The Magic of Liver and Heavy Cream

Turkey Tracks: October 17, 2020

The Magic of Liver and Heavy Cream

I grew up eating liver. Not a huge amount, but it was a dish that definitely showed up off and on. Back then, people ate from nose to tail, not just hamburger, steaks, and roasts.

Liver has a strong taste—and the “go to” recipe of my childhood was to smother it with carmelized onions and bacon. That was good, but since then I’ve discovered that combining heavy cream (and I can and do use local raw cream which I am so lucky to be able to get) with liver produces a dish that is deliciously rich and mellow.

Liver is a powerhouse for Vitamin A, and many Americans are lacking in that vitamin. Vitamin A is fat-soluble, so the best sources are from meats, fish, and forms of dairy products where processing hasn’t killed the vitamin contents. I can get beef liver locally, and I get a whole lamb every year and treasure the lamb livers.

We take Vitamin D these days, but it is synergistic with Vitamin A. You need both. You cannot get Vitamin A from vegetables in a form that most of our bodies can utilize fully as not all bodies can convert pro-vitamin A found in fruits and vegetables to real Vitamin A.

Here’s my recent liver dinner: the beans are from my cold frame, and the roasted beets and gingered carrots are from my CSA, Hope’s Edge. All three veggies were already cooked, and I just reheated them for about 15 minutes in the oven. Ditto the rice. (Cover the rice and add a tablespoon of water.) The cream makes a gravy that is delicious on the Basmanti rice. (I know, that’s a very processed rice, and I have to stop buying it.) So this dinner can be ready in about 20 minutes.

My liver recipe:

Liver usually comes these days cut into small thin pieces. Open the package and drain off the liquid. You could rinse it if you like.

Saute some diced veggies in a good fat in your pan until tender (carrots, onions, maybe a bit of garlic). You could use some butter with some beef tallow to keep the butter from burning for extra flavor. Add some herbs you like—either fresh or dried or a combo. When the veggies are soft, add the liver and turn with the veggies until it is about half done. Then add in a lot of HEAVY cream—a cup or more. It cooks down REALLY fast, so be prepared to get the amount you want to eat out of the hot pan and onto your plate. DON’T OVERCOOK IT. Put the remaining liver into a storage container or immediately into a blender or food processor.

Eat the first half for your meal while it is hot. Then process the rest into a smooth pate. You might need to add some milk to give the blender enough liquid to process the liver mixture so that it gets very smooth.

The pate is delicious on toast for breakfast. Or, on crackers or cut up veggies and fruit.

I ate the above meal for lunch and had the rest of the pate for dinner on crackers, cucumbers, carrots, raw sweet onion, and sliced apple.

Enjoy. You will.