and any pink will cook away. Enjoy!

Some folks like them in gravy. I like the crunch!

 

[bloom2708]

How about some leafy greens for iron? Kale, spinach, broccoli?

A daily iron supplement taken with vitamin C.

I don't eat meat anymore, but if I did, liver would be near with bottom with bacon and ham.

 

[Gumby]

I haven't had it in a very long time, but I like it. Pan fried with sage. The young wife doesn't like it, which is why I haven't had it in a long time.

 

[Aerides]

Mmm yes with bacon and onions. Not sure about the gravy, but yes, good old fashioned diners are the best places for it.

It is an acquired taste, however, and not one that most Americans like. A bit gamey?

 

[CardsFan]

For beef liver, I soak it in milk first. Tends to mellow the sharpness of the flavor.

For chicken livers (and gizzards) I get them fried at a local chicken place. Or try making pate: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chicken_liver_pate/

 

[MichaelB]

Liver with fava beans and a nice chianti?

 

[Jerry1]

Liver with fave beans and a nice chianti?

I think they’re talking beef liver Michael.

 

[Trailwalker]

When I was a kid, my mother made me eat liver weekly, topping it with wheat germ to "make it taste better." Haven't had it since.

 

[jollystomper]

When I was a kid, my mother made me eat liver weekly, topping it with wheat germ to "make it taste better." Haven't had it since.

+1

My mom was a great cook, but try as she might she could never make liver taste in a way that I enjoyed. Because of the cheap cost we ate it at least a couple of times of week. I have not eaten it since going away to college.

 

[Which Roger]

When I was a kid, my mother made me eat liver weekly, topping it with wheat germ to "make it taste better." Haven't had it since.

My mom implored me to try it once. Took a bite, threw up on my plate. She never asked again, and I've never touched liver since.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

It's the filter for toxins in the blood. No thanks, not interested.

 

[eeyore]

I love liver, especially chicken or turkey liver.

Beef liver has a different texture and taste. It will taste better after being soaked in milk, coated in flour, then fried or baked.
Chicken liver is best fried, but baked is good too. Lots of onion fried with it and some paprika for the taste.
Make sure there is some pinkness left. Overcooking liver makes it tough and bitter.

Or you can go with the traditional Jewish chopped liver - fry chicken liver and onions then mash it with fresh onion, salt, paprika.
The benefit of chopped liver is that you can keep it in the fridge and eat a couple of spoonfuls a day, on bread or toast. This also gives you the opportunity of adding lots of vegetables to cover the taste
Add soy sauce and sugar to the pate if you are really struggling.

And my favorite: Cook pasta and set aside. Fry onions till golden, add liver cut to pieces, let it half cook, add pasta to the skillet, toss with the oil, add some water (preferably the pasta cooking water) and let it get hot. Eat immediately.

 

[VanWinkle]

A friend of mine always said it is like eating an oil filter. I really like liver and onions with mashed taters and gravy. I'll take my chances on the oil filter......

VW

 

[NW-Bound]

Venetian veal liver with onion, polenta. Yummy!

This thread reminds me I am due for a fix.

Also good is liver pâté, with pork or chicken liver. Yummy!

 

[street]

We used to eat liver growing up and did some before I got married. Not a lot but some and I really like it.

 

[NW-Bound]

I am border line anemic and I wok out in the gym a lot so I am the perfect candidate to eat liver. I tried it twice, once in a diner and once I cooked it at home myself. The recipe I used was given to me by a guy in the gym who said it really masks the flavor: dredged in corn meal and fried with bacon and onions. At the diner they threw bacon, onions, and white gravy over it. Both times I had to really force it down. I was told you get used to it and may even start to like it. Does anyone here like liver and if so, how do you prepare it?

I recently discovered Braunschweiger by the brand of John Morrell. Made with pork liver and pork. The taste is very mild. It should be on the shelf at your local grocery store. There's another brand which costs more, but I don't like the taste as much.

It comes in a 1-lb log. I eat it like pâté, spread on toast, accompanied by cornichons, black olives, mustard. Yummy!

Found a photo of it on a blog:

 

[donheff]

Venetian veal liver with onion, polenta. Yummy!

This thread reminds me I am due for a fix.

Also good is liver pâté, with pork or chicken liver. Yummy!

+1 I haven't had it in years and don't think of myself as a liver fan. But when DW and I honeymooned in Italy 38 years ago we had fagato alla Veneziana at Harry's in Venice. OMG, it was good. I cooked it a few times after we got home and it has disappeared into the mists for 30 years. Liver pate is still occasionally on our table.

 

[NW-Bound]

+1 I haven't had it in years and don't think of myself as a liver fan. But when DW and I honeymooned in Italy 38 years ago we had fagato alla Veneziana at Harry's in Venice. OMG, it was good. I cooked it a few times after we got home and it has disappeared into the mists for 30 years. Liver pate is still occasionally on our table.

Sounds like a good excuse to go back to Venice.

I looked on the Web. Harry's still there.

 

[Dtail]

Love chopped liver with sauteed onions. Can be beef or chicken. Regular liver not so much.
It is an acquired taste, but been eating it since childhood.

 

[donheff]

Sounds like a good excuse to go back to Venice.

I looked on the Web. Harry's still there.

I think it had two Michelin stars when we went. We used the Michelin Guide to plan out trip.

 

[old medic]

It's the filter for toxins in the blood. No thanks, not interested.

The oil filter of the body... And I refuse to chew on an oil filter.
As a kid I was forced to eat about a ton of the stuff from different species. I came from a time that if it was made and put on the table, you ate it. Even tried it raw, still warm from butchering, both beef and deer. Since escaping home and having a freedom of choice, I have occasionally indulged in some fried liverwurst or liver mush. Been a while, may just go get some... NOT.

 

[pacergal]

Ugh can't stand it. My parents enjoyed it and we had it more often than I wanted growing up. We had to eat a few bites and our dog got most of what us kids could not hack eating.

Funny, though. I do like an occasional (as in once a year) liverwurst or braunscweiger sandwich, with mayo and sweet pickle!

 

[Major Tom]

The best plate of liver and onions I ever had was in a diner in small town Oregon. I think it was somewhere in the vicinity of London, OR. It was served by an elderly waitress wearing rhinestone glasses. The onions were perfectly caramelized, and it came with a cup of (fairly) freshly brewed diner coffee.

This is the best way to eat liver and onions - served by a senior career waitress wearing rhinestone glasses, in a small-town diner. All other environments lessen the experience.

I haven't eaten meat in somewhere between 5 and 10 years now, but there are two things that could cause me to fall off the wagon - the first is a good hearty plate of liver and onions. There are also times when I could just kill a good ham and cheese sandwich.